August 2016 Archives

I've never been to Ipswich before last weekend when I went to see the Pigs Gone Wild trail. Ipswich is a small town, and I enjoyed the old buildings and the new harbour area. I could not get great photographs of a lot of the areas, but there's a large square with beautiful buildings (known as Cornhill or Cornmarket). The market was set up, and I wandered around and saw other timber-framed buildings and buildings with ornate designs.

We went to Smokey Joe's for lunch. It wasn't my first choice of place, but my partner wanted to go there instead of the open-air street pub or the Thai restaurant across the street. I had the chicken burger, which was very delicious. It came with chips that had a paprika salt on them, and I also ordered beer-battered onion rings. Onion rings were a weakness of mine and a food that I often do not get to try in the UK.

I loved these timber-framed buildings.

The building above is known as 'Ancient House' and is a shop.

This old building contains ornate decorations and details. One is an advertisement for a Croydon watch maker.

The harbour area looks like it has recently been regenerated and contains many restaurants, hotels, and clubs as well as the university.

Three-hundred-and-fifty years ago on September 2, London burned for four days just a year after the Great Plague (Black Death) plagued the city. The city and most of its buildings, including St. Paul's Cathedral, was largely destroyed by the fire. This destroyed over 130,000 homes and 84 churches and left thousands homeless considering only approximately six people (that they know about) perished.

We know a little bit about the unfolding events from Samuel Pepys and his writings in his diary. Because this year marks 350 years since the anniversary of the fire, many events are taking place to commemorate it. One of the events is a free two-hour walk around the City, which takes place all week this week at different times. I decided to join one of the walks earlier today. I know this part of the City very well as I worked near Cannon Street and Bank Station.

Our meeting point was Monument, the monument created after the fire as a memorial. It is a large free-standing column with a frieze on the side. The Monument can be climbed (as there is a staircase inside the column) and views can be enjoyed; I climbed Monument a few years ago and received a certificate. The location of the Monument is imporant because if it was laid down, the gold flame on top would meet the location where the great fire is said to have started.

Thomas Faryner's bakery on Pudding Lane is attributed to the start of the fire and printed on maps after. He was the King's baker. It is thought that his maid forgot to put the fire in the ovens out, but something else may have set the fire off. The summer of 1666 was very hot and dry, so it may have been a spark or started by something else. We will never know. The maid was actually one of the few who is thought to have died in the fire. A plaque, gifted by the Worshipful Company of Bakers, marks the spot near where the bakery would have stood.

The baker and his family did manage to escape. The buildings were built so close together with some of the top floors almost joining. They managed to jump out of the window and into the neighbours house and escape. 

On the Monument, the frieze depicts London as a lady lying on rubble. The older figure to her left represents Father Time, and the two figures in the clouds represent peace and wealth. This means that London will rise again from the ashes. On the right side, the King and architects/scientists/other important people build the city up again.

The flame on the top of Monument is plated with gold.

From Monument, we headed down the hill and across the road to St. Magnus-the-Martyr. Just to the right of this church was the original entrance to the old London Bridge. I have previously covered this church in a blog post, and it's worth a visit to see the model of London Bridge. The walk was meant to go inside the church to see the model, but the church was shut. You can read more about London Bridge, the model of the bridge and St. Magnus-the-Martyr here.

After the visit to the church, we walked along the Thames and got to Cannon Street Bridge where we were told about the steel yard. It was actually a place for weighing wool, not for steel. It was owned by foreigners (we were told that they were mainly Dutch, French and German), and at the time of the fire, it was thought that the fire started here and anyone with a foreign accent was to blame and some suffered violence during and after the fire.

We were also read passages from Samuel Pepys' diary. In the diary, he mentions Cannon Street and Walting Street. We walked around the area where Bow Church is because these streets follow a similar footprint to the original streets from 1666. 

Bow Church looked lovely in the sunshine.

We then headed north across Cheapside, which was a wider street and the main shopping area. The fire managed to jump across the street here. We walked down Ironmonger Street.

Near the Guildhall, I captured a photograph of one of the old buses.

