The weather has been pretty exceptional for this time of year and I took advantage of it on Saturday evening by venturing out to take some photos of the Shard building in London.

I didn’t realise until I did a search on Wikipedia that it gets its name from a disparaging quote from English Heritage quote: ‘A shard of glass through the heart of historic London’.

Personally I disagree with them and think it’s a great addition to the London Skyline and a very beautiful building.

I chose a few different locations to get some different perspectives, firstly on Southwark Bridge and then some close up shots on Saint Thomas Street before stumbling across an NCP car park on the way home.

The car park is several stories tall and amongst the tallest structures in the vicinity making it a great viewpoint with uninterupted views across large parts of London.

Interestingly for me this car park is on a road called Snowsfields which is where Joseph Pike I, my great great great grandfather lived when the census of 1841 was taken and where my great great grandfather, Joseph Pike II, was born.

There will also be an observation level open to the public from February 2013, having had a look at the view on the Shard website this will be an awesome viewpoint, although the tickets are a bit steep at £25 per person, advance tickets are already available.

There’s also going to be three restaurants which will also have pretty spectacular views.