St Paul's Churchyard

St Pauls and around Guildhall – 1994

St Pauls and around Guildhall: More panoramas from my days wandering the City of London in July 1994. Most of these pictures are in my Flickr album 1994 London Colour.

Cathedral Steps, St Paul's Churchyard, City, 1994, 94-706-12 — *Cathedral Steps, St Paul’s Churchyard, City, 1994, 94-706-12*

I took relatively few pictures of St Paul’s Cathedral, and here it is only visible in deep shadow at right. In the centre are the rather bland blocks of Juxon House, built in 1963 rather a long time after much of the area was destroyed by German bombs and subject to a long campaign (with Royal support) for demolition along with others when Paternoster Square was redeveloped.

Unfortunately its replacement – and Juxon House was worse. Icannot better the description by Jonathan Glancey in The Guardian when the new block was completed in 2003 who called it “A mockery of the language of classical architecture, this Paternoster office block is kitsch writ gross, a kind of two fingers up to Wren and Hawksmoor, who worked so hard to create the peerless dome and west towers of St Paul’s.” In his article he also gives some of the reasons that led to this new carbuncle.

The area around the Guildhall was fascinating in many ways in the 1990s, in part for its contrasting architectural styles which you can see here. At left is One Love Lane, a 1989 building refurbished in 2015-6. In the centre is the back of One Aldermanbury Square, built for Standard Chartered Bank in 1990, but significantly remodelled after they left in 2013. The Insurance Hall, 20 Aldermanbury, has the inscription by its door ‘THIS BUILDING WAS OPENED BY HIS MAJESTY KING GEORGE V ACCOMPANIED BY HER MAJESTY QUEEN MANY ON THE TWENTY EIGHT DAY OF JUNE MCMXXXIV THE TWENTY FIFTH YEAR OF HIS MAJESTY’S REIGN’. It was home to the Chartered Insurance Institute until 2018.

*Guildhall Piazza, City, 1994, 94-707-32*

Looking towards the The North Wing (formerly known as the North Block) of the Guildhall, constructed in 1955-58 to a 1930s design by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. At right is the back of the Insurance Hall. At left the 1972 sculpture ‘Beyond Tomorrow‘ by Karin Jonzen (1914-1998); her parents were Swedish but she was born in London and studied at the Slade.

The piazza was a pleasant place to sit on sunny days and I sometimes ate my sandwiches there. The back of the North Wing and that end of the piazza were modified around 2006 to improve access and create more office space.

*Beyond Tomorrow, Karin Jonzen, Guildhall Piazza, City, 1994, 94-707-31*

A closer view of Karin Jonzen’s sculpture and beyond it one of my favourite modern London buildings, the Grade II listed former exhibition hall, magistrates court and offices at 65 and 65a Basinghall Street designed by Richard Gilbert Scott (1923-2017) of Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, Son and Partner and built in 1966-69. He was the “fourth generation of Britain’s best-known architectural dynasty” according to the listing text, which for once is very informative about the architect and the building.

As the listing says, his “stylish use of pre-cast concrete shell vaulting at the Guildhall was a response to the existing Gothic architecture of the site” – where he had been involved with his father Sir Giles in rebuilding the bomb-damaged Gothic Guildhall.

*Bassishaw Highwalk, Basinghall St, City, 1994, 94-707-11*

Just to the north, seen from the Highwalk just as it emerges from under Richard Gilbert Scott’s building is one of my favourite views in the City, again showing different architectural styles.

At left is 55 Basinghall St, City Place House, a substantial post-modern building from 1988-1992 by Swanke Hayden Connell. Work began on its demolition in 2021 for the building of a 13-storey office block by Allies & Morrison, which also involved the “partial demolition, reconfiguration and refurbishment of the basement, lower ground, ground and mezzanine floors of 40 Basinghall Street” – City Tower in my picture.

*Basinghall St, Bassishaw Highwalk, City, 1994, 94-707-22*

A second view from another section of Highwalk shows the same corner looking along Basinghall Street.

More from this part of the City in a later post.

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IWW Demand ‘Reinstate Alberto’, Occupy & London, 2012

IWW Demand ‘Reinstate Alberto’, Occupy & London: On Friday 10th February 2012 I came to London to photograph a rush hour protest calling for the reinstatement of an office cleaner sacked for his union activities. I came early to wander a little from Waterloo and pay a visit to Occupy London on the way there, and also took a few pictures on my way home after the protest.

IWW Cleaners Demand ‘Reinstate Alberto’ – Heron Tower, Bishopsgate

IWW Demand 'Reinstate Alberto', Occupy & London, 2012

Cleaners were protesting outside the 230 metre tall Heron Tower (now Salesforce Tower) at 110 Bishopsgate, completed in 2007 when it then was the tallest building in the City of London.

Alberto Durango
IWW Demand 'Reinstate Alberto', Occupy & London, 2012 — *Alberto Durango speaks outside Heron Tower*

The protest called for the reinstatement of IWW Branch Secretary Alberto Durango who had been sacked, victimised for his trade union activities, after the cleaning contract for the building had been taken over by a new contractor, Incentive FM Group Ltd.

Alberto who worked as a cleaner in the Heron Tower had become well known for his campaigning activities in and around the City of London, which have helped to secure better working conditions and the London Living Wage for many of the cleaners who work in London’s prestigious offices. He was then the Industrial Workers of the World Cleaners and Allied Trades Branch Secretary and in 2011 had won the fight for workers at Heron Tower to be paid the London Living Wage and an agreement with the then employer that there would be no redundancies there with any staff reductions needed being made by transfers to alternative posts.

