The first measurements take place
SwiftKey's Arcade Cabinet, and the Streets of Southwark, London - 5th December 2013
SwiftKey is having one of its two-day "innovation" sessions, where alternative projects can be pursued. This time, Nosher pitches in to help construct an arcade cabinet, complete with vintage arcade games like Missile Command, Space Invaders, Street Fighter and so on. This involves chopping up a lot of MDF down in the bike shed at the bottom of the building on Southwark Bridge Road, whilst in the office Craig looks after buttons and joysticks, and Joe and Chris look after preparing the "Mame" emulation on a PC. On the way home on Thursday, the train is cancelled just as it's about to leave and it's announced that the line is closed north of Colchester, as well as north of Diss and near Wivenhoe, so after a while hanging around waiting for nothing to happen (until the transport rozzers come along to disperse the crowd) it's time to catch a train to Cambridge and a packed train from there to Norwich from where Isobel picks up Nosher and the bike, finally getting home six hours after leaving the office.
next album: The Eye Lights, Eye, Suffolk - 6th December 2013
previous album: Lunch in the East End, Spitalfields and Brick Lane, London - 1st December 2013
Emlyn measures up
Chris thinks about stuff
Chris and Joe look at code
The fire door to the back yard
MDF is laid out for cutting in the bike shed
A sheet of MDF near Nosher's bike
Safety first
Emlyn wanders off into the yard
The Shard from Flatiron Yard
The first cut (is the deepest)
Much activity in the common room
Craig checks out the buttons and joystick
Craig with a load of wiring
Emlyn does some sanding
A pile of junk in Flatiron Yard
The MDF looks like a cabinet part now
Emlyn and Jaley
The offcut that remains looks like a giant knob
The Shard, lit up in the dusk
Craig and a load of spaghetti
Coffey and Jaley start to assemble the cabinet
A night view of the City from Southwark Bridge
A load of Santas run across Southwark Bridge
Queen Victoria Street
The Royal Exchange on Threadneedle Street
Looking up Threadneedle Street towards the Gherkin
The purple bottom of Tower 42
An ancient brake wagon at Shenfield
Trackside graffiti
One of the ancient overhead gantries at Shenfield
The M25 as seen from the train
Class 315 'Tin can' commuter trains
More commuter trains
The staff building at Gidea Park
Ilford Station
Trees grow out of the wall at Forest Gate
More trackside graffiti
Silver tags on a brick wall
A dirty Class 57 - 57009 - makes a lot of smoke
The tail end, 57004, smokes past
Overspill from the Crossrail dig
F64 graffiti
The scrapyard on Portland Place
Derelict buildings near the Mansion Hive
A mystery door
Runch graffiti
Spaghetti rails at Liverpool Street
Joe inspects the nearly-finished cabinet
Morning activity in the kitchen area
Craig does some measuring
The cabinet
Joe works on a monitor
Autumn leaves on Southwark Bridge Road
The Shard, from Southwark Street
Under the railway bridge by Redcross Way
Railway bridge on O'Meara Street
An open door reveals some impressive oak beams
A little graffiti detail on a gate
A Scary Mary outside a church
A pile of leaves around pink café furniture
Union Street and the Shard
Coffey and Craig sort the buttons out
The Mint and Gospel Lighthouse Mission
Faded Underground sign on Redcross Way
The Smarties lights on Southwark Street
Nathan Bowen art on building hoardings
A close-up of the 'Smarties'
Underneath the arch on Redcross Way
Backstreet railway arches
Newspapers are laid out for painting
Coffey and Craig start priming the cabinet
Paint is applied
Southwark Bridge Road near the office
Southwark Street on another trip to the shop
Seedy building-site entrance, with Runch graffiti
Hot Munchies street café on Southwark Street
Street art: a nicely modified no-entry sign
A black coat is applied to the cabinet
The office is a hive of activity
Joe and Craig install buttons
There's chaos at Liverpool Street
All the lines are closed, as thousands mill around
The trains at Liverpool Street are going nowhere
Cambridge station has a whole new platform
About 200 people cram Cambridge's platform 6
Queues on the platform at Cambridge
The packed train to Norwich
Hint: you can use the left and right cursor keys to navigate between albums, and between photos when in the photo viewer
The first measurements take place
The first measurements take place
Emlyn measures up
Chris thinks about stuff
Chris and Joe look at code
The fire door to the back yard
MDF is laid out for cutting in the bike shed
A sheet of MDF near Nosher's bike
Safety first
Emlyn wanders off into the yard
The Shard from Flatiron Yard
The first cut (is the deepest)
Much activity in the common room
Craig checks out the buttons and joystick
Craig with a load of wiring
Emlyn does some sanding
A pile of junk in Flatiron Yard
The MDF looks like a cabinet part now
Emlyn and Jaley
The offcut that remains looks like a giant knob
The Shard, lit up in the dusk
Craig and a load of spaghetti
Coffey and Jaley start to assemble the cabinet
A night view of the City from Southwark Bridge
A load of Santas run across Southwark Bridge
Queen Victoria Street
The Royal Exchange on Threadneedle Street
Looking up Threadneedle Street towards the Gherkin
The purple bottom of Tower 42
An ancient brake wagon at Shenfield
Trackside graffiti
One of the ancient overhead gantries at Shenfield
The M25 as seen from the train
Class 315 'Tin can' commuter trains
More commuter trains
The staff building at Gidea Park
Ilford Station
Trees grow out of the wall at Forest Gate
More trackside graffiti
Silver tags on a brick wall
A dirty Class 57 - 57009 - makes a lot of smoke
The tail end, 57004, smokes past
Overspill from the Crossrail dig
F64 graffiti
The scrapyard on Portland Place
Derelict buildings near the Mansion Hive
A mystery door
Runch graffiti
Spaghetti rails at Liverpool Street
Joe inspects the nearly-finished cabinet
Morning activity in the kitchen area
Craig does some measuring
The cabinet
Joe works on a monitor
Autumn leaves on Southwark Bridge Road
The Shard, from Southwark Street
Under the railway bridge by Redcross Way
Railway bridge on O'Meara Street
An open door reveals some impressive oak beams
A little graffiti detail on a gate
A Scary Mary outside a church
A pile of leaves around pink café furniture
Union Street and the Shard
Coffey and Craig sort the buttons out
The Mint and Gospel Lighthouse Mission
Faded Underground sign on Redcross Way
The Smarties lights on Southwark Street
Nathan Bowen art on building hoardings
A close-up of the 'Smarties'
Underneath the arch on Redcross Way
Backstreet railway arches
Newspapers are laid out for painting
Coffey and Craig start priming the cabinet
Paint is applied
Southwark Bridge Road near the office
Southwark Street on another trip to the shop
Seedy building-site entrance, with Runch graffiti
Hot Munchies street café on Southwark Street
Street art: a nicely modified no-entry sign
A black coat is applied to the cabinet
The office is a hive of activity
Joe and Craig install buttons
There's chaos at Liverpool Street
All the lines are closed, as thousands mill around
The trains at Liverpool Street are going nowhere
Cambridge station has a whole new platform
About 200 people cram Cambridge's platform 6
Queues on the platform at Cambridge
The packed train to Norwich