London 2009

On the pavement in front of St John's Church, Ladbroke Grove, Notting Hill. See where this picture was taken. [?]

The Line of Beauty , by Alan Hollinghurst. This is the street where the Fedden family lives. See where this picture was taken. [?]

The Line of Beauty , by Alan Hollinghurst. Looking into Kensington Park Gardens (private). The Fedden household are keyholders. The communal gardens were as much a part of Nick's romance of London as the house itself: big as the central park of some old European city, but private, and densely hedged on three sides with holly and shrubbery behind high Victorian railings. There were one or two places, in the surrounding streets, where someone who wasn't a keyholder could see through to a glade among the planes and tall horse chestnuts -- across which perhaps a couple would saunter or an old lady wait for her even slower dog. See where this picture was taken. [?]

The Line of Beauty , by Alan Hollinghurst. Kensington Park Gardens. In the miniseries, the Feddens live at #29 (just to the left out of this shot; there was a truck parked in front so the photo op wasn't good). The book doesn't give an exact house number. The filming for the miniseries was actually done in Tredegar Square in the East End rather than here in Kensington Park Gardens. See where this picture was taken. [?]

The Line of Beauty , by Alan Hollinghurst. Kensington Park Gardens (the street). And Nick was in residence, and almost, he felt, in possession. He loved coming home to Kensington Park Gardens in the early evening, when the wide treeless street was raked by the sun, and the two white terraces stared at each other with the glazed tolerance of rich neighbours. See where this picture was taken. [?]

The Line of Beauty , by Alan Hollinghurst. Sign says: "Private Garden Subscribers Only." The people who live in houses surrounding the garden are keyholders. See where this picture was taken. [?]

The Line of Beauty , by Alan Hollinghurst. I think the garden behind the Feddens house is actually Ladbroke Square Gardens. Nick describes the garden as being as big as Central Park. LSG is the largest private garden in London. See where this picture was taken. [?]

The Line of Beauty , by Alan Hollinghurst. Notting HIll Gate. Nick and Leo often went to the cinema in NHG, but I'm not sure which of the two it was. See where this picture was taken. [?]

The Line of Beauty , by Alan Hollinghurst. Notting HIll Gate. Nick and Leo often went to the cinema in NHG, but I'm not sure which of the two (the Coronet or the Gate) it was. Also seen in the movie "Notting Hill." See where this picture was taken. [?]

The Line of Beauty , by Alan Hollinghurst. Near the end of the book, Nick walks along Rotten Row in Hyde Park. The sweet chestnuts were just beginning to drop from the trees on the left when I was there. There was so much to think about, and the Park itself seemed pensive, the chestnuts standing in pools of their shed leaves, the great planes, slower to change, still towering tan and gold; but all he wanted to do was march along. A group of young women on horseback came trotting down Rotten Row, and he crossed behind them, over the damp, crusted sand. He didn't mind the north-easterly breeze. It was the time of year when the atmosphere streamed with unexpected hints and memories, and a paradoxical sense of renewal. See where this picture was taken. [?]

Not a very good photo (these guys hop around like crazy), but I was fascinated by them. Of course I'd heard of magpies, but I always thought they were all black like crows. The blue-green on their wings and tail is really iridescent. See where this picture was taken. [?]

These are bold little blighters. They jumped right up on my table and stared at me as I was eating a croissant at the tea hut in Kensington Gardens. See where this picture was taken. [?]

Designed by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of the Japanese architecture practice SANAA. See where this picture was taken. [?]

Designed by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of the Japanese architecture practice SANAA. See where this picture was taken. [?]

Designed by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of the Japanese architecture practice SANAA. See where this picture was taken. [?]

Designed by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of the Japanese architecture practice SANAA. This one looks like chromosomes to me. See where this picture was taken. [?]

Designed by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of the Japanese architecture practice SANAA. See where this picture was taken. [?]

by Waleska. Hoxton Street. See where this picture was taken. [?]