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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Failing upwards. The right person to be managing the proliferation of low quality flats going up across the borough.

London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

"Heedless of her mother's warning, up to London she had gone..." But in them days the danger was cads and roués, rather than Sharia speed cameras. www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKhc...

youtube.com

Billy Bennett - She Was Poor But She Was Honest / Don't Send My Boy To Prison (1st Versions) (1930)

YouTube video by VintageBritishComedy

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

Careful London! You might lose your status as the world's favourite no go zone.

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

When you only clean the house every 50 years, you find things like this: 'The Automotive Nightmare', by Alisdair Aird (1972). Great cover, and what's inside mostly still applies. e.g. Ch. 1: The True Cost of the Car Cult. A fun read, at least for this bicyclist. #RoadSafety #CarCulture

Front cover of paperback book, The Automotive Nightmare, by Alisdair Aird. Below an image of a (generic?) car - the front depicted from a low oblique angle - are the words:
THE RECORD BEATER
GREATER pollution than ever
EXCELLENT chance of killing or being killed
AMAZING and injurious noise levels
BETTER than £600 p.a. running costs [this is a 1974 reprint]
SUPERseded by next year's model

Alisdair Aird
THE AUTOMOTIVE NIGHTMARE
ARROW

Rear cover of paperback book, with three glowing reviews (Guardian, New Statesman and Times)

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

Christ was in Clerkenwell today, for the Festa Della Madonna Del Carmine, at the Italian Church. Here he carries his cross in the procession. Later on he appears again, this time being nailed to the cross by a Roman centurion, on the back of a flat bed truck. You don't need a photo of THAT tableau!

In bright sunshine, the figure of Christ, in white robes and sandals, is dragging a black wooden cross up Clerkenwell Road, accompanied by a Roman centurion. On the far pavement a crowd watches. A steward and copper, both in high vis jackets, stand in the road, chatting. Behind is the shop front for Terroni of Clerkenwell.

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 29/06/2025

Wendover House, the largest block on the Aylesbury Estate, Walworth, seen from Burgess Park. Now empty, protected by high fences and dog patrols, and awaiting demolition. Mixed feelings. Was the estate poor by design or just poorly managed? Anyway it will soon be gone, to be replaced by something.

Large (longer than tall) system built concrete housing block, lying empty and ready for demolition. The graffiti covered grey mass rises above the trees and parched grass of Burgess Park.

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

6am on a Sunday morning ride in Wapping, a car stopped beside me. The passenger, in his early 20s, engaged me in a friendly conversation. I had no idea what it was about, but we parted on good terms. On reflection I think he may have been selling drugs. Or looking to buy them. Flattering anyway.

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

Extraordinary folk art/graffiti on top of the river wall at Bermondsey Wall East. It seems to be a commentary of a lady queuing for QEII's lying-in-state (Sep '22). But something's odd. The work is dated Jun '23, and the flippant tone seems incongruous for a royalist. (Who else would queue 36 hrs?)

On a smooth horizontal surface of dark engineering bricks (the top of a wall) is a drawing in white pen of a skeleton in a coffin. The skeleton wears a crown and is a depiction of Queen Elizabeth II. Surrounding the coffin are various comments [see further images for details].

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

Over the road, builders have spent a few hours hauling materials up to the roof with a squeaky pulley. It's like having Trump's military parade passing the house.

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

Imperfect symmetry (Dorset House, Holloway Rd). A pair of modest shops perhaps. But look at the decorative features that have survived. The scrolls of the balustrade. The Greek meanders. The dentillated cornices. The finials. Cor! Admire the resolve to maintain the colour split across the plaque.

A pair of ?Georgian shop fronts. Each has a black roller blind, a single sash window above, and a parapet wall at the top. The right - Green Jade Chinese restaurant, the name printed on a yellow canopy. Above painted white. Ornamental balustrade with scrolls. Left, Chip'n Jerk (that's the menu, I presume). White illuminated letters. Sage green, to to bottom. Balustrade replaced with solid wall.

Deatil from previous, showing balustrade on right property, and Greek meander design on the central panel at the top. The left hand roof has a simple wall instead of the balustrade. Across the whole width is a dentillated cornice with many missing teeth. The name 'Dorset House' is an a plaque between the windows, painted half white and half sage green.

