When bollards go bad

This bollard at Poplar Dock Cut appears to have erupted drunkenly out of the pavement. It lurches insolently, chippings scattered at its feet.

Of course, the rust hints at the truth: the bollard is really somewhat older than the brick paving. It's one of the reminders of Docklands' past, a little scruffy and out of place in the new landscape of modern flats and marinas.

Bollards are among the more humble items of street furniture, and yet many have their own stories to tell (like the eighteenth-century cannon outside the former Victualling Yard at Deptford). There's even a dedicated blog, Bollards of London, which features over a hundred in all their strange variety.