Tag: London

Why Are London’s Property And Rental Prices So High? Hint: It’s Not Greed

One Hyde Park - Some oftThe most expensive flats in the world
One Hyde Park – Some of the most expensive flats in the world
After the weather, there are few things Londoners like to complain about more than the high cost of either buying or renting a place to live. To say London is an expensive place to live is to state the obvious. However, one or two examples will serve to show just how bad the situation has become.

According to the BBC housing calculator the average price of a house now stands at a staggering £402,000 in Greater London. This is around 2.5 times more than the average for Scotland and well over £100,000 more than the next closest region (unsurprisingly the South East). These prices make buying a home in London extremely difficult – if not impossible – for families on modest or even not-so-modest incomes.

Examining the situation from a global perspective doesn’t make the situation look any better. According to Global Property Guide, London is second only to Monaco in terms of the cost of buying or renting a place to live. While other studies don’t place London quite so high on the list, no one claims that London is cheap.

Continue reading Why Are London’s Property And Rental Prices So High? Hint: It’s Not Greed

Shard in Fog

Shard in Fog

What: Shard in Fog

By: , if known please tell me so I can provide full credit.

When: June, 2012

Where: Taken from the Victoria Embankment looking south towards the Shard

Story: Not really sure what the story of this picture is, but I liked seeing the Shard immersed in fog. Really neat effect. I hope for the sake of the owners of the Shard that this doesn’t become a common occurrence. Also seeing the Millennium Bridge in the foreground adds to the whole scene.

London Circuses in 1951 Were a Little Different From Today

This video of a circus in London from 1951, is part of the British Pathe series, specifically:

London Circus, 1951, the Bertram Mills Christmas show at London Olympia, filmed by British Pathe.

You can watch the complete video on the British Pathe website.

The thing that struck me the most when watching the video is how the animals appear to be treated. I haven’t been to the circus in well over 20 years and for that matter am not even sure they still exist. If they do, I hope they don’t treat animals like they do in this video. While they aren’t visibly mistreated, there is something I find deeply unsettling about having them perform tricks for people.

But maybe that’s just me, how do you feel about circuses?

Come to London! 1966 Style

The video above is part of British Pathe’s archival footage of London.

Come To London, by British Pathe in 1966. This short clip shows a couple using a “water motorbike” on the Thames and Britt Ekland cutting a publicity stunt cake that Peter Sellers drivers out of in a Minnie!

You can watch the full 8 minute video here.

I really love these old movies about how London looked in the past. It’s funny how some places, such as the Houses of Parliament, look exactly the same as today. Whereas other things, such a reporters working on fleet street, have virtually disapered. A nice reminder of how some things change and others remain the same in London, but that it’s always hard to predict which will be which.

TUBE TUBE 8 – Masterplan – London Underground Short Film Series

Masterplan is the eighth film in the TUBE TUBE series. It goes outside the normal format of focusing on predominately white stories – instead it focuses on the lives of two immigrants to London. More interesting still is the fact none of the dialogue is in English, but is in Urdu (I think anyway). In my opinion, the format really works and is one of my favourite of the whole series so far. I’m glad too, because I felt the quality of the films may have been slipping a bit recently.

This film stars Hassan Raza and Asif Sayed Mohammed, who both put in great performances. Really hope to see them in some future episodes of the series. As always you can follow @tubetubelondon on twitter, Like them on facebook and most importantly subscribe to their YouTube channel.

What Were Hammersmith and Fulham Council Thinking When They Made This Video?

I’m not sure if the video above is serious production by Hammersmith and Fulham Council or not. I found it via reddit user Scary_, with the general consensus seeming to be that it’s real. If real, it’s nice that they’re thanking their residents for saving the council millions. Residents will feel even better when they see that the council haven’t wasted those savings on a high budget thank you video.

30 Second Shard Inauguration Timelapse Video – Almost Makes It Look Good

The video above is a very short 30 second timelapse of the Shard inauguration laser and light show. Watching it sped up almost makes the whole show look good. Certainly much better than being there in person was. The video was made by Mattia Bicchi, who also made the amazing London Architecture in Motion Video, I linked to last month. He’s fast becoming one of my favourite London videographers.

What did you think of the Shard laser and light show? Leave your comments below.

Different Views of The Shard Laser Light Show You Might Not Have Seen

Although there have already been a huge number of pictures of the Shard’s underwhelming opening night posted online, I thought I’d include a few here. Even though the show itself was a bust, I still think the building is a great addition to the London skyline. Moreover, when captured in a photo the lasers actually do look rather cool.


Shard Laser Show
View of the Shard Laser Show with the lasers overhead. From reddit user WholeWideWorld.

Shard as seen From Hampstead
Shard as seen From Hampstead from reddit user tekn04.

Crowds gather to watch the Shard laser and light show
Crowds gather to watch the Shard laser and light show, from reddit user _shakta.

The Shard laser show as seen through the London Eye
The Shard laser show as seen through the London Eye from reddit user Wizzer2801.

All Hail Sauron - Shard London
The ‘All Hail Sauron’ series of images are probably the funniest of the whole evening. This one comes from reddit user groovejet.

These are just some of the thousands of pictures taken that night. What’s most interesting to see, is that Londoners will take a huge variety of approaches to watching and capturing events like this. It’s one of the many aspects I really love about London.

Slow Sunday – Video By Drew McFayden

What better choice for a Sunday afternoon than a video called Slow Sunday. As the name suggests it shows London slowed down – specifically the areas around City Hall and the South side of Tower Bridge. It was created by Drew McFayden as an experiment using a Canon 600D with a Canon 50mm and 18-135mm lens (I don’t know what that means, but I assume it’s pretty good).

He says that

I spent a few hours late Sunday afternoon taking shots. In a few hours I took 150 shots, mostly short takes lasting around 30sec -1min. some was unusable but the were some nice shots as well. It was all shot hand held without any tripod (I don’t own one at the moment).

Overall, I think the video shows a lot of promise but isn’t quite as polished as it could be. This may be due in part to issues he had with editing it on an old computer. However, I really enjoyed the use of Philip Glass’ music as it creates a bit of a haunting feeling. I look forward to seeing what Drew comes out with next.