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

Continuing the journey along Cycle Route 12 (aka The Earl of Warwick's Anabasis in reverse). After 1/4 of a mile - mostly downhill - along Dancers Lane, I reach a gate. There's a C12 sign. I'm in the right place. Watch the stinging nettles.

Iron railing gates across the road. To the left is a gap wide enough for a bicycle to pass through on the way to the green space beyond.

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

Cycle Route 12, at Wash Lane, near South Mimms. There are reasons to think that this is the route followed by medieval travellers between London and St Albans. Watling St was in disrepair for some years, so Barnet, despite its hills, became the preferred option (as seen in the Gough Map c.1400).

Detail from the Gough Map of c.1400, owned by the Bodleian Library. It marks distances between London, Barnet (10 unknown units), and St Albans (10). East at the top.

Modern map (openstreetmap.org) showing Cycle Route 12 between Dancers Hill and Bignell's Corner. Wash Lane has been cut by the M25, and the path now deviates as it passes beneath the motorway.

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

This at Teddington Lock must rank among the ugliest Thames-side developments. Show me worse. Three 1990s apartment blocks (Regatta, Fairmile & Admiral Houses). Described by the council as "most distinctive". True. A migraine in ochre and terracotta. Like a cruise ship reflected in a broken mirror.

An ugly assemblage of forms by the river. A jumble of ochre and terracotta over several floors, in various planes, with white balconies and windows.

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 08/06/2025

Berkeley Homes, phoning it in. (Imperial Square, Finchley) Spot the difference.

Load bearing column clad in reconstituted stone (let's call it Portland). Some of the joins are at the front, and made more obvious by the dark mortar.

Architects elevation showing the face of each column as a single piece. No joins. Described as 'Cast stone square columns with recessed panel detail to all faces and square capitals and bases'.

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

I think this is the site of Rod Stewart's birth and childhood home. Look - he often behaves like a complete idiot, but he's a great singer with a beautiful soul, and this location needs some sort of monument. The campaign begins here!

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

These days the job of school caretaker is one of low wages, split shifts, and a maintenance schedule in the hands of the school bursar. Long ago and far away (in Kensal Rise), things were different. 'Residence', if you please! That's right lah-de-dah, like a proper aristocrat.

Decorative stonework cartouche with the words 'Caretaker's Residence'

Caretaker's house. A good size detached house in red brick with stonework details.

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 18/05/2025

South London is a foreign country. They do things differently there.

Street sign attached at the corner of a house. EMU ROAD S.W.

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

The top sign, before it fell, pointed to a single address: currently that of a legal adviser, but also subject of a planning application. Can anyone explain why the location merited a street sign? Will there be a paper trail? The sign in in LB Barnet while the address is Haringey.

Fallen street sign on pavement, displaying three notices. Top: black on white text on pointer sign (Cherry Hill Studio); Middle: Parking times; Bottom: Fire hydrant location.

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

Squalid chapters to be written about this country - there are enough to fill several volumes. Recent immigration policy wouldn't even make a footnote.

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

@timenw.bsky.social @mikeyashworth.bsky.social Looking at a planning application in East Finchley, I happened upon that same Metropolitan Water Board corridor we see in Golders Green.

Large scale, hand coloured map showing the land belonging to one house in Bancroft Avenue, East Finchley. Through the plot passes a wide (37') corridor marked 'Metropolitan Water Board'.

OS map showing path of water board corridor through a part of East Finchley

Aerial photo showing water board corridor through a part of East Finchley.

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

The extravagant ornamentation of this entrance leads archaeologists to believe that Postmen were a high status or priest caste. (Old sorting office, Winchmore Hill) >>>

Elaborate stone entrance. The arch above the double wooden doors is bedecked with swags. Above, the lintel is topped with a finial on either side, and in the panel below are the carved words "POSTMEN'S OFFICE"

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

View south along Stephenson St, Canning Town. A shimmering future viewed from a grotty past. One day there will be no industrial spaces left in the capital. All will be residential (and coffee shops).

View, under heavy grey cloud, along a street in an industrial area. On the left a long brick wall with mesh fence above stretches into the distance. Beyond that fence can be seen a Wickes warehouse and an assortment of new residential towers beyond. In the middle of the shot is a distant pylon, the cables stretching back over the viewer's head. In the foreground the road and pavement are empty, save for mud and an orange carrier bag. A sign post leans strongly to the right.

