London – Geeky Girl Engineer

Kaffe Fassett: The Power of Pattern

Posted on January 7, 2023 by geek

I’m in London, and before traveling here, I heard about a great exhibit that I put on the top of my to do list. London’s Fashion and Textile Museum has a temporary exhibit called Kaffe Fassett: The Power of Pattern. The exhibit explores Fassett’s world, with original artworks from invited makers as well as Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably and Philip Jacobs. It also has textiles works, photographs and archival material to further educate on his work. I love many of his fabrics, and the first quilt I created was with his fabric. Thus, I knew I would like this exhibit.

The exhibit is wonderful. I spent the most time studying the works of art by artists using Kaffe Fassett textiles. They are wonderful, and some of them are just breathtaking. I spent quite a bit of time studying them trying to understand how they were created. They inspired me to want to create my own art although I am not skilled enough yet to create works like the ones I saw. Below are some photos of some of the works that most captivated me.

Haze Kilim; designed by Liza Prior Lucy and Kaffe Fassett, made by Liza Prior Lucy, quilted by Judy Irish

Tickled Pink by Susan Carlson (designed, maker, quilter)

Tickled Pink by Susan Carlson (designed, maker, quilter) [close up]

Garden Reflections by Vicky Wozniak (designer and maker) and quilted by Jamie Wallen

Levitate by Danny Amazonas (designer, maker, quilter)

Levitate by Danny Amazonas (designer, maker, quilter) [close up]

Grevy’s Zebra by Sophie Standing (designer, maker)

Grevy’s Zebra by Sophie Standing (designer, maker) [close up]

Tusker Bull by Sophie Standing (designer, maker)

Gypsy Dancer by Danny Amazonas (designer, maker, quilter)

Clapham South: Subterranean Shelter Tour

Posted on January 6, 2023 by geek

Last time I visited London, I found out that London Transport Museum offers Hidden London tours, so I signed up for one. It was fantastic, and luckily they were offering another tour while I was here again. This time, they offered a tour of Clapham South subterranean shelter that was built during World War II. When the Germans bombed London during 1940-1941, some people took shelter in London Underground stations, which the transport authorities didn’t really want them to do. The government then asked them to build proper shelters for people. The transport authorities had previously had plans for an express train to run underneath the Northern Underground line, so they used parts of those plans to plan ten shelters to each shelter 10,000 people underneath Northern line stations. Only eight stations were built though, and London Transport Museum now owns one of them, the one that that was built under Clapham South station.

The shelter is 11 stories underground and has over a mile of subterranean passageways. It is accessed via a spiral staircase with many, many steps. [We had to walk down them and then back up when the tour was over.] The shelters were built just like London Underground tunnels with the idea that after they were no longer needed as shelters, they could be used to start construction of the previously mentioned express lines. That never happened though. The tunnels were all divided in half horizontally, so that they formed double-decker shelters. Each level was then divided into eight sections all given names of historical people, with rows and rows of beds. People would be assigned a bed and told which section and which bed number was theirs. The shelter were not finished before the end of the Blitz, but they were used later when V-1 and V-2 bombs hit London. Government propaganda advertised them as “luxury tunnels” with “comfortable canteens.” Those terms are kind of relative. The beds were small and really close together. They did have lavatories, but the toilets consisted of buckets with a possible seat. The buckets were emptied into a tank. This is my favorite part (especially as an engineer), when the tank needed to be emptied, a valve was turned to add compressed air, and another valve was turned to allow the compressed air to (hopefully) shoot the waste up into the sewer tunnels above. However, the shelters certainly kept people safe from bombs. Some people who stayed there had no other place to go as their home was destroyed.

After World War II, they continued to be used at different times. In 1951, there was a huge festival in London, and the shelter was opened as “Festival Hotel.” Also, Caribbean migrants arriving on the Empire Windrush stayed there temporarily. Finally U.S. troops stayed there in the 1950s. Some of the shelter were later used for archiving material.

Exterior of entrance with spiral staircase inside

Clapham South Tunnel/Shelter

Sign with directions to exit, other shelters, and lavatories

Shelter beds

Stairs to Underground station

Tunnel walls

Graffiti on tunnel walls (the yellow dot sticker is there because the museum is a museum and now preserves the historical graffiti)

Royal Observatory

Posted on May 28, 2018 by geek

As I am an engineering geek, I felt that one of my must see stops on my London trip was to Greenwich to see the Royal Observatory. I think many people go just to take a photo of themselves on the Prime Meridian. That is a draw, even for me, and it clearly was popular based on how difficult it is to actually have a moment to take a photo on it without tens of other people in your photo frame. The observatory has some really good exhibits both about the history of the actual observatory and also timekeeping in general. It explains how it was first important for sailing and navigation. It is educational, and the displays of old timekeeping devices and navigation astronomy tools is fascinating. Also, the observatory is up on a hill and offers outstanding views of the area.

Royal Observatory

Octagon Room

One of the historic tools used for astronomy

View to the north

View to the northwest

Prime Meridian with longitudes for many cities displayed

Self portrait on the Prime Meridian

Regents Canal

Posted on May 27, 2018 by geek

I posted yesterday about my boat ride on along the Regents Canal from Camden Locks to Little Venice. Today I went for a very short walk along the same canal in the Camden Locks area. It really is a pretty area. It is also a very popular area. There were many people walking along the towpath, and there were also many people just hanging around the area.

