I’ve written previously about Nunhead cemetery, and it’s still somewhere I never tire of visiting to unwind (the pictures above were taken a few months ago).

It’s the only one of London’s ‘Magnificent Seven’ Victorian cemeteries that I’ve got round to visiting, so it was with great interest (and some jealousy) that I read Ian Visits’ account of his tour of the catacombs of West Norwood cemetery – accompanied by some fantastic photos.

(I highly recommend Ian Visits if you’re interested in London – it’s one of the few blogs I read regularly, plus he keeps an events calendar of easily missed lectures, talks, heritage events, organised walks and other random miscellany.)

Travelling around central London in May and June was made a little more enjoyable by keeping an eye out for over 250 decorated elephants scattered around the capital, in parks, open spaces and shopping centres, as part of Elephant Parade London. Each elephant was decorated by a different artist, and at the beginning of July they were auctioned off to raise money for endangered Indian elephants.

Sadly the elephants have now gone off to their new homes, but a few weeks ago they were all herded together in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea. I went along and got a few hundred photos, which I’ve put into a slideshow…
Continue reading Elephants on Parade

It may be an absolute aeon since I last posted to my blog, but that’s been due more to a lack of time than lack of inclination. So why start posting again now? It’s certainly not that I have more free time at the moment; I’m getting married in October, in Barbados, and any spare moments seem to get sucked straight into a black hole of wedding organising. I’m actually hoping that a spot of blogging might provide a bit of light relief between worrying about exchange rates and cursing wedding co-ordinators.

Anyway, despite the stress of getting things organised and paid for, I can’t wait to marry my beautiful Jo. Little did I know when I wrote this post back in 2004 that, despite not seeing one another again for several years, I’d end up marrying the charming young woman I mentioned….