The Guildhall mostly survived the fire, but it needed a new roof. The fire did continue northward and further east and west.

We then made our way down Gresham Street toward St. Paul's Cathedral. We stopped off at the candlemaker's livery hall, which is decorated well. Next door is the goldsmith's hall.

We came to St. Paul's Cathedral. The original cathedral was destroyed by the fire. Actually, many years before the fire, another fire had burnt part of the cathedral. The scaffolding remained while it was being repaired, but this caught fire and the whole cathedral and its beautiful tower was destroyed. Christopher Wren constructed this new one with the second largest dome in the world. He is buried in the crypt.

While they were clearing the burnt rubble from the original cathedral, they found the stone with the word 'resurgam' ('will rise again'). This had meaning for them, so they made a new stone with this word and a falcon rising from the ashes on top of it. Although London suffered, it did rise again from the ashes.

While the King and mayor were at a loss and not taking the situation seriously, Samuel Pepys was instrumental in coming up with a solution to tear down houses so that they would not spread fire.

The 'Fire of London' walks take place all week this week in the lead up to the 350th anniversary of the great fire, which started on September 2. The walks are free and led by a City of London guide.

For more information about other events, visit http://www.visitlondon.com/greatfire350. Also, the Museum of London is holding an exhibition about the great fire until next spring.

'Lip Love' is a monthly beauty subscription bag from environmentally-conscious brand 'So Susan'. The subscription contains four make-up items and comes in a pouch. August's theme is 'I love my friends', and the front of the bag has a quotation from Charles A. Swindoll: "I cannot even imagine where I would be today if it were not for that handful of friends who have given me a heart full of joy." The products that I received are listed below.

Fan Brush by So Susan Cosmetics: The fan brush is good for applying a small amount of bronzer to the face to give it an all-over glow.

Praline Palette by Trifle Cosmetics: I love the colours in this eyeshadow palette. They look natural and offer a range of shimmery colours as well as standard ones. I've loved the ones that I've received in previous bags as well as they are so easy to wear and have cute packaging. This one's packaging was ice cream-themed. 

Lip Butter by Jelly Pong Pong: This bright pink-purple shade of lipstick is not that bright when applied, although it can be layered to appear brighter in colour. The lipstick formula itself makes lips feel moisturised. I love the seashell design; the package design reminds me of similar products from Trifle Cosmetics, who also supply to So Susan subscription bags.

Lip Sorbet by Trifle Cosmetics: I needed another lip exfoliation balm, so I was happy to receive this bright red one. It leaves a reddish tint to lips after use and has a sweet smell.

I believe that I've got one more of these subscription bags coming to me. Do you subscribe to So Susan?

Dozens of pig sculptures have invaded Ipswich for charity. The pig sculpture canvas represents Suffolk's and Ipswich's agricultural heritage. The sculptures are on display in and around Ipswich until the end of the month, and they can all be seen in one place in September before they are auctioned off. The charity that the pigs are raising money for is St. Elizabeth's Hospice. There are nearly 40 larger pigs and several smaller ones that have been painted by the community and schools.

Pig-Geswyk - Lois Cordelia

Frankenswine - Mark Reeve

The Swinions - Anne-Marie Byrne

The Trotter's Pig - David Graham

Pig n Mix - Lynsey Brecknell & Keiron Reilly

Ipswich Blue - Julia Allum

Little Sewn Sow - Matt Reeve

Ed Sheer-ham - Martin J Wall

Pigs Can Fly - Ross White

Porkman Road - Emma Graham; Elvis Porksley - Stephen McKay; A Pig's Got to Travel - Nick Murley; Piggy Stardust - Allan Williams; Clover - Joanne Crane; Pepper Pig - Susan Webber; The Haminator - Gabriella Keating-Fedders; Stymante - Martin J Wall

Pretty Penny - Mik Richardson

For more information about 'Pigs Gone Wild', visit their official website at: http://www.pigsgonewild.co.uk

Thierry Noir is a German artist who started the street art movement by painting his characters on the Berlin wall. I first covered his work in Street Art: Thierry Noir. The artist has been popular in London in recent years and has painted his bright characters on London's walls and exhibited his work. Shoreditch Food Village, a small area of covered street food vendors, is one of the locations where he has painted in London. This is a few doors down from a gallery where he has been exhibiting for the past year. 

