Ebb & Flow

Unlike many patient photographers, huddled in huts at unsocial hours waiting for a rare visitor to frame in a perfect shot, my encounters with birds are mostly completely random. They’ve been mainly in and around Victoria Tower Gardens, where crows rule and seem to coexist with the gulls, pigeons, ducks and parakeets. I have, over time, as well as the birds photographed below, seen coal tits, blue tits, blackbirds, and the strewn evidence of hawk activity but as yet have been unable to film them in any detail. Here below are pictures of the birds that I have been able to observe in this much-loved, pocket-handkerchief, Thames-side park, so join me for a few moments of escape into the natural world.

Crows
Noisy, busy and entertaining to watch, the crows feed on the lawn, from proffered or left picnic morsels, and on the Victoria Tower Gardens’ foreshore where they find an abundance of small shellfish and other creatures.

Cormorants
There seems to have been an increase in the number of cormorants along Lambeth Reach in recent years. They often choose to rest on one of the Palace of Westminster markers floating on the river. I’ve seen them further upstream along non-tidal stretches of the Thames, such as at Pangbourne the other day, where their prodigious talent for fishing rivals that of local anglers, and so they are not always welcomed.

Geese
Despite the fast flowing tidal currents along this stretch of the Thames, geese often make an appearance, sometimes with their goslings. Egyptian geese seem particularly fearless, finding food on the grass in the park and along the foreshore, or taking up positions on the embankment wall.

Swans
Much rarer here than geese are swans, occasionally passing by, either afloat or in flight.

Ducks
There are always a few ducks on this stretch of the Thames. The Mallards live around here permanently and can often be seen dozing on the Lambeth Bridge Piers, or on the embankment wall.

Gulls
Notoriously difficult to tell some from others, I’ve come across three distinctive types of gull: the lesser black-backed gulls, herring gulls and black-headed gulls, the latter winter here, adding extra life to the park and its foreshore.

And others…
…including magpies, parakeets, wood pigeons, London pigeons, and robins.

Now the fate of Victoria Tower Gardens as a public park hangs in the balance as it is the subject of an Appeal against a decision to build over, and dig deep below, a large portion of the space, which apart from other downsides, risks damage to the mature plane trees and wildlife, especially birds. Let us hope the the Appeal succeeds…

Further information
To see a greater variety of birds, you can go to London’s beautifully maintained haven of peace St. James’s Park just half a mile away.
Familiar London Birds
Explore The London Wildlife Trust
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds: RSPB
Photo Essay on Herring Gull Plumage
Save Victoria Tower Gardens Appeal
Thanks to garden designer Louise Venter for advice on robins. You can follow her on Twitter @Louise_Venter
Thanks to Master Thatcher Chris Dodson Follow him on Twitter @c_dodson_thatch
Thanks to Ian Young Follow him on Twitter @ianyoung33
Thanks to Kabir Kaul Follow him on Twitter @Kaulofthewilduk

…and mostly ignored by river users focussed on navigating safely through the arches, Vauxhall Bridge has eight large bronze statues, four on each side, allegorical figures representing, Science, Fine Arts, Education, Local Government, Agriculture, Architecture, Engineering and Pottery. Commissioned by the London County Council, they were installed in 1907.

The sculptures are mounted on plinths in alcoves set upon the bridge piers but being below the level of the parapet, they are invisible from the roadway. The best full views are from the river but the safest views are from the embankments, so as not to obstruct river traffic, though they are further away and more difficult to see. A good way to study them in detail is to use a pair of binoculars. Leaning over the parapet for an even closer look at the heads is possible but only with care.

The sculptors, Alfred Drury and Frederick Pomeroy, were part of what was known as the New Sculpture movement, which came into being during the late nineteenth century. The Victorian Web states that the movement “does not represent one singular style, but rather a range of approaches to make sculpture more dynamic and life-like.” Both Drury and Pomeroy were known for their architectural sculpture, and the approach to the statues on Vauxhall Bridge, though coming from their background of structural ornementation, resulted in the creation of symbolic, yet more natural-looking figures with thoughtful faces and a feeling of movement in their demeanour and flowing draperies.

Above is an interesting photograph of Vauxhall Bridge with its empty niches before the installation of the statues. And below is the scene on the bridge as the statue representing the Fine Arts, holding a sculptured figure and an artists’ palette, is raised into the air before being lowered over the parapet into position. About twice life-size, she is cast in bronze and weighs, as do all the statues, around two tons.

The upstream statues by Frederick W. Pomeroy, RA (1856 – 1924)
Pomeroy was one of the leading sculptors in the New Sculpture movement, with works around Britain and in London, including the impressive figure of Lady Justice on the dome of the Old Bailey, erected in 1906. It was he who undertook the commission for the four statues on the upstream side of the bridge.

Follow a link to the history of the Royal Doulton Pottery here.

The downstream facing statues by Alfred Drury RA (1856 – 1944)
Drury was, like Pomeroy, an architectural sculptor. He too was part of the New Sculpture movement creating several works in central London, and others all over Britain including the eight elegant bronze lampholders in Leeds Square, called the Morning and Evening Girls. He took on the commission for the four downstream facing statues.

Here below are a few images of boats that pass regularly beneath Vauxhall Bridge, where skippers will be more concerned with navigation than observing the finer details of the sculptures. If you take any of the boat trips upstream be on the lookout with cameras and binoculars at the ready as you approach and pass beneath Vauxhall Bridge.

Vauxhall Bridge was in line to be the next London bridge lit up as part of the wonderful Illuminated River public art installation already stretching across nine central London bridges. However plans to proceed with the work have been put on hold for the moment due to funding problems but Leo Villareal’s artwork is already completed and ready to go when possible.

In an article quoted by The Victorian Web, architect Sir Reginald Blomfield wrote in 1921 that it was important for a bridge to be “a symbol of the life and civilization of the people who use that bridge”. Though this could not be said of all bridges by any means, Vauxhall Bridge’s statues do remain a symbol of pride in the achievements of the age when it was built.

Further information
Illuminated River plans for Vauxhall Bridge
The London Metropolitan Archives: Vauxhall Bridge, 1956
The Lambeth Archives
Vauxhall Bridge: Wikipedia
The Tate Gallery
A section on Vauxhall Bridge in A London Inheritance
The Victorian Web