Tracking the Tube: Central Line 03: North Acton to Queensway

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Weather: Sunny and Very Warm
Distance Walked: 14.59 km
Distance By Tube: 7.40 km
Stations Visited: 7
Fantastic Place: Holland Park

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A shorter gap between walks than has been the norm and so today, on one of the hottest days of the year I returned to North Acton to start the walk that would take me through the heart of London.

The first part of the walk, through numerous building sites almost made me wish for the days of innumerable golf courses earlier in my walks. As before the A40 was never far away and the constant hum of traffic made itself known. Soon I was turning away from the building sites into light industry and finally a return to suburbia. East Acton station lies on the wonderfully names Erconwald Street and off of this is Henchman Road. D&D central! East Acton station lies well below the tracks and is an attractive little building. This leg of the walk has a variety of styles of station and this one is proobably along with Holland Park the most attractive.

Travelling regularly on the benighted Turnham Green - Richmond branch of the District Line I have often thought could I get from one of the numerous Acton Stations to one of their Central Line cousins. Well today I discovered it was possible but probably not a time saver! 

Leaving East Acton behind me I continued east and entered Wormwood Scrubs. No I hadn't been banged up for taking photos of stations, though I could see the high wall and Victorian brickwork of the prison to my right. Instead I was walking across a large area of open space and woodland that makes up the Scrubs. From the information panels it is a haven for wildlife. From the tube line this is invisible despite its size. As well as the wild space there are also sports pitches adjacent to the Linford Christie stadium.

Exiting Wormwood Scrubs I headed south through more building works, this time for HS2, which was causing much backing up of traffic as I passed under the Westway (which is what the A40 is called here). Soon I reached White City, once the location of the Empire Games, now more famous for the BBC Television Centre where Doctor Who and lots of other famous programs were recorded, and more recently the Westfield Shopping centre. It is huge and is served by three tube stations, two on the Central Line and Wood Lane on the H&C line.

The second station that serves the shopping centre, Shepards Bush comes up not long after. This is part of "my London" as Liz and I come here for the movies, shopping and the odd meal as it is convenient for me to get here after work and for Liz to come in from home. The interchange with buses, the Overground and the Underground makes for a busy spot for transport as it also sits on a large gyratory. Also I have been going to gigs at the Shepard's Empire for a long time.

After finding my way through the maze of subways I was soon in a area of leafy avenues and rather more upmarket streets with pillared porticoes and white stuccoed walls.There were also lots of tall blocks of flats from the 20s and 30s which set against the bright blue sky looked very attractive. 

How I have lived in London for 30 plus years and never visited Holland Park astounds me in retrospect. This large park has it all; formal gardens, listed buildings, water features, open space to rest and a cafe. As I walked through the entrance and past the cafe I could hear rehearsals for one of the opera performances that they hold in the grounds of the house.

Exiting back onto the bustle of London after the peace and quiet of the park was a bit of a shock, but after finding Holland Park station, a pretty but understated building set on a busy corner site I continued through Notting Hill and found an attractive street of pastel shades and a pretty local pub.

Notting Hill Gate station is one of those that has no on street presence and it was tough to get a picture as it seemed very busy on a Monday lunchtime. I don't think I have ever left or joined the tube at Holland Park, Notting Hill Gate or the next station along the line, Queensway.

Queensway was only a short stretch along the busy road but on the way I passed the Russian Embassy and I was amused to notice the stretch of the road outside of it had been renamed to Kyiv Roat. 

Queensway is opposite the entrance to Kensington Gardens which will form a pleasant start to my next walk.

I spent much of the journey home trying to work out the remainder of the walk, the loop at the eastern end of the line makes things a bit complicated but I think the five legs will be; Queensway to Liverpool Street, Liverpool Street to Leytonstone, Leytonstone to Hainault via Woodford, Leytonstone to Hainault (the other way around the loop) and finally a long leg from Woodford to Epping. 

 

Tracking the Tube: Victoria Line 1: Brixton to King's Cross

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Weather: Warm, Overcast, Humid
Distance Walked: 15.40 km
Distance By Tube: 9.85 km
Stations Visited: 10
Fantastic Place: GPO Tower

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Another strange year, but things seem to be getting back into some sort of order. As before, working five and sometimes six days a week mean that I have less time for walking. Especially during the spring and summer where the garden takes priority. 

I briefly considered trying to do the whole line in one go but soon realised that this wasn't going to work with me being out of practise so instead a walk from Brixton to King's Cross was planned.

Brixton was sunny, busy and buzzing. We tend to visit Brixton before catching a bus to the Dulwich Picture Gallery so the streets around the station are familiar. I've also been reading a book on the old river Effra that was converted into a sewer in the 18th and 19th century but still runs beneath the main Brixton road.

