Amazingness

Spring sunshine. A suburban wall. Little mosses. A perfect combination.

I feel rather attracted to walls such as this one, sporting an adornment of glass shards. There’s something strangely compelling in the contrasting displays of aggression and sculptural beauty, as the colourful spikes glint in the sunshine to warn you off a closer encounter. This wall seemed quite unusual with its incorporation of upturned bottle […]

Lovely Spring, decorating the tops of our local walls with a delicate sprinkling of blossom.

Peeking out from their cozy cove, what did these little mosses behold but a crowd of budding bryologists in waterproof jackets peering through tiny magnifying glasses, their big eyes just millimetres away from the friendly fronds of some of the neighbouring mosses living on the next wall along. I was one member of this curious […]

Deep inside this little clump of moss I find myself filled with dreamy thoughts of cornfields and seaside sand dunes, as I wonder what it might be like to be a spider or a fly, visiting this miniature world located atop a brick wall on the side of a quiet back street in Camberwell, south […]

What is it that this inviting mound of soft, fresh moss could possibly have in common with a bulgy-eyed, bouncing frog? Well, most importantly, both mosses and frogs are dependent on an external water supply for that elemental necessity: reproduction. Frogs need shallow water in which to lay their frogspawn, so the emerging tadpoles can […]

The first thing I noticed about this wall was the clump of fresh green moss bulging out from one of the cracks. It was only on closer inspection that I gradually became aware of the gorgeous and subtle spectrum of colours that reside here, both growing, and being grown upon. Consequently, I have been giving […]

Today’s blog post is a little bit different. On Saturday afternoon, myself and my friend Cass made a little documentary about Amazingness. We filmed it for ‘Britain in a Day‘, which is a BBC2 initiative to create an archive of one day in the life of Britain. On Saturday – 12th November 2011 – anyone […]

Taking a spur of the moment detour on my way home today, I cycled up the ramp on to the high concrete walkways of the Heygate Estate in Elephant and Castle – a large and infamous housing estate, currently standing empty, all boarded up, awaiting demolition. I’ve been wanting to explore it for ages, as […]

Every sunny day, at about 3:30 in the afternoon, this otherwise inconspicuous and rather dull-coloured piece of moss, experiences a moment of glory. Sunshine, dappled by the overhead trees, has reached it at last. Each individual mossy strand stands out, glowing reddy-brown, shining brightly in the spotlight. 45 minutes later, and it is almost invisible […]