Gonzogeography

Cafe Rest

2011-11-10T04:42:00.001-08:00

Cafe Rest, a photo by LoopZilla on Flickr.

Irish Café-Restaurant

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Our aim is to cater for all sides of the Shepherds Bush community and beyond. Builders, office workers, families, young professionals, holiday makers, singles, couples, the elderly and special needs. We provide choice quality home cooked food ranging from breakfast to roast dinners, fresh fish, salads and some of the Cafe Rest all time favourites, such as braised steak and cabbage.

Cafe Rest, a photo by LoopZilla on Flickr.

Mudlarks on the beach at Shortwall

2011-10-23T02:46:00.000-07:00

Work Begins On Ikea “Mini-Venice” By Olympic Park

Insert joke about IKEA flat pack here...

The planners for this mucky development wanted British Waterways to move the tidal limit (at Shortwall) a few hundred metres downstream so that they would see a canal like waterway, rather than the mud at low tide (twice a day). What they do not know is that Prescott Lock and the weir at Shortwall are there for the next few years. But if the Environment Agency give the word, then the £20 million lock and weir will be de-commissioned (if they assess that there is a flood risk). At that point, the waters will be tidal up the Lea Bridge Sluices again. Chew on that, Ikea boys!

Strand means beach, of course.

And those "water taxis"? The Water Chariots scheme is still beached at Limehouse Basin, due to Tower Hamlets Planning rejected the scheme (they applied for a Lawful Development Certificate), requiring that British Waterways go through an Environmental Impact Assessment (consultation). The appeal by British Waterways is still with the Secretary of State.


Application number  PA/11/00480
Planning Inspectorate reference number. APP/E5900/  
Site address  Limehouse Basin, Narrow Street, London
Proposal  Screening Opinion as to whether Application for Lawful Development
 Certificate in respect of proposed installation of additional moorings for water 
 taxis and leisure purposes constitutes development requiring an Environmental Impact
 Assessment.
Application decision  EIA Required
Appeal type  
Appeal procedure  
Application decision date  2011-05-23 00:0
Appeal received  2011-06-13 00:0
Appeal decision  
Appeal decision date

Some delay there....

Perhaps they lost the Allen Key?

This

2011-10-02T13:25:00.000-07:00

Gonzogeography is a version of psychogeography which is narrated subjectively, often including the participant as part of the journey via a first person narrative. The style tends to blend factual and fictional elements to emphasize an underlying message and engage the reader. The word Gonzo was first used in 1970 to describe an article by Hunter S. Thompson, who later popularized the style. The term has since been applied to other subjective artistic endeavors.

Gonzogeography tends to favor style over accuracy and often uses personal experiences and emotions to provide context for the topic or event being covered. It disregards the 'polished' edited product favored by newspaper media and strives for the gritty factor. Use of quotations, sarcasm, humor, exaggeration, and even profanity is common. The use of Gonzogeography portends that geography can be truthful without striving for objectivity and is loosely equivalent to an editorial.

S96

2011-08-19T07:16:00.001-07:00

S96, a photo by Metropolitan Police on Flickr.

Shared with a CC Licence.

River Lea Vale (begins)

2011-07-16T13:27:00.001-07:00

River Lea Vale 2010-07-11, a photo by LoopZilla on Flickr.

So it began. Walking. Networking. Netwalking....

After being told by the ODA (Olympic Delivery Authority) that we could not walk The Bow Back Rivers, we had to branch out...

The River Lea Vale walk grew out of the Three Mills Loop. It was stimulating to explore further and further North. We passed the edge of the known world, the Media Centre at the top of the Olympic Park. From there we took a stroll in Hackney Downs, through woodland and into the football pitches. North Marsh would become a car park during the Olympics. What after that?

Then we hit Lea Bridge Sluices. There had been the furthest reach of the tidal Thames, up the Lea Valley. But the ODA and British Waterways stopped all that, with a lock and weir back down at Three Mills.

We were now at Walthamstow Marshes. A haven. But this had been threatened, decades ago, when there were plans to turn the area into a gravel pit.

Where next? Coppermill Lane, passing geese and massive reservoirs supplying water to London. The area is a fortress.

We are almost at an end. Back on dry land, we are in Walthamstow Market, closed on Sundays, when we get there. Walthamstow Central supplies buses and trains for our onward journeys.

Can we come back next week?

Cyclists Slow Down: The Netwalking Club

2011-07-14T05:19:00.001-07:00

Cyclists Slow Down, a photo by LoopZilla on Flickr.

