The Lights have been Switched On

London's first Lumiere Festival opened last night.  A very bright and cheerful welcome to gloomy January.

Downtown

A very quiet Leicester Square. 

Shakespeare and Christmas

What do you suppose the Baird would make of all these festivities?

Xmas Fun Fair

The fun fairs and markets of Xmas.  

Leicester Square Artists

While the renovations to Leicester Square took place the street artists were banned from the area.  They popped up at various venues as they fought for the right to go back to the square after its £15 million refurbishment.  They have attained the right to be have short periods of time in the area but have to constantly move on.  And so their battle against the council continues.  

Xmas Fair

Festivities at Leicester Square, rides, games with tacky prizes, hot dogs, candy floss, all the usual things.  But we all still love it.

The Fan

 Enthusiastic about something as the flag is firmly attached to the window frame and his opinions were flung across the street to workmen on scaffolding.  All of this way above our heads.

Underground Trivia

In case it comes up in a game of trivia or a pub quest, did you know that the escalators down to the Piccadilly line are the second longest in London. They take you down a whopping 54 metres. They did hold first place for many years but were over taken with 60 meter escalators at Angel in Islington as part of the refurbishment in 1992.

Exiled Artists

The portrait artists of Leicester Square were forced to leave their patch during the £15 million refurbishment of the square. Although the work has now finished and the artists are still paying their expensive monthly licences, the council still refuses to give them permission to return.

In the meantime the square looks like this:

No where to sit and all the statues have gone. The artists were always on the outside of the square and a big hit with tourists.
A lot of money has gone into making our square dull and lifeless.
Bring back the artists!

Pretty Shortcut

A bit of respite from the rain and we're all out walking in the sun. This alley is a pretty shortcut down the side of the National Gallery into the back of Leicester Square. Seems that the gates are only open on weekdays though when it's used by people and pigeons alike.

Behind Schedule

April is a bit elastic in Leicester Square.

I don't know if any red carpet events are scheduled for May, but if they are we'd better supply the stars with hard hats.

For those of you not familiar with Leicester Square, it is where the main movie theatres are and where all the premiers of new movies are held. The square has been in a process of refurbishment since 2010.

Return of the Glockenspiel

Sounds like the title of a bad horror movie doesn't.. but it's not.

I usually avoid Leicester Square these days as the renovations make it feel like a cross between a building site and a bomb site. The other day I took a short cut through the square and I was surprised to see this clock (Glockenspiel) in the middle of the chaos. A bit of research and I found it has been there since November, having been away for renovation since 2008. The clock was a gift to the city in 1985 by Switzerland and Liechtenstein as a token of the centuries of friendship between the three nations. It is a musical clock (naturally) with 27 bells and 11 moving Swiss figures.

Cecil Court

What a treasure this little alley is. In thre middle of theatre land, linking Charing Cross and St Martin's Lane. Antiquarian Book Store, original cartoons, rare maps, so much to keep you browsing for hours.
Cecil Court was laid out in the 17th century, named after Robert Cecil the first earl of Sailsbury a spymaster, a scretary of state for Elizabeth I and James I.
A very small street but packed with history, it was the address of W.A. Mozart and his family. Other long term residents include T.S. Eliot and actors Ellen Terry and John Gielgud.
Films, books, politics, Cecil Court has played an important role in them all.
The street is still owned by the Cecil family, and the buildings you see now date from the 1894 improvements.

Men at Work #35

It's been awhile since I gave you men at work. London has so much work going on at present, all to make it pretty for the Olympics.

Monopoly - Leicester Square

Monopoly yellow square. £260.

Named after the Earl of Leicester who owned a large plot of land with a flash house that he enclosed preventing people access to previous common land.
The public were rather cross with this situation and asked King Charles I to intervene. He asked the privy court to arbitrate. The court waved its authoritative finger at the Earl and gave a part of the his land to the public.

This area known as Leicester Field became popular for entertainment.
Now famous for movie theatres and red carpet star studded opening nights.

The square is undergoing major renovations at present so I have taken the above picture in the area known as the Swiss Court.
Shown is the Cantonal Tree. Erected in 1991 as part of the 700th anniversary of the Swiss Confederation as a token of friendship between Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The tree bears the arms of the twenty six cantons of Switzerland.

Terror

Remember school holidays.

Conversation with Oscar Wilde

Wonder what he'd think of mobile phones.

Reynolds

A slightly decaying statue of Sir Joshua Reynolds , 18th century painter, in Leicester Square.

He specialised in portraits.Do you think he might have painted Tom Cruise if he was around today? Or would he have chosen the man on the cell phone (in the right hand side of the image).

Valentine

Fans queued in sub-zero temperatures in Leicester Square for the premiere of "Valentines Day" with the star studded cast including Ashton Kucher who plays opposite Jessica Alba.

Judging by the reviews the fans love this romcom and the critics hate it. As one put it 'like eating fudge with the cellophane wrapper still on.'

Perfect night for the Movies

A sudden an unexpected downpour at Leicester Square. Seemed like the perfect time to go to the movies.