Loch Ness or London?

There's been talk of strange sightings along the Thames at night. One rumour tells of a creature so far only labelled “Classification Pending”:

"Witness a new life form living in the Thames... Only appearing at dusk, they develop into an apparition – like creatures of folklore before them."

I had to investigate, so armed with my camera-phone and notebook I took to the streets of London at sunset. By the time I got to London Bridge, as guided by my "Here-be-Monsters"-Map, the almost-full moon was rising slowly over the skyline towards Tower Bridge in the East.



My search began on the south bank, moving north over the bridge, keeping a close eye on the water below. I arrived on the other side of the river without spotting anything exceptional, but wasn't discouraged and decided to get closer to the water level by going down the dark, deserted stairway leading to the Thamespath.



After a while the icy night wind turned my nose into a red, runny block of ice and the thought of abandoning the monster-hunt crossed my mind, but then I saw something gliding through the water without a sound, not far from the shore. It was only visible for a moment, but I instinctively knew that this is what I came to see and quickly went back up to street level on the bridge for a better view.



I joined a small group of people already hanging over the side of the bridge, watching the water attentively. The air was filled with a sense of wonder as they whispered to each other and then someone broke the silence: “Look at that!”, followed by cries of “There it is!” and “Cool...”. From the depths a creature emitting a faint white glow emerged, first only showing glimpses of itself, later swimming just below the surface for longer periods of time before vanishing again.
I activated the night mode setting on my camera and chose a high exposure to make sure I got evidence of what I just witnessing. I filmed the dark river for what felt like ages, hoping for another appearance, the cold numbing my fingers, making it hard to keep a firm grip on my camera. Sure enough, the waves were illuminated once more, this time by two of the mysterious animals. Later they were even joined by a smaller, playful little one and for a moment I was wondering if this was London or Loch Ness:



For related sightings seen around London, like the perpetually sinking sailboat or the ghostly green outline of the old Blackfriars Rail Bridge appearing on it's former posts after dark:




Visit http://www.drift.org.uk/ .

Illumini

The first thing you notice as you go down the steps is the stuffy, mouldy, yet strangely inviting smell. An old, damp, decaying, woodiness mixing with the smoke of burning incense.

Your eyes have to adjust to the darkness as you move into the depths, following the deep, hollow "doof-doof, doof-doof" of a heartbeat booming through a sound system with a lot of bass somewhere further down.

This is the crypt under St. Pancras, one of London's famous old churches. Once a burial place, the past few days it has been the striking venue for a free art exhibition. Illumini is a collection of sculptures, paintings, photographs, installations and other creations by 15 artist with one thing in common: they all use light in their work, either as subject or as medium. With themes like man's relationship with technology, perception of space and reality and the properties of light itself represented with neon, laser and projected and glowing light, the contrasting dark crypt is the perfect backdrop for this fascinating display of light. For more info go to www.illuminievent.co.uk/


































My new computer, combined with the uninspiring weather, kept me indoors for most of last week. Even as I left for the exhibition on Saturday morning it was cool and cloudy and it took some self-persuasion to leave the house, but by the time I came out of the crypt it had changed into a cheerful autumn day and I was eager to get to the Thames Festival. Before heading back south of the river however, I wanted to explore the area a bit more. This is when I came across the Hobgoblin and - once again - couldn't leave without parting with money I didn't really have (no, The Hobgoblin is not a pub...). More about my latest purchase in my next post, which should be up soon.