The walls of Shoreditch Food Village have been covered with Thierry Noir's colourful people. I have taken several photographs below.

In addition to Thierry Noir, I have also captured another work here by street artist Paul 'Don' Smith. I covered his work in a post here.

Shoreditch Food Village is located on Shoreditch High Street virtually opposite the overground station. The area is set up with several street food vendors and seating. Burritos, Lebanese, pizza, and alcohol are some of the cuisines on offer. The steak sandwiches and shwarma are two of the popular dishes here from the street vendors. I decided to try PIzza St pizza, which cook traditional-style pizzas.

The pizza was good, although it is not the best that I've had in London. Shoreditch Food Village is open from noon and closes late. The area is a covered courtyard and has plenty of seating.

Earlier this summer, I walked around London to see the BFG Sculpture Trail (covered here). At King's Cross, I discovered a little ice cream parlour called "Ruby Violet", and I decided that an ice cream was in order as the day was fairly humid. I'd only just begun a long day of walking, so I decided to have a refreshing sorbet. In the end, I had a scoop of lemon (you cannot beat a classic) and a scoop of melon/canteloupe. 

The ice creams and sorbets are a little on the costly side, but they are good. I received a cup with a wafer and sat near the canal to eat it. 

Each day, the parlour has new flavours. They are made in small batches using organic products. Ice cream can also be purchased from a tub here to take away. The company's products are made in Tuffnell Park, where they have another shop.  They also have a book and classes and can create products for special occassions, and these are not limited to ice cream.

I enjoyed my refreshing sorbet so much that I recommended to friends that we pay a visit on our way to solve the next ClueQuest puzzle! I had sorbet again; this time, I opted for lemon and watermelon and mint (which they did not have last time). I was also told by my friends that had purchase ice cream instead that the ice cream was also delicious.

Ruby Violet will definately continue to be an ice cream and sorbet stop each time I am in the King's Cross area. Ruby Violet is located near the Waitrose and the univeristy illustration building (near Granary Square) at King's Cross. The address is Midland Goods Shed, 3 Wharf Road, London N1C 4BZ. For more information, visit http://www.rubyviolet.co.uk

The beginning of this month was exciting. A group of us decided to use our free clueQuest Game. (For those who are not regular readers, we'd booked our first game of clueQuest only to be told on the morning that they had somehow double-booked and we could play another one of the games but not the Plan 52 one that we'd booked; we received a free game out of it.) We booked into the Plan 52 room and set out to solve the mystery and escape the room (and save the world at the same time). clueQuest now organise three games: Plan52, Operation Blacksheep, and Revenge of the Sheep.

We had so much fun solving the puzzles, and we actually had 11.21 spare on the clock by the time we 'escaped', which we were told was really good especially since two of our team of five had never experienced this type of experience before. I cannot say anything more as it would spoil the surprise if I did.

Afterwards, we headed back to King's Cross and stopped off at Lighterman pub on the canal on the way to have dinner. I've heard that the food was good, and we had lovely sunny weather. 

Most of my friends had a burger of some sort, but one of us had pork and I had chicken. I also got a side of carrots and shared a few chips. The chicken and chips were very tasty. However, despite the first thirty minutes, the service became slow or non-existant. They managed to get my partner's order wrong and things went downhill in the service department after that. Which is a pity because the food was excellent and we were all getting a bit bored of waiting. It took 45 minutes alone to ask for the bill.

I also wanted to order the dessert because they had chocolate mousse, which is a rarity. The mousse had a sour taste instead of a chocolate taste and tasted very much of yogurt, and I dislike the taste of yogurt. So, this won't be a dessert that I have again.

Overall, we had a fun day. I hope all of us can get together to plan another escape game.

USA-based street artist Pyramid Oracle has come back to London for a solo exhibition. During his visit, he pasted up a few paintings/artworks in his traditional illustrated style. The artist visited at the beginning of last year and pasted up several pieces across London. 

