Podworld - Exploring interesting places

I often think the people who reside in London are spoilt. The problem is they do not know it. The other day I was in England's capital city and within 100 metres of my hotel on Tower Hill were two extraordinary landmarks with unique histories. The first was a grand Georgian looking building. In fact it was really old at all but was built in the early years of the 20th century as the headquarters of the Port of London Authority. In those days ships from around the world berthed on the adjacent Thames. Now as ships grow larger and the Thames in London becomes unsuitable for ocean going traffic, the PLA has moved up to Gravesend. The building has been acquired by a developer who is turning it into another hotel. The building though retains two claims to fame. First it was where the first United Nations congress was held. Second, look closely, and you will notice where several early scenes from the James Bond movie Skyfall  was filmed. Port of London Authority Building - 1922 ...

Tucked away on a quiet back road between the Yorkshire town of Doncaster and its Lincolnshire neighbour Scunthorpe lies a unique collection. A group of enthusiasts have been preserving an often forgotten tradition of transportation, the trolleybus. A brief history. The golden age of the trolley bus was a short period between the end of World War II and the early 1960s. Twin overhead cables carried electric power to the motors which powered these transportation giants. In all the major cities of Britain including London, Glasgow and Hull the trolleybus transported thousands of people to their place of work or to centres of shopping. The were green, clean and dependable. So how did they come to leave our streets and roads? The answer lies in what is now called the baby-boomer era. Rising populations encouraged municipalities to build big housing estates out-of-town, beyond the capabilities of the trolleybus network. Recognising that with more disposable income, families were tur...

Red Bus , a photo by Simonhul on Flickr. Here it is in all its magnificence, the London Routemaster bus. There are just a handful left running and this one was captured early in 2012 running between Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square near the Criterion hotel and theatre. I don't normally manipulate images but I played with this one to highlight the bus. I am quite happy with the result. The Routemaster design dates back to the 1950s and is an engineering marvel. Buses of today are unlikely to capture our imaginations in 60 years time.

A classic London view and still available, just, in New Year... on Twitpic Take a look at this classic London view on twitter which looks as though it was taken 20 years ago but was in fact taken in the closing days of 2011.