This week I have some doors located in a winding cobbled alleyway in the heart of London. I love the way the alley twists, each turn revealing new shapes and architecture. It’s that wonderful mix of old and modern that you get in London, with a glimpse of the Walkie-Talkie looking one way, and the Shard the other.
The alley has an interesting mix of architecture ranging across several centuries. However, even though it’s in the oldest part of London, there’s not much remaining of the old city, as this is only a few streets away from where the Great Fire of 1666 started, which rendered most of the city in ruins.
I love the way that these two doors are straight, but the pavement slopes towards the river. I also love that the door on the right, despite appearing more welcoming, is apparently not in use. And the door on the left doesn’t even seem to be a door any more, though the iron grille covering it opens. These are the small mysteries you find on almost any street in a large city, glimpses into other people’s lives and stories. It’s part of what makes London so fascinating to me. I think I could go there every day for the rest of my life and still find something new to discover every time.
As a writer, these glimpses of stories are full of potential. It’s part of our craft, to go out in the world and observe, then come back and write what we see. One of our most famous writers, Samuel Johnson, once observed, ‘When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.’
I would definitely agree. 🙂
This is my entry to this week’s Thursday Doors Challenge, courtesy of Norm 2.0. For more doors, or to add one of your own, visit Norm’s site and click the link.
Helen Glynn Jones 
Reblogged this on O LADO ESCURO DA LUA.
Thanks so much for the reblog! Much appreciated 🙂
Lovely quote – the last one. Ever since my husband visited London for work, he has been telling how wonderful is the place. I wish to walk in those alleys some day. Lovely pictures.
Thanks, Parul – I hope you do get to visit one day, London really is a fascinating place 🙂
What an amazing set of doors.
Thanks, Miriam 🙂
I love the mash-up of architecture and curved alleys as well. We don’t have nearly as much of that in the US as many of our cities were planned as grids with mass transit in mind rather than what was easiest to travel by foot.
Yes, the old cities tend to grow up around pathways, rather than roadways, so you get wonderfully random alleys and curving lanes like this one. I loved the character of this laneway, which is why I took so many shots 😀
As someone who has yet to visit, that first shot is exactly what I envision when I think London. I love the mix of old and new in this collection. Nicely done 🙂
Thanks Norm! I hope you get to visit one day 🙂 I love the mix of old and new as well – in that part of London you get everything from Roman architecture to modern, with everything in between.
Love this. So very European.
Thank you! It is, isn’t it? Yet uniquely London as well. I love going there and discovering new places – sadly my adventuring friend is moving back to Canada next month, so not sure if I’ll get to do as much.