View north-east from the Royal Shakespeare Theatre

I'm a long way from loving what the "World Class Stratford" initiative (not how it was known in this house) did in the name of progress to Waterside and the old Bancroft Gardens - in particular, the felling of a number of healthy mature trees still seems like vandalism to me. But looking down from the second floor of the RST toward the canal basin the broad walkways to the theatre look quite nice, and I suppose reducing the road to a single track has probably made the place safer for pedestrians. I'm amused that removing the bike parking bays has not in fact removed the bikers - they've simply moved their Mothers' Meeting onto the pavement, where it would be hard to argue that they're in anyone else's way. The needle on the skyline is the Welcombe Hills Obelisk, erected in memory of a C19th Liberal politician.