Tracking the Tube: Jubilee Line 02: Canary Wharf to Green Park

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Weather: Warm and pleasant
Distance Walked: 22.5km
Distance By Tube:10.77km
Stations Visited: 9
Fantastic Place: St James' Park

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It's been a while since I last did a Tube Walk. Since the last one I've found a new job - one that isn't so desk bound as the last. I now spend a lot of time walking from one end of the site to the other, visiting users and often crawling under their desks. The walk to and from work is also far more pleasant, being through very pretty suburban streets of Kew in the leafy borough of Richmond just south of the River Thames. I now do upwards of 10000 steps everyday sometimes reaching the dizzy heights of 16000. On the down side I now work five days a week instead of four which means that the Tracking the Tube project will take a lot longer to complete.

The nine stations on the walk today

Starting back at Canary Wharf I was struck again how much had changed since I worked here back in the last Millennium! In fact there was even change since the last time I walked here a year ago. I walked a slightly different route back through docklands as I headed south, following the west side of Millwall Inner Dock and the east side of Millwall Outer Dock.

These are now surrounded by offices and housing rather than the warehouses and industry that would have been there when the docks were a thriving centre of shipping and trade. Even so there were a large number of narrow boats and other house boats moored in the basins, many brightened up with flowers and vegetables growing in any available space.

On the open water of the outer dock there were small sailing dinghies and wind-surfers making the most of the sun and brisk wind that gets funnelled through the canyons formed by the tall buildings. Because of the mix of housing and office space docklands is still busy and bustling on a Saturday unlike the areas around Chancery Lane and the old financial centre of London which can resemble the setting of a post-apocalyptic wasteland at the weekend.

A little further on near Mudchute (possibly one of the least glamorous names on the DLR network)  there was a small housing development, probably late eighties early nineties) built around a set of private moorings. None were in use by boats, however there was a pair of Great Crested Grebe nesting there and on a semi submerged pontoon a family of Canada Geese). Lots of other ducks and sea birds had made their home in this peaceful little haven - which was nice.

Walking under the Thames via the foot tunnel I headed west past the Cutty Sark on the Thames Path soon coming to a very odd statue of Peter the Great. The proportions are really very odd but it makes a striking addition to an area dominated by drab modern apartments.

Continuing along the Thames path which occasionally swings some way inland I passed through a park with a old, gnarled mulberry tree. I'd love to have one of these in my garden at some point. The fruit wasn't ripe but there was a lot on the tree. I wonder if anyone comes to pick it or if it just gets eaten by birds.

Heading inland at a large marina filled with canal boats and sailing craft I left the Thames behind and headed through Rotherhithe to Canada Water station. This station, like most on the relatively new extension, is a striking modern building. This one resembles one of the vehicles that the Sand People in Star Wars travelled around in collecting scrap and selling faulty droids to moisture farmers!

Passing through Southwark Park I soon came to Bermondsey station which was quite restrained in design on a long road lined with shops and cafés. Passing under the bridge carrying the trains out of London Bridge station the smell of a local craft brewery filled the air bringing back memories of living in Cardiff and the Brains brewery that filled the air with malty goodness most days!

This part of London on the run up to London Bridge station has a large number of very nice streets lined with Georgian and Victorian terraces and old schools turned into flats. Very attractive, if small, front gardens added to the ambience. The nearer I got to the station the more hip the area got with lots of small coffee shops, including one called "Fuckoffee." The National Fasion and Textile Museum is here as are a number of small galleries and craft workshops. London Bridge station is rather large and sprawling but is dominated by the glass and steel of Isengard the Shard that towers over it.

After a quick stop at Hotel Chocolat for some 'emergency supplies my path led back to the Thames and a visit to one of my old workplaces on the South Bank opposite St Paul's. A Quick stop for lunch at Eat reinvigorated me for the second half of the walk, briefly along the Thames before turning off by the reconstructed Globe theatre (well worth going to see a performance there) and heading south to Southwark station. The route I took went behind the Tate Modern gallery at Bankside. This opened soon after Liz and I moved to London and was part of the flowering of art and culture in London around the Millennium. London has always had great art spaces but it just seems to have got better and better. The new gallery space at the Tate is housed in a stunning building which sits well beside the old power station.

The area between Southwark, Waterloo and Westminster stations is horrendously busy especially on a sunny Saturday during the summer holidays. It makes walking at a normal pace almost impossible. The area between the London Eye and the Houses of Parliament is particularly bad with tourists sitting on the steps and waving their selfie-sticks around. It was quite a relief therefore to break out of the congestion and walk through the, still busy but more peaceful surroundings, of St James' Park. I don't think I've even spent much time in this large green lung in the centre of London which runs from the political heart of London right up to the gates of Buckingham Palace. At the heart of the park is a long lake surrounded by flower beds and despite the large number of visitors it still has a peaceful air. The lake has lots of wildfowl (a theme of today!) including some pelicans which you are warned not to feed. This may be why!

After waving at the queen I turned north through another of London's large parks, Green Park to the station of the same name. As a geologist I like what the designers have done with the walls of this station. They have used fossiliferous limestone in which you can see the calcified remains of ammonites and other extinct see creatures. The designers have then carved larger stylised versions in the walls.

