Vile re-tiling on The Queen's Head, Essex Rd

The exterior of the Queen's Head public house on Essex Road, Islington N1, has recently suffered a make-over.
It now looks like a pastiche of an inside out 1906 tube station interior by Leslie Green – created during his experimental period.

44 Essex Road, August 2019. 

FFS – there is a 17th century fireplace and ceiling inside – this site is slathered in +500years of history – what on earth were they thinking?
It looks like a theme park version of Yeee-ha Oldey Worldey Pubbey  
It's an abomination.
Future historians will surely not be writing about how lovely this was.
Even the Victorians, who quite liked a bit of a mash-up where tiles and typefaces were concerned, would find this confusing!

Holloway Road tube station interior. Architect/designer Leslie Green. Completed 1906

My idea for how Edward Johnston came up with the design for the London Underground Roundel

Just over a hundred years ago London Transport realised it was lacking a visual identity. One of the key things the company needed was a logo and this came to be the 'roundel' we all know today – a circlular ring with a rectangular bar running across it.

Johnston's final design 

Across the fast-expanding network there was a mix of signage in all shapes and sizes. There were discs, banners, lozenges and diamonds, all implementing different styles and typefaces. The whole thing needed to be brought together as a brand.
In 1916 the job was given to Edward Johnston, a relatively unknown calligrapher who appears to have been a quiet camera-shy man who kept his ideas to himself and just got on with the job at hand. But Johnston kept no preliminary sketches and so no-one really knows how his mind was working or what inspired the final design which was finalised and on dislpay in 1919. It's often been said that he based his final design on the 1908 "roundels" can still be found on station platforms such as Covent Garden and Caledonian Rd.

I have a theory about this but it's a bit "chicken or egg"; which came first?
A thought has been bubbling in my head for years but I have only just been motivated to check it through properly this week, as shown here, following a conversation at the museum depot at the weekend.
Here goes...


I believe the simple logo shapes were already staring Johnston in the face every time he looked at one of the arched modular sections on Leslie Green’s ox-blood tube station buildings.


I have used Holloway tube station here to illustrate my point.
First I drew a circle within the window arch.

I then drew a rectangle over the tiled area below the window where the station name appears, making the height of it the same as the section between the top and bottom lips, and its width to be up to the edges of the windows at either side.

And then I coloured it up in red and blue. Looking good.
As you can see, the blue rectangle was sitting too low, so I just shunted it up to align vertically as well as horizontally. Looking better.
And then I checked it against Johnston’s “Proportions of Standard Bullseye Design” which I blasted in Photoshop so I could see what I was doing and….

… drum roll please… it’s the same!
And I hadn’t even measured that blue rectangle!

The logo's proportions have changed a bit over the decades. I checked some subsequent logos and placed them onto Holloway station (not shown here) and they too fit. Perhaps this is what Johnston had in mind all along?
Or is it the other way around?
It occurs to me that Leslie Green might have had the idea for this shape when he was designing the stations. Hence the early solid red disc roundels on his platforms.
What do you think?
Another thought...
OK so, Edward Johnston (1872-1944) and Leslie Green (1875-1908) weren't actually employed by Frank Pick at the same time, but they were almost the same age and might have known each other. Consider that both were relative unknowns before Pick gave them their commissions. Perhaps they had discussed these logo ideas before Green died, incidentally, the same year that the disc roundels appeared.
Hmmm...
Ponder ponder...

Time for tea at Russell Square Cabmen's Cafe

The cab shelter at the north west corner of Russell Square always brings a smile to my face. I have stopped there a few times and partaken of the tea and snacks and I would recommend you to do the same.

Sixty-one little green huts were constructed in the late 19th century as places where Hamsom cab drivers could take a break and shelter from the elements whilst swapping stories with other cabbies. These mini-community centres also dissuaded the drivers from dispersing into nearby drinking establishments.
All you need to know about these marvellous little green tardises can be found here.
Of the 61 original huts there are now only 13 left and some are shown here:

It's not often possible to go inside the huts unless you are a cab driver but when they are open most will serve a cup of tea through the hatch and it's a great way to hang out with the people in the know.

Jane's Advent Calendar – 13th December

Camden High Street, 2010.  I took this shot because I liked the colours and patterns; the diagonals and the yellow foam vertical, the hand-cut hole for letters and the hand-painted number written in two lines with an attempt at letterform. 

Archway Blues and Greens

Archway has suffered from bad press. And more here.

A couple of weeks ago I took a couple of colourful snaps

Archway Tower... under renovation

The Co-operative Store, Junction Road

That's it!

Goodbye Georgiou's, Tufnell Park Road

There used to be a lovely little green-tiled convenience shop on the corner of Tufnell Park Road and Warrender Road, N19.
The owner passed away a few years back so the shop closed, and I watched the site with interest hoping someone would make good use of the old frontage.
As you can see here it has suffered terribly.

The main picture shows the shop as it was in 2008.
In January this year I noticed the shop windows at the front had been removed, and soon after some scaffolding was being erected. Then, last Thursday I stopped in my tracks when I saw the extent of the 'renovation' – there is nothing left of the old shop whatsoever.
One of the fellas working there saw me taking photos (that's him on the left, bottom right) and he came over to talk, thinking I was impressed. He asked me what I thought and I told him (ahem) how it was awful to have eradicated the historical element – all those beautiful hand-made tiles gone, probably dumped.
I also berated him for putting in nasty, unsympathetic, non-sash UPVC windows. He was bemused, probably thinking I was mad. Mad yes; but in the angry, frustrated way; not the loopy way. People like him seem to think that old is bad and dirty, and new and white is clean and good. Knob head (him not me).

In the same street I found a discarded, dirty and deflated Space Hopper, but at least this little fella, which is really tiny and looks to be made of really thin rubber*, brought back fond memories of the races my sister and I used to have in our garden in the seventies.

* I recall my Space Hopper was made of sturdier stuff and came in a box about 1ft wide.

Find green spaces with Parklife London

I have posting a lot recently about green things in London; living walls, paths and walks etc and I have just found a site that specifically helps Londonders find and get involved with all the lovely green spaces in the capital.
Parklife London covers all 12 inner London boroughs with interactive links on an easy to view map. The site includes events, community projects and voluntary opportunities.
Rather good eh?!

Above are some non-natural green things I have spotted in London. Find them and more here.

An urban forest at the Seven Dials

Tomorrow, for one day only the junction of Earlham, Shelton, Monmouth roads, more commonly known as The Seven Dials, will be transformed into an urban forest.
As part of International Car Free Day the Seven Dials and immediate area will be closed to traffic and sixty 5 metre trees will be placed around the monument creating a leafy quiet area to sit and think about greener modes of transport such as walking and cycling.
In amongst the trees there will be lots to do and see including an Air Quality Bubble Map, an interactive cycling experience pod, and help with your bike and bike related injuries. Drinks will be available from the Orchard Juice Bar.
After the event Camden Council will be replanting all the trees at various permanent locations throughout Camden.

All a stone's through from the Seven Dials