My visit to London was on a trip for a course with my University in Birmingham, Alabama. Part of my assignments for the course was a journal of our academic activities and any thing else we did. This is an edited excerpt from that Journal. Since I took a large number of pictures on this trip it will be a number of months before they are processed and show up online.

Saturday, January 16th, 2010

Due to sleeping in after last night, it was not until the afternoon that I set out to explore. Pre-trip I had planned to visit Abney Park Cemetery and I figured today would be a good day to do that. Abney Park was on the north side of Greater London, and so the tube and bus transit took some time and I did not arrive until nearly 15:30.

On the gates a sign indicated that the gates closed at 16:00, but I didn't want to waste the trip. Abney Park is an old creepy seemly neglected cemetery. The tombs are densely packed and growing trees have upset or completely knocked over most of the headstones and monuments. Vines and vegetation cover nearly the entire cemetery aside from the walking paths. In the center of the site is the pinnacle of Abney Cemetery, the derelict Abney Chapel. Although small, the imposing locked up chapel is ornate and likely has not been used in half a century. Since I only had 30 minutes, I went right to work to get some good photos. As I briskly moved through the cemetery, I realized that the creepiness of the location was enhanced by some of the other visitors. While some appeared to be normal people you would find in a park that were out to take a stroll and chat with a friend or walk their dog, others just seemed to be aimlessly wandering, or just standing around waiting. As the end of my time inside neared I withdrew to the front gate where I made a phone call. For another 30 minutes I stood outside the Egyptian Revival style gates and realized that there was no sign of any one coming to lock the gate, in fact locals were still strolling in and out of the park with no care.

So I went back inside, since it was getting dark at this time I would be able to get some unique shots of the cemetery at night. As darkness fell I meandered for some time, although due to the overcast sky reflecting light pollution from the surrounding city it was easy to navigate without a torch. Most surprising was the number of people that still remained inside the cemetery after closing time. All these interlopers were behaving as the shady characters that I described above. In my pre-trip research on UER I read about some of the 'activities' that take place in the secluded areas of the park after dark, although these people didn't exactly fit the demographic that I was expecting. Inside I spent another hour and a half, found some indications of the afore mentioned activities, did some light painting then decided I pushed my luck enough and it was time to go. Not surprisingly, my egress was halted by the locked gates, but those other people inside had to get in and out somehow (unless they lived there).

After my escape, I returned to central London.

Monday, January 18th, 2010

Monday was a fun day. Since I didn't stay out very late Sunday night, I was able to get up earlier. Since I enjoyed Abney Park so much and was not able to see everything at that site, I made a return visit.

This time I arrived around 13:00 so was able to do a lot of shooting in the daylight. Again there was the same odd mix of people roaming around the cemetery. Being able to satisfactorily explore and photograph the cemetery while dodging used condoms hanging from branches, it was then time to see the inside of the chapel which was the main attraction that brought me back. Although some effort was made to secure the chapel, including an rather pointlessly placed bike lock I knew entry would be easy. An odd couple, an older man dressed for business and a younger man in a hoodie who were having a lengthy conversation nearby. I walked around shooting and waited for sometime for them to move on, but after 45 minutes I did not want to wait anymore. I removed my outer later, and hid my backpack behind a nearby tombstone. People are continually walking through the cemetery so I waited for a clear moment. The conversers continued conversing, and another photographer with a model or girlfriend approached to take pictures outside the chapel, so I waited some more.

The photographer passed and I dove inside, not getting as dirty as I was expecting. Numerous pigeons had made a roost inside so the floor was covered in many year’s worth of pigeon waste material. The pigeons made great deal of noise when I got in. Although the chapel was small, the extensive architecture made the structure look larger so the inside had less space than I was expecting. Despite the size it was still worth the effort and satisfying. Almost all of the chapel is visible from front gates, so the number of people walking by was a bit distracting as I was trying to get pictures quickly. Most were oblivious but a few looked in and saw me. When I was finished inside, I was packing my camera away and looked up and there was a fairly attractive young woman, standing on the outside eating an apple and looking in. While others just glanced in she persisted and stared. I walked right up and dove back outside as she watched and continued to munch on her apple. She passed by me a few minutes later outside as I was gathering my gear to leave. Not a word was exchanged. By this time it was nearly 16:00 again, so I got the heck out of there.

Great place!