Pyradmid Oracle is currently in London to support his show 'OCULUS' at BSMT Space in Dalston, which begins on August 18 and ends on the 24th of this month. I've included the paste-ups from his recent visit to London's streets in the past week.

We visited Lincoln at the end of July, and we explored the city and looked at the poppy installation in the grounds of Lincoln Castle. While in Lincoln, we also decided to take advantage and see Lincoln Castle. We paid to enter the Victorian prision (located inside the castle walls), walk along the castle walls, see the Magna Carta and listen to the audio guide. The Magna Carta, a document dating from 1215 specifying liberties and freedoms to citizens, is currently outside of Lincoln Castle to be shown with its counterpart at Salisbury and two at the British Library. The Magna Carta at Lincoln Castle is only one of four in existance. A replica can be found at the castle until the original is returned later this year. Because it is currently not on display, we had our entrance tickets marked so that we could return to the castle to see it for free.

The castle itself dates from the 1000s, and it was built on the site of a Roman fortress. The town was a popular strategic centre and market town, and it is built on two mottes (raised earth). It is one of the best examples of a Norman castle.

The walls are Norman, and we walked around them. Along the walls are information panels about each area, but I listened to the audio guide. 

At Cobb Tower, over-looking the cathedral, hangings were held above the trap door into the tower. This tower was used as a prison. When soldiers were stationed here, they drew grafitti. Most of these were crosses, but there were figures (probably of saints) drawn as well.

Further along the wall walk is the old location of one of the mottes, and this is now a cemetery inside the walls with large trees. The graves are of prisoners or their children.

We also saw one of the other exist gates, which suffered from damage due to a property developer.

The last part of the castle tour consisted of visiting the prison (the red brick building below). The prison was separated into a men's prison and a smaller prison for women. Actors and actresses played out the prisoners and their victims, and the rooms could be visited to see the living conditions. Many of the rooms also contained interactive elements for children.

A museum with World War memorabilia was also inside one of the larger rooms to coincide with the poppy exhibit. There was also another part of the prison that houses artefacts discovered on the grounds of the castle, such as a skeleton.

The prisoners also had the benefit of a church, but there were panels between the prisoners so that they could listen but not interact with each other.

This prison was one of the first to be regulated and also took an overflow of prisoners from London. The rooms in London would hold several prisoners to a room, and many would get the wrong connections or be in danger. The number of prisoners to a room would be limited and modest. 

We did not have long before the castle closed, so we rushed through the prison. However, we have the ticket so that we can return again. Have you been to Lincoln Castle?

Street artists Fanakapan and Horror Crew have collaborated on additional street art in the past week, along with work by USA street artist Jerry Rugg. Fanakapan's artwork in the past few years has been all about chrome items and foil silver balloons. I love seeing his work pop up to add colour and dimension to the streets of Shoreditch. Star Yard (off Brick Lane) is one of the artist's usual haunts. The wall at the back of the yard is usually painted with his work. A recent collaboration with the artist and Louis Masai with foil sharks gained much attention earlier this summer. 

Fanakapan's work this time features a chrome frog. Or is it a toad? I love the detail.

Horror Crew painted their first in a new series of birds on a wall next to the chrome frog. These two artists often collaborate together. Additional work from them can be seen here.

Last, we have a new piece from Jerry Rugg, an artist from the United States. It depicts a red cobra. The chrome crown was added by Fanakapan.

I hope to see more work from these artists around London in my walks.

Throughout most of July and until the end of August, the BFG Trail can be visited across London. The BFG Trail is a charity art sculpture trail to celebrate the release of the film 'The BFG (The Big Friendly Giant)', based on a children's book by Roald Dahl. The sculpture trail features "dream jars", which are an integral part of the film where the giant character captures dreams inside the jars. The charity trail aims to raise money for 'Save the Children' charity when the sculptures are auctioned off later in the year. A similar charity trail was held for the 'Paddington Bear' film at the end of 2014. The jars are located across the city and have been designed by several famous names. These include Stephen Hawking, Steven Spielberg, Buzz Aldrin, Cara Delevingne, Helen Mirren, Graham Norton, the Duchess of Cornwall, Maisie Williams, Niall Horan, Richard Branson, Naomi Campbell, the mayor of London, Simon Cowell, Zoella and many others.

