I took a walk along the Regent’s Canal through Camden today, and came across this architectural wonder. It looks like it should completely out of place amid the tall, white modern buildings, but somehow it just fits.

I’ve no idea how it came to be there – the internets don’t seem to want to tell me – but now it is a youth and community centre who do kayaking and things like that. All I can say is that to me it looks Victorian – who else would build such a folly? There’s even a wall that goes alongside the road, between the main building and the turret on the left.

The canals of London are a great place to walk – so many hidden things like this that you might just pass by without thinking by bus or car. The narrowboats are all rather pretty, and just being below road level means you can get a new perspective on established landmarks (I’m thinking the Lock market in Camden as one example).

You can see more of my Regent’s Canal walk here on Flickr.

Received this in the post today: my free copy of the Guardian‘s Message for Obama book.

It was a project on Flickr to document people’s reactions to Obama’s electoral victory through simple photography. I got wind of it pretty early on, and a fair few people came to look at my message, with several leaving comments. (Which is kinda annoying: a grainy iSight photo is going to be the top photo in my photostream for some time!)

Anyway, the book rocks. Especially since it’s free (in lieu of payment for use of the photo!). I recommend you go buy one for posterity’s sake, and to raise some money for Katine.

If you’re looking, I’m on page 9, top left corner. It was a quick, 1-minute job, and although I’ve had more ideas since then – and the time to set up a real camera with tripod and timer – I figured the first quick one would probably be the best one. The message didn’t need to be thought about, practiced or posed too much; it was a reaction, from the gut, to a momentous occasion in history. I’m pleased with it, and pleased I didn’t re-do it. Can’t have been too bad if it made it into the book, anyway!

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