It all changed on 6th July 2005. I was in a cafe in The Roman Road (known locally as “The Roman”) in the East End of London and after the news broke on the radio, the Red Arrows flew overhead towards Central London.

I was not happy. Many people around me seemed to be happy. Including a black cab driver, who now be aware that he would not be able to drive down the priority lanes. One year away and the local population know that driving and transport in general will be difficult during the Olympic Games (in London in 2012). Walking might be the best way to get around.

I had been walking a route called “Walk the Olympic Bid” lead by “The Newham Striders”, which later in 2005 became “Walk the Olympic Park” and then in 2007 it all stopped. The construction site for the games was closed to the public officially on 1st July 2007, but in fact it took a few more weeks to shut down the site completely. Many businesses used to the extra time to save as much as they could. Foreman’s (who made smoked salmon) moved from Marshgate Lane to a new building on “Fish Island”. DROF (Ford Spares) moved to Canning Town.

So, after walking the park (and the Bow Back Rivers, which thread through the Olympic Park), I was left without a Sunday walk. But there was an option. Instead of walking up the towpath, turning right and coming back down the City Mill River, it was possible to turn left and walk back through Bow. Hence the “Three Mills Loop” was born. We started and end at Three Mill Lane (near Three Mills Green). The first walk was on April 6th 2008, and it snowed. Hhence the statement… “we walk in all weathers”.

The walks have continued ever since then. We walk most Sundays, and the group is called “The Netwalking Club”. There three standard walks, and some special walks. We walk most on the towpaths, since this is a level surface. One special walk is “Tesco to Cheshunt” were we walk from Tesco’s branch in Bromley By Bow (which is in Three Mill Lane) to Tesco’s headquarters in Cheshunt. This is an all day walk and takes from 10 am to about 5pm. We stop for lunch at Stonebridge Lock.

Year Zero in Stratford

2011-06-16T00:53:00.000-07:00

Year Zero is 2012 (tm). In Stratford, plans are being set in train to change the environment. Dean, whose family has sold flowers for several generations, is fighting for his pitch outside Statford Station. He told me that he has to bid for a new "unit" and he thinks that he may not be successful. The alternative is a site some distance from the station (and therefore from the entrance to Westfield).

The London Borough of Newham seems to want to start from 2012 as Year Zero. That is the same London Borough of Newham which does have a single museum in the borough. And the Local Archives have recent had staff reduced.

G. Davis is innocent

2011-05-25T01:31:00.001-07:00

G. Davis is innocent, a photo by LoopZilla on Flickr.

Proven m'lud!

Metalwork?

2011-04-24T02:49:00.001-07:00

Three Mills Loop, a photo by LoopZilla on Flickr.

They got rid of all the scrapyards and junkyards, and all the small industries on Marshgate Lane for the London 2012 Olympics. And they put up.... red junk metal!

11/4/11

2011-04-15T01:17:00.001-07:00

11/4/11, a photo by LoopZilla on Flickr.

The order is correct (thanks to the symmetry?). Larger units on the left, smaller units on the right..... British style is 11 / 4 which is "wrong". Millions, thousands, hundreds, tens, units, reading left to right. Hence.... year, month, day, hours minutes, seconds.

E20

2011-03-23T09:52:00.000-07:00

E20. The new postcode for the Olympic Park (from 2013)... News today is that they are going to shut down the Twelvetrees Crescent sorting office, less than one kilometre from the Olympic dwellings of the future! I guess they don't see a local demand for letters and parcels...

My First Cube

2011-02-28T00:56:00.001-08:00

My First Cube
Originally uploaded by LoopZilla

Starting to think about everything in six planes.... folded.

Compactification for the 21st Century!

What is this?

2010-05-14T02:51:00.001-07:00

"Where the buffalo roam"

"The antidote to psychogeography"

Sticky Water

2010-03-02T01:19:00.000-08:00

A few days ago, I notice that the washing machine was more soapy. I infer that within the past few days the water has gone from hard to soft. The reason, I assume, is that our water is now being taken from the River Thames rather than the River Lea.

Reason? Thames Water have reported a strange taste and smell in tap water after complaints from customers in Walthamstow, near Coppermill Lane, home to reservoirs and treatment plants. Two chemicals used in making glue (2-EDD and 2-EMD) entered the River Lea and hence the drinking water.