Ship of dreams - Ben Ainslie

I discovered most of the dream jars in one day and then spent another evening finishing up the ones that I missed. Not all of the jars were on display when I visited at the end of July. I discovered some unique ones with the play on 'dreams'. Some included ships in a bottle, and one featured a solid bar of gold. Others feature real aspirations, such as winning at sport or becoming a singer. Others featured dreams in quirky dream states or near-nightmares, and others were used for social awareness. I've only included a selection of the dream jars below.

We all dream of ice cream - Erin O'Connor

Enchanted forest - Naomi Campbell

Dream of England - Helen Mirren

Happy jumble of life - Sophie Dahl

Dreams are as precious as gold - Harrods

On the wings of a dream - Aston Martin and Red Bull Racing

Dream on - Henry Holland

Read - Duchess of Cornwall; Innocence - Countess of Wessex; Mayor of dreamland - Robert Davis; Dreamy Dreaming Dreams Dog - Robert Bradford

Sweet dreams - Steven Spielberg

Dream Big - Romero Britto

Healthy start, happier lives - RB

For the love of the hedgehog - Zoella

Safe - Ryan McElhinney

Penny for your thoughts - Jane Morgan

A stitch in time saves nine - Jenny Packham

Totem Pole - Nadiya Hussain; Reach for the stars - Richard Branson; The heart takes over  - David Wier; City of dreams (mayor of London Sadiq Kahn)

The BFG dream jar trail will only be on display until the 31st of August, so hurry if you want to see them as there's not too much time left.

Last Sunday, I visited (one of my old haunts) Southampton in order to complete the Zany Zebras charity trail, featuring several large zebra sculptures that were painted or decorated by artists for charity. Amongst these, I noticed a familiar artistic style by London-based street artist Otto Schade. In addition to the zebra, I saw the first street art that I've ever seen in Southampton. The artist was, again, Otto Schade (or simply Osch). The street art features his other artistic style featuring a silhouette of a political/social scene in a colourful orange orb. This one features the evolution of humans looking over a cliff. The artwork is located at the entrance of Marlands Shopping Centre near West Quay (the main shopping mall).

Inside the shopping centre is the zebra. I recognised Otto Schade's unique ribbon style right away. The zebra is named "Silver". Doesn't he look proud and majestic?

As I'm covering the above works, I thought that I'd also add a piece from London that was updated earlier this summer. Otto Schade's work always features on this wall on Brick Lane, and the ribbon-effect of London's districts and rivers was previously painted in this spot. The rendering keeps improving with each paint.

The Zany Zebras sculpture trail will only be around until the middle of September, so if you do want to see Otto Schade's zebra, be quick. The exact date when the zebras will be removed is not stated on their social media websites or their official website, but you can check out their official website here: http://zanyzebras.org.uk

Shok-1 is a street artist based in London whose unique style includes colourful paintings that look like X-rays using mists of spray paint. The artist created a series of work off Brick Lane a couple of years ago, which I covered here. More recently, Shok-1 has been adding street art on a new location off Brick Lane, and this work gets repainted from time to time. (I covered one of the previous artworks here.) 

The wall has been re-painted again. This time, it features an X-ray of a human hand forming the 'peace symbol'. The artwork is titled 'MasterPeace'.

I love the unique style that this artist has created using spray paint to create fine mists to build up layers of paint on the areas.

Southampton Castle is in ruins now. It is located at the western end of the Southampton City Walls, which can still be seen along the western part of the city. Only parts of the ruins of the castle can be seen today. It was impressive in its day as Southampton became a busy port on the southern coast. In the 1500s, the repairs on the castle stopped and the castle fell into ruin before being sold to property developers in the 1600s.

A city wall walk reveals glimpses of the former glory with the great tower and garderobe being accessible via stairs. The city wall has a bridge where visitors can walk across the top.

