New Job New Location

I’ve been a bit quiet over the last week. That’s because I’m working for a new client and I’m just finding my feet.

A new job, of course, means a new location. I’m working on Golden Lane which is just to the north of the Barbican. In this case it’s not exactly a new location to me as when I first moved to London (is it really twenty-five years ago?) I lived in a Hall of Residence on Bastwick Street which is just north of the new office.

So it’s been interesting walking around the old stamping group, seeing how it’s all changed. In a lot of cases the change hasn’t been for the best. The area between the Barbican and Old Street has always been pretty run-down, but it looks like there’s been no money invested in the area at all over the last twenty-five years. Even places that looked new and shiny when I first saw them are now looking a bit grim after a quarter century of neglect.

In the other direction the story is completely different. Between the Barbican and Moorgate has been a hive of activity over the last few years. A number of of buildings have been knocked down or refurbished. The old Britannia House is now City Point and there’s great looking new building at Moorhouse.

Another big change is the demolition of Northampton Hall. “Notty Hall” was another City University Hall of Residence and I had a number of good times there. Apparently it was demolished in 1998.

I was very pleased in the middle of the week when I discovered that the steps just to the right of the main office to my new office lead up to gate 11 of the Barbican. That mean that my walk from Moorgate tube station to the office can all be done via the Barbican highwalks (gate 3 to gate 11). There are lots of interesting views en route so I foresee lots of Barbican photography in my Flickr stream in the next few weeks.