Our London: Views Now & Then

London has really transformed over the years. Everything does, it has to. It’s not normal for anything to stay the same. It’s a natural progression but it’s always really interesting to see just how much things have developed and moved on.

The Museum of London have put together a series of pictures that show London street scenes past and present. The biggest change is the view from London Bridge. Not the bridge itself, that looks exactly the same but the view with the new ‘Walkie Talkie’ building which is almost as beautiful as the ‘Philishave’ building. (Do architects still take a lot of mind bending drugs?) Both equally as beautiful and iconic as the ‘Giant Suppository’ or ‘The Gherkin’ as it is sometimes known.

One cannot imagine a horse drawn carriage trotting past any of these buildings mentioned above but oddly, the street near Covent Garden tube station hasn’t really changed much in a hundred years. To Londoners however the actual market has developed beyond recognition, especially its use it’s no longer a fruit and veg market but a tourist destination, structurally though it looks more or less the same. I remember when it was a produce market. It was one of those areas of London that wasn’t a good idea to walk around at night on your own. There were mainly goods warehouses and it was really scary and dark… I always remember lots of fog, but that could be just my imagination…Have a look at these pictures and see what you think.

See more pics here on the BBC website.

I love the little girls in their white dresses, without washing machines that must have been a hard task to accomplish!