This part of London south of the river is one of 'my London' areas. I spent a lot of time working out of an office in Vauxhall and occasionally I would pop down to Stockwell to use the post office as that was the nearest to the office. There are some nice streets and houses in this area especially Lansdowne Circus with a nice green space and attractive mid-19th century houses.  

One of the highlights of this walk is the number of examples of great 20th century architecture. The first of these is the Stockwell Bus Garage which when it was built in the 1950s was the largest unsupported roof span in Europe.

Vauxhall cross and the area around it has changed a lot since when I worked here some five or six years ago. Long gone are the Cap Gemini offices, replaced by tower blocks and building sites. The area is now close to the American embassy and the Northern Line Extension stations down to Nine Elms and Battersea.

 

The bus station here is under threat which is a shame as it is an example of early 21st century design that has some merit.

Continuing across the Thames via Vauxhall Bridge, a route I used to take when visiting one of the clients I worked for while at Vauxhall and also when the tubes were playing up!

The area around Pimlico is also well known from visits to Tate Britain and it has an underpass with some good painted tile murals depicting art from the gallery. Victoria and the streets around the station were busy, almost as busy as normal and with the sun shining Westminster Cathedral looked very attractive in all it's stripy glory. The crowds were also present around Buck House taking photos and I couldn't help but join them!

Green Park was a breath of fresh air, the shaded walks offering some respite from the hot polluted air of this part of central London before tackling the area around the Royal Academy and the posh shopping streets of Bond Street and the less posh streets around Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Street.

Continuing north it took me a little while to find the foot of the Post Office Tower, the close you get the harder it is to spot the tower (which for a long time was left off maps as a security measure) in the canyons of ugly mid century office blocks and shops. Eventually I found it in a narrow street and was surprised that such a narrow foundation could support the tall tower.

 

On the way to King's Cross I walked through the back streets away from the throngs along Euston Road and passed the Welcome Collection where they had a display of poems on the subject of COVID and the lock-down.

This leg of the walk ended at King's Cross and I'm already looking forward to the next stretch up towards Walthamstow. 

The walk was also notable for some great streat art.

Tracking The Tube: District Line: 04: Monument to East Ham

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Weather: Very Warm and Humid
Distance Walked: 16.68km
Distance By Tube: 10.73km
Stations Visited:12
Fantastic Place: The Tower of London

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12 Stations on this leg with no coherent design

I was already working up a fine sweat by the time I arrived at Monument on what was the hottest day of the year so far and the tube was busy with people in suits rushing to become something in the city while I was wondering how far I was going to get on my journey into the uncharted regions of the east. Actually, not so uncharted to be honest as I hadn't noticed that one stretch of the walk was along the Greenway. If I had I would have also noticed that the Greenway was closed for part of that stretch for engineering works and it would have saved me a couple of tiresome detours, but more of that anon.

After leaving Monument station (having this time been directed underground from bank up and down untold numbers of short flights of stairs and escalators) I headed towards the Tower of London. I remember going in there when I was young but haven't been in since I moved to London as it is so expensive. The area around the Tower has been tarted up a bit since I last walked through and you can get a good view of the buildings from the walk up towards Tower Hill station.

Buildings Ancient and Modern

You can also see of my least favourite modern towers - the 'Walkie Talkie' and the 'Cheese-grater' as you look back to the city. 

The Tower of London

I used to have a brown plastic money box in the shape of the Tower of London, I imagine I bought it when I taken there by my sister.

Emperor Trajan by the Roman Walls

There are quite a few remains of the old Roman Walls in this area (which may be an interesting theme for a series of walks for the future - tracing the old boundaries of London, Roman, Saxon etc.)

 

Attractive Victorian Pub 

After passing through building sites and narrow alleys I reached Aldgate East, a station that appears to have an inordinate number of entrances; one very modern, one less so and the original one tucked into what I thought was a library. Mind you at least I didn't walk past it like I did with Whitechapel station as it was almost invisible on the other side of the road (and I had forgotten that it existed and hadn't marked it on my route map)!

The Whitechapel Road follows the route of an old Roman road heading out to Colchester and parts of it look like they haven't been resurfaced since then while other parts are undergoing major roadworks. I have never seen so many cones and orange plastic fences! The walk follows this road all the way to Bow Road.

Don't think is a real ancient column

Now my pencil ran out about here so I don't have many notes to remind me of what I saw or where I saw them. This combined with the heat and humidity may make the rest of this commentary a little odder than normal.

After Stepney Green station the route passes under Mile End Park where they have built a green bridge over the road linking the two haves of the pub just after the road passes over the Regent's Canal.

View down the Regent's Canal

Green Bridge linking two halves of a park. Note the cones!

