Summer at Mark's

Beautiful summer afternoon at Mark's

Mark shopping and walking

Mark shopping at a Sainsbury's in Southwest London

Mark (in UGG Boots) walking by the Thames, close to Robbie's apartment in Chelsea

This was winter in Take That City

On the move - Sold sign in South London

That's the sold sign that was put up in front of the house Mark has bought according to media reports.

Mark Owen in Notting Hill

TTC accidentally came across this door where Mark got papped about 7-8 years ago. The door is quite unique in Notting Hill, so I recognised it straight away. It still looks the same but older and the building.. aehemmm... is a bit run-down for my liking. Oh, and have a look at the bell ;)

Take That's signatures

I found a little piece of paper having to do with The Circus Tour (some kind of agreement) a while ago; it was signed on 21 November 2008 by all Take That members and the signatures are by far the most interesting part of it. So here they are !

Btw: the agreement took effect on 25 November 2008 and I believe it was signed in London.

Edit: just as a reminder - those signatures are from a public document which everyone does have access to. They were on the internet already before I even knew this document (which is completely harmless btw) exists and I am just summarising what is already available elsewhere. It could well be that there are people out there who are looking for these things for fraud purposes; however, they probably do have their strategies how to get hold of a certain signature anyway and I believe that this blog post does not encourage fraud. Please feel free to comment/get in touch for further feedback. Thanks.

Mark has thrown money into this parking meter

I just found the photo below on my laptop. I took it ages ago, but since nothing has changed I thought I show it to you. It is Mark's nearest parking meter and he has thrown money into it for sure. Yes, Mark's house does have off street parking, but for various reasons he sometimes, not very often but once in a while, parks his car on the street.

Parking a car on Mark's road costs slightly less than £2/hr and you have to move your car after 4 hours. But there are times when you can park there for FREE ;-))

Update: now that is cute !

Hi guys, here is something for your Monday night entertainment:

You really do not need much fantasy to figure out that there is something like a M and an O written on this portable toilet.

Remember this blog post from July ? There were building works going on just around the corner from Mark's house and this was why the loo was there. Months later, the loo was still there and someone tried to be funny and left something like MO on one side of the toilet. Coincidence ?

TT SNOWMEN

This photo was taken by Becki in Manchester and is utterly cute. I hope you all enjoy the snow here in the UK today and have not been affected by the chaos too badly. Happy 2010 to all TTC visitors :-)

There are squirrels near Mark and Jason

Mark and Jason do have something in common: they live near squirrels... or one could say some squirrels live near them. I met two of them a while ago; have a look at the photos below ! If they only could talk :-)

Letter Box Series: Mark Owen

There are letter boxes everywhere in Take That City and there also is one just around the corner from Mark's house (you can take this literally). Looks a bit ancient what makes it just perfect for the artist Mark Owen. It is on a main road and also close to shops Mark was seen at.

Autumn at the Take That boys

TTC thought you may want to see what autumn at Mark, Howard, Jason and Gary looks like. I know normal people cannot understand why this is interesting; I hope you enjoy what you see. Click on the photo for a larger version :-) In about three months, you will get to see some photos how winter looks like, in about six months we will have spring already and I will also show you how summer looks like. I think some of you already know ;-)

Have a nice Sunday everyone !

Mark spotted this morning

TTC spotted Mark in London this morning and below is the result of the latest encounter. I was quite surprised that Mark can manage more than a week with such a small suitcase (which has just the right size for a piece of hand luggage), as for a three day trip I already need to check in my medium sized suitcase. I admire men for their talent to only take what is really necessary with them when traveling.

You probably think "typical Mark" when looking at the photo and I think you are right. Never leave the house without a hat and sunglasses :) Nice jacket by the way !

Correction 3 October 2009: "just have to point out that Mark isn't quite such a light packer, he had another case as well as we saw it being put in his car :)" (Anonymous)

A view of Mark's house

I know you all liked the plan of Mark's studio and TTC thought the image below may also be interesting for you. That's a detail of a "photo" of Mark's house in London; looks pretty normal :-)

What's interesting are the glazed frameless doors at the back of the house - leading to a nice and more or less spacious garden with loads of green. I guess the doors let lots of light in and create a cosy atmosphere in the evenings. Ahem, yeah, and you can see three windows, but the house has lots more windows ;-) As for most properties, the garden/house is surrounded by walls, so privacy is guaranteed.

Mark's Private Studio

Happy Friday everyone:-) Today there is some news about Mark, have a look below. This is a plan of Mark's private studio in Take That City, just for him and his writing. However, he maybe sometimes is joined by his colleagues. What a fantastic idea to build a studio just for oneself, he ?

The studio is small and its size was most likely restricted by the local circumstances, however, I guess it is sufficient and even has a small room with space for some storage. There also is a tiny bathroom, where - as former band member Robbie Williams would say (2:00 min) - the Take That members go for a pee or a pooh. Now I hope this does not come across childish, but for some reason this scene just came into my mind when writing this text. Of course the studio is isolated, has got proper doors and everything so the people living close by should not be disturbed. TTC hopes Mark enjoys working there, we definitely would.

Take That @ Abbey Road

As most of you know Take That were working on a not so secret project at the Abbey Road Studios not long ago. Abbey Road is one of London top addresses and TTC would like to show you what is going on there :-) Below is the pretty boring looking entrance, which has been used by very famous artists. I cannot think of anyone else apart from the Beatles and Take That now, but I guess there is no one of more importance anyway;-) What is very funny to see are the tourists on the zebra crossing trying to imitate the fab four (not our fab four).

Jason leaving Abbey Road Studios few years ago.

Mark leaving Abbey Road Studios on the other side.

Was not surprised to find this on the wall.

:-)

"What a silly photo" you may think... I tell you why this is interesting: Howard parked his car here, the last time probably was 9 September 2009.

Now that is cute !

Look what is standing very close to Mark's home - a toilet of the same company as in Gary's street. Isn't that cute ? You see, they have a lot in common, but the colour is different !

In other news: Mark's neighbour seems slightly obsessed with cleaning his car.

What's new in London ?

It is time for an update after the tour we loved every second of. The "boys" are on holiday now, I am sure you have seen the photos of Gary landing in LA. It has become quiet in Kensington, Gary's car is parked near his house and his letter box has not been emptied for a few days. However, it seems someone is looking after everything once in a while. Howard has also left London and has taken his car. He does not have the "letter box problem", but London is not his main address anyway. I am not sure what Jason is up to. He has got family in London, but he very often travels to Manchester when not working. Mark has been doing normal stuff. It seems he had guests earlier this week and will most likely relax somewhere out of London in the coming weeks.

Mark shops at Sainsbury's

Mark has been spotted buying Pampers at the Sainsbury's below (Southwest London) several times.

the shop

the Pampers

the car park

Mark's home in Southwest London

I am sure most of you know that Mark lives in Southwest London; he is the only one not living in Kensington (anymore). Mark moved house about three years ago to some very popular street south of the Thames. It is close to parks and shops and, apart from some noise from the airplanes, it is a pretty quiet location. His house looks very normal from the outside but has amazing (!) "views" inside. It has several storeys, offstreet parking and is not gated. There is also a nice back garden for the kids and the family dog. For some reason, quite a few houses and flats in his street have been on sale in the past months. As Howard, Gary and Jason, Mark does have direct neighbours, but they are not each other's neighbours ;)

The foothpath right in front of Mark's house.