As I walk through the world I like to think I appreciate the built environment as much as
the natural environment. If I had to choose one or other I’d probably go for the former
but fortunately I don’t have to choose.
And I’m always particularly taken by the way the built environment and the natural world come together, even if in some ways they’re in conflict. Sometimes these may be highly organized and sophisticated and ways but I prefer something a bit more ad hoc – an overgrown house for instance.
But the form I like best like is where a single manmade upright, say a telephone pole, a lamppost or a street sign, becomes a support for a creeper or a climber, more often that not ivy.
This one’s in Stroud:
This one’s in Dovercourt:
This one’s under the pedestrian bridge by the station in Colchester:
This one’s in the Hollywood Hills:
And here’s an odd one in Holland Park:
In this case the upright is supporting a security camera and although I can understand why the powers that be would want something to grow up it and look ‘natural,’ – I have a suspicion that the ‘ivy’ growing here may be fake. Given the security camera I thought it best not to walk across the grass and investigate. But it obviously belongs to the same breed.
As far as I’m aware there’s no name for this phenomenon and so, unless somebody knows the ‘proper’ term, I’m going to claim this as ‘The Nicholson.’
Now all I need is for the rest of the world to accept it.