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

For what he did to the parish church, the children of Chipping Barnet learn early to spit on the memory of William Butterfield (1814 – 1900). They sing comic songs about his tasteless Gothic Revival, his flint and chequerboard flushwork. On the other hand, in certain lights, it looks rather nice.

St John the Baptist, Chipping Barnet. A large Victorian Gothic Revival thing - a symphony of flint chequerboard flushwork, gothic windows etc.

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

Garage in constant use (Leyton).

Garage door made up of four wooden panel doors. Perhaps repurposed interior house doors. The two left sections have been fixed shut with plywood and particle board offcuts, A hasp and staple lock secures the middle doors.Above, a faded printed notice reads 'NO PARKING, GARAGE IN CONSTANT USE, Thank You'.

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 27/04/2025

Wonderfully euphemistic notice at Barking Riverside. Is the problem tour buses?

Sign affixed to a lamp post by Barking & Dagenham Council and the Met Police, advising of a Public Space Protection Order. 'Vehicle cruising and spectating events prohibited' - a polite way to say 'No kerb-crawling or dogging!'

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

Municipal Branding Championship. London County Council 1, Hackney Council 0 LCC played a long game, while Hackney started brightly but faded.

Brick flank wall of LCC flats. Below, 'FERRY HOUSE' depicted in tiles (white lettering on black) in a frame of narrow brick slips. Above, a plastic sign with the same name. White lettering on green, but so faded it is near to illegible.

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

#mushroom #mushroomid Is anyone out there able to identify these mushrooms growing in the salad patch?

Two mushrooms. Small, slender and pale, with frilled conical caps.

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 20/04/2025

Trans-exclusionary builders yard. Wembley.

Iron gates of a builders yard. The largest sign shows a black silhouette of a person inside a crossed red circle. Above and below are the words 'No pedestrans'.

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

High Barnet's amazing shrinking building. 70 High St (once the notorious Bat & Goldfish Pub, AKA the Bat & Bloodbath). Some years ago the building was demolished and replaced with a taller and bulkier one - without permission, and only yards from Barnet Church, within the conservation area. >>>

After: The levels of the remodelled frontage match those of its neighbours.

Before: The ridge, roof line, and 1st and ground floor windows are higher than those of the adjacent building.

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 06/04/2025

Once the site of the Wood Green and Hornsey Steam Laundry. Now, (possibly) Victory vintage motorcycle repairs. Lately, Visual Packaging Ltd. No planning applications yet, but it may not be long. The chimney is listed, so we look forward to it becoming an ornamental feature of a nasty housing block.

Single storey post-war concrete factory unit (seen better days) glimpsed between encroaching greenery behind a chain link fence topped with barbed wire. A road sign reads 'Albert Close leading to Sakura Drive N22'. Behind the fence another sign, attached between two steel legs higher than the fence, reads 'Visual Packaging Ltd' in peeling and faded letters that are becoming hard to read.

Behind high wire mesh gates is a grey brick factory unit, behind which emerges a tall round chimney of similar colour brick. The chimney is encircled by four iron bands (for strength) and an array of communication devices. A white van is parked in the yard.

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

Tears of a clown. The former Jester pub in Mount Pleasant, Cockfosters. This window is as distressed by the building's condition as the neighbours are. Having been abandoned and neglected for many years by its then owners, it caught fire. Dark mutterings suggest it may have been deliberate. >>>

In the cracked and collapsing brickwork of a derelict pub, a window displays visible distress. The wooden frame, now a parallelogram, houses a sash window. The upper panes of glass have two roundish holes, and the lower panes are missing. The impression is that of an alarmed face.

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

High Road, N. Finchley. A misleading photo. Red & Black Restaurant didn't succeed the [?Fa]ncy Store. Several intermediate layers of archaeology have been removed, including evidence of the Welcome Restaurant that ceased trading by 2017. Red & Black opened 2019, oblivious to the approaching storm.

Abandoned shop front. Above a canopy, green with mould, half the sign reads 'Red & Bl', in red plastic letters on black background. Behind is the second half of a glass sign - probably 1960s - reading 'NCY STORE' in gold letters on black background.

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

Leaflet from 1995 (Tottenham). Bishop Akosa promises to bring the dead to life, and to perform sundry personal services during 40 days of Miracle Healing Power Thunder. Warning: The bishop employs some rather old fashioned terminology in his classifications of mental and physical conditions.

