St Alban, Brooke Street EC1

Hans Feibusch was the Church of England's favourite artist in the post-war years. Not only was he a convert from Judaism, his art had been given the ultimate political seal of approval by inclusion in the Nazi's infamous exhibition of Degenerate Art in 1937.

So when William Butterfield's flamboyantly Victorian church of St Alban was restored after bomb damage, Feibusch was a shoe-in for the decorative commissions. He painted a masterly vision of the Trinity in Glory on the east wall of the chancel, and in 1985 added this aspiring portrait of Jesus being Raised from the Dead. You can feel the energy and joy.
While you are here, pop round the corner and take a look at a rather nice majolica Virgin and Child in the inner courtyard. And, of course, go and see the mural inside the church.

Sienna Buildings, Hatton Garden EC1

These vigorous horses are racing in the palio di Siena, the famous races round the Piazza del Campo in that city. They were made in 1999 by Guy Portelli, who despite the name comes from Kent.
The subject was suggested by the name of the block of flats they were designed for, though in proper British fashion it is spelt Sienna. Naturally, the Italians can't be trusted to spell their own cities correctly (Firenze indeed. Roma? Pshaw!).
Portelli's most recent claim to fame is appearing on BBC TV's inexplicably popular Dragon's Den to raise funding for a series of works called Pop Icon (Grace Jones, Amy Winehouse etc). He showed a remarkable business acumen and flair for negotiation as you can see here.

62 Trafalgar Square WC2

This pair of panels show an ocean liner plowing the Atlantic heading for Canada and a locomotive thundering through the mighty Rockies, images of the latest technology in 1903 when the building was erected.

They look charmingly retro today. The loco with its cowcatcher is so Wild West. The liner is flying a couple of jib sails which must have been a bit antique even then.

The building was, of course, the London showroom and booking office for the Canadian Pacific Railway, which then not only operated the iconic line that united a nation but also had liners to take you there and hotels to put you up when you arrived - an integrated transport system. 

The block is now converted into flats and the penthouse has a terrace behind the parapet from which the owners can revel in one of London's iconic views, taking in Nelson's Column, St Martin in the Fields and the National Gallery. Or they can just sneer at the heaving mass of tourists below.

Currently (2013) it is for sale at just £17 million.

The Intrepid Fox, Wardour Street W1

The Intrepid Fox was Charles James Fox, the Whig politician, controversialist and rake. One of his most vocal supporters was publican Samuel House, who renamed his tavern in honour of his hero (it was originally called the Gravel Pits). It is said that in the 1784 election House offered all patrons who promised to vote for Fox a free pint and a kiss from the Duchess of Devonshire.
The pub was rebuilt in 1915 by W. Bradford & Sons, with a white stone facade. The plaque shows a rather slim Fox with House behind waving an election leaflet proclaiming 'Champion of the People!'.

Beaufoy Institute, 39 Black Prince Road SE11

The Beaufoy Institute grew out of the Lambeth Ragged Schools, set up in 1846 to give a secular education to local children who had previously had access only to religious instruction on Sundays. The wife of a local distiller, Eliza Beaufoy, supported the venture but unfortunately died in 1847. Fortunately for the school, her grieving widower Henry decided to fund a new school on lavish lines in her memory.
That building was demolished in 1904 to provide more railway lines into Waterloo, and the school moved to Black Prince Road taking with them this charming sculpture by Samuel Nixon.
Nixon was a local man, a friend of Henry Doulton, and employed by him at the great pottery works further down the road to design the terracotta sculptural works the firm began producing in the 1830s.
A young teacher runs her finger along a line in a book, lit by the Torch of Enlightenment. She and her young charges are in classical dress.
Below, now separated from the group by an inscription recording the opening of the new building, is a quote from Shakespeare: "Those that do teach young babes/ Do it with gentle means and easy tasks".
It seems very appropriate, until you think that this is Desdemona's lament over her husband's changed treatment of her shortly before he smothers her to death.
For many years the Torch of Enlightenment was used as a road sign to mark schools. The cartoonist Fougasse drew two tramps looking at the sign, one saying "It never torch you and me much."

Jolly Gardeners, Black Prince Road SE11

The Jolly Gardeners (1890) has a rather superior sign in the form of a cast stone relief of two very jolly gardeners, one holding a scythe and the other a spade. One is clearly saying to the other that it is time to down tools and go to the rubbidy for a pigs or twain.

Marc Girouard in his magnificent book Victorian Pubs ascribes the work to Frederick T. Callcutt, who had a close association with the architect, R.A. Lewcock. Callcutt also worked on the amazing Black Friar pub in the City.

There are identical casts on either end of the building - two for the price of one.

Waterloo War Memorial Arch, York Road SE1

Waterloo Station was in the throes of a rebuild when war broke out in 1914, a war that claimed the lives of 585 members of the railway staff. When peace came, it was decided to devote the only corner of the site that could be seen from any sort of distance to a memorial that would double as an imposing station entrance.

The sculpture was commissioned from the firm of Brindley and Farmer and may have been carved by Charles Whiffen.

Over the arch, Britannia 'holds aloft the sacred torch of Liberty to her own greatness and glory, and for the guidance of her children and her children's children, and the benefit of mankind in general', in the words of the Architect's Journal.

On either side, children play with the spoils of victory - a laurel wreath, surrendered ensigns etc.

To the left, a vision of 1914 with the goddess Bellona. Bellona is traditionally shown as a muse, a statuesque female in armour carrying a sword and a torch, but here she is more of a harpy, bringing suffering and death. Around her men and women shriek and mourn. To the left, a veiled woman raises the hand of blessing over a dead boy.

On the right, 1918 brings peace. Athena, the goddess of wisdom, courage, strategy, civilisation and just warfare, holds the figure of Nike, the winged goddess of victory and extends the palm of peace to a globe in the lap of a warrior with a sheathed sword. Behind, corn grows. A couple hold their infant son. It must have seemed richly ironic in 1939.