The Lock of Love

The Hohenzollenbrucke in Cologne, Germany is a rail and pedestrian bridge that crosses the River Rhine, linking Koln Hauptbahnhof with Koln Messe/ Deutz. Not a location normally associated with gestures of love, but since 2008 the bridge has been the site and sight of an unusual romantic phenomenon.


Lovers, young and old, have been attaching padlocks to the bridge and casting the keys in to the river symbolising their unbreakable love.


And the number of padlocks on the bridge has grown and grown...


The tradition of Love Padlocks is thought to originate from China, where lovers would secure locks to the Great Wall of China in the hope that their love would last as long as the Wall stands.The locks are now prevalent around Eastern Europe and their popularity is increasing.

(All photos by 'Roo Paprika', September 2010)

The owners of the Hohenzollenbrucke, Deutsche Bahn, threatened to have the locks removed from the bridge, but have now relented in the face of public opposistion.

What do you think of the locks? Romantic gestures, street art or acts of vandalism?

Urban Exploration: The Southbank

Training for walking the Essex Way has taught me that not all 'rambling' needs to be in the countryside. I recently spent a happy day walking from Bankside to Putney along the south bank of the River Thames. It was a joy to walk through such a varied urban landscape, all linked by being on the bank of the river. Seeing the old generators of the city's power, some now reused, some now fallen in to disrepair to seeing the seat of the country's power. Seeing formalised gardens in the form of parks, to more informal greenery in gardens and treehouses....

Tate Modern - the former Bankside power station

Blackfriars railway bridge

Houses of Parliament, Westminster
Brunswick House Cafe, Vauxhall

Grapevines, Vauxhall

Boating lake, Battersea Park

An urban beach party, opposite Lots Road Power Station, Chelsea

Towards Wandsworth and Fulham

Treehouse, Wandsworth

Putney Bridge - famous for being the start of the boat race

(merino jumper -Howies)

Twelve miles later, a tired rambler before rewarding herself with a cask-conditioned prize.

Are you a countryside lover or a fan of our urban spaces? When you are in towns are you waterway stroller or more of a window shopper? Please let me know:

Itinerant Ice Cream

“Ice-cream is exquisite. What a pity it isn't illegal.”

- Voltaire

From Reculver with Love

More seaside adventures, this time to Reculver on the north coast of Kent. Reculver is best know for its towers, what remains of the parish church, abandoned to the sea but the towers were retained as a navigational aid. They now stand almost as a lone facade of what was once there.



Easter weekend is when UK holiday resorts start to wake up after the winter, Reculver's traditional 'kiss-me-quick' seaside offer was starting to wake up from hibernation.



Next stop was Whitstable which, despite its gentrification, is still home to a working harbour and fishing fleet.

Whitstable is probably most famous for its oysters. The local oyster company is trying to keep the oyster farming (or fishing?) in the area sustainable, by reestablishing oyster beds from restaurant discarded oyster shells



All this sea air makes me hungry.