23.01.14 — Travel

Back to Leeds then off to London

So after all the Christmas festivities had finished, I returned to my usual business of finding places to go and things to do, and habit led me once more back to the charming little town of Hebden Bridge, where I felt inclined to take a few photos.

A bridge over the river
A look inside an artist's workshop

I was super disappointed, though, when I discovered that my favourite sweet shop wasn’t open, but a tiny shoe perched on it’s window ledge caught my attention. I don’t know what to make of it.

Shoe by the window

But of course, no trip to Hebden Bridge would be complete without a stop at the Yorkshire Soap Company‘s store. Everything smells good enough to eat and is arranged in such a simple and methodical yet visually beguiling manner that I wanted to buy the whole shop.

Yorkshire Soap Company

And then yesterday, to bring you up to speed, me and three friends from graphics (or “Leeds Graphics Massive”) decided travelled down to London for the day! There our main intention was to visit the Tom Eckersley exhibition at the London College of Communication:

The Tom Eckersley exhibition

But we also ended up paying Tate Modern a visit, something which I’ve been meaning to do for a while, and I finally got the opportunity to see some Dan Flavin artwork!

One part of a two piece Dan Flavin installation

But another piece, by a previously unbeknown to me artist Glenn Ligon, also caught my eye, both for it’s aesthetic quality and clever concept. Check out this link to the Tate’s website for a rundown of the concept.

'Untitled' by Glenn Ligon
‘Untitled’ by Glenn Ligon

Derek Jarman’s 1993 film “Blue” also stuck me as clever, even if we all took to making BSOD and broken LCD jokes about it.

We also spent much of the day exploring areas of London that I’d never been to before, including Camden – but strangely I took no photos there! I was probably too busy gazing at the endless visual distractions to even consider stopping to take some snaps. Here’s some I did managed to get in throughout the day:

A piece of ironwork on a bridge
A view from South Bank
South Bank
A Flavin-esque installation

But all good things must come to an end, so we headed back to Kings Cross to catch our train back to Leeds – and I was stunned to realise that it’s changed beyond recognition since I last recall seeing it (even if my perception of it has been distorted somewhat by Harry Potter…)

Kings Cross

As shockingly purple and modern as it is, I do quite like this new vaulted roof. It almost reminded me of Burnley Bus Station… almost. We (just about) managed to get back to Leeds in one piece, my advice to Izzy and Frazer being to “think caffeiney thoughts”, as we were all incredulously tired after our 19 hour day…

Kings Cross platforms