London's only lighthouse, Trinity Buoy Wharf

London's only lighthouse is at Trinity Buoy Wharf, next to East India Dock, on the Thames.

I took the DLR train to East India and walked to the docks. They are located in Blackwall, northeast of the Isle of Dogs. Firstly I walked along the Thames and had a good view of the O2 arena.

The Virginia Quay Settlers Monument faces the O2 and commemorates the departure of settlers for Jamestown, Virginia (USA) in 1606. The bronze plaque was put up in 1928 and the stone and bronze monument in 1951.

I then walked the short distance to the East India Dock Basin. This is one of the 1400 beacons that were lit for the new millennium in 2000 -

The docks were constructed between 1803 and 1806 for the East India Company ships sailing to Blackwall. Today the basin is now a salt marsh wildlife sanctuary. There weren't many birds there when I visited.

I went onto Trinity Buoy Wharf

This is on the confluence of the Thames and Bow Creek. Walking to the wharf entrance there is a major building site to the left, for high rise apartments etc, and on the right are some old ship builders buildings

The wharf came into use in 1803 by Trinity House as a maintenance depot and storage for buoys as well as a dock for the lightships. The original lighthouse was demolished in 1922, leaving the second, which was built in 1864-66.

However the lighthouse was never used as an actual lighthouse. Instead it was used to test lighting systems for Trinity House's lights around England and Wales. Michael Faraday carried out experiments there. Both lighthouses were also used for training prospective lighthouse keepers.

Michael Faraday (1791 – 1867) was an English scientist best remembered for his study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. He worked on the construction and operation of lighthouses as well as high-quality optical glass for lighthouses. His workshop still stands, it's the wooden hut in the photo above. This is the inside -

A few weeks later I went to Highgate West Cemetery and saw the grave of Michael Faraday -

The wharf was closed in 1988. Container City then arrived, used as studios. Now the whole area is used as an art centre by the University of East London.

There are also a few relics stored outside

The lighthouse is now home to the "Long Player". This is a musical composition that will play for 1000 years. It is a unique sound installation and features a 20 minute recording of the sound of Tibetan singing bowls, continuously repeated. It is infinitely varied by a computer programme that ensures the same sequence of sound will never be heard more than once in 1000 years. 
Unfortunately the lighthouse was closed when I visited due to the Covid-19 lockdown. You should be able to hear the live stream online, see longplayer.org (I couldn't get it to work). See more on the Longplayer Trust.

Kensal Green - a Magnificent Seven London cemetery

Kensal Green cemetery was the 4th of the Magnificent Seven London cemeteries that I have visited. The last one I visited prior to this was Tower Hamlets.

Kensal Green is located in northwest London, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is on the Bakerloo underground line. The cemetery was originally known as the General Cemetery of All Souls, and is the oldest of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries and it is still in operation. It was opened in 1833.

The cemetery is quite long but narrow. I went in the West Gate. To the west of that is the St Mary's Cemetery and the West London crematorium. Along the southern border is the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal.

The cemetery is in Neoclassical style, (this began in the mid 18th century in Italy and France). There are a large number of Gothic monuments and some large mausoleums. A lot of structures are listed and the cemetery is listed Grade I on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

A lot of structures had the entrance bricked up like this one, of Gen. Sir John Aitchison GCB (1789-1875). To the left is the mausoleum of H.R.H. The Duke of Cambridge (1819-1904)

This one is interesting, the grave of Andrew Ducrow (1793-1842). He was a circus performer and horse-rider and often called the "Father of British circus equestrianism". It is on the Main Avenue and one of the most decorated tombs in the cemetery with pagan decorations from Greek and Egyptian sources, hence the Sphinx.

Another ornate grave, Gen. Sir William Casement (1780-1844), of the Bengal Army.

Gas holder at Kensington gas works.

Athough there are a lot of notable burials in the cemetery, the main one I was interested in was that of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. He was one of England's most notable civil engineers. He worked on The Thames Tunnel, and places I know well - the Clifton Suspension Bridge at Bristol, the Great Western Railway including the Box Tunnel. He died aged 53 in 1859.

I was expecting (hoping for) a really elaborate grave so was quite disappointed when I found it is just a family site, and his name is just one of many on the headstone.

And on the side of the headstone are names of more recent burials, the great granddaughter of
I.K. Brunel.

The gravestone has been restored and cleaned, after suffering from subsidence.
See more on Brunel's grave.


Kensal Green Cemetery webpage.

Parakeets eating young shoots on trees

The annoying parakeets are back, feeding on young shoots in the morning and evening. They are a bird I detest simply because they are so noisy, constantly chatting very loudly. I am thankful they don't live near me. I really notice them in places such as Cator Park, where they are constantly flying around and chatting loudly.

In June 2020 there was an abundance of the parakeets in trees very close to me. I saw them in the spruce tree, eating the young shoots. I blogged about this in 2016, "Parakeet eating young conifer shoots". They would arrive in the morning, hang around for part of the day, and then be very vocal again in the evening, before flying off. They seem to have arrived earlier this year, probably around 10 June.

They are ring necked parakeets.

Thankfully by 22 June only one or two were around. Presumably whatever food source had attracted them earlier had now dried up.

In 2020 they were about 2 weeks earlier than they were in previous years.

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UPDATE

The parakeets returned around Aug 7, arriving in the morning and evening for short periods. Thankfully they had virtually gone by the 19th. I'm always scared that they will move in permanently! 

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ANOTHER UPDATE

The parakeets were around end of Sept for brief periods in morning and evening, but in small numbers.

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Ring necked parakeets need trees for roosting. Their feet are not made for perching on ledges like pigeons. They breed in tree hollows.

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2023

In June the parakeets were back, eating the young leaves etc on the trees close to me. Unfortunately they didn't go away after a few weeks as they have done in the past. Quite a few stayed. Every morning and evening they sat in the trees and chattered, then would all fly off noisily in the evenings. I didn't really hear them during the day. I'm hoping they will go once the leaves have fallen.

Foxes, pigeons & squirrels together

Foxes are carnivores /omnivores and their diet would naturally include birds and small mammals.
However the urban foxes must be sufficiently well fed that they have no interest in preying on birds.
In fact the foxes, squirrels and pigeons all feed together.
In this photo the pigeons are on a box, but sometimes they are on the ground close to the fox. And the squirrel doesn't feel trapped by the adult fox.

This photo taken in June is a fox cub who is ignoring the pigeon on the ground. When I first saw the cubs in mid May they would chase the pigeons.

I've noticed that the squirrels and pigeons were initially wary of the young fox cubs, so at least they haven't completely lost their fear of foxes. And the young cubs initially do chase the other animals, so this prey instinct is part of their nature.

This is an older photo of a fox and cat ignoring each other

The only animals that object to the foxes are the crows. They start cawing loudly when a fox is around, but all the other creatures ignore them.

The pigeons and squirrels amuse me as it's usually a race to get to the peanuts that I throw out. Sometimes they both go for the same nut then both back off. Once they collided and the squirrel knocked a few feathers out of the pigeon!

However the pigeons aren't always safe from the foxes. Last year I posted about a pigeon that was attacked, probably by a fox cub - see "Fox cub and pigeon".

And in July 2020 I saw a fox cub eating a wood pigeon.