Saturday, June 24, 2006

Who shelled out for this?



This strange hut in a very small public garden outside Victoria Station.It is one of two, and I have no idea why they are covered in shells.

("Shelled out" is colloquial English for "paid")

posted by Ham at 00:20 -- Comments here: 13

Comments on "Who shelled out for this?"

 

Blogger Sally said ... (05:25) : 

I would love to learn WHY too. At first I thought they looked a bit like Pearly Huts, as per East End Pearly Queen and Kings!

 

Blogger Kris said ... (07:33) : 

what's on the inside? and it's very old but nice

 

Blogger Ilva said ... (07:52) : 

From the Renaissance onwards it was quite common to make small grottos and houses covered with shells in gardens, could it be a leftover from passed times, some 19th century revival maybe?

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (09:01) : 

Inside ? Most certainly where the gardener keeps the lawn mower.

This square has been re designed recently, in the last 5 years but always used to have a french theme. I remember when the grass and pathways had a Flear de Lille design.

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (09:34) : 

Makes me think of a Lisboa "Palace" covered with shells and "azulejos"... weired to see this in London! Thanks a lot for the english course too! I guess I've found how to improve my english! I'll come by very often! If you went to Le Ham I guess you know how french are bad at speaking english!!! ;-) Merci! Je repasserai!

 

Blogger Mylagan said ... (13:48) : 

Oh ! So I'm not the only French speaking here ? Bonjour Céline ! J'aime bien aussi passer ici, parce que je découvre plein de choses et parce que c'est, pour moi, une manière amusante de perfectionner mon anglais :) (mon anglais qui est horrible)

Ham, isn't there any windows ? It seems to be dark inside.
Thanks a lot for explaining "Shelled out"...it's really a pleasant way to learn English here :)

Anonymous, what is a "Flear de Lille" ?

 

Blogger ems said ... (14:07) : 

My lagan love - fleur-de-lis, je crois!

Ham - you find some great places. Never noticed this before on my travels.

 

Blogger Michael Salone said ... (22:25) : 

I think that shells were very popular during Victorian times...not sure if there's a link, but...

 

Blogger Ham said ... (00:10) : 

Sally - now there's a thought!

kris - they look like workmen's huts to me.

ilva - they don't look that old, close up. Odd but not old.

Anon - exactly. I can't say I remember the fleur de lys

Celine - Je pense que normalement les Francais parlent meilleur anglais que l'anglais parle francais ! Peut-etre hollywood a quelque chose a faire avec ceci ?

Lagan Love - vous etes tres gentile (anon a voulu dire "Fleur de Lys")

Ems - thanks! its great fun doing it

Michael - shell and/or mirror decorated follies went well with victorian ideas of decoration, I just don't think this is that old

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (10:21) : 

In Soho Square, thete is a a Tudor hut where the lawn mower is kept, and everyone referes to it as Kings Charles Hunting Lodge.

The net sqaure towards Hyde Park has a very nice statue of a dear and cheetah, closing for the kill.

Brin

 

Blogger Mylagan said ... (20:59) : 

Thank you, Ems and Ham, I understand now, Je comprends mieux "Fleur de lys"...
I've found more (interesting) informations about it on that page :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleur-de-lis
It seems that "Fleur-de-lis" is also correct.
Ham, your French is great. I'm always very glad (and impressed) to see that some Englishspeakers make the effort to speak that language, I know it's complicated. Congratulations for you and for Ems too :)
(But "Fleur de Lys" has nothing to do with "Fleur Delacour"...only joking, I couldn't help :))

 

Blogger alice said ... (08:18) : 

Knock, knock, an other French...Your photo makes me remember something about an old English uniform with embroiders of little shells, but I can be totally wrong.But i'm sure that shells were used like money for a very long time!

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (20:40) : 

C'est gentil Ham, it's really nice of you, but i'm not quite sure of that! I do agree with Lagan Love : foreigners speaking french is quite impressive! English is quite simple to learn if you're not looking for any honours!!! ;-) (but it does become harder when you want to be really good!!! And that's where i'm standing right now!) I'm working at it :-)

 

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Name: Ham Location: London, United Kingdom View my complete profile