Category: England

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110 The Queen’s Walk London

Modern curved glass 10 floor office building with Tower Bridge behind at dusk under a clear blue sky.

Formally known as City Hall this curved glass 10 floor office building is 110 The Queen’s Walk. Seen here at dawn. The red light in the lower right of the frame is a light trail from a cyclist’s light. This curve nicely matches the blue lights from The Scoop. The iconic Tower Bridge is off to the left. Complete with the pink and blue of the clear dawn sky I don’t know why I didn’t share this photo 7 years ago when I took it in 2019. Over the years I have photographed this building a number of times. First when it was City Hall in 2007. A year later I was lucky enough to get access to the inside which has an amazing staircase. One of my best shots of Tower Bridge was taken from the 9th floor balcony which was made into a jigsaw.

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Oxford Street in Manchester

A street scene featuring a prominent clock tower in the background, surrounded by buildings and trees.

This photograph was taken on Oxford Street looking north towards St Peter’s Square in the heart of the Manchester’s city centre. It was a quick snap on my iPhone in May 2022 when I was walking around Manchester with my dad. Returning to a once very familiar place can stir up a variety of different emotions. From 2006 to 2009 I lived on Chester Street just a few hundred metres from where this was taken. For three years I walked up and down Oxford Street daily. Somethings hadn’t changed. The Kimpton Clocktower Hotel for example looked the same, despite its new name. The biggest visually change is on the right of this photograph. The huge red modern office building of Circle Square. Central Manchester has changed a lot in the last 10-15 years.

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Christmas Metrolink tram Manchester

A bright yellow tram moves across the city centre square with a large Santa sculpture made of Christmas lights in the background.

Happy Christmas from St. Peter’s Square in Manchester. This was taken last year in November 2024 when I was in town just as the Christmas lights and market had started for the year. Back in 2007 I took a similar blurred tram photograph, St. Peter’s Square Metrolink at Night. I didn’t think it would take me 17 years to retake this photograph. This more recent photograph above was taken on a tripod but only a quarter of a second exposure and no flash. This captured more of the tram but still some movement. Putting the two photos side by side I can see how my photography has improved over the years. 

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Port of Liverpool Building

A large three domed building featuring many windows, highlighting its grand scale.

The Port of Liverpool Building is a huge office building completed in 1907. It is designed in the Edwardian Baroque style by Sir Arnold Thornely and F.H. Hobbs. Originally it was the headquarters of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board. It’s one of the largest and most iconic buildings around the Pier Head, a riverside location in the city centre. This photograph was taken in 2018 from George Parade looking across the Liverpool Canal link.