sierra_le_oli

There was heaps to do in Hammersmith (west London) last Thursday lunchtime. The Lyric Theatre's public rooftop garden opened earlier this month to provide some much needed greenery. It still looks a little bare, but that will improve with time.

From my vantage point, I took some shots of the lunchtime entertainment in Lyric Square. When I came down for the next performance, I realised the kid who'd volunteered to help the unicyclist was still there, so I asked the adult with her if they'd like to see the photos. It turned out that they were from Arizona, although the grandmother was originally from Ireland and was also an old Londoner. She reckoned the area used to be a real dump and Lyric Square certainly wasn't called that in her day.

The next performance was courtesy of a small delegation from the BBC Symphony Orchestra, members of which were playing in London throughout the day to promote the new Proms season. They had a challenge or two to contend with. After one or two Beatles songs, the person who was tinkling away on the "Play Me, I'm Yours" piano (one of 30 scattered around the city) was asked nicely to be quieter during the performance. That settled, the gusts of wind got so bad that the cellist and a violinist had to put a foot on their music stands to stop the sheets escaping. While continuing to play as if everything were normal. Don't think that'll be necessary at the Proms but it was impressive nonetheless. :-)