Under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE) the new employer should have continued to recognise this agreement. Instead they refused to do so and picked on Alberto, making him redundant.

The same management also controlled Exchange Tower where the IWW were carrying out a campaign to get cleaners the London Living Wage and where they have taken a very aggressive stance against the union, threatening the union members. The protesters connected Alberto’s sacking with his role there as union Branch Secretary.

This was a very loud protest with speakers using a powerful megaphone and drummers from Rhythms of Resistance adding their loud beats as office workers from Heron Tower and the many other offices in the area were making their way home in the evening rush hour.

The pavement outside the area owned by Heron Tower on Bishopsgate is relatively narrow and police rightly insisted that there needed to be a clear route along it for workers to get past without having to step into the busy road. So my 15mm fisheye lens was extremely useful, though it does make the area look much more spacious than it was.

In February the protest began a quarter of an hour after sunset, and light was fading fast. Although the City streets are generally well light both from street lighting and by the light from the huge areas of glass on the front of modern buildings I used added lighting for many of the pictures, either with a hand held LED light or flash on camera. But neither light source can cover the 180 degree diagonal view of the fisheye and those pictures rely on available light only. Its f2.8 maximum aperture helped – and it was a stop faster than the wide-angle zoom used for almost all the other images. In some at least of the pictures I think the fish-eye effect works well too.

More at IWW Cleaners Demand Reinstate Alberto.

Occupy London & Other Pictures – St Paul’s Cathedral

Although there were still plenty of tents in St Paul’s Churchyard as I walked through they were all tightly closed and the occupiers were still out protesting the music anti-piracy proposals at the British Music House in Soho.

I was a disappointed at not meeting any of them, although I hadn’t arranged to do so and it did allow me to take a few pictures of the site without any distractions, though by the time I’d wandered there taking a few pictures on the way including from the Millenium footbridge I was in a hurry to get to the Heron Tower.

After the protest at the Heron Tower I took a bus back to Westminster and made a few pictures in the subway leading from the station to the Houses of Parliament and under the Emabankment towards the Thames before walking across the bridge and to Waterloo Station.

More pictures Occupy London Still At St Pauls.

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Occupy London Begins – 2011

Occupy London Begins: On Saturday 15 Oct 2011 over 2000 protesters came to St Paul’s Cathedral as a part of a world-wide ‘Occupy’ protest “Inspired by Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Spring, and answering to the call out made by the Spanish Plataforma ¡Democracia Real YA! in May 2011 for a Global Day Of Action” and Occupy London began.

Similar protests were taking place in “Spain, Rome, New York, Portugal, Chile, Berlin,Brussels, Zageb, and many more … inspired by the example of Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Spring.”

Although people from various groups were present, including the Education Activists Network, Socialist Workers Party, Anonymous, Right to Work, UK Uncut, South London Solidarity Federation and there were several well known figures present who spoke including Peter Tatchell and Julian Assange, the whole movement deliberately lacked overall organisation with all decisions being taken by General Assemblies with the slogan ‘No Leaders, No Hierarchy’.

The event had actually come about from one such assembly on Sunday 9th October at the end of the ‘Block the Bridge NHS Protest‘ when a ‘General Assembly’ of several hundreds had come together at the north end of Westminster Bridge to discuss and endorse a planned occupation of the London Stock Exchange area.

In response to this the Stock Exchange obtained a High Court injunction to prevent public access to Paternoster Square, one of the increasingly large areas which appear to be public space in the city but are actually now privately owned, although previously Paternoster Row was a public street and police were present in force to enforce this injunction.

Most of the several thousand protesters were intent on an entirely peaceful protest, calling for a democratic revolution to “fight for a new political and economic system that puts people, democracy and the environment before profit.” They saw that “Our political elites have chosen to protect corporations, financial institutions and the rich at the expense of the majority.“

After a few short speeches a few hundred protesters, led by the banner of the Education Activist Network made and attempt to enter the square through Temple Bar, but police on foot and horses were waiting for them, and the relatively narrow entrance of the Bar, moved here a few years ago, was designed to be easily defended.

They then made a tour around the block containing the Stock Exchange but found the narrow passages leading to Paternoster Square heavily defended by police. When finally they found one with only a thin line of a thin line of police, the protesters hesitated for long enough for the police to bring up reinforcements. It was probably for the best as they would have immediately been easily kettled inside the square had they got in.

Eventually a General Meeting began on the steps of St Paul’s. There were a few minor scuffles when police pushed protesters around, which could probably have been avoided had police explained clearly that they only intended to clear a path to clear a path into and out of the cathedral at one end of the steps. Several people were arrested then and later.

I decided to leave, as it really seemed unlikely that anything much more would happen for some time. As I was leaving, police decided to block Ludgate Hill, but along with a group of several hundred protesters I managed to get through their line as it was forming.

*The General Assembly takes a show of hands to remain at St Paul’s*

Police continued to clear protesters from the steps of St Paul’s and urging people to leave the area, but many set up tents on the level area of St Paul’s Churchyard and the occupation had begun – and was to remain in place until finally removed on 28th February 2012. You can read a great deal about the occupation in the Occupy London web site which includes the various statements agreed by consensus at Occupy London General Assemblies. Unfortunately Wikipedia’s article on Occupy London is unusually poor and misleading about the events of 15th October.

More at Occupy London Kept Out Of Stock Exchange

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