Just before this I passed Queen Mary College, a fine set of buildings both ancient and modern including some nice bas-relief work showing various arts.

The next section was one of my least favourite so far. Very hot and alongside the very busy A12 south towards Bromley By Bow station then back north looking for an underpass across to the far side of this major trunk road.

Once through a light industrial estate you enter the River Lea valley a collection of riverways and canals, a peaceful change from the roads barely a hundred yards away.

Three Mills

Amongst the buildings here are 3 Mills Studios where I notice Masterchef is filmed (spotted the bridge I walked over on the credits for this week's episode).

As well as the canal architecture, peaceful waterways with birdsong and views across to the Olympic Park there is quite a bit of sculpture lining the route.

Memorial to workers killed by bad air

Not sure who this was

After getting lost, retracing my steps and then having to re-retrace them when discovering that the Greenway is partially closed I eventually reached West Ham station before rejoining the Greenway for a stretch. The views from the Greenway are splendid and it should be far better known and used than it is.I took an ill-advised short cut to Plaistow station ending up walking the same distance but in less interesting surroundings before heading on to Upton Park. Couldn't resist taking a shot of the Boleyn Ground on y way. As I was heading up to Upton Park station (prettiest station on this leg by the way) I saw what I assumed to be a traditional East End funeral; a horse drawn hearse with black ostrich plumes and a train of six or seven long black limos.

Upton Park / Boleyn Ground Home (for now) of West Ham United

The last stretch to East Ham was enlivened by a long conversation with Pat, a long standing resident of the area who questioned what I was doing (something I do regularly). We chatted for at least half an hour, my legs slowly stiffening but we bonded over politics and the poor manners of the younger generation (I was a little annoyed to be be classed as the same generation as her!).

I hope to be able to complete the rest of the District Line on y next walk which will take me through Barking and out to the utter east.

Tracking the Tube: Metropolitan Line 04: Rayners Lane to Moor Park

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Weather: Sunny and almost warm!
Distance Walked: 9.3km
Distance By Tube: 7.39km
Stations Visited: 5
Fantastic Place: Pinner

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Quite a difference from my previous walk, the sun was out and it almost felt warm. This was the only dry day for weeks so I felt very lucky to be out and about. Spring had started to spring as I managed to spot the first few daffodils on my way to the station. Rather than going backwards and forwards on the tube I walked from Rayners Lane to North Harrow as they are actually not that far apart in real life. The busy road took me past Imperial Court a nice block of 1930's flats. The rather attractive Rayners Pub with equally attractive sign has closed to be replaced by even more flats, probably not as attractive as Imperial Court.

Cambridge Road had a number of large houses with original 1930's stained glass, of birds and pastoral scenes in the doors and hall windows. It's nice that they have been kept. The attractive buildings continue in Nower Hill, older probably Edwardian in age.

Pinner itself is a very attractive village within the mass of cookie-cutter suburbs. The high street has a number of interesting shops and a variety of architectural styles which if I wasn't walking I would certainly have explored.

Early Spring Sunshine on a Pinner Pillar Box

Pinner appears to have an active historical association, some of the older buildings and the church have information plaques.

Fine Mansion in Pinner

Talking of the church, this unusual tomb dominates the graveyard.

Strange Tomb in Pinner Church

The old Victory pub is now an Italian restaurant, the Victory itself (exhibited in Portsmouth) was the scene of many happy visits when I was a small boy. My dad always used to make the joke about the plaque on the deck which says, 'Nelson fell here', saying "Well he should have looked where he was going." Never failed to raise a laugh. Never.

Part of the Characterful Pinner High Street

Managed to get a bit lost in the side streets beyond Pinner before finding myself on Cookoo Hill where there was a fine thatched cottage, something I wasn't expecting to see.

Northwood Hills is fairly nondescript and so I pushed on through before arriving at Northwood. This has an interesting green-man sculpture opposite the station which was possibly the hardest one I've had to get a decent photo of. The junction is busy and so I had to wait for cars, lorries and buses going past as well as large numbers of pedestrians, also the sun was in an awkward position as well.

Northwood itself has an interesting range of shops on the high street and was quite busy. I spent the next half hour or so walking in completely the wrong direction as my directions told me to turn right on Sandy Lodge Lane. However, the road is not called that where it intersects with the High Street and I walked past the turning at least twice before finding Dene Street and walking up there to where it magically changed into Sandy Lodge Lane.

This lane continued up to the Sandy Lodge golf course which was the reason that Moor Park tube station was built. The private estate that has grown up there is very pedestrian unfriendly with limited directions to the station and almost no footpaths. Eventually I found the route I took for the London Loop and followed that to the station. This section was very muddy from a winter of heavy rain and going was quite treacherous.