On the rooftops of London...

I didn't go to the gym today, instead I climbed to the Golden Gallery at the top of the dome of St Paul's Cathedral - 528 steps, 85 metres. It's not to be recommended if you have a heart condition or any fear of heights, narrow spaces, low ceilings, spiral staircases, spiders or tourists :-))

There's an exhilarating 365 degree view. Here I'm looking east over the choir of the cathedral (the roof you can see below). The new shopping precinct at One New Change is in the foreground. From the roof of the precinct you get a great view of the cathedral.

Behind you can see the skyscrapers in the City of London, with the distinctive shape of the Gherkin in the middle. To its immediate right is the "Cheese grater", which topped out a couple of weeks' ago but which is still under construction, and further right the new "Walkie Talkie", which is also not quite finished.

I was surrounded by Americans, Australians and Japanese who were all exclaiming about the forest of cranes in London. At my camera club last night we had a fascinating talk by one of our members who has just published a book on the new architecture in the City of London which is transforming the skyline.