DLR Fodder

2009-12-25T03:35:00.001-08:00

DLR Fodder
Originally uploaded by LoopZilla

Trained by the DLR, the man knows his place!

The new extended Circle Line

2009-11-02T14:43:00.001-08:00

The new extended Circle Line
Originally uploaded by LoopZilla

This is now a circle, with a tail!

Oil Tankers in Town

2009-10-19T05:55:00.001-07:00

Desire
Originally uploaded by LoopZilla

A desire path is a line that shows the most popular route, usually across a patch of grass. People want to get quickly to their destinations, so they cut corners.

In a busy city street, people are in a rush, to get home, to get to the shops, to get somewhere. So they take the line of least resistance....

But they cannot stop, they cannot give way. Once set on their path, they must get through. Like an oil tanker at sea, it can take miles before they can turn.

And when the do stop, they cannot move on. They block the doors of DLR trains, since those trains always stop in exactly the same spot!

No longer a Bendy Bus

2009-08-23T13:45:00.000-07:00

The Bendy Bus will disappear from the streets of London over the next few years. Mayor of London Boris Johnson plans to introduce bikes for hire

Would a bendy bike be better? An articulated tandem? Makes sense to me!

Wolfram Alpha, Airstrip One

2009-05-22T01:28:00.000-07:00

Wolfram Alpha tells us that London is a twenty minute flight from the UK.

Your Mileage May Vary at http://www.wolframalpha.com/

Oysters return to London

2009-04-18T13:07:00.001-07:00

Oysters
Originally uploaded by LoopZilla

Oysters are now back in the River Thames.
Pay as you Oystercards will be available on the river boat services in 2009.
It the time of Dickens, oysters used to be plentiful in River Thames ...

In the early nineteenth century, oysters were very cheap and were mainly eaten by the working classes
The discarded shells feature in a description of
Jacob's Island in Bermondsey in 1849.

"The water was covered with scum almost like a cobweb, and prismatic with grease. In it floated large masses of rotting weed, and against the posts of the bridges were swollen carcases of dead animals, ready to burst with the gases of putrefaction. Along its shores were heaps of indescribable filth, the phosphoretted smell from which told you of the rotting fish there, while the oyster-shells were like pieces of slate from their coating of filth and mud. In some parts the fluid was as red as blood from the colouring matter that poured into it from the reeking leather dressers’ close by."

Much has changed, much has remained the same...

Scanning London

2008-11-23T12:03:00.000-08:00

The FM (VHF) band London is fairly full. It is not impossible to listen to many of the main BBC stations, or Resonance FM and the others, but there is often interference. I have bought two DAB radios and also listen via the Interweb... needs must.

As I walked through Hackney, Queensbridge Road, one dismal night, I listened to many of the pirate stations and legal stations, playing house, hip hop, dance hall etc etc, and I guess a few low power community stations as well. Walking from place to place, I often re-tuned the radio on my mobile phone, when I tired of one of the stations. This process was repeated a few times, so I guess I was picking up the strongest stations as moved around (scanning for strength 5?). If I was in a car or a bus, I would find new stations more quickly, but I like to walk.

If I went North, I would expect find Greek and Turkish language stations, as I went towards Stoke Newington and Green Lanes.

This might be more fun in Tokyo, where there have hundreds of very low power FM stations, which can only be heard with a few blocks, or less. The peak power of transmission is one watt!

See for example:
Community Ties and Revitalization: The role of Community Radio in Japan

Riding shotgun on a 25 bus

2008-09-19T04:42:00.000-07:00

There is a seat on a bendy which everybody wants. It is the seat at the front, next to the driver, looking ahead through the front window... riding shotgun

I reached this position, and held on to it, from the driver changeover at Bow Church until just before Aldgate. So everybody else was behind me. I had reached a higher level.

But behind me, there two separate arguments, with raised voices and some bad words. I had travelled about five klicks, and yet I was still subjected to these bad vibes. What was the story? It was not the heat of the summer, and the bus full but not overfull. Is the bus just a bad place?

Concrete in the 1930s and beyond

2008-08-23T11:34:00.000-07:00

Concrete
Originally uploaded by LoopZilla

Kingsley Hall (designed by Charles Cowles-Vosey) in Bow (East London) was opened in 1928 and the Prescott Channel (1930) nearby were both over engineered with concrete, the medium of choice of that era. At Harrow on the Hill station, and others in Metro-land, concrete slabs abound. Charles Holden designed many stations with concrete, such as Rayners Lane Station

Rodney Gordon was responsible for many buildings that were described as "concrete monstrosities". He was trained in part by Bauhaus architect Arthur Korn.

