Tracking the Tube: Central Line 05: Liverpool Street to Leytonstone

---

Weather: Sunny intervals and Warm
Distance Walked: 13.71 km
Distance By Tube: 10.45 km
Stations Visited: 6
Fantastic Place:The Hub Cafe in Victoria Park

---

 

This walk took me out of "My London" into the East London Badlands! Some bits were familiar from the Capital Ring while most of the route was new. A walk of two halves, the first two thirds through interesting streets with lots of art, and large open parks. The last third a bit of a trudge through dull repetitive suburbs.

 

The Six Stations On The Walk

The walk started out in bright sunshine and the narrow canyons of financial London. There were some interesting sculptures near the old market buildings of Spitalfeilds; a goat and a family of elephants.

 This part of the walk and the whole of the leg to Bethnal Green is part of London I don't know at all, and I've lived in the city for 2/3 of my life. It is colourful and vibrant with a mix of buildings old and new. Lots of street art as well. This street scene is not far from the modern financial district with all the concrete and glass. Also at this point I'd like to say that Douglass Adams was wrong. In the Hitch-hiker's Guide series of books he postulated a Shoe Shop Intensifier ray that meant that shoe shops proliferated everywhere. He was wrong. It is coffee shops.

 

 

On almost every corner in this part of town there is a coffee shop, then a few doors down another one. And not just the chains, lots of cool, hip people sitting in small independent shops as well.

Possibly my favourite coffee shop name

 

 

 

Bethnal Green station is one of those that is totally below ground and was the site of one of the worst civilian tragedies during the war when 173 people including 62 children were killed in a crush when attempting to enter the unfinished station which was being used as an air-raid shelter.

A striking memorial with the names of the victims is at the entrance to a nearby park. The walk soon reaches a bridge over the Regents canal and the next stretch follows the canal south through the Mile End Park. This is a very pleasant spot with lots of birds on the water along with many colourful canal boats.

Crossing the busy Mile End Road via a green bridge I found Mile End station then turned back north following the east side of the park until I reached the Hertford Union canal - which joins the Regent Canal near this point. A smaller but no less attractive waterway. Waterways, be they natural or man made do add an air of calm to an city and I'm so glad many of them are being improved in London (though having been trapped by an enthusiast at an event near the Cotswold canal they can talk the hind legs off of a donkey!).

 

Victoria Park is a classic London Park. Big with lots of mature trees, wide paths and places for people to relax and children to play. Most importantly it has an awesome cafe at the centre ideal for hungry walkers to refuel before heading off on the next leg of the journey.

The next leg follows the Greenway which I last walked on the Capital Ring. It sits on the embankment that contains Joseph Bazalgette's Northern Outfall Sewer. Even if you didn't know this you could guess as there was a very strong stench of sewage in the air as I strolled along.

 

The last time I walked this the Olympic Stadium was being constructed for the 2012 Olympics. They have been and gone and now the stadium is home to West Ham. 

 

 

Building works caused a detour from the planned route here and a very tiresome walk alongside main roads towards Stratford Stadium. Lots of the Olympic arenas still stand and are used for sports and other events. Stratford station is very busy with lots of different lines converging and a major shopping mall. 

 

The walk from here through Leyton and Leytonstone was very dull, lots of very samish Victorian and Edwardian terraces and I was quite glad to see the last station on this leg. Even more pleased to see it had a water fountain so I could fill up my bottle as I had got quite thirsty.

 

Leytonstone station has a number of mosaics commemorating the films of Alfred Hitchcock who was born in Leytonstone.

The Birds

Rear Window

 

One feature of the walk I've not mentioned was the amount of vibrant street murals decorating buildings, even on quite grubby side streets. Here is a selection.

Also cats!

 

 

 

 

Tracking the Tube: Central Line 01: West Ruislip to Perivale

---

Weather: Unseasonably Cool and Grey
Distance Walked: 18.73 km
Distance By Tube: 8.65 km
Stations Visited: 6
Fantastic Place: Northolt Village Green

---

 

So the penultimate line of the tube line walk project - almost two years since I completed the Victoria Line. Alongside the usual reason of work taking up so much time, last summer we got two new kittens after our beloved Fitz died at the age of 21. This meant I 'had' to stay at home with them to make sure they got acclimatised to their new home. Suffice to say they have and now rule the roost, every day they commit a new crime!

Six Stations on this Section of the Line

 

Anyway, back to the walk. I decided to walk west to east along the line to make the most of starting close to home, it is going to be interesting to see how I break up the loop at the eastern end of the line.