Side one of leaflet promoting Dr Bishop Akosa's ministry. He promises delivery from an assortment of physical, mental and spiritual maladies (including death itself). Includes a small passport style photo near the top of the page which is printed in blue monochrome.

Side two of leaflet promoting Dr Bishop Akosa's ministry. He promises delivery from an assortment of physical, mental and spiritual maladies (including death itself). The page, which is printed in blue monochrome, lists the focus of the ministries for each week of the 40 days.

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

Five years since the first Covid lockdown, when I started mapping my cycling journeys in and around London. Nothing against South London, but the rides are mostly done before breakfast, or late at night. There's only so far one can get (there and back) in three or four hours.

Map showing the extent of cycle journeys in London (also S. Herts) over the five years since the first lockdown. The network is densest between the Watling Street and the Lea Valley. Not much south of the river.

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

Leaflet #2 Mrs A Johnson in Central London. The only one with a written guarantee to solve all your problems. Is she qualified to advise on court cases? Yeah, well, have you dealt with lawyers? It's worth a punt. She cures all ailments unknown to modern medicine. What about the known ailments?

Leaflet text (rendered faithfully):
MRS. A JOHNSON
TAROT CARD & CRYSTAL BALL READINGS.
AURA & CANDLE READINGS.
Spiritual consultant, Advisor on court cases,
Lawsuits, Exams and Businesses. Known and
Recomended for her healing Ability to cure you
from all ailments unknown to modern medicine,She
can direct and guide you though love, marriage, |
family Problems and any physical, Emotional or |
mental illnesses That may be around you or |
your loved ones. She can restore your faith and |
self confidence and lift you out of life long |
sorrow and depression. |
She will protect you against Enemies and |
jealousy and remove any bad luck, Negitive
Energies, and all kinds of evil forces, her power |
never fails to reunite the seperated and bring
you out of darkness. |
Mrs Johnson’s Spiritual work is beyond compare
to others She’s the only one who as a
written gaurantee to Solve all your problems! |
RING TODAY FOR AN APPOINTMENT |
Tel: 020 7 ____________
OPEN:10.00am to 8.00pm 6 Days a week
ESTB: IN CENTREL LONDON |

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

From the archive. 1/? In the days before the internet, leaflets like this could often be found pinned to trees, or blowing around city centres. No longer though. I expect they all moved over to Facebook. The vocabulary is pretty standard, always coming with a 100% guarantee. Here's the first >>>

Plain leaflet with no picture. Text as follows:

**Let me destroy your problems before it destroys you**
BABA
Clairvoyant - Medium - Astrologer
I HAVE LONG EXPERIENCE
Genuine Spiritual Healer
Born gifted with spiritual power.
No matter what your problems are.
I can help you solve them by using the OCCULT SCIENCES
and the MOST POWERFUL SPELL.
Love / Relationships problems, Marriage, Health, Money,
To have Good Luck, Job, Infertility Problems
and Sexual Impotency.
If you are suffering from an unknown illness and
The pain is Inside your body, I can remove it
I will protect you from EVIL Forces
(Black Magic) and from all jealous ENEMIES.
DON’T SUFFER IN SILENCE.
You can see me again, for any other problems.

I WILL READ YOU and foresee what the future holds for you.
My work is serious with CONFIDENTIALITY and Quick Results
100% Guaranteed

Tel:- 020 ---------
Mobile:- 07929 -------------
Tanners End Lane, Edmonton, London
Buses: 144, 444, W6, 34 and 102

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Reposted by London innit!

LondonStreetGuide @londonstreetguide.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

With the stories of how more than 5,000 streets were named, we are (we think) London's biggest repository of the capital's topographical knowledge. (That's a lot of big words...) Find out how your London street got its name. londonstreetguide.com/a-to-z/

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

Platform Ticket Machine, made by Associated Automation Ltd, Duddon Hill Lane, Willesden. (?1960s) The machine operates without electricity (apart from the internal lamp). Thumb power raises the weight by insertion of the first 2 coins. The 3rd triggers the weight to fall, issuing the ticket. >>

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

Tally Ho, North Finchley. Sometime around the mid 00s, in response to Labour's ID card plan, Tory MP David Davis set himself up as the parliamentary voice of civil liberties. Yet here he is, a couple of years earlier, snipping the ribbon on a decidedly liberty limiting alcohol-free zone. >>>

Dirty brushed aluminium plaque, set on a black wooden board and screwed to a mossy wall. Dating from 2004, it records the unveiling of the plaque by David Davis MP, marking the inauguration of an alcohol-free zone in North Finchley, in the presence of Barnet Mayor Melvin Cohen.

