London

1 Flying fish
Old Billingsgate Market
Since Roman times, this patch of riverside off Lower Thames Street has been an international centre of fishy tradings. The current building was designed in the 1870s by market maestro Sir Horace Jones (see also Smithfield and Leadenhall… oh, and Tower Bridge). Its frutti de mari of embellishments include a scaly duo of gilded fish weather vanes, which crown either end of the roof. The market moved to a new Docklands complex in 1981, which features fibreglass replicas of the fish. Feature continues

2 Lido landlubber
Haggerston Pool
Given its nautical history, London is replete with (literally) ship-shape weather vanes. This absurdly pooped vessel graces the roof of the 100-year old sports complex in Haggerston. A curiously land-locked location (unless you’re counting the nearby canal). Perhaps the maritime association stems from the barreled roof of the now-closed pool, which recalls the hull of a great ship.

3 Protestant pinnacle
St Lawrence Jewry, Gresham St
It’s not all cute animals and disproportionate sailing vessels, you know. Next to Guildhall, high upon the spire of this Wren rebuild, sits an eighteenth-century weather vane shaped like a potato waffle. It is, in fact, a representation of St Lawro’s martyrdom. According to our favourite account of Protestant suffering, ‘Foxe’s Book of Martyrs’ he was ‘ordered to be fastened to a large gridiron, with a slow fire under it, that his death might be more tedious’. We think ‘tedious’ may have meant ‘freaking horrendous’ back then.

4 Gresham’s grasshopper
Royal Exchange
This spindly-legged, gilded-bronze insect has sat on successive iterations of the Royal Exchange since before the Great Fire. The grasshopper was the symbol of Thomas Gresham, the Tudor who founded both the Royal Exchange and Gresham College. It’s said that one of his forebears was saved by the humble ’hopper. Abandoned in long grass, the infant Gresham was discovered by an elderly lady who had been attracted by the insect’s chirruping. A likely story.

5 Lame lighthouse
Pentonville/Gray’s Inn Rd junction
OK, we admit, the actual weather vane is poor, but it’s sitting on what looks like an abandoned lighthouse. The mysterious and incongruous ‘lighthouse’ of Kings Cross sits, or rather rots, above a roaring junction opposite the mainline station. Its origins are uncertain. Rival stories have it as a giant advertising icon either for oyster snacks (don’t ask) or the Metropolitan Railway. Its future is as uncertain as its past, given its dilapidated state and surrounding redevelopments. Perhaps they should fit it with a giant red beam, to celebrate the seedier aspects of this area.