The walk started at the western end of the line at West Ruislip, an uninspiring station in the middle of an uninspiring area, I actually got a bit lost leaving the station, not a good start! The first section of the walk was through dull suburbia, in fact the walk kept returning to the same busy road before diving off to one side or another to gain respite. Ruislip Gardens station is if anything even less interesting than West Ruislip, but it does lie opposite the entrance to Northolt Aerodrome, pretty unique to be walk past the end of the main runway of the RAF base. It is the oldest RAF base in the UK, created in 1915 and was the first to take delivery of Hurricanes in WW2. It is now the base where the royals fly into and out of and I often see planes coming in when working in the back garden.

More suburban dullness leads to the excitement of crossing the busy A40 (which the Central Line follows into the centre of London) at the Polish War memorial roundabout (the Poles had a squadron that flew out of Northolt during WW2). 

The weather has been very wet over the past few months and this caused me to take a detour when the path through the woods back to Northolt station crossing the A40 again this time via a high footbridge. This area is starting to be recognisable to me, we quite often need to go to the Post Office sorting centre here to pick up parcels and the vet hospital is near by as well.

After the station with the busy road pounding outside it was pleasant to pick up a sandwich and a drink for lunch and sit in the peaceful Northolt Village Green with ducks looking interested in my sandwich.

This quiet location is overlooked by the 13th century church of St Mary with St Richard. 

The path drops down from the hill towards the Grand Union Canal which winds along under road and rail bridges. Lots of barges moored against the tow path in a variety of conditions of repair! The walk would be more peaceful if it wasn't for the bikes speeding along often not ringing a bell as they approached from behind.

Leaving the canal to walk up to Greenford station via the new housing development on the old Glaxo factory site I spotted a swan nesting beside the canal. Returning to the tow path once more for the last section towards Perivale I walked through a section of fenced off land where beavers have been reintroduced, sadly none were visible on this trip but I will keep an eye out for them when walking down to the shops. Then I retraced my steps, over Horsenden Hill back home

View along the canal at Perivale

Cormorant drying off by the canal

Eyes peeled but none spotted

Caterpillar Hedge

Occupied Canal-side Residence

Dinosaur at the Golf Course

Northolt Clock Tower

Five Go Mad On A Towpath

As a break from my usual urban explorations and in support of two good friends and their favoured charity I agreed, drink must have been involved, to do a 25km sponsored walk along the river Lea from Hertford to Enfield Lock.

The original idea was to do a 25 mile walk, in celebration of their 25th wedding anniversary, but it was pointed out that none of us had really done enough training for this and also that the length of the day in October might not be sufficient for us to complete the walk without torches.

So the day rolled around and I was recovering from a really heavy cold but still managed to drag myself out of bed at 05:15 in order to be at Hertford by 09:30 on a very foggy and chilly October morning.

Hertford itself is a very pleasant town which still exhibits a partial medieval street plan and a fine selection of buildings in a variety of styles. I was able to pontificate on the pargeting on some of the buildings in the town centre.

A fine breakfast at a local bar set us up for the walk and we headed off to the tow-path that runs beside the Lea which is part river and part canal. After about an hour the fog burnt off and the day turned bright and warm. This combined with good quality walking conditions underfoot (mainly gravel and tarmac with some very short stretches of muddy grass) meant that we made good progress.

One of the most interesting places we passed was Ware which is famous for its riverside gazebos.

I decided on this walk not to take my camera so there are no photos of the swans, ducks, moorhens, coots and other wildlife we saw, all I have to remember the journey by is a couple of huge blisters. Nor are there pictures of the speeding cyclists that seemed to be out in droves (what is the collective noun for cyclists? A chain? A hazard? A lycra?).

The further south we went the less interesting the scenery unfortunately but it was all downhill (very gently apart from at the locks) so when we eventually reached our journeys end we didn't feel too exhausted but were glad that it was only a short walk to a local pub (the Greyhound - home to 'eyebrow' Terry) and then a stiff legged hobble to the train station for, in my case, the long journey home.

A goodly sum was raised for charity, much laughter was had due to most of us not being to speak or hear clearly for one or other reason which led to a conversation around whether a GPS walk tracker was best kept in a dwarf or on an elf, so all in all it was a great day.

Normal service will be resumed next month with the next leg of my tube walk and possibly some strolls in the Cotswold Hills.

Tracking the Tube: Northern Line 02: Kennington - Euston - Kennington

---

Weather: Very warm for the end of September with lots of sunshine.
Distance Walked: 20.75km 
Distance By Tube: Technically 0km  but 13.43km in reality.
Stations Visited: 18 (or 19 if you include Kennington twice!)
Fantastic Place: Borough Market

---

A perfect day for walking on what turned out to be one of the most enjoyable walks so far in this set of Tube walks. This is partly because of the lovely sunny weather and also it took me through what I regard as 'my London'.

18 stations on this leg

I started out from Kennington, again getting confused by the lift where you get out of the same door you enter through unlike most lifts on the underground. The dome on top of the station was designed to house all the heavy lift machinery - it is nice when function produces an attractive form. Its a shame that some of the tower blocks I saw on today's walk didn't achieve this goal (yes I'm looking at you Mr Walkie-Talkie building).

