It started off pretty miserable this morning, and I wasn’t convinced anyone else was going to bother turning up to the Monument meetup – which would have been disappointing, as it was my first official one (I’m not sure PhotowalkLondon counts?). Standing just inside Monument station waiting for anyone to turn up, I actually bumped into someone I hadn’t seen for a long time, which I suppose gave a hint that the day wasn’t going to go so badly after all!

Other photographers arrived (including a couple I knew from PhotowalkLondon last week), and we made it up the Monument itself – a snap at £3 (if you’ll forgive the horrendous pun). It’s 311 steps, and they give you a rather less-impressive-than-it-sounds certificate. If you’re ever in London and haven’t made the climb, do – the only disappointing thing about it is the cage at the top, which makes certain shots over the City rather more difficult. The best bet is either to use a telephoto to zoom ‘through’ the wire, or press your lens right against it and try not to get it in shot.

After lunch and pints in a nearby pub, we headed for a wander around to Leadenhall Market (almost deserted on a Sunday, with everything closed), past Lloyd’s and round to the Bank of England where, with nearly all my storage full and someone waiting for me at home, I left the rest of the group.

There’s already a growing number of shots on Flickr from the meetup – check here and also the main London Flickr Meetups group pool for any not tagged with the Upcoming event number. The group is pretty active, and I’m planning on making a couple more meetups that have already been planned over the next couple of months – as well as continuing with PhotowalkLondon. Everyone’s friendly, so if you’re in London and want a bunch of people to walk about the city (or indeed Paris or Canterbury or anywhere else they happen to organise!), I do recommend you check both groups out.