Slicker City

I always loved this tin church in Clapham, South London. Googling tin churches I found a great selection of pictures of more places like this here. I love corrugated iron as a material and rusted up in the countryside it is perfectly landscaped. I wish I'd photographed this palce before it was repainted too; it used to be more greeny. So many times I've kicked myself for not getting a photo of something that's struck me in London and then it's gone. This city is changing faster than ever.

And sure enough this place is supposed to be replaced at some point according to this article on the Brixton Society site. Of course the owners may be thrilled to get a new place - this looks hard to heat, but I'm a sucker for character and quirks and London is getting them ironed out at a rate of knots - how boring!!!!
I read a very sobering article on the changes in London here; 'London: the city that ate itself'. Very interesting and amongst other examples it tells how my previous studio provider ACAVA will have lost 200 studios to development. Most other providers are having similar losses. Hands up who's not under threat!?!

Included in that article is the sad tale of the A&C Continental Delicatessen on Atlantic Road in Brixton. Save the Arches is a massive campaign.

This is a lovely, much loved shop run by lovely people. They gave me a hug when I was in there one day feeling miserable that I was going to be evicted (them having no idea they were next) and my mum had had a stroke at the same time. It's a proper friendly, community shop that knows all it's customers. Go there now while you can before Pret a Manger crash in at quadruple the rent and where will we get all those lovely Mediterranean herbs and olives etc, and a slice of water melon on a hot day?

My former home in Brixton: I am proud of everything we achieved there as a housing co-operative. In How to be Bohemian (not sure which episode) Will Self mentions how Bohemia becomes commodified and then becomes hipsterdom and loses all edge....exactly what's happened to Brixton. It's significant that my chandeliers were born and nurtured in a self help co-op in an old building with tons of character and the scope to make our flats really our own environments.
Well I guess that the provinces will benefit from all this rapid change, partially squeezed out myself (split between several places now) I find the undeveloped corners of Plymouth - for example - really refreshing to see. Then in years/decades to come  I'm sure parts of London will be an urban wasteland again and we can all go and live in Billionaires Row (rotting mansions) or those luxury flats that are owned as investments and not lived in; in fact maybe ACAVA could run them as artists studios....