St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square

We took the train to London this morning for a 24 hour visit. We wanted to visit Una, Helena's good friend, who kindly looked after us exactly one year ago when we stayed in her house in Colombo. She has returned for a two week visit to London, but unfortunately she wasn't feeling at all well.

She and Helena went off to see a movie in Mayfair, but I wanted to see the Taylor-Wessing Portrait competition exhibition at the National Gallery.  It is situated just opposite to St Martin-in-the-Fields church on Trafalgar Square whose spire was beautifully illuminated by the late afternoon light from the setting sun. It was mid-winter's day yesterday.

I'd caught a bus from near Hammersmith managing to get a front seat on the upper deck and as we left Pall Mall our approach across Trafalgar Square provided this wonderful view. This is the first time I have been to London properly (Heathrow doesn't count) for a couple of years and I wanted to explore some old haunts as well.

The exhibition wasn't that impressive so I also wandered around a small part of the actual National Portrait Gallery looking at more modern paintings, as well as a few early photographs. I even saw a self portrait by Helena's great-grandfather, Malcolm Drummond, one of the Camden School of artists. I have now added a snap of the picture of him as an 'Extra photo'.