Brighton, December 2025.

 Lat Wednesday (the 10th of December), some friends and I went to Brighton.

Brighton is a seaside resort on the south coast of England.

Here are a few of the photographs that I took.

This is a view of the Palace Pier from the beach. This Victorian structure opened on the 20th of May, 1899 and is 1722ft long.

This is what's left of Brighton's West Pier. It opened on the 28th July, 1866. In December 2002, its concert hall was seriously damaged by a huge storm. On the 28th of March the following year, its pavilion was destroyed in an arson attack. Later in 2003, on the 11th of May The Pavilion was also subjected to an arson attack.

This is a view of the remnants of the West Pier, taken from the deck of the Palace Pier.

In this photo, taken from the Palace Pier, you can again see, on the left, the old West Pier. The huge tower near the centre of the picture is the i360, Europe's tallest moving viewing platform. It stands 162 Metres high.

The sun and the sea, taken from the beach between the two piers.

Another picture from the beach between the two piers.

It's the run up to Christmas, and the Clock Tower (sometimes referred to as the Jubilee Clock Tower, as it was completed for Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1888) is festooned with lights for the festive period. You can see it in the town centre.

London, Including Some Of Its Galleries.

There is some great picturesque architecture in London, old, new, and in-between.

Here are some pictures that I've taken whilst wandering around.

First, a couple of the London Eye, a huge observation wheel which was installed next to the River Thames for the year 2000.

Several years ago, I did a photography course (some of the pictures that I took for it can be seen if you scroll down on this blog). One of the pictures that the tutor showed to our class was of the London Eye. Viewing the photo, I couldn't work out which angle it had been taken from. I decided that I'd, someday, like to take a similar picture. Here it is.

Here's another of the London Eye, looking at it edge-on.

This is the Palace Of Westminster (taken on the same overcast day as the two above photos of the London Eye), home to the House Of Lords and the House Of Commons. On the right hand side is Elizabeth Tower (renamed from Clock Tower to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee in 2012). In front, spanning the River Thames, is Westminster Bridge.

This is a picture of the front of the national gallery, taken from Trafalgar Square. On the right of the image, you can see the columns and spire of St. Martin-In-The-Fields Church.

Here is a picture of The Shard, at the time of writing this, Britain's tallest building.

Here's another of The Shard, taken on the same day as the one above, a little later in the evening, as the sun was beginning to go down. I took this from one of the platforms at London bridge Station.

A picture looking up from near an entrance to Battersea Power Station. Once burning coal to provide electricity to a growing London, it is now a shopping, dining, and entertainment venue.

Below is a picture, looking up, from the main entrance of the Tate Modern gallery. This building was also once a power station, burning both coal and oil. The Bankside Power Station as it was then known, after being decommissioned and redeveloped, opened as the Tate Modern in the year 2000.

Here's another picture of The Shard. In the foreground can be seen decrepit-looking brickwork, juxtaposed by The Shard with its ultra-modern appearance.

I don't know what this building, near the Tate Modern, is, or is going to be, called. It just looked like a good thing to photograph!

Taken at a similar angle to some of the other pictures in this collection, this shows an entrance to the Tate Britain.

This was taken looking up from on the spiral staircase in the Tate Britain's rotunda.

I took this on my way back from the Tate Britain. It's from the north end of Vauxhall Bridge.

The last picture that I took on my way back from the Tate Britain was this one. Looking across the road from Victoria Station, it's of  Nova Victoria. It was awarded the 2017 Carbuncle Cup by Building Design Magazine, due to it's appearance as Britain's supposedly ugliest new building. It doesn't look too bad from this angle, striking, definitely, out of place, maybe. From other angles though, it is pretty unsightly.

Chichen Itza.

 I have visited Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula a few times. The last time I was there, I went to the archaeological site of Chichen Itza.

Here are a few of pictures of the huge pyramid there.

(The last two pics are a bit samey, but I like them both and couldn't decide which one to post here. So I included both of them.)

 In June, I went to see Brian May and Roger Taylor at the O2 Arena in London. It was an absolutely amazing gig. Really truly great. It also happened to be on the same day as an RMT Union Tube strike! The show had been put off for two years due to COVID so I was determined to go, having to get a mini cab from my home in West London to the arena in London's Docklands. Getting home would be another matter entirely. My friend, Richard (who was at the show with me) and I, walked for about and hour and a quarter along the River Thames until we found a Night Bus stop from which we could catch a bus to other connections to get to our respective homes.

On our walk, we got a lovely view of The City Of London, and I was able to take this photo.

 

 

Brentford, Grand Union Canal Walk.

Brentford part 4.

A popular place to walk in Brentford is along the Grand Union Canal Walk. It's another part of Brentford that has seen a lot of redevelopment in the last decade. Waterfront properties seem to bring in higher prices than their drier counterparts.

Here are some pics from it.

Big Pharm company, Glaxo SmithKlein, has its international headquarters in Brentford. There are a few things going on in this photo. There is the Industrial Revolution era canal, now surrounded by nature with the huge ultra-modern building complex rising up behind it.

The same building from a different angle.

Now something a lot more wholesome, a barge making its way along the canal.

Brentford Dock Estate.

Brentford part 3.

The entrance to Brentford's Dock Estate is a great place to take pictures. There are boat workshops, the River Brent with a pair of locks and some hidden gems.

To start with, with the Dock Estate itself in the background, a boat on a building made from an old shipping container. Why not?

A small river channel.

A cosy-looking houseboat.

And another view of the same boat.

Brentford Derelict.

Brentford part 2.

There is a lot of redevelopment happening in Brentford at the moment. Mainly a lot of expensive new homes that few long-time Brentonians can afford. One entire side of our high street has been closed down, robbing us of our post office and one of our banks, plus other independent businesses. I don't want to give the wrong impression of Brentford but realise that I might have done with the title of this post. So, to set the record straight, very few bits of Brentford were or are derelict. No more than any other London town really. But one bit that is, afforded me the opportunity to take some interesting pictures a few years ago.

These are from between the high street and the River Brent.