The castle is a part of the old city walls walk and can be visited for free. Interesting sculptures, wall walks, and buildings can also be seen when walking around the city walls on the western and southern sides of Southampton.

A little while ago, I went with some ex-colleagues to the popular London Indian restaurant, Dishoom. Dishoom gets rave reviews for its food, and it's a popular place to have a meal. They make authentic Indian dishes, and the colleague who introduced me to the restaurant is Indian. We actually visited a couple of times in the end. I had the chicken tikka and rice, and this was filled with flavour and came with bread. For dessert, I had the chocolate mousse, which was delicious once I'd scraped off the yoghurt. (I dislike the taste of milk.)

I was really impressed! I also loved the plates that the meals were served on. They are quirky.

I went to the Shoreditch branch, but Dishoom also have branches in King's Cross, Edinburgh, Covent Garden, and Carnaby Street.

Three years ago, Go! Rhinos were loose in Southampton (courtesy of local Southampton zoo Marwell Zoo), delighting families and raising money for charity. Last year, Marwell Zoo announced that they would be hosting another charity animal trail in Southampton this summer. The trail brings the full-sized zebra sculptures to Southampton as well as smaller versions which have been decorated by schools and other community organisations. The sculptures are placed around Southampton for ten weeks in the summer and will be auctioned off in the autumn. The proceeds will go to saving the zebra and their environment in northern Kenya.

I had a trip to Southampton in order to track down the zebras, which you can see below.

Gilbert - Laura Schillemore

This zebra is the poster boy of the trail.

Crystal - Tony Allen

This rainbow-inspired zebra was one of my favourites (if not my favourite).

Warren - Laura Schillemore

This zebra features school supplies.

Frederick - Tony Hitchcock

This is a pirate zebra posing outside the theatre.

Dave - Stephan McKay

A 'dazzle' of zebras is painted on this sculpture to encourage viewers to find them all.

Tooly McTool - Minky

This is a builder zebra.

AquaZebra - Will Rosie

This was created due to Southampton's close ties with the sea and making the seaweed appear like the stripes on the zebra.

Barcode - Anne Mainwaring, Liza Burden and Christine Ellson and team

Sponsored by a craft store, this zebra explores the creativity of many people. Knitted socks keep the zebra feet warm, and illustrations and paint in quilted patterns show some examples of creativity.

Who's You - Denise Hughes

This zebra shows many school children from all over the world.

Fantastic Mr Fox - Deven Bhurke

This zebra has been transformed into a fox.

Silver - Otto Schade

This street artist created a zebra with his trademark ribbon pattern painting style.

The Trojan Zebra - Simon Chadwick

This is a clever zebra with many characters of lions peering from the panels. I spent a little bit of time looking at them and picking out the television show or film that the characters were based off of. This was a fun sculpture to see.

Carpe Diem - Jasen Barker

Named for its sea design featuring carp and sea life, it also inspires the viewer to 'sieze the day'.

Captain Stripes - Will Rosie

This zebra is patriotic with its Union Jack design.

Snappy - Michelle Heron

This zebra has been transformed into a shark. It's very clever.

King Zalfred - PingSweetie

This zebra is created to market Winchester. The zebra is modelled on "King Alfred the Great" and has a sword and a shield.

Southern Gold - Ellie Fane

Sailboats are the design of this zebra, which is conveniently-located next to the sea.

Biffa - Nina Fraser

This construction-worker zebra is sponsored by a construction company. The company wish to make the environment safe and recycle as much as possible.

ZZTop - Jenny Leonard

The black and white piano key or keyboard theme was used a lot for quite a few of the zebras. 

Zayla - Julian Masson

This zebra is meant to glow in the dark, although I did not see it. It is one of my favourites.

Zeabastian the Seabra - Tom Joyce

This zebra is covered in cartoonish sea creatures. 

Goldmane - Mik Richardson

This zebra wears a justice cloak.

Zebby Road - Jenny Leonard

The famous zebra crossing at Abbey Road immortalised the band The Beatles. This zebra features the zebra crossing on the front of the album that The Beatles released.

