Long Forgtten Hands

There is a temple in ruin stands,

Dunston Road, Haggerston, Hackey, E8

Fashion’d by long forgotten hands.

From Lord Byron’s Siege of Corinth (1816)

Brace of Gasometers

‘I come here to your beautiful country -’ Mr Raj saw through the window bare branches, coil after coil of dirty clouds, washing on neighbour lines, forlorn pecking birds, a distant brace of gasometers.

Regent's Canal, Haggerston, Tower Hamlets, E2

‘- your beautiful country, I say,’ he said defiantly.

Queenstown Road, Battersea, Wandsworth, SW8

‘…So far I have had mixed career. Fights and insults, complete lack of sexual sustenance – most necessary to men in prime of life – and inability to find accommodation commensurate with social position and academic attainments…’

Imperial Road, Hammersmith & Fulham, SW6

From Anthony Burgess’ The Right to an Answer (1960)