Ghostsigns are the old advertisements that were painted directly onto the brick on the sides of buildings. They are gradually fading away, although occasionally a new one is revealed when a modern poster site is removed for maintenance. Clapham is one of the best areas of London to see them. Read more…

During the summer Mawgan Porth on Cornwall’s north coast is full of people, due in no small part to its sandy, family friendly beach. But it was looking very empty and sorry for itself when I went there yesterday. Read more…

Here’s a few photos from a walk along the south bank of the Thames last night from London Bridge to Waterloo. Read more…

All Saints’ Church at Tudeley in Kent is famous worldwide for its stained glass windows by Russian artist Marc Chagall. The first of these was made in 1967 to commemorate the death of Sarah d’Avigdor-Goldsmid who drowned at the age of 21. When Chagall arrived for the installation of the east window and saw the church, he said, “It’s magnificent. I will do them all.” The last window was installed in 1985, the year of his death. Read more…

While I was photographing at St Paternus’ Church, North Petherwin for some more 360° panoramas for my ongoing series on the parish churches of Cornwall I came across this really touching memorial to three sisters of the Yeo family who all died young in the 1630s.

I’ve just completed a redesign of the website for Robert Hartshorne, the composer who trades as ECG (Ex Cantibus Gaudium). Up until recently he’s the man who made all of the music for Thomas the Tank Engine, or Thomas and Friends as it’s now called. I first made a website for Robert back in 2000 and that was redesigned in 2007, so this is the third iteration. The new website is built in WordPress and uses video clips hosted with Vimeo and audio via SoundCloud. It’s so nice not to have to build custom audio players in Flash as I had to back in the old days.

Possibly the earliest depiction of St George in England is in the wall paintings at St Botolph’s Church, Hardham in West Sussex which date from the 12th century. Unusually, these paintings don’t show St George and the Dragon, (unless it was once in the space now taken up by the later window in the east wall of the nave). Those that do exist are of St George at the Battle of Antioch, St George before Datian (Diocletian) and St George on the Wheel.

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising, here’s a photo of some graffiti on the General Post Office in Dublin on the 60th anniversary in 1976: Freedom Fighters Are Not Criminals.

Click on the image to see it larger.

Last night in Clapham there was a lantern-lit parade along the High Street (organised by Omnibus and Clapham BID) to celebrate the switch on of the Christmas lights. The parade started at Clapham North tube station and marched west towards Clapham Common. Outside the library the parade stopped to be joined by a stilt walker who led the way for the rest of the walk. The parade stopped on the small green behind Clapham Common tube station, where the crowd was entertained by the award-winning gospel choir Get Gospel and the raising of the lanterns. Read more…

Two poems that sum up the tragedy of it all. Read more…