Weather: Pretty much everything! Sun! Torrential Downpours! Wind!
Distance Walked: 21.6km
Distance By Tube:13.02km
Stations Visited: 10
Fantastic Place: Flask Walk, Hampstead
The last part of the Northern Line walk coincided with my moving offices from Vauxhall to the client's site near Colindale. So in the days before the walk I had a good idea of what I would see as I took the tube and later the bus to and from Greenford to Colindale. The bus was much quicker (on a good day) as it headed straight north rather than the in and out journey using three different lines that the tube journey necessitated.
Having had a preview of the route via my journey to work I wasn't looking forward to it as it passed through some of the tired north London suburbs that surround the busy A406 North Circular road with its associated noise and pollution.
However it had to be walked and with a forecast of sunshine and scattered showers I set off optimistic that I would get the walk done before the forecast rain fell. How wrong I was!
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| 10 Stations 5 Different Styles |
Straight out of the station you are confronted with some excellent street art which looks a little odd during daylight hours on a quiet weekday morning but I imagine works well when the streets come alive after dark and at weekends.
Passing over the canal and the Roundhouse concert venue which used to be a engine shed in the days of steam (I assume it housed a turntable for turning the engines around) you reach Chalk Farm station that juts out between two streets like a ships prow or a tiled Minis Tirith! According to its Wikipedia entry it has the shallowest lifts on the network a mere 21ft.
Continuing on the next station on this leg is Belsize Park, made famous (for me) by Marillion's Kayleigh.
The station itself is another of the ox-blood red tiled buildings with wide arched windows like all the first four stations on this part of the line.
After a climb through some very nice looking shops and eateries I passed the Overground station at Hampstead Heath and climb up onto the Heath itself. Hampstead Heath is one of the highest points in London and covers some 300 hectares. I walked up to Parliament Hill for it's view across the city, which is protected by law.
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| Storm Clouds over the City |
For me the confusions continued as I managed to get lost returning downhill from the viewpoint and I ended up passing the bathing ponds that are a famous part of the Heath. Not my cup of tea - if I'm going to be swimming I like to know that the water is warm and nothing nasty is going to drag me under. To be honest I haven't swum for many a year having overdosed on it when I was younger, I swum for my home town competitively and got a full set of long distance badges (including a 3km one which in a 50m pool is a lot of laps).
Eventually I found my way back to a road (not the one I was looking for!) and wandered down into Hampstead. The warm brickwork of the buildings and the narrow winding streets maintain the village feel of Hampstead even today.I have friends who live in Hampstead so I tried to find a route through that didn't take me along roads that I knew so instead I followed the lanes and roads along the edge of the western heath. Large houses with their views over the open space were common but none were more dramatic than Saurum Chase.
A private residence with quite a sinister feel, beyond the high fence with its signs warning of large dogs running loose can be glimpsed a sinister group of cowled figures which wouldn't look out of place in a game of D&D!
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| https://www.flickr.com/photos/rodwey2004/13104893513 |
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| Saurum Chase Letterbox |
Continuing north west the next station is Golders Green, a large brick structure with a major bus interchange outside it which made taking a photo rather taxing. Also the rain had started at this point, despite the forecast, which combined with the busy road to make live a bit frustrating!
Lots of rather dull suburban walking followed with the roads getting busier and the houses smaller and tattier as the North Circular approached. Brent Cross station, a neoclassical design at the end of a small car-park with high level platforms, was approached during a particularly heavy shower which combined with finding a crossing point for the busy major trunk road (eventually found a high level metal bridge with long spiral ramps) was rather dispiriting.
The weather got worse as I approached Hendon Central and I had to take shelter from a torrential deluge in the wide portico of another neoclassical styled station - the inside was quite attractive, all the more so because it was dry! At this point a group of first world war soldiers exited the tube and silently left the station in the rain. It was only later that I found that it was a commemoration of the Battle of the Somme, very effective in its simplicity.
Once the rain had abated somewhat I continued on my rather damp trudge through light industry and tired suburbs along busy streets and under the M1. Of course in between the showers the summer (ha!) sun was strong so I was either sweating or getting rained on which is never a comfortable combination!
Passing a large development of cookie cutter 'executive' flats and houses on the site of the old Hendon Aerodrome and the Hendon Police College on the other side (where the opening sequence of Hot Fuzz and one of the recent Avengers movies was filmed making use of the site's redevelopment).
I reached Colindale station. This station has a very modern exterior to the ticket office while the station itself is much older. The shop owner deserves special mention because at this point I was very tired and managed to drop a ten pound note while buying a cold drink. While I was drinking it outside he came out and handed it back to me which was nice!
Burnt Oak station is like a small suburban house perched above the tracks while Edgware (with no e) at the end of the line is another neoclassical design with a car park and bus station both of which are surrounded by dull shops and houses hence my slight lack of detail at this stage of the walk. The sun had by this point decided to come out strongly and I think a cloud of steam was rising above me as I hopped on a tube to head home.
Not sure which line to do next. Jubilee is a strong contender but the far east end of the line as it crosses and re-crosses the Thames will be an interesting challenge!
