Kingston bollards!

O brave new world ...

The first Labour GLC administration in 1965 had ambitious urban motorway plans. But the public mood had changed by the early 1970s, the lived experience of Westway being one (but by no means only) nail in the coffin of those plans. By 1973, the campaign message was firmly anti-motorway:

Another plug for this (it won’t be the last…): Saturday 13th June saw the 213 heritage running day between Sutton and Kingston. Here are my photos from the day, plus the obligatory lecture! lccmunicipal.com/2026/06/20/o...

It’s Saturday Morning Municipal Street Lighting Nerd Club. Here’s one for fans of 1960s & 70s post top lanterns. All the classics from Phosco, Eleco, Thorn and GEC! From Thamesmead to Brookside Close via many municipal leisure centre car parks…

I’m not a brand ambassador for www.booksaboutart.co.uk (although happy to be considered for the role, of course…), but they are serving up this book on Resopal, the German plastic laminate (for just £10), and I am slightly obsessed. Some fantastic photos. Link to book in alt text

The Lost Logos of the London Boroughs. Now updated to include Ealing, which recently retired its old tree in favour of a new tree!

Lost logos of the London Boroughs: Croydon

There's a great photo from exactly the same angle taken of Camden LBC's *first* council meeting (the chamber is rather busier). This was on the wall at the Crowndale Centre, Mornington Cresc, when it housed the temporary chamber while they renovated Judd St

From 1965, the Metropolitan Borough of St Pancras’s farewell/valedictory publication “The End of One Story”. It commemorates various aspects of the Borough’s history including the not altogether uncontroversial decision to fly the Red Flag from the Town Hall roof on May Day, 1958.

Here’s a 1980 brochure from the GLC telling the story of multiple plans for redeveloping Piccadilly Circus. Various schemes were proposed in the 1950s and 60s - think major demolition, tower blocks, pedestrian and traffic separation etc. - all of which seemed to cause outrage.

The London County Council Parks Department brochure for the 1963 season of open air entertainment, which took place across the Council’s various parks and outdoor venues:

From 1968 until '78 i lived on the estate next to Sutton Bus Garage, and before that as a very young boy off Stonecot Hill. The number of times i've been on the 213...! Thank you for the photos. My favourite bus is still an RF, and in particular the 80A, between Morden tube and Walton-on-the-Hill.

Last Saturday saw the 213 heritage running day between Sutton and Kingston. Here are my photos from the day, plus the obligatory lecture! The website has undergone an unexpected emergency rebrand (thank you Wordpress), so please excuse any temporary glitches. lccmunicipal.com/2026/06/20/o...

FRM1, the experimental rear-engined, front-entrance Routemaster from 1966, seen in Kingston today on the 213 running day. More pics to follow!

@lccmunicipal.bsky.social Vestry of St Pancras plaque, Gloucester Gate Bridge, Camden

Eugene Rosenberg’s Architect’s Choice is a great book on post-war sculpture, murals and the like in public, civic and corporate spaces. And it offers a reminder of William Pye’s Slipstream in Gatwick’s North Terminal, now lost to retail space!

Here’s a recommendation if you have a spare £15. I really enjoyed this, to borrow a cliche, *lavishly* illustrated book on the 1981 Milton Keynes HomeWorld exhibition. There were later exhibitions (e.g. Energy World 1986), which also would be worthy of a book!! www.mkcdc.org.uk/shop/p/homew...

Two rather lovely postcards here of the Post Office Tower (the correct description for the age of the cards!) by night:

Does anyone know of a definitive list of the concrete murals of Henry Collins and Joyce Pallot? This Surbiton example is a favourite of mine, and their work in places like Colchester (where they were based), Southampton and Newcastle is well known. But what of the rest?

With thanks to @hoosiersands.bsky.social for pointing this out: a new entry to the Lost Logos of the London Boroughs as Ealing updates its longstanding tree logo: www.ealing.news/news/out-wit...

In my bid to provide ever more niche content, here is a short video on West Midlands PTE bus destination blinds from Coventry's Harnall Lane and Sandy Lane bus garages in 1984. Enjoy! (And don't say you weren't warned)...

Alwyn Sheppard Fidler’s Bourne Hall, Ewell. The spaceship-like circular building was completed in 1970 and serves as Ewell’s library and public hall.

A new (unexpected!) entry for @lccmunicipal.bsky.social's street light nerd club.