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

'...MIND THE DOGGY DO-DO' ...but what's that in the tree? (Burnt Oak)

Stencilled lettering on a rusty sign, reading '...MIND THE DOGGY DO-DO'. Bag of the same hanging in nearby tree. Foggy weather. Burnt Oak, London.

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Reposted by London innit!

Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

Huge win! Government announces plans to open up the Land Registry. If delivered, will finally reveal more about who owns land in England and Wales. Read my blog post for more details & how you can write to the Minister to make sure this now happens: whoownsengland.org/2025/03/06/h... 🧵1/

whoownsengland.org

Huge win! Government announces plan to open up Land Registry

This post is by Guy Shrubsole. Today the UK Government has announced plans to open up the Land Registry – which, if delivered, will finally reveal more about who owns land in England and Wale…

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

From the family archive. Confidential Memo, LBHackney, 1974. A complaint that glazing contractors were being engaged against the express instructions of the manager, and orders he had cancelled had quietly been resubmitted. "The orders concerned were for glazing in the public area of blocks >>>

London Borough of Hackney internal memo, 1974. Image not high enough resolution to read - to save embarrassment .

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

This morning the postman brought me 'From Bow to Biennale'. Things are looking up!

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 16/02/2025

From the family papers. 15/05/79 the Queen's Speech set out plans for Thatcher's 1st term. One line caused panic in town halls. "Legislation will be introduced to promote greater efficiency in local government, including regulation of the activities of local authority direct labour organisations".

Letter (17th May 1979) from Hackney Council Building Manager to the Union Convenor, outlining the effects of the recent Queen's Speech on the Direct Labour force, and asking for co-operation and a recognition that restrictive practices might threaten the organisation.

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

Cockfosters water tower (1968), on the edge of Trent Park. Can such a delicate thing be described as 'brutalist'?

Grey silhouette of a concrete water tower viewed through fog. The main tank, a shallow cylinder, is supported by an elegant lattice of concrete struts (a hyperbolloid structure, if you want to know!). On top sprouts a forest of phone masts. The foreground is a concrete roadway with trees and shrubs to the left and utility buildings to the right

Concrete water tower. The main tank, a shallow cylinder, is supported by an elegant lattice of concrete struts (a hyperbolloid structure). On top sprouts a forest of phone masts. In the foreground is a group of green steel utility buildings, and a roadway leading to a red brick building beyond the water tower.

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

I feel bad about criticising this development near Tufnell Park. After all, both the planning dept and the developer have taken considerable trouble to make the new resemble the old. Trouble is, while it's hard to point to any terrible errors, the thing just looks... ...wrong. >>>

View down the middle of a street. On the left is a parade of ?Edwardian shops. The upstairs windows are arched with decorative stonework in white. Opposite is a short terrace of new build town houses designed to match the shops opposite, but not entirely succeeding. Annotation reads '...derived from, & in harmony with, the existing street facade opposite'.

View along street. Superimposed are the words 'The uncanny valley detected in the built environment'.

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

No tour of London is complete without a visit to this repaired wall in Edmonton. The bricks of the old wall are laid in 'English bond', i.e. headers and stretchers in alternate offset courses. Yet by the time the rebuilt wall reaches the gate [pic 2] there is a transition to 'stacked bond'. >>>

A red brick wall, and a factory gate clad in red and whiteish bands of polythene. At the gate support end, the wall has been rebuilt, and that portion also has green metal railings above. A corrugated factory roof can be seen behind. In front a 'Nobel Road' sign, and a signpost indicating road humps with an advert: 'Hand Car Wash from £8'.

Detail from the above photo. Quarters. Bottom left: brick wall with stacked bond brick pattern, Top left: green metal vertical railings. Top right: Corrugated factory roof. Bottom right: Gate clad in red and white bands of polythene.

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London innit! @londoninnit.bsky.social · 01/02/2025

What's wrong with this? Everything! - The notion of private tuition solely aimed at passing the 11 Plus. - The graphics (typefaces, artwork, colours, layout). - The 1 star out of 5. Was somebody having a laugh? - A sign so large that it obstructs the view of the flower bed... >>>

A large and ugly advertising board set in a neglected raised flower bed. The advert is for private tuition aimed at passing the 11 Plus exam.

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