Saturday, 22 July 2017

22/07/17: Abandoned creature #15

Boots and Waitrose car park, Whetstone. Species unknown. More creatures HERE.

Sunday, 16 July 2017

Friday, 7 July 2017

07/07/17: Abandoned toilet sticker

Millwall Dock, E14. Do not throw inappropriate items down the toilet.

Wednesday, 5 July 2017

05/07/17: Abandoned creature #14

Whetstone. Unlike some of the previous sorry creatures in the series (see HERE), this little fellow seems rather aggressive.

Sunday, 2 July 2017

02/07/17: Abandoned legs #2

North Finchley. Possibly related to: THESE LEGS.

Monday, 19 June 2017

19/06/17: Abandoned "Vote Tactically..." sticker

Stuck to the pavement just outside Waterloo Station. More abandoned stickers HERE.

Thursday, 15 June 2017

15/06/17: Abandoned drone

Oakleigh Park Swimming Pool, N20. I see a lot of "lost..." signs, but this is the first for a drone. Phone number masked in the interests of privacy.

Friday, 9 June 2017

09/06/17: Abandoned Elaine

Lying in the road near Mudchute DLR station, E14, the day after the General Election, was this abandoned political leaflet. Elaine Bagshaw stood for the Liberal Democrats in the parliamentary constituency of Poplar & Limehouse. She won 3,959 votes (a percentage increase of 2.5 for the party), but was beaten by Labour's Jim Fitzpatrick (with 39,558 votes) and Tory Christopher Wilford (with 11,846 votes).

Thursday, 8 June 2017

08/06/17: Abandoned LEGO

In the road off Marsh Wall, E14. There are apparently 400 billion LEGO bricks in the world. Here are a few of them.

08/06/17: Abandoned glove-bottle

Just off Marsh Wall, E14. Gloves in road, one with a bottle in it.

08/06/17: Abandoned majority

Near Millwall Dock, E14. Election day.

Sunday, 4 June 2017

04/06/17: Abandoned squirrel

Boots and Waitrose car park, Whetstone. This poor little fellow had lost parts of his glass hands and feet but bravely still managed to stand up.

Sunday, 21 May 2017

Tuesday, 9 May 2017

09/05/17: Abandoned shoe #7

Millwall Dock, E14. A tiny tot's shoe joins THIS collection of tragically abandoned footwear.

09/05/17: Abandoned firearm #4

Millwall Dock, E14. Not the first weapon found here, either (see HERE).

09/05/17: Abandoned fork

Whetstone. A fork in the road.

Sunday, 7 May 2017

Wednesday, 26 April 2017

26/04/17: Abandoned Why?

Totteridge. Over the years, this blog has tried to address some of the biggest questions of existence. This is both the smallest and the biggest question of all. Why? Why indeed?

Saturday, 15 April 2017

15/04/17: Abandoned face mask

Totteridge, near the duck pond. A slightly disarming discovery. Does anyone know who he is?

Sunday, 19 March 2017

19/03/17: Abandoned hope

Great Russell Street, near the British Museum. The text reads "Brexit = national suicide. No! to art. 50". Someone has crossed out the "national suicide" part of this and written "yes, lets just ignore Demoracy" (sic).

19/03/17: Abandoned hat #3

On the platform bench at Hendon Central tube station.

Sunday, 5 March 2017

05/03/17: Abandoned bottles

Whetstone. Not so much abandoned as carefully placed.

Saturday, 4 March 2017

04/03/17: Abandoned shoe #6

Mill Hill. Lots to enjoy here: the name "Stephan", the orange sole, the fancy pink strap across it and the shiny silver buckle.

Tuesday, 28 February 2017

28/02/17: Abandoned soldier

Isle of Dogs. Contrary to popular belief, the Queen's Guard are not merely a ceremonial presence to be enjoyed and photographed by tourists. They are, in fact, fully operational soldiers. This poor little guy had lost his head, but, incredibly, could still march in the name of royal duty.

Wednesday, 15 February 2017

15/02/17: Abandoned Bob Marley "container"

Initially, I thought this was a Bob Marley pencil sharpener. It's wasn't. It was a small container for storing something else.

15/02/17: Abandoned number plate #5

Whetstone. See the rest of the series HERE.

Monday, 13 February 2017

13/02/17: Abandoned Valentine

Whetstone. One day before Valentine's Day, this romantic, heart-shaped balloon had already been discarded. Tragic.

Sunday, 12 February 2017

12/02/17: Abandoned sheet music #2

Whetstone. The lyrics on this sheet music include "states are crumbling" and "from this moment". A quick Google search reveals this to be "Aftermath" by Muse.

Tuesday, 24 January 2017

24/01/17: Abandoned lager

Totteridge & Whetstone tube station. I see a lot of lager cans left lying around, but not many of them are unopened. According to the list HERE, Dębowe Mocne is the 11th most popular Polish beer.