The First International Gonzogeographic Congress

2008-08-19T15:27:00.001-07:00

Conference delegate gathering research material
Originally uploaded by LoopZilla

The First International Gonzogeographic Congress took place in London on 19th August 2008. Delegates from around the world gathered in a coffee bar in London's Oxford Street (at number 48).

Doing the Stroudley Walk

2008-08-06T12:47:00.001-07:00

Stroudley Walk
Originally uploaded by LoopZilla

Stroudley Walk is a small shopping precinct, with some housing above the shops. The only pub has shut down. 10-12 Stroudley Walk is Grade II listed building... "late 18th, early 19th century , three storeys, stock brick with shop on ground floor. Attached to the Rose and Crown Public House.

Poplar HARCA have recently taken over the area...

Cotall Street, Poplar.

2008-07-30T06:06:00.001-07:00

Cotall Street
Originally uploaded by LoopZilla

The only building in Cotall Street is a block of flats, 1-94 Cotall Street, which will demolished soon. All tenants will leave by December 2008. The ground will be used to extend Bartlett Park, including the road, so that the park will extend to the Limehouse Cut canal.

The postcodes for this block are E14 6JX and E14 6JY (and seem to have been given out in a random way across the 94 flats).

The block has been used for short term letting for a few years, and it has been run down. In the middle of Bartlett Park is a clutch of self build houses, and a burnt out church, St. Saviour's

Mighty Monkey

2008-07-29T02:28:00.001-07:00

Mighty Monkey
Originally uploaded by LoopZilla

Looking good on a blue background!

Iain Sinclair out on a limb

2008-07-27T12:31:00.000-07:00

This audio was broadcast on the Today programme, and is full of factual errors and false information. It is called "The Northern Outfall Sewer" Mr. Sinclair, and has been since about 1852.

A correspondent in the field

2008-06-25T13:31:00.001-07:00

A correspondent in the field
Originally uploaded by LoopZilla

Gathering research data in the Lower Lea Valley. I am aware that I am being photographed. I have informed my attorney... who has instructed me to remain calm...

Iain Sinclair woz here, but you can meet this correspondent in person on the Limehouse Loop on Sunday 27th July

Living on the Lansbury

2008-06-25T03:11:00.001-07:00

Clock Tower at Chrisp Street Market
Originally uploaded by LoopZilla

The Lansbury Estate was created in the post war East End. It was opened as part of the Festival of Britain in 1951.

Outside the Blue Wall, in the Real World

2008-06-22T14:13:00.001-07:00

Outside the Blue Wall

Originally uploaded by LoopZilla

Life continues outside the London Olympics Exclusion Zone. But is the blue wall so "blueish" in the sense of Blue Meanies?

Walking along River Lea can continue; we may not be able to reach the Old River Lea, and Pudding Mill River may have gone, but more to explore! It we are excluded, then we should walk further along the River Lea Navigation.

The closure of the mega buildng site that will be the London 2012 Olympics Park will last years. The effect is squeeze walkers out of the zone, and hence development of the Three Mills Loop and the River Lea Vale Walk

Saint Saints

2008-06-11T07:19:00.001-07:00

St Andrew's
Originally uploaded by LoopZilla

Saint Saints, the fictitous hospital in Little Britain has been demolished to make way for the first major project by London Thames Gateway

The new development, called St Andrew's will deliver over 950 new homes, many for families, and significant community benefits such as high quality open space and health facilities for the Primary Care Trust.

No plans for a school then? And the site is next to the busy A12 (Blackwall Tunnel Approach Road). Still, there is a pub nearby... The Duke of Wellington

Obstructing the pavement

2008-06-03T03:18:00.001-07:00

Obstructing the pavement in the City Road
Originally uploaded by LoopZilla

See here? The BBC are obstructing the pavement, with some help from JCDecaux. The BBC get paid by the licence fee, a tax on most households in the UK (and via the profits from BBC Worldwide). So why should the BBC pay the local council, another publically funded body, to advertise on the streets? And what are we being encouraged to watch? The 2006 World Cup on the telly.

Circle Line Party

2008-06-02T08:55:00.001-07:00

British Transport Police
Originally uploaded by LoopZilla

It started out with an idea. An idea that spread like a rash. Some people cloned the idea. Some people who took the idea to Facbook said it was just a thought (experiment) and anybody who wanted to party was daft.

