h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The spiky thing just after the pictures of Victoria Station is the Charing Cross, a Victorian replica of the original Charing Cross, which was a religious monument in memory of Eleanor of Castile (1241 - 1290), Queen of England.

The Hippodrome Casino:

http://www.google.ie/maps/@51.511228,-0.128385,3a,75y,334.45h,103.45t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s4I7PGbKADTcXVEklFpRscw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1

The William Gilson Humphry Fountain on Adelaide Street/Duncannon Street:

http://www.google.ie/maps/place/Adelaide+St,+London+WC2N+4HW,+UK/@51.5086111,-0.1258125,3a,40.9y,314.74h,84.82t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1saLittCgOuTPY8Ug0YZ3nBw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DaLittCgOuTPY8Ug0YZ3nBw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D10.276801%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656!4m2!3m1!1s0x487604ce8461f4b1:0xdb0e6ec9025cc735

Looking down Villiers Street, London, just beside the Charing Cross:

http://www.google.ie/maps/@51.5087496,-0.1250144,3a,75y,135.25h,87.06t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sFddsj1Du4N0LK4Ln8eQGgQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Well spotted Icy. I must have when you spotted that corner near Vauxhall Station.

That was our last day in London. The previous days were packed with tourist trips to various cathedrals and things like the London Tower and Madame Tussauds (I didn't bother posting the images I took of David Bowie and Charles Manson's statues). On my way into the city from Gatwick I spotted the Battersea Power Station. On our last day they gave us a free day to do as we wished, to strike out on our own. Most of the group made a beeline for the brand new Hard Rock Cafe. There were only three at the time, London, New York, and Paris (or was it L.A.?). They opened one in Houston just a year or two after this, so I didn't miss anything. I grabbed one other guy from my school and we trekked out to the Battersea area. It was a welcome change from all the history and touristy stuff. Unfortunately, I dropped my wallet in front of the Battersea Dog's Home. I only had £50/$80 in it, but that was a big chunk of the $250 I had brought for the full ten days. I made up for it later that night at the pub in the Prince of Wales Hotel on the edge of Hyde Park where we were staying (we never did go to the park itself). It was pointed out to me that the tokens paid out from the poker/slot machine in the corner could be redeemed for cash. I had just been putting the tokens back in. I figured out how to beat this game and I made back most of my £50. From then on I paid for all my drinks by finding similar machines. I don't gamble, this was skill. I'm sure they found the flaw shortly after I was there.


Gnomon, I believe you are correct. I think that probably was Glastonbury Tor and St. Michael's Tower. After looking at the area map, I'm thinking I confused the names of Brighton and Bristol. All I can remember was that it was on the coast. We got there late in the day and basically just went to our rooms to rest up for the ride back to Gatwick the next day and the flight home. They put us in an "American" hotel, with the first en suite bathrooms of the trip. We were all quite exhausted.

You just beat me to those, Gnomon

Any takers for the shopping street with the two eighties chicks? The sign on the right says "clockhouse" I think, not that that exists any more. Looks a bit Oxford Streety, but not quite.

This is great, guys.

I'll definitely have to put together a blog page with all the input and answers I've received here. (If I can figure out the proper way to do that well.)

That's Oxford Street in London all right. But the "clockhouse" building has been demolished. It's still there on some Google Streetview images and gone in others. Here's one where it still exists, with an Ann Summer sex toy shop where clockhouse once was. But if you go to the other side of the street in StreetView, it is demolished.

http://www.google.ie/maps/@51.516089,-0.1344228,3a,75y,84.37h,84.73t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1scQId5LHRcNwGex-OUdeRBg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Grim, if you flew home from Gatwick, you almost definitely stayed in Brighton the night before.

A while back I did a Streetview walk around the Battersea area and it's ALL unrecognizable.


Several of the shots I lost were from the same balcony (as best I can tell) that the original Animals album cover was shot from; the same precise angle. I suppose the building was what y'all call council flats. It had outside entrances and that day there were 5 young kids playing. They all wanted me to take their picture, so I lined them up at the end of the balcony/walkway with the power station in the background.

That building is long gone now.

Oh, ok... thanks, Gnomon.


Like I mentioned, we were just there for the evening and didn't really get to look around much. I remember it had a nice, but rocky beach. I can't remember if we stayed on the beach or just walked down to it. It was all a fog by the end of the trip.

What age were you?


I went on a school trip to France and Germany when I was 12. I had no camera. I thought I remembered it well but when I went back to one of the places 9 years later, it was totally different from my memory.

I had JUST graduated highschool. 18.

I picked up one of the only vinyl singles I own on that trip. It was the number one hit in the UK at the time, Paul Hardcastle's "19". I wasn't even as old as "the average age of a soldier in Viet Nam was N-n-n-n-NINETEEN".

Everyone kept asking me if it was true that this song was banned in the US. Well, I hadn't heard it yet, but we don't ban songs in the US. It just hadn't hit the airwaves in Houston, TX yet. Houston radio sucks even more now than it did then.

What they're currently building at Battersea is mind-boggling. It's being funded with money from the Far East:

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/feb/14/battersea-nine-elms-property-development-housing

I pass it on the train each day, and my heart sinks each time I see it. You may also know that they are rebuilding the four power station chimneys. All four have been demolished and currently one new one is up.

I thought y'all might enjoy these images of the area from 31 years ago. That one of the woman standing alone at the bus stop with the windows knocked out across the street is one I've had printed; one of my favorites.

Thanks for the Oxford Street link, Gnomon. Definitely the cheap end - not far from Tottenham Court Road Station. The grand-looking department store in BG's photo on the right is now demolished, to be replaced by a massive development for the new Crossrail underground station.

it's a fantastic record of that time, such interesting photographs. Thanks for sharing them with us.

I'm glad the Battersea towers are going back up, but i'm disappointed with what's happening to the place. It had so much potential and over the years there had been some great ideas.

(and they really really must anchor an inflatable pig to one of the towers. They simply must do it)

I have some of these images on rotation for my laptop background. Just now, the one of the couple opening or closing the canal gate caught my attention once again...


And I noticed the dog!

I'm sure I noticed it long ago when I took the shot or when I first had them processed, but I don't know how many times I've glanced at this image as I start up my computer, looked at the couple, looked at the boat, admired the shot (even though it's horizontal and cropped on my desktop) and failed to notice the cute little cocker spaniel laying at the foot of the main hatch.

http://goo.gl/photos/ZiaAoeTk9jDUqcDu8


Oh!

I also recently found two more strips of film that I pulled decades ago to print my favorite two pics. One has the Battersea power station and the other a hotel in Bath with three girls in two windows.

If I can ever find the time I'll scan and post them. If I find a bit more time, I'll organize this better and maybe write up something about it.

That is a narrow canal! Most Irish canals are twice that width. You can fit two of those narrow boats side by side in an Irish lock. (We only have three real canals).

Nice to see this photo, taken in Stratford from the Warwick Road lock looking up to the houses in Kendall Avenue where I was born. Thanks for posting it