idleidol.net » london http://idleidol.net mascots from around the world Thu, 21 Jul 2011 16:18:57 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2 Elephant Parade in London http://idleidol.net/elephant-parade/ http://idleidol.net/elephant-parade/#comments Mon, 31 May 2010 20:57:43 +0000 whatwhatjohn http://idleidol.net/?p=1113 Indian Elephants

Elephant Parade in London

With over 250 elephant mascots dotted around the city I’m surprised I didn’t spot one earlier than I did. After I saw my first one walking into central London I soon started spotting them everywhere. With a good excuse to explore London I started on my search. Each Elephant is painted/designed by a different artist or celebrity such as Marc Quinn, Paul Smith, De Beauvoir Primary School in Hackney (Years 4 & 6) and many more.

Indian Elephant

It’s anticipated that over 25 million people will see the elephants making it London’s biggest outdoor art event. The purpose of the Elephant Parade is to highlight the crisis facing Asian elephants and to raise money for the elephant family charity. All of the elephants will be auctioned, and the money raised will go towards protecting Asian elephants and their habitat. To find out more about the elephant parade visit elephantparadelondon.org.

Indian Elephant

Indian Elephant

Indian Elephant

Indian Elephant

Indian Elephant

I’ve included a few of my favourites on this page but if you’re keen to see more I suggest visiting Jason Parvins’ site as he’s amazingly managed to find and photograph every elephant!

]]> http://idleidol.net/elephant-parade/feed/ 3 Elephant & Castle http://idleidol.net/elephantandcastle/ http://idleidol.net/elephantandcastle/#comments Thu, 20 May 2010 23:04:03 +0000 whatwhatjohn http://idleidol.net/?p=537 Elephant & Castle

Pub

The Elephant & Castle Pub

Signs

Indian Restarant logo and close up of Elephant & Castle sign

Elephant & Castle

The red elephant sits proudly at the entrance to a shopping centre in South London with a castle perched on it’s back. The Elephant and Castle is not only a mascot but a road, a tube station, a roundabout, an area, a shopping centre and a pub! The Elephant as it sometimes known is a busy intersection and major public transport hub.

The origin of the name ‘Elephant and Castle’ derives from a crest which represented a craft guild founded in the 13th century, the guild were made up of workers who made knives, scissors and weapons. The expensive items produced by the workers may of used ivory, hence why the elephant was used. The castle on the elephants’ back is a symbol of strength and has it’s origins from elephants in India that had a carriage or howdah which was typically positioned on the elephants’ back and used by hunters or wealthy people. The forge that used the emblem eventually turned into a coaching inn/pub and they kept the sign and name. Before 1750 the area was called Newington but as the importance of the location grew the name Elephant and Castle was adopted. The reason for this was there were several other places in London called Newington such as Stoke Newington and Newington Green.

Elephant and Castle is set for further changes but I imagine the name will stay the same. The area is currently being regenerated with plans to demolish the shopping centre in the year 2014; I’m hoping however that the famous mascot will remain intact.

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