Comments on: Frank Merton Atkins’ City Churches

By: Saba

Saba — Fri, 30 Sep 2022 19:35:53 +0000

Could the church on the top of the steeple be the same that inspired Brian Selznick to write The Marvels, based on the Dennis Severs house? Three Selznick books, with extensive illustration, take place in the Dennis Severs House, the Museum of Natural History in New York, and a train station in Paris, maybe the Gare du Nord. Martin Scorsese’s fantastic Hugo is based on the Paris book. A not-so-good movie was also made about the Museum of Natural History book. The books are all fabulous for adults or children.

By: Cherub

Cherub — Fri, 30 Sep 2022 11:50:00 +0000

I’m intrigued by the quirky sign on Cannon Street that says “Leave your headache here” and wonder if it was outside a chemists. Lovely photos of the churches, it’s a shame many of Wren’s churches no longer exist as they were very beautiful inside.

By: Lynne Perrella

Lynne Perrella — Fri, 30 Sep 2022 11:35:51 +0000

The top photo is the perfect intro to this amazing series. We see the “tower” of market crates,
right up against the “tower” of the church structure. Beauty and the beast. The “everyday” next to
the ecumenical.

Note the “Leave Your Headache Here” neon sign. Thanks, I think I will.

The Bishopsgate Institute must surely be one of the world’s great treasure troves.
Thank you, GA, for shining a light.

By: Paul Loften

Paul Loften — Fri, 30 Sep 2022 11:25:55 +0000

Thank you for these photos . They capture not only the feel of this era in the City but something of the post war man . The City office worker who once was a officer or perhaps just a private during the war , in the ranks , but nevertheless had seen ands been through unspeakable moments . The straight back, confident stride and upright stance was a giveaway . You could spot my father a mile coming a mile away

By: Linda Granfield

Linda Granfield — Fri, 30 Sep 2022 10:06:17 +0000

The construction sites, the vehicles, the woman all in dresses. There’s so much to investigate in these photographs. I’m impressed by the detailed documentation Mr. Atkins made for each snap.

By: Peter Holford

Peter Holford — Fri, 30 Sep 2022 10:00:29 +0000

This is straight out of my childhood memories especially with the photo of the trolley bus (my journey to school in Hammersmith) and the old Esso sign. But I always imagined that the churches stood aloft and clear of the newer buildings as they had done for centuries. These photos correct that false memory and show that the process of newer buildings submerging the ancient churches was already well underway.

By: Pauline Taylor

Pauline Taylor — Fri, 30 Sep 2022 09:54:03 +0000

This is the London that I remember, the vehicles, people’s clothes and the horse and cart !! My friends in Hendon, where I used to stay, had a milkman who came round with a horse and cart in the 1950s and into the 60s.

By: Bernie

Bernie — Fri, 30 Sep 2022 09:48:44 +0000

Rising front camera? I think not. Seems to me that I see converging verticals as expected from a standard lens. Other opinions please!

What these images bring back — and let us not forget — is the brutal bombing that London suffered at the hands of Germany.

By: Annie S

Annie S — Fri, 30 Sep 2022 08:55:39 +0000

Very interesting photographs, still quite a lot of bomb damage visible I notice.

By: Vaughan Grylls

Vaughan Grylls — Fri, 30 Sep 2022 05:58:20 +0000

Beautiful photographs presumably taken with a rising front camera to correct verticals.