First up was the maze of streets, roadworks, underpasses, coned and fenced off walkways that make up the Elephant and Castle roundabout.

Pink Elephant before 10am and I hadn't been drinking

Obviously they are doing improvement works and hopefully things will be better soon but at one point I didn't think I'd escape and I wasn't sure where I should be heading.

Anyway I soon put this behind me and it wasn't long before Borough Market came into view. I used to work in the area and one way of relieving the stress of the day was to pop down and stroll around the stalls and perhaps pick something up for supper. If anything the market has got larger and busier in the past few years and is a great place to spend an hour or two. Buy some cheese, some cured meats, some bread,

Borough Market Greengrocer Stall

olives, fruit, vegetables, oils, wines etc etc etc! I had no room to carry anything back today but I have tucked it away for a morning trip with my wife, perhaps combining it with a visit to a gallery or two.

Continuing along the high street I passed the George Inn, the last galleried inn in London and it does good food and drink as well though it was far too early to stop there today!

London Bridge station is a sprawling mass of underground and overground lines spread over a large area right next to London Bridge. London Bridge itself has seen many incarnations from the famous one with houses and shops lining it as seen in many a picture of the Frost Fairs on the Thames to the version that a rich American bought and set up on a lake somewhere in the USA to the bland modern version that stands today.

Here be dragons

As you step onto the bridge you are greeted by the symbols of the City of London, a city within the greater city.

A short distance across the bridge is Monument station named for the monument to the great fire that stands nearby. Next up is Bank named for the Bank of England, the Old Lady of Threadneedle street which stands pretty much on top of the station.

The streets here still follow the old medieval street pattern and they twist and turn, zig and zag in the shadow of the towers of the banks and other financial institutions leaving the streets shaded like canyons.

More extensive roadworks and diversions around Moorgate for the long planned Crossrail project that will hopefully reduce some of the load on the Central line in a few years time follow before I reach Moorgate station.

Continuing North and West in a series of long dog-legs towards Old Street station I came across Bunhill Fields a non-conformist burial ground that is the last resting place of William Blake and Daniel Defoe amongst others. Well worth a detour if you are in the area it is a peaceful oasis amongst the hustle and bustle that surrounds it.

Old Street was where I did my initial training in IT after I left teaching. The area has developed since then and is now known as Silicon Roundabout because of all the tech startups there are there now. A bit further north-west along the City Road, opposite my old office, is  the Eagle pub. Famous for being the pub mentioned in pop-goes-the-weasel. In my day it was a bit of a dive and we used to use the cafe nearby, the Shepherdess,  which also seems to have gone up in the world in the last twenty odd years!

Regent's Canal

More dog-legs followed along with a short stretch of the Regent's Canal just before Angel station.

The route between Angel and Kings Cross took me through the picturesque Percy Circus. Built on a very steep hill the houses around the circular green are very attractive and there is a blue plaque nearby commemorating Lenin who lived/stayed in one of the properties for a time.

A very windy and dull stretch along the Euston road followed where in quick succession Kings Cross, Euston and Warren Street stations were ticked off the list but I had passed half way.

Turning south I enter what I regard as part of my London and it has been pretty much ever since I moved to the city after completing my teaching qualifications in Norwich. This is a landscape of galleries, bookshops, theatres, opera houses and places to eat and I think I know my way around here fairly well.

A Home Form Home!

Goodge Street is followed quickly by Tottenham Court Road which at last is beginning to open up again after all the work needed for Crossrail. Heading down towards Leicester Square I popped up Earlham Street to Orcs Nest where I have spent many a happy hour (and quite a bit of money) on D&D books, figures, paints, dice etc. They also stock a wide range of other games and so a visit is always worthwhile.

The Home of the ENO

Shortly after Leicester Square station I passed the Colosseum home of the English National Opera and the national Portrait Gallery - two more of my favourite places in this part of London. 

Carrying on south past Charing Cross station and through Embankment I recrossed the river via Hungerford Bridge and then dropped down on the south side of the river towards Waterloo.

The South Bank was busy with fun fairs and performers which it seems to be more often than not these days which goes some way to hide the rather unattractive concrete buildings of the Festival Hall etc built for the Festival of Britain back in the 50s.

The roads around Waterloo were busy and I got a bit lost as I have done in the past, though I did manage to spot an unusual sculpture outside one of the hotels.


Turning back towards Kennington I looked back and caught a fine view of the Houses of Parliament framed by the London Plane trees that line this part of the river near Lambeth Palace.

The Houses of Parliament

I was ready for a break when I got back to Kennington tube after what was quite a long walk, made longer by the crowds in the centre and the number of stations and points of interest to take photos of.

Next leg will see me heading north but not before I do a 25km sponsored walk along the River Lea with some friends in aid of the Samaritans.

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

---

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

---

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.