Wednesday, 18 January 2017

18/01/17: Abandoned origami

Whetstone. This lovely bird, fashioned from a till receipt, was on the same windowsill as this Minion.

Sunday, 8 January 2017

08/01/17: Abandoned bicycle

Finchley Central. On the same walk that I saw 37 Xmas trees, I also saw this bicycle with something fairly fundamental wrong with it.

08/01/17: Abandoned Christmas trees 2017

Went for a walk and saw 37 (yes, 37!) abandoned Christmas trees left on the pavements of Finchley Central. This image shows five trees in one place.

Wednesday, 28 December 2016

28/12/16: Abandoned cucumber

Brook Farm Open Space, N20. Still wrapped and chilled.

28/12/16: Abandoned fish #2

North Finchley. A fish out of water.

28/12/16: Abandoned iPhone #2

Found this black iPhone in the road in Totteridge Lane, encased in a deep frost. Surprisingly, it still worked. I picked it up and cleaned it. There was 56% of the battery still showing, so I hoped the owner would call before it ran out. Sure enough, a couple of hours later the phone had a call from someone called "Fat Cheeks" (I think this was the owner's girlfriend). I answered and spoke to the phone owner, who appeared to be tracking the device through his Apple account. We arranged to meet by Totteridge & Whetstone tube station, where I handed it back. He seemed very grateful and said that if he had a present to give me he would have. We shook hands. I was pleased to have a happy ending to this story.

Saturday, 24 December 2016

24/12/16: Abandoned "Bear's Time Travel Adventure" trading card

Boots and Waitrose car park, Whetstone. No idea what "Bear's Time Travel Adventure" is about.

Friday, 23 December 2016

23/12/16: Abandoned playing card #10: queen of clubs

Oakleigh Road North, N20. "But what does the Queen of clubs mean?" I hear you ask. According to the internet: "The Queen of Clubs is the card of high intuition, knowledge and mental balance. The Queen of Clubs represents the receptive principle of man's spiritual nature. They are not students in this life. They have close contact with higher forces of Intelligence; spirituality expressed in balance, wisdom and logic. They don't formulate judgments with emotions, but rather use their brain... People are often drawn to the Queen of Clubs for advice and assistance. There is a need to cultivate tolerance, and be more patient with those who are not as advanced and progressive. Queen Of Clubs can be impatient and might be tempted to rule through the weight of their crown than through their authority of wisdom and ability."

Wednesday, 14 December 2016

14/12/16: Abandoned playing cards #8 and #9: joker and ace of spades

Near Millwall Dock, E14. The joker has been a part of playing card sets since the 1860s. Tarot cards have included a jester/fool character since the 15th century, but apparently there is no connection.

Nearby was the ace of spades. According to the internet: "The Ace of Spades is the most spiritual card in the deck. It is the symbol of ancient mysteries and the card that represents transformation. Found in the Mercury/Neptune position of the Master Life Script, people with this card have the ability to reach spiritual truths more readily than perhaps any other card. Coupled with ancient wisdom is ambition and drive to achieve on a material level as well. Due to this merging of spiritual and mundane, being and doing, this card may experience a conflict between the two as they attempt to achieve balance in their life."

To others, "The Ace of Spades" is a memorable 1980 song by Motörhead.

Monday, 12 December 2016

12/12/16: Abandoned shoe #5

Marsh Wall, E14. Same day, another location. More fun footwear. The party season is truly upon us.

12/12/16: Abandoned shoe #4

Whetstone. This early morning shoe suggested someone had been enjoying a fun night out.

Sunday, 11 December 2016

11/12/16: "Frozen" scarf

North Finchley. A pink scarf decorated with a character from Frozen – to stop you being frozen.

11/12/16: Abandoned "boot" key ring

Whetstone. A little brown boot on a key ring.

Saturday, 10 December 2016

10/12/16: Abandoned creature #13

A gutter in Hendon, near the library. The poor little thing had only one eye. Other tragically abandoned creatures: HERE.

Sunday, 20 November 2016

20/11/16: Abandoned video tapes

Boots and Waitrose car park, Whetstone. As with the examples HERE, these are more sadly unloved VHS tapes – a format no one will ever again desire.

Wednesday, 16 November 2016

16/11/16: Abandoned bear #4

ASDA, Isle of Dogs. This pink-footed chap was found very close to the little bear HERE. Why do so many bears head off to ASDA, only to get lost in the car park?

Sunday, 13 November 2016

13/11/16: Abandoned spider (with pod)

This huge black spider (with red eyes) had escaped from his pod and was about to unleash a reign of terror on Whetstone.

Friday, 11 November 2016

11/11/16: Abandoned creature #12

Whetstone. This little blue monster is rather scary. One eye is larger than the other, and his mouth looks a bit angry. Are there any experts out there who can shed some light on what this is?