I woke this morning to a rather peculiar text message from my employer warning that transport around the office had been disrupted due to a major fire in a West London tower block. Knowing nothing more of the incident, I quickly went to BBC News and was staggered by the images of Grenfell Tower ablaze in the early…
Tag: Article
When Eddie Van Halen met Allan Holdsworth
Allan Holdsworth: 1946-2017 Since I have been somewhat under the radar over the last few days, I am a little behind on the news. Sadly, I discovered this morning that one of my all time favourite guitar players, Allan Holdsworth, passed away over the weekend. You will not find an obituary for Allan in any of the popular newspapers, and I…
Street art gallery – Berlin edition
Herself and I are just back from a four day trip to Berlin and while I will save the details of the excursion (and my thoughts about the city) to another post, I am eager to show you some of the street art that we spotted in this most unusual of European capitals. It took most of our Saturday…
Good to be back in the old neighbourhood
Putting a pin through the past. The welcoming scene to greet me as I arrived at Camden Road Overground Station last night was that of a drunken old tramp relieving himself against a tree. It was good to be back in the old neighbourhood and to see that so little had changed since I finished working here almost six months ago….
The truth isn’t always an uplifting business
Hang around the Irish pubs of West London for long enough and you’re sure to hear some harsh political opinions. If you don’t watch out, you might even get to holding some of them yourself. The truth isn’t always an uplifting business, but there are no lies in Big Tom, the out of work steel fixer…
There is no such thing as revenge
George Orwell: A Literary Life – Peter Davison (1996) It is said that everybody needs a hobby, but that is not to say you should be limited to only one. While some of my hobbies could be described as practical in their scope, such as learning a new language or exercising, over the last few…
Mistress May won’t take a nay
I posted yesterday, but since my new job is taking up nearly every moment of my day, I’ve decided to make a point of posting whenever I have even so much as a spare second. Even now I’m juggling this post with dinner in the oven, a blocked kitchen sink, and a stack of laundry to…
Getting back into the groove
After a short time away, your faithful corespondent is back at his blog. To be honest, it’s been a long month and I’ve barely had a moment to myself since September. All I have to show for myself as far as photography goes is a picture that I took a fortnight ago and that I’m using as the…
How are ya getting’ on?
A lot has been going on since my lachrymose little article from last week. At the time, I was rather on the despondent side, fearing I would no longer have time or opportunity to hunt-down and photograph London’s ever-changing street art offerings. As it happens, my sorrows were somewhat unfounded as I started a new job in East London’s Shoreditch area…
Blogging is great craic altogether
One of the satisfying upsides to having a blog is that you get to share the cool stuff that’s going on in your life with the world. I caught up with an old friend recently. Richard Needham is his name and his family were my next door neighbours when I was growing up in the West of Ireland. We…
Be genuine with questionable haircuts
As my stretch of employment in Camden Town comes to a close, I can’t help but get a little reflective about my time spent here. When I first started working in this famously rowdy district three years ago, it would not be a stretch to say that I was far from keen on the area. However, as I’ve…
Destroy
I will be leaving my job in Camden in a few weeks, and, as a result, I see significantly less street art featuring on this site in future – a great shame. Until then, I’m trying to photograph as much new work as possible. We’re experiencing somewhat of a “heatwave” in London at the moment…
Be careful! Got it!
Things move fast in this town and I was made sure of that when I went for a walk before lunch and stumbled across a whole heap of street art pieces that seem to have materialized out of thin air over the weekend. I had to move a few bins and jump a few walls…
Everything is awesome
Strange though it may seem, the only thing I enjoy more than going on some wild and drunken travel adventure is the returning home. No matter how brief the journey, I get a real kick out of seeing what’s changed in my absence and I’m certain that this partiality can be traced back to my…
This blog needs you!
Critical Dispatches has made it onto the shortlist for the Blog Awards Ireland 2016 and now I need your help! If you have enjoyed any of my work on this blog, could I please ask that you click on the image below and vote for Critical Dispatches. Frustratingly, there looks to be a requirement that you create an…