Time on the Thames

Clock at Royal Observatory, Greenwich

The established skyline

Boris's Bubble and the Shard

The Gherkin looms over Thames riverside redevelopment

Millenium Dome

North by South East

At the Observatory

Canary Wharf behind Greenwich from the Royal Observatory

Honest Jon's Chop Up at the Barbican

My trips to London have mainly been for business in the past with visits to Docklands when I had responsibility for regeneration and maybe the occasional run round Hyde Park or visits to the galleries if I was staying overnight. In recent years I have made time to explore the city. There has been a remarkable transformation over the past twenty years. In the 1980's it exhibited all the characteristics of a dumbed down capital:  poor housing, dilapidated transport, traffic congestion, and a public realm that was in need of renewal.  It seems a different place now, reinvigorated, full of energy, diverse, and offering a staggering range of activities and places to visit.

It is easy to identify reasons for this from the radical plans of the old GLC, the over centralisation of government activities in the UK, London's emergence as the world's financial centre, rampant entrepreneurial activity, free museums and the cultural explosion under the last government, and the arrival of talented people from the rest of the UK and the rest of the world.  It is undoubtedly also influenced by the high level of public expenditure which was 17% higher than the UK average in 2008, similar to that in Scotland according to hm treasury, despite having all the economies of scale and without any remote rural communities.

This weekend we boxed the compass of its splendours, starting in at St Martins in the Field for lunch and to meet an old friend and then travelling west to the museums and the V&A in particular. We went east to Greenwich on Saturday, north for Sunday lunch with family, and we stayed south with our daughters in Brixton which is not only one of the most cosmopolitan villages but boasts eating places that are both excellent and good value.

We took a trip along the river on the Thames Clipper from London Bridge to Greenwich  I had never made time for Greenwich in the past but it seemed worth a visit on the day the clocks were to go back.  The fast boat from London Bridge stitched together a series of stops on both sides of the river and gave superb views of the London skyline.  London was buzzing at the end of the school holidays and the number of French visitors was very evident everywhere. The largest building in London, the Shard at London Bridge which will be over 1000 feet tall was nearing completion, the Gherkin invaded every skyline, and ironically St Paul's was mainly hidden from view but Canary Wharf was very evident and testimony to the scale and brutal imposition of the financial sector.

The Thames was busier than ever with real working public transport as well as barges and pleasure craft including ribs which were being driven with fairground aplomb for screaming kids.  We alighted at the Greenwich museums and walked up the hill to the Royal Observatory from where new vistas appeared in all directions.  The history of time was well set out with Harrison's clocks particularly impressive.  Blackheath was in autumn colours and like every other park in London was full of joggers, cyclists, children, dogs and fast food vendors.

In the evening we made a first visit to the Barbican to see honest jons chop up.   African vocalists, a rapper and brass ensemble were fused with a Nigerian drummer, Damon Albarn from Gorillaz and, to give some Californication, the bassist from Red Hot Chili Peppers.    On the journey home the tube was overflowing with Halloween characters and among the usual melange of witches, ghosts, vampires, devils and nuns there were also many young men heavily bandaged and covered in dried blood: it looked like the banker's Armageddon.