Camden Locks

London Water Bus docked near Camden Market

Bridge next to Camden Locks

Homes along Regents Canal

Boats moored on canal

One of many bridges over the canal

London Canals

Posted on May 26, 2018 by geek

London surprises me in several ways. One of those ways is the number of canals, and the number of boats that still use those canals. I don’t think there is a lot of commercial transportation using the canals, but there are at least a couple of boats that run routes from point A to point B. Then there are also people who seem to live on their boat, and of course people who rent them for a short excursion. I took the London Water Bus on the Regents Canal from Camden Locks to Little Venice. The route went past the zoo, stately homes, and apartment buildings. It even went through a tunnel. A nice enjoyable ride, and a very different side of London.

Near the Camden Locks

One of the prettier bridges we went under

Passing and identical boat as the one I was in

Gorgeous homes

Apartment buildings near the tunnel

Inside the tunnel

Near Little Venice

Tower of London

Posted on May 26, 2018 by geek

As part of my trip to London, I felt I needed to see the Tower of London. I kind of wanted to see the grounds, and I really wanted to see the ravens. I saw the crown jewels. They were pretty and extremely expensive looking. I skipped the battlements. Really, I just wanted to look around, and I wanted to find the ravens. Funny thing was, just walking around, I really couldn’t help but think how times have changed. This used to be a grand royal residence, but it also used to be a prison. They used to torture people there. They executed people there. Now it is a beautiful place with fascinating old architecture. People like me pay money to see it. Hundreds of years ago, part of it was the last place some people wanted to be, and the other part of it, the lower class of people would never be admitted. However, it is presented as a place where we can and should learn from history.

Traitors’ gate

The inner wall of the Tower

The White Tower

Innermost ward

Queen’s House and Tower Green

Raven sitting a window

Waterloo Block

The White Tower

Tower Bridge

Posted on May 25, 2018 by geek

I love bridges, so while in London I am visiting as many bridges as possible (although there are quite a few). One bridge that was on my must see list was the iconic Tower Bridge. It is a beautiful bridge. Even better though, you can tour the historic engine room and also go to the top and walk across the upper level walkways that connect the two towers.

Tower Bridge

South tower

Inside the engine room areas, you can see the historic coal burners, steam engines, and the accumulators. The bridge now operates with electricity.

Coal burner

Steam engine

Accumulators

In the south tower, you can see the inside of the tower and all the structural components. They have human figures up in the structure to demonstrate how it was built.

View inside the south tower, looking up

Both the east and west upper walkways have a segment of glass floor, so you can look down onto the river and roadway.

Looking to the road from glass floor of upper level walkway

The views from the upper walkways are wonderful. You can see very far up and down the River Thames.

East view from upper walkway

West view from upper walkway

Whitechapel Fatberg

Posted on May 25, 2018 by geek

I was able to complete my quest today, the reason I came to London at this time. I saw the Whitechapel Fatberg at the Museum of London. I realize this is not the normal type of thing people go on vacation and fly across an ocean to see, but anyone who reads my blog at all should know I am not normal. London sewer workers coined the term fatberg to describe a giant, congealed mass of fat and oil that also has wet wipes, diapers, and other rubbish people put down the drain and shouldn’t. [Important education moment for those who do not know. Those “flushable” wipes are not flushable. Sure, they are flushable in that they will flush down your toilet, but they are not flushable in that they will not break down in the sewer system or at the wastewater treatment plant. Neither will diapers, condoms, and all the other stuff people flush or put down drain pipes.]

In 2017, London sewer workers found the enormous Fatberg in Whitechapel. It weighed 130 tons and was 250 meters long. Some of it they removed with power jet sprayers to then vacuum out, but much of it was so hard, they had to remove it with pick axes and shovels. It took nine weeks to remove the Fatberg. According to information at the museum display, some of the fatberg was converted to biodiesel, and the rest was turned into renewal energy and fertilizer at the wastewater treatment plant.

They had two pieces of the fatberg on display. One of the samples has crumbled into smaller pieces. In the large piece, there is some sort of plastic wrapper sticking out of it. They also x-rayed the pieces because why not.

Small pieces of the Fatberg

Large piece of the Fatberg

X-rays of the Fatberg

Charing Cross: Access All Areas

Posted on May 24, 2018 by geek

My vacation in London started with a what some would call a nerd tour. I took a Hidden London tour through London Transport Museum. The tour was of Charing Cross station and included an abandoned platform, where the Jubilee Line used to stop, and also ventilation tunnels. The Jubilee Line platform was abandoned in 1999 when the line’s extension was put into operation, and the line needed rerouting for the extension. The platform is now used for testing station features and also frequently for filming. The tracks are still used to store trains or turn them around. The tour also included accessing ventilation tunnels and viewing the ventilation shafts that allow air from the subway tunnels to escape to the outside. We also got to look down a shaft to the subway tunnel below. The ventilation shafts are massive but needed to allow air to flow through the tunnels. Finally we also got to go under Trafalgar Square via a construction tunnel that was built to bring supplies to the tunnel work and remove spoils from the tunneling.

Escalators down to the abandoned Jubilee Line platform

Abandoned Jubilee Line platform

Abandoned Jubilee Line platform with train running through

Entrance to the abandoned Jubilee Line platform, barely visible sign in background is original, sign in foreground is a fake sign placed there during filming of a James Bond film