New books: Wild about Chelsea and Wild about Clapham
To walk through Chelsea today is to travel through history; in a little over 400 years, its transformation from a riverside hamlet to a Royal Borough has been immense. From the wonderful array of people who have lived here, from Sir Thomas More and Thomas Carlyle to some of the most famous artists to have ever graced these shores, Whistler and Turner to name but two, Chelsea has them all. Add to this the wonderful architecture, from the delights of Sloane Square, past The Royal Hospital and onto the river and you have the best of everything. Join me as I explore all this with my camera and much much more, and discover for yourself why Chelsea is one of the most vibrant and desirable places to live, work and visit in London.
Clapham sits on a hill and travelling south was the first piece of high ground travellers encountered, so in the old days it was attractive to settlers wishing to escape the Thames floodplain. Nothing from these times still exists and you must move to the late 1700’s to discover anything that remains, mainly in Old Town and along North Side. In this new book I discover much of this history, placed in a modern context together with some wonderful photography of the Common thought the seasons, especially some of the wildlife attracted here. The locals are rightly proud of their open space, one of the largest in London and its one of the main reasons that Clapham is such a desirable place to live and work.