June challenge II.(a) [modified] Along the railway line from Tulse Hill to North Dulwich

[nou]

I only managed one attempt at the June challenge this year: a modified version of Theme II.(a): Lines.

The full version of this challenge involves starting at a railway terminal and walking outwards from the terminus, following one of the railway lines as closely as possible. I’ve been doing this in stages from West Croydon Station to London Bridge Station, and this month I did a new stage.

I was originally going to walk from Tulse Hill to East Dulwich, but my lungs were playing up so I stopped at North Dulwich; i.e. I only walked one stop. Here’s a map showing my route so far (plus the bit I intended to but didn’t walk, which will be done next time), and here’s a photoset including all stages so far.

I photographed quite a lot of railway bridge identifiers on this one, since secretlondon and I are collecting them, and railway line walks are a very good source. My favourite photo is the one below, showing the premises of a “Fibrous Plaster Specialists”.

Someone came out just after I took it and asked me why I was taking photos. They seemed a bit offended by my use of the phrase “old sign”, oops. They were very keen to make it clear that the business is still going!

Comments

[nou]

Thanks! I always appreciate more info about the things in my photos :)

I've had so many people have a go at me for taking photos of buildings that I'm basically immune to it now.

[spiralsheep]

The Jersey Tiger Moth has only been regularly recorded in London since the 2000s so yours is an interesting cap with real citizen scientist value.

I'm sad to hear people hassle you about street photography. I understand some people preferring not to appear in candid shots but we've talked about this before so I know that, like me, you avoid identifying caps of people. I wonder why building photography makes them feel insecure.

[nou]

Yeah, it’s weird. The first few times it happened, I thought the person was concerned that I might have caught them in the photo (so I assured them that I always took multiple views and would delete ones showing people’s faces), but no, that’s not it. And I think it’s only been once or twice that the person objecting ever had any connection to the building I was photographing (most people who see me photographing their business are fine with it once I explain why) — it’s just random people in the street who want to stop me doing it. Some of them actually think it’s illegal, which is perhaps a partial explanation.

[spiralsheep]

I've occasionally had people who've lived in other countries warning me that I might get into trouble for photographing infrastructure. The most recent was a man of Sudanese (I think?) origin who was concerned the police might arrest me for capping an electricity substation in Brum, but he was well-intentioned and only concerned for my safety.