Last week I made a short trip to London where I was interested to see a couple of environmental initiatives in action in and around the City.
The first was Boris Johnson’s bicycle initiative. Bikes for hire outside the London Stock Exchange in Newgate Street are pictured here. I was not sure how many of these bikes were being actively used, but when I passed the same spot later during the evening rush hour the number had much reduced which implies someone must be taking advantage of the opportunity.
I did see a few people actually riding the bikes, one of two of whom looked more than a little unsteady in the heavy London traffic. I'm not sure that I would risk it myself. However, during today’s tube strike they certainly seemed to be in use as people saved their legs by hiring a set of wheels.
In addition to Boris’s bikes I very much enjoyed the Bug Hotel which has been erected in Postman’sPark, near to St Pauls. It is one of five finalists in a competition run by the City of London Corporation to celebrate the fact that 2010 is the Year of Biodiversity. The aim of the competition was to build ‘luxury accommodation for key insects and invertebrate species in and around the City’. This particular version uses recycled pipes and a recycled planter. The aim is to encourage climbing plants to grow up the sides to attract insect life to its cosy inner spaces.
The Postman’s Park Bug Hotel is pictured below in front of the Watts Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice (a structure which featured in the Film and Play, Closer by Patrick Marber. As a result of the interest generated by the film the Memorial has recently been restored and a new plaque added after more than 70 years)
