It never fails to give me a small thrill whenever I happen to find myself at Waterloo when the sun is going down. The classic Kinks song always inevitably pops into my head and, if I'm in appropriate company, I sing out the chug-chugga-chugga of the opening bars.
It especially lifts my spirits when I find myself there at sunset upon arriving back into Waterloo Station after a trip away from London. That was the situation last night when I snapped these shots, on my return from a night away and a site visit in Dorset.
As an architectural historian, I also always find myself working out which of the buildings in the views from Waterloo Bridge would have existed when the lyrics were penned. And indeed, what bridges, as Hungerford footbridge, visible in the view below, wouldn't have been there then... One day, I'd like to sit down and work it all out. Perhaps draw up my own little 1960s view, if I can't find a photograph of one. There's a mission!
Last night, I was also particularly thrilled by the sliver of a moon resting above Shell Mex House, one of my favourite Thames-side buildings. How can you not love London at moments like this?
