The London Daily Newsletter Thursday 8 June

Lillington Gardens Estate
Lillington Gardens is an estate in the Pimlico area, constructed in phases between 1961 and 1980.

Lillington Gardens was among the last of the high-density public housing schemes built in London during the postwar period, and is referred to as one of the most distinguished. Notably, seven years before the Ronan Point disaster ended the dominance of the tower block, Lillington Gardens looked ahead to a new standard that achieved high housing density within a medium rather than high-rise structure. It emphasised individuality in the grouping of dwellings, and provided for private gardens at ground and roof levels. The estate’s high build quality, and particularly the planted gardens of its wide ’roof streets’, blend sympathetically with the surrounding Victorian terraces. The estate’s high quality design was acknowledged by a Housing Design Award (1961), Ministry of Housing and Local Government Award for Good Design (1970), RIBA Award (1970) and RIBA Commendation (1973). Nikolaus Pevsner described it in 1973 as “the most interesting recent housing scheme in London”. The site surrounds the Grade I listed Church of St James the Less, dating from 1859–61. The entire estate, including the church, was designated a conservation area in 1990. The estate is often grouped with the Longmoore Estate, north of Lillington Street.

TUM Book Club: Tube Mapper Project
Photographer Luke Agbaimoni created the Tube Mapper project allowing him to be creative, fitting photography around his lifestyle and adding stations on his daily commute.

The Underground is the backbone of the city of London, a part of our identity. It’s a network of shared experiences and visual memories, and most Londoners and visitors to the city will at some point have an interaction with the London Underground tube and train network. Photographer Luke Agbaimoni gave up city-scape night photography after the birth of his first child, but creating the Tube Mapper project allowed him to continue being creative, fitting photography around his new lifestyle and adding stations on his daily commute. His memorable photographs consider such themes as symmetry, reflections, tunnels and escalators, as well as simply pointing out and appreciating the way the light falls on a platform in an evening sunset. This book reveals the London every commuter knows in a unique, vibrant and arresting style.

An Omnibus Ride to Piccadilly Circus, Mr Gladstone Travelling with Ordinary Passengers (1885) Credit: Alfred Morgan (1862-1904) This painting shows Mr Gladstone, the British Prime Minister, travelling with ordinary passengers. The description of the painting also says that it includes a self portrait. Thus we can perhaps assume that the artist, Alfred Morgan, is seated next to the window on the left-hand side.

Alfred Morgan (1862-1904)

Video: Co-ordinate near to Gardner Close, Wanstead
Jago Hazzard went to the far reaches of the Central Line