Colourful London - St James Street

London and cities in Britain and throughout the world are turning to colours. Wonderful colours.

These pictures were taken by me in St James Street. We walked from Baker Street station to Bond Street underground station.

Who is to receive the credit for this? Years ago the architect Le Corbusier built an estate in the sky near Marseilles in southern France. He was hugely influential. But, alas, only the skyscraper was copied, not the essential colours.

I remember when we first had semi-detached houses in London painted turquoise and then purple. People were horrified. One house was painted bright colour by people from the Caribbean. When you come from hot countries with colourful flowers all-around you, you are used to colours which match the landscape. Now that so many houses are colourful, one colourful building, even with a plain building beside it, or either side of it, does not stand out so much.

If you are a keen photographer look for the colours in London. We have murals. We have colourful buildings. Colourful people.


Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.