Paths

I've developed a new obsession to add to planespotting and bridges. It's paths, or more specifically, "ornate tiled verandahs and other walkways", which seems a good title for a book.

This isn't as mad as it sounds. Here are two of the lovely paths I spotted in Balmain today. I even stopped to discuss them with one of the locals, who told me they are increasingly being covered with decking or ripped up altogether.

We had a 1930's tiled floor in our hallway at home but it wasn't nearly as nice as these. The previous owners had fitted a gas pipe right across the surface, breaking all the tiles irrepairably. We looked at fitting a floor like this in its place when we renovated the house. The cost would have been somewhere in the region of £4,500, which we couldn't afford. We fitted quarry tiles instead.

It breaks my heart to think people are throwing away their history.