Photo-a-day 53: Roar!
I’ve walked past this little critter on London Bridge at least 100 times over the past year, but never really noticed him until today!
This post was filed under: Photo-a-day 2014, Scrapbook.
Photo-a-day 52: The Morocco Store
This former Victorian warehouse which has been converted into apartments is just off Bermondsey Street in London.
This post was filed under: Photo-a-day 2014, Scrapbook.
Photo-a-day 51: Biscuit bowl
I very rarely buy biscuits, so being offered one after giving blood is always a treat. Today’s selection was sadly lacking in bourbons, though…!
This post was filed under: Photo-a-day 2014, Scrapbook.
Photo-a-day 50: Beautiful science
This is a map from the Chief Medical Officer’s forthcoming annual report (which I’m editing), currently on display at the British Library as part of their excellent Beautiful Science exhibition. There’s also a copy of the last annual report beneath the map, ready to be exchanged for the new one when it is published. The exhibition opens tomorrow (though I was lucky enough to get to see it a day early), and runs until 26th May.
This post was filed under: Photo-a-day 2014, Scrapbook.
Photo-a-day 49: Notice
This notice is carved into St Mary Magdalen Bermondsey, an Anglican church in London. The name of the Rector dates it to the 1860s or thereabouts (though it did strike me as somewhat short-sighted to carve the name of the Rector into the very fabric of the building… surely they knew he wouldn’t be around forever? It’s been out of date for well over a century now!)
This sign intrigued me; I’m not embarrassed to confess that my ecclesiastical knowledge didn’t extend to understanding the word “churchings”. It turns out that a “churching” was a Church of England service for women who had recently given birth, thanking God for “the safe deliverance and preservation from the great dangers of childbirth”. It is no longer practised – presumably, people prefer to thank hygiene and medicine rather than God nowadays.
In the late 1800s, childbirth was a dangerous business in England: about 1 in 200 births ended in the mother’s death. These days, the figure is many, many times smaller: about 1 in 10,000. Yet, unbelievably, there are some countries, like Somalia, Nigeria, Sudan, and Sierra Leone, where mothers giving birth today face a higher risk of death than those in England in the late 1800s. I wonder if they still practice “churchings”.
This post was filed under: Photo-a-day 2014, Scrapbook.
Photo-a-day 48: House of Cards
House of Cards is the best thing on TV since The Killing, and series 2 – at least judging from the nine episodes I’ve seen so far – is even better than series 1.
This post was filed under: Photo-a-day 2014, Scrapbook.
Photo-a-day 47: Simple
It’s so simple, Sainsbury’s needs a whole other leaflet to list the terms and conditions…!
This post was filed under: Photo-a-day 2014, Scrapbook.