Allegra - Sian Storey

This zebra is inspired by the African landscape.

The sculptures will be on display for ten weeks from July 16, so that means that they should be available until mid-September. I was unable to find an exact date on their website. Also, five of the sculptures were damaged and removed when I visited Southampton. I wish people would stop stealing and harming these sculptures as they are for a good cause, the artist spent a lot of time evolving them, and people want to see them. For more information, you can view their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ZanyZebras2016/

At the end of July, the bloke and I visited the city of Lincoln. Lincoln was one of the few tourist cities in England that I had not yet visited, and I've wanted to make a visit for the past few years. Finally, this plan became a reality at the end of last month when we spent the day in the city. I did plan on spending the weekend there, but all of the hotels were full by the time I got the opportunity to take time to book it. Despite not having that long there, we did see a lot of the city and got the opportunity to see the poppies at Lincoln Castle, a visit to Lincoln Castle, and a short visit to the cathedral.

Lincoln was founded on an Iron Age settlement, which became a Roman settlement with a city wall. It was a very wealthy city in the middle ages due to the wool trade and dying of the wool in bright green (known as Lincoln Green) and red colours.

The coat of arms of King James I adorns this Roman archway.

A climb up Steep Hill is necessary to take in the views, and many small shops are located here. Several of these are sweet shops, cafes, and tea rooms that cater to the tourists. I took so many photographs on the walk up, and the hill is very steep in places.

Also along this stretch are beautiful buildings, such as the "Jew's House" below. The city had a large Jewish population at one time, but they were treated unfairly.

At the top of the hill is the castle and the cathedral, which opens into a beautiful square.

On the way back down Steep Hill, I noticed the plaque on this pie shop. It mentioned Lawrence of Arabia. He lodged here and wrote about his life leading the Arabian troups in World War I.

The views were amazing, and we had such lovely weather.

At the top of the hill, we also had a look at the cathedral and peeked inside. There is an entrance fee to enter the cathedral, but we opted to give it a miss and see what we could from the entrance of the cathedral. A cathedral was built here in the 1000s, but it burnt down and had to be rebuilt in 1185. That cathedral fell in an earthquake and was built again. Each new cathedral was larger than the last, and the spires on this were the tallest man-made structure, higher than the pyramids. The spires were since removed because they were struck by lightning. 

We headed back to the car at the bottom of town, where Brayford Pool is located. This is a modern part of town, although the old settlement was located around the pool until the castle was built on the top for defense. Many restaurants and entertainment venues are in this area.

Have you ever visited Lincoln?

In 2014, the Tower of London had a popular exhibition of a field of poppies to commemorate the people who gave their lives 100 years ago during World War I. The poppies are symbolic in that they each represent a British soldier that died during the conflict. The art installation (Blood Swept Land and Seas of Red), arranged by Paul Cummins, became extremely popular with many people making the pilgrimage to see them at the Tower of London, which I covered here. Due to their popularity, a section of the poppies known as 'the wave' were kept back from sale in order to tour around the country so that others could see them in case they never got the chance to visit them in London.

I recently went to Lincoln, and I caught a glimpse of the poppies on display in the grounds of Lincoln Castle. The wave lifts off the ground of the bank of the inner walls of the castle and cascades toward the top of the wall.

Lincoln Castle was used in World War 1, and there is a display of some items (weapons, uniforms, models of planes, and other bits and pieces) that date from that time on display in the castle.

Below are photographs of the poppies at Lincoln Castle

The 'Wave' is on display at Lincoln Castle until September 4. It can be visited without purchasing an entrance to the castle.

Portuguese artist Furia ACK painted many murals around the streets of London in the past two or three years, gaining a reputation for creating stunning (normally) black and white portraits of people. Earlier this summer, he painted a new mural in a prime street art location off of Brick Lane. The piece is titled 'Slave to Fashion', dedicated to the charity who wish to educate that the fashion industry uses slave and child labour and explain how different items are made.

The artwork features an image of a woman's face with the eyes replaced with the eyes of another woman, similar to the image used in the cover of the charity's book. The logo and title 'Slave to Fashion' are next to this image.