So it began. The Circle Line is great for a party. One you get on you never need to get off. As long as the booze flows, the train takes you nowhere, so you never arrive. The party goes on and on.

So it conspired, so it continued. But the revellers were reviled.

As the evening progressed, lizards appeared, but not lounge lizards. Many "party on dudes" seem to have confused a party with a protest. No sane activist would go on a demo with a bottle of booze and an attitude. The lizards continued awash in broken glass and a variety of liquids. Staff and police were assaulted.

Was there away out? No exit for the idea that went sour. Many seemed to have missed the point, not least that the Police already had powers to deal with passengers who drank alcohol (before 1st June 2008). Does Boris know this?

Tube booze party was 'far uglier'

Desire Path (curved)

2008-05-29T04:44:00.001-07:00

Desire Path (curved)
Originally uploaded by LoopZilla

First time for everything? This desire line is a curve, rather than a straight line. The tree seems to have got in the way... but why did the path only emerge on one side of the tree?

A new semantics for a new generation

2008-05-29T03:57:00.000-07:00

"Faster, faster, until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death" said Hunter S. Thompson. This quote appears here and gives a new direction for research. The London taxi as a black art, a species apart, which wends a tricky way through the streets of the capital. The driver has The Knowledge, and hence a bigger brain. She has learned a new language - I had Screaming Lord Sutch in the back of the cab last week... and an answer to every question, except one: Will you take me to South London?

Lea Bridge Sluices

2008-05-27T01:57:00.001-07:00

Lea Bridge Sluices
Originally uploaded by LoopZilla

Heavy rainfall leads a torrent of water over the Lea Bridge Sluices. Once the lock and flood control systems are in place at Three Mills, this area will not longer be so obviously a river....

Bank vs. Monument

2008-05-21T04:55:00.001-07:00

Bank vs. Monument
Originally uploaded by LoopZilla

This leaflet is a lie. There is almost complete freedom to interchange between Bank and Monument. The only real change is that the new tunnel from Monument to the Bank DLR level is closed, and that there are some one way systems in places, depending on the time of day. The entrance in King William IV Street seems to open past the normal 9pm weekday close, since this is the only "official" route to the DLR / Northern Line.

Some signs have been covered up so that newbies and tourists cannot find the quick way from A to B. My guess is that the fire and safety rules would not allow the scheme described in the leaflet!

Green Park Station

2008-05-21T04:51:00.001-07:00

Green Park Station
Originally uploaded by markhillary

A picture of the flow of humankind through the tunnels and channels of the Tube at Green Park. Nice.

The flow of suits and black clad office workers takes place throughout the day, but at night a different species appear, the Yellow Jackets

Wide Screen

2008-05-20T14:26:00.001-07:00

Wide Screen
Originally uploaded by LoopZilla

The biggest hoarding on the planet?

Stratford, so good they named it twice!

2008-05-20T08:02:00.001-07:00

Stratford, so good they named it twice!
Originally uploaded by LoopZilla

Just in case you are in the Outdoor Market in Stratford, and need to know that you are in Stratford E15 and not Stratford Upon Avon....

A bendy bus ride

2008-05-20T01:07:00.000-07:00

Psychogeography
Originally uploaded by LoopZilla.

I was on a 25 bus in the City of London, and seemed to me that "gonzogeography" was a term in search of some meaning, much like "psychogeography". I was then mindful of "The Meaning of Liff", where the names on signposts are given a use, to stop them loafing around doing very little.

The talk given by Merlin Coverley (the author) at Housmans Booksellers this week was interesting, and it left me wanting more. What was "psychogeography" as distinct from geography (as understood today)? I guess I had to catch up with some reading and the events of 1968 and the "Situationists International".

But there seemed to be plenty of research material on the 25 bus, a bendy bus that snakes from Oxford Circus to the wilds of Essex.

Get in the back of the bendy bus, and you realise that it bends left and right, up and down. The ride is raucous. Some call it the free bus, since you have to swipe an Oystercard or a ticket before you board. Inspectors descend like a host of locusts, but you might just be able to swipe before they get to you... ooops I have just had my wallet stolen!

Walking as an art form. That sounded the business. What could we learn from taking a few steps?

Walk on.... a long the Three Mills Loop around and around. Each time you complete the Loop, you get a little deeper into the groove.

The Olympics

2008-05-19T14:22:00.001-07:00

F... the Olympics
Originally uploaded by LoopZilla

London's warm welcome to the Olympics...