What a Landmark !

Just dropped off at Marylebone station to find two very dandy bollards at the back of the London Landmark hotel.

This pair of bollards taper slightly from top to bottom and then bell outwards with a top that resembles a pith hat or some might say a part of a females body.

What sets this pair of bollards off though is the paint job, a golden top and nipple with a red underside to the main tapering column. Near the base you'll notice another slightly smaller gold ring almost touching the pavement.

Melcombe Place and the London Landmark hotel certainly have a couple of gems outside the backdoor.

Which came first the Bollard or the Hedge...

There I was on a drive to a block of flats in St John's Wood NW8 and who could believe what I saw in my headlamps but a hedge row full of bollards!

I'm starting to wonder where next, what other places in the capital will spit out a bollard or two where one would least expect.

So I ask the simple question question; "What came first the Bollard or the Hedge" ?

Answers on a picture of a bollard to be sent to john.bollards@gmail.com

Bollard of Balham...

Here we have a bollard of Balham a rather sedate looking green one that we can see standing alone next to a lamp post.

Mid green in colour and with a cannon ball top and ribbed with three rings placed around column. Balham like many parts of South West London is a rather middle class place and what we tend to find is that bollards match the social class of an area.

Take a look through this blog and you'll notice how the most dandy/ornate and therefore more costly bollards tend to be in the smartest parts of the city. So could we be onto something here, is their a economic trend developing based on even on street furniture?

In fact the only way for us to put this theory to the test is to keep snapping and logging where bollards appear/placed and then decide whether the bollard is of a standard that matches the social background of an area/postcode.

Who would have thought that maybe London's bollards are a sign of wealth within a district...

Temping Bollards...

Just when you thought the City of London couldn't produce anymore types/styles even designs of bollards here we find in New Change some temporary ones which have replaced the normal fixed bollards before and after events like the Lord Mayor's show.

Well these two plastic bollards are pretty bland you could even say boring. They sit on their own large base and then taper slightly towards the square top with a keep left sign stuck firmly in place.

You should notice in the background the two traditional cannon type bollards sitting just in front of the red telephone box.

50 not out for Bollards of London...

Who would have thought it possible to create a blog 0n the 4th of May 2009 about the humble and sometimes dandy Bollards of London. Yet we did and here we are still pulling absolute crackers out of the tarmac/pavements

It seems at times that we really are a nation of bollards, whilst people sleep rough and members of our armed services lack vital equipment back home here in the UK but especially London we can find vast amounts of money to cast, plant, paint and even create new styles of these objects.

On a slightly less serious note we have pictured here a very old looking and rather dandy Westminster City Council bollard that sits proudly on the pavement by the most wonderful of monuments to the war in the Crimea. The bollard though has a semi-circular top and is slightly tapered with roses around its upper half & what appears to be the crest of City of Westminster. The lower half flares outwards slightly and we can just make out the date which happens to be 1909 a cool 101 years old.

Well what a bollard to find and what a bollard to celebrate 50 not out for this slightly different but important blog which finds, tracks and charts the many Bollards of London. A big thank you to Big George of bbc London 94.9 fm and how could I not mention Peter Watt's of the big smoke at timeout online.

The leaning bollards of King Street, Covent Garden WC.2

A very Happy New Year for 2010 and the new decade ahead with a stonking picture of the leaning bollards of King Street, Covent Garden WC2.

If you wish to find theses bollards which I'm sure were planted in a vertical position get yourself down to the junction of King Street & Bedford Street in London's trendy and pleasant shopping district of the old Covent Garden Fruit and Veg market.

Now back to the bollards they are a rather bland bog standard type that look more like a cannon that the usual Westminster City Council one's we find littered all over the borough. These bollards though do keep vehicles off the pavement for we can see clearly in the picture that the cobble stone road is in fact level with the kerb and the pavement. It seems we have no end of money to spend on junctions like this when it must surely be cheaper to just have a normal junction with a tarmac road and with kerbs and a normal pavement which would then negate the need for these bollards.

Maybe 2010 can be the start of a decade where local councils cut pointless spending and start to think in a more logical fashion...

Let it Snow, Let is Snow, Let it Snow.

What a festive season this is fast becoming with even more snow falling on central London this evening but who could miss a chance to snap a Westminster City Council security bollard on Great Peter Street SW1 with a light dusting of snow on its top. With weather like this all I seek now is a Corporation of London for the win treble.

Happy Christmas once again and please do email me with any interesting pictures of bollards at john.bollards@gmail.com !

Seasons Greetings from Bollards of London...

Seasons greetings to you all from myself John Kennedy here at bollards of London. What a wonderful year we have had searching, snapping some wonderful shots of the most odd but interesting of pieces of street furniture. Well I can assure you all that 2010 looks busy already with many more finds already and waiting to be uploaded and revealed to the world wide web.

Now can I thank all of you have taken a interest in this site and also thank Big George of bbc London 94.9 fm, Petrie Hosken of LBC 97.3 fm (great listen), Bill Buckley and Johnathan Lampon of bbc London for all giving this blogsite a mention and even a plug over the year. But last and not least I must thank the Big Smoke and Peter Watts at Time Out for sticking this blog up there with the gods...

Happy Christmas to you all and a prosperous New Year and keep an eye out for bollard watch in the New Year...!

Rising Bollards...

Well with Winter here and the complete lack of snow I've been on the search for a bollard with a difference and what did I come across in this wonderful of recession hit festive seasons but the rising bollards of Imperial Wharf which just happens to be near the beautiful Chelsea Harbour.

Yes take a close look at the white reflective clad stumpy fat bollards with the amber warning glowing lights and you really do think it might just be Christmas. But on a serious note isn't it sad we need to create rising bollards let alone plant normal ones.

I'm thinking of creating an exhibition of the many bollards I've come across here in the capital. Please do let me know if you think this would be of interest to you.