Silly Commuter I-Spy

clarkey cat

for those of us that take our commutes a little more sedately, how about a place to let everyone know about the things of interest you have spotted on your commute - especially things you wouldn't have seen if you'd been blowing out your backside trying not to get scalped by a Brompton.

For example, today I saw a really interesting sculpture on the side of a building on the north side of Putney Bridge. You wouldn't normally see it as the traffic is so chocker there but I enjoyed a rare moment of calm on the bridge this morning. Does anyone know what it is?

asprilla

Which building was it?

clarkey cat

I thought a little bit of sculpture would have to pique someone's interest! Hurrah!

If you're coming from the north its the building to the left where all the busses get jammed up, just prior to a small road to the left called "Gonville Rd". Big ugly building but sticking out on a kind of shelf is a sculpture - weird.

keyser__soze

Is it the one on Bridge House, the old ICL building? Used to live just round the corner.

http://www.london-footprints.co.uk/wkfulhamroute.htm has a little more info.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=%22bridge ... ,,0,-20.23

asprilla

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=putney+ ... ,,0,-38.47

4. The Swanupper at Putney. A 15 foot high work in Fibreglass. Swanupping is an annual counting of the swans on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen. This count starts out from Putney and Copnall’s work features a man grappling with a swan and is on the front of the ICT building by Putney Bridge.

Edward Bainbridge Copnall

SimonAH

Asprilla wrote:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=putney+bridge&hl=en&ll=51.468599,-0.211004&spn=0.003175,0.009785&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=12.344606,40.078125&vpsrc=6&gl=uk&hnear=Putney+Bridge,+Greater+London+SW15+1,+United+Kingdom&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=51.468702,-0.210886&panoid=UgVhZSLjEd43iab_inpHfw&cbp=12,150.02,,0,-38.47

4. The Swanupper at Putney. A 15 foot high work in Fibreglass. Swanupping is an annual counting of the swans on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen. This count starts out from Putney and Copnall’s work features a man grappling with a swan and is on the front of the ICT building by Putney Bridge.

http://yourarchives.nationalarchives.go ... (1903-1973)_Sculptor

That's just swanupmanship Asprilla.

clarkey cat

That's the one!

Fantastic research!

A great punnage Simon.

Gallywomack

I've always been intrigued by this building on Lower Rd in Rotherhithe:



Prompted by this thread I've looked up what it is and it's a Swedish Seamen's Church, and due to be shut down at the end of next year:

http://www.mynewsdesk.com/uk/pressroom/svenska_kyrkan/pressrelease/view/the-seamen-s-church-in-london-is-being-closed-down-640638

From my research into this, it appears that Rotherhithe is the favoured locale for Nordic churches, with Danish, Finnish and Norwegian churches also in the area (see Wikipedia link). The Norwegian one is on the Rotherhithe Tunnel roundabout, I've noticed that before as well:

clarkey cat

excellent stuff, Gallywomack. So far we have:

A swanupping sculpture and somewhere for swedish seamen.

Prizes for most alliterative thread?

RowCycle

Was it a giant turtle?

asprilla

clarkey cat wrote:

Fantastic research!

My Google Fu is strong, like bull.

London_Falcon

I was intrigued by the references to the "Bolan Death Bridge" from posters on other threads. I looked it up on Google and realised that it was on my regular route. For those who don't know it's on Queen's Ride near Gypsy Lane. More details here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Bolan.

asprilla

London_Falcon wrote:

I was intrigued by the references to the "Bolan Death Bridge" from posters on other threads. I looked it up on Google and realised that it was on my regular route. For those who don't know it's on Queen's Ride near Gypsy Lane. More details here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Bolan.

When heading south there is a little shrine on the left hand side. It's on the way down from the summit but before you reach the first speed bump. It's usually got fresh flowers and pictures on there.