Quirky Traveller's Tales

When you think of London you think Big Ben, the Queen, Hyde Park, maybe the Imperial War Museum– not an underground movement of urban art slowly crawling its way across the city like a politically colourful Japanese Knotweed. It’s time to see London differently, so set up base in a hotel in central London and head out into the ever-changing world of urban art. 

London Street Art (Stock Images)

The street art scene is slowly but very surely taking over the pavements, walls and tube stations of the city – in almost every corner of every road and building you’ll be rewarded by Space Invaders and miniature heroes, political statements and Banksy wannabes (and Banksy himself, of course).  Street art in London has only recently been recognised as art, probably thanks to Banksy and his blossoming worldwide fame, and is steadily progressing from being an impermanent and uncontrollable pest to a force to be reckoned with. However, this art of recklessness and anti-establishment is being lost behind panes of Perspex and a rise in legal walls around the city – it’s good to see that creativity is being appreciated, but can it really be controlled? 

To get a glimpse of the originality that lurks in London Town, head to a dark alley called Blackall Street just off Old Street. You’ll find yourself under the glaring eyes of neon monsters, blushing whilst passing by an embracing couple and giggling at Stik men childishly scrawled on shutters. The remains of an Invader casually surveys the scene like a surreal CCTV camera and BOREDOM IS COUNTER REVOLUTIONARY loudly remarks the statement this street once subtly claimed.

Shoreditch is the place to go to find a mixture of London most appreciated al fresco art – from the weird and the wonderful, political and sickly sweet to outright rude, Shoreditch is a melting pot of imagination and vulgarity. Look out for samurais, Mickey Mouse and a giant hedgehog to get you going – and remember to keep an eye on the ground; you never know who you’ll see lurking on street corners.  For the Banksy fans out there, London’s Shoreditch is the ideal starting point – you’ll find the evolved Pulp Fiction, the Rat Race and the Chopper all at home here, as well as designated graffiti areas around most corners and prying policemen fading and failing to stop the art revolution.

London Street Art (Stock Image)

However, street art doesn’t have to be limited to 2D paintings on out-of-reach walls – Covent Garden is home to the Big Smoke’s best street artists. Here you can find a bunch of loud performers offering many laughs and gasps, all competing for your attention (and change) whilst you shop, eat and drink. To enjoy some in-the-flesh art in London, find a table outside one of Covent Garden’s hotels, sip on a cocktail, and be prepared to part with any loose change in your pocket.

Juggler 'The Great Dave' Covent Garden by Aqwis

‘This post is brought to you by ‘Grange Hotels’.

So what is Seattle famous for, apart from a cracker of a place to be sleepless in?

Well there is the legacy of the great fire of 1889, which devastated downtown Seattle but furnished civic leaders an opportunity to make good out of the bad planning that had gone before it. They embarked on a program of land fills to, literally, raise the streets above sea level.  For the buildings that survived, that meant their ground floors having the light of day shut off as they became basements. These “basements” were left unchanged; forgotten but preserved in a stillness of time, as time itself passed by in the world above. And that begot a little dividend for the tourist Industry during the late 20th century. During the early 1970s I saw a movie set in Seattle called ‘The Night Strangler’. In it, reporter Carl Kolchack pursues a 120 year old vampire down Into “Old Seattle”, the underground city that had once stood up top. A vast and cavernous place within which the vampire lives with his memories.

My ambition to see the underground myself was finally realised on the Underground City Tour, which actually begins above ground at Maynard’s Public House in Pioneer Square. A fully restored 1890s ornate saloon, this atmospheric drinking den is worth enjoying a few beers in alone and not just as warm up for the tour. After some background history, it is then time to descend the back stairs to the first of three blocks of a half forgotten underworld.

What became quickly apparent was the cavernous underground of The Night Strangler owed more to artistic licence and a studio set in Hollywood. The real life Seattle Underground may not be as spectacular but is none the less fascinating. Streets, storefronts, sidewalks, as intact as they were back in 1889. Empty window frames that once housed glass; a bathroom, a bank teller’s cage, even a taproom with bar remain preserved in the dust of time. A dislodged sign heralds the Jericho Inn Mission; fallen memento to a place for the fallen. This is the house of Miss Havisham only now it has gone metropolitan. Creepy and claustrophobic, the underground tour is walking through a ghost world from the past. A route to tread carefully lest we wake the dead and the only sounds of life are the footsteps of those walking the sidewalks up above, unaware of this secret world beneath their feet.

A museum marks the climax of the tour. Here, Seattle’s strange history can be relived in mementoes, photos, historical documentation and souvenir shop.  So If you are ever Seattle bound why not give the subterranean city a go?  And if contemplating the city from its darkest bowels is not quite your cup of mocha, then try viewing it from atop the 500 foot high plus Space Needle. Now there is a contrast…

 Barry McCann is a writer, editor and broadcaster, specialising in short stories, reviews, features, talks and, more recently, travel writing.  Barry is the editor of Parnassus, MENSA’s Art & Literature Journal and is currently Writer in Residence at BBC Radio Lancashire. Find him on Face Book.

If you enjoyed this article then you will no doubt enjoy Barry’s ‘Folklore Tour of the Lake District’, the very quirky Padstow Obby Oss’ and his piece on historic Preston Guild.