Municipal guide of the day: the former Chislehurst & Sidcup Urban District Council. Unusually (though not uniquely), on abolition in 1965, the area was split between two successor London Boroughs - Sidcup, north of the A20, went into Bexley and Chislehurst, south of the A20, ended up in Bromley.

Today’s municipal guide: Andover, Hampshire, 1970. In 2000, after they retired, my late parents, who had lived in SW London all their lives, decided to retire to Andover for some reason, a town with which they had no prior connection. So, I ended up with a vicarious link to the place for 13 years…

Haven’t done this one in a while. The Lost Logos of the London Boroughs: Enfield, Top London Borough (from the 1980s).

Festival of Britain @municipaldreams.bsky.social @lccmunicipal.bsky.social

The 1980s Islington “i” logo and some vintage Borough of Finsbury action on these Farringdon street signs. Oh, and a final Barbican picture (from Cowcross Street).

A few pics from the Barbican yesterday:

The former Fenwick store on New Bond Street - looking like a facade on stilts as a new building emerges from within.

The Edward Johnston Memorial Design by Fraser Muggeridge (2017) at Farringdon Station.

Did the Barbican architecture tour today, which was fun. Photos to follow!

16 May 1938 - Manchester Guardian supplement celebrating the Centenary of the incorporation of Manchester as a borough; a city's service to its citizens. It shows a glimpse of the the wide range of municipal services it provided. @lccmunicipal.bsky.social @municipaldreams.bsky.social

On my whistle-stop round-trip to Derbyshire (via Nottinghamshire) yesterday, I managed to squeeze in some Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station photos before it’s too late. These are taken from the appropriately named Long Lane which runs out of Kegworth (which is actually in Leicestershire).

Up at the National Tramway Museum at Crich today and a trip on London County Council tram 106, new in 1903:

The Lib Dems extend their 40 year actual (36 year majority) control of Sutton Council for another four years, scooping up 51 of the 55 seats - the Tories are wiped out. But, if I look at my own ward of Cheam, it is Reform splitting the Tory result that has allowed the Lib Dems to prosper…

🚨🚨Hazel Atashroo’s excellent book on the visual culture of the 1980s GLC is now out. Get your copy here: www.fourcornersbooks.co.uk/books/london...

You can now order the paperback edition of ‘Thin Places in Hard Concrete’. 👇 “Admirers of the cult TV series Inside No. 9 will love this collection...” ”Ray’s books are masterpieces of uncanny atmosphere...” www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0GW...

A great account and photographic record from @lccmunicipal.bsky.social of Willem Marinus Dudok's celebrated Hilversum Town Hall and the British counterparts it influenced: lccmunicipal.com/2026/04/10/h...

Non municipal post alert… James at the O2, folks!

Saw these two bombing past Wisley services on the A3 at lunchtime. Brand new members of Arriva London’s ED class of BYD BD11 buses, both on trade plates - the first is ED 198, while the second carries no fleet number. In the absence of a registration plate, I guess we’ll never know which one it is!

Today’s municipal treasure: a past mayor’s pendant medallion from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets

BLOG POST: The first in a series of pieces exploring the influences and ideas behind each of the stories in my upcoming collection ‘Thin Places in Hard Concrete’. precastreinforced.co.uk/2026/04/15/1...

Today’s municipal treasure: I got this off eBay, where it was listed as an “East Ham Town Council” badge. That doesn’t sound quite right for a County Borough, so my guess is that“TC” stands for Technical College instead. Thoughts welcomed!

@lccmunicipal.bsky.social I thought you might like this commemorative plate I found at my parents’

Apologies for another plug (it won’t be the last…), but in case you missed it, here is my write up from my April 2025 pilgrimage to Hilversum Town Hall. Have you been? If not, I highly recommend it! lccmunicipal.com/2026/04/10/h...

Precisely one year and one day ago I fulfilled a personal ambition when I toured Hilversum Town Hall. Precisely one year and one day later I have finally written up my piece on the visit. Here it is - enjoy! lccmunicipal.com/2026/04/10/h...

Mind Your Own Middlesex, a wonderful little planning consultation document from the late 1940s: lccmunicipal.com/2026/04/07/m...

Today’s municipal treasure: a Councillor’s medallion from the former Metropolitan Borough of St Pancras. This features the old unofficial coat of arms which were in use until 1936.