Mick Hartley

That sheriff art-work at the Hertford Union Canal lock? Gone:

It'd already been covered over by the time this lot set to work. They don't hang about, these street artists. The stage is now set for another masterpiece….

Nearby, a better view of that mighty monkey across the water on the side of the derelict warehouse just inside the Olympic site:

The view is from Queens Yard, a run-down industrial estate with some art studios, where old taxis go to die:

On a Sunday, though, there's a something else going on:

Here's where they were heading:

There's an extensive range of African churches in run-down areas of London: I've got one here (scroll down). A few will have had to relocate from the Olympic site across the Lea. There was the huge Kingsway International Christian Centre on Waterden Road, I remember. But I've never yet seen one looking quite so miserable. While having no particular enthusiasm for African churches in general, there's something to be said for the ability to rise above your surroundings like this.