
From the decaying houses on the North Circular to the faded glory of the Tidal Basin Tavern in Prince Regent Dock via Battersea Power Station & the Hoxton cinema this is an extraordinary record of often wonderful London landmarks that are now prey to neglect vandalism & the developers demolition crew. Paul Talling has been recording ramshackle London for several years & here he looks at the cream of the down-at-heel blending photographs with accounts of how particular buildings & sights fell into disrepair & what is likely to happen to them. The Victorian Concrete House in East Dulwich for example
- a once magnificent example of an early concrete-built house but now a shell. Palmers in Camden Town formerly the most famous pet shop in London where Ken Livingstone bought his newts. Strand Tube Station which featured in films as diverse as Battle of Britain" " Superman IV" & " An American Werewolf in Paris". To mention only a few of the myriad houses pubs cinemas bomb shelters cemeteries & shops meticulously recorded & celebrated here. If youve ever peeped curiously through a gap in a boarded-up window or wondered why the building you pass every day is looking distinctly the worse for wear this is very definitely the book for you."