The last stretch from Green Park to Bond Street station is one that I've walked many, many times with my wife when we visit the Royal Academy of Arts and you pass many swanky shops and galleries before arriving in the throbbing heart of Oxford Street with all it's department stores and other shops.

That was enough for today and I could feel that I hadn't done a long walk for a while in the backs of my legs. It was however one of my favourite tube walks of the project so far. It was a transect through time and space showing the various parts of London. It started in the new heart of financial London, moves through the old dockland and commercial centre, through art and culture, political London, Royal London and finally shopping London. All of these areas have their own flavour and architecture and the route is well worth a walk if you have half a day to spare.

New tower looms over a floating restaurant

Interesting sculpture near Canary Wharf station

Standing tall

Parts look more like Amsterdam than London!

Great Crested Grebe at Mudchute

Philip the Great and Small Friend

Storm Clouds over the City

The Shard

The new galleries at Tate Modern

Tracking the Tube: Jubilee Line 01: Stratford to Canary Wharf

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Weather: Scorchio! Wall to wall sunshine, blue skies and little wind
Distance Walked: 28.3km
Distance By Tube:6.54km
Stations Visited: 5
Fantastic Place: Cutty Sark, Greenwich

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The Jubilee Line it is then. This walk will take me back to one of the first places I worked after leaving teaching and starting in the IT industry as well as visiting one of my favourite parts of London.







I decided to walk the line from East to West as I had just finished the Northern Line walk in the rather drab north west suburbs and I fancied a change to somewhere more dynamic hence the long Central Line trip from west London all the way out to the Stratford.

Just 5 Stations this time

This area has seen a lot of developments in the past decade with the London Olympics being held nearby in 2012 and so transport links and other infrastructure was upgraded. Stratford station is buried underneath a huge shopping centre and it took me a while to work out which way to go eventually crossing the sub-urban rail lines via a steal and glass bridge which offered views of some of the Olympic buildings.

Heading south towards West Ham station I took care not to retrace too many of my steps that I had trodden on my District Line walk but this was fairly easy as the two lines are pretty much perpendicular at this point. Continuing south the walk follows the DLR line for this part of the walk. When I first started working in the Canary Wharf area back in the mid 90s there was no Jubilee Line and the DLR only ran until about 6pm and then only from Bank or Tower Gateway to Canary Wharf. We in the office joked that DLR stood for Doesn't Like Rain as it seemed to stop working in the lightest shower. Other people called it the Toytown Railway and although when it started it appeared unreliable and infrequent it now is a major part of the tube network.

The Orbit Tower

I read somewhere that the DLR journey through Docklands is one of the top-ten rail journeys in the world! Not sure about that but my young god-twins like pretending to drive the train by sitting at the front. Ok so do I when I get the chance.

Canning Town interchange  is a sprawling unremarkable building sharing facilities with buses and the DLR. Lots of busy roads in the area as well making it a bit unpleasant to walk through.

I could have followed the lines of the old docks eastward here out to the University of East London and City Airport but I'd already walked that way on the LOOP and I may go back there again if I walk the DLR as a line. Instead I treated myself to a flight on the Dangleway or as it is more properly known the Emirates Air Line cable car that crosses the Thames from near the Royal Victoria Dock to North Greenwich near the O² centre.

I've been on the cable car at sunset and in some ways that is better as the more attractive bits of the view are lit up while the scrap yards and waste recycling areas are dark. However on a crystal clear day like today the view was splendid.

View down towards City airport with a boat docked near the ExCel centre.

 I've not explored the North Greenwich peninsula before - never had the need to go to a gig at the O²  for example - and it is a strange mix. The area around the station and the former Millennium Dome is all very modern, clean and tidy with shops, bars and places to eat.

But is it art?

Move a short distance away to the west and things change. Here the area is still a work in progress with areas of fenced off wasteland and piles of broken up stone and gravel. There are also some art installations including this odd electricity pylon.

In places along the Thames Path the trail is blocked as large blocks of flats are being flung up to make the most of the views from the waterside location. This caused some annoyance as I missed a sign saying that the path was diverted while building was going on and ended up having to retrace my steps for some distance and then had to walk along the busy arterial roads instead. However I did come across the Meantime Brewery which does tours and has a tasting room. Hmm might have to pay a visit at some point so the diversion was all bad news!

The next section of the walk took me through Greenwich, one of my favourite bits of London especially the older part with the Maritime Museum, the Observatory on the Hill and some nice shopping and eating places.
After a break for lunch (a very nice burger and shake at GBK in Greenwich - very friendly staff and great food as normal) a stroll around the outside of the Cutty Sark followed. I've been on-board and underneath the old tea-clipper in the past and if you are in the area it is well worth the visit.

Cutty Sark

Then under the river via the Greewnwich Foot Tunnel built at the turn of the twentieth century, with the curvature of the tunnel as it descends then ascends again on the northern side of the Thames it feels a bit like the inside of a space-station (a damp and slightly tatty one it has to be said).

On the north side of the big bend in the Thames is the Isle of Dogs. Walking up past Island Gardens through a nice park where an enthusiastic cricket game was being played, then up along tree lined streets with towering glass and steel monoliths behind in Mudchute then over some of the old docks into what is now one of the financial hubs of London and Europe. This is where I worked for about a decade supporting the IT systems of one of the major suppliers of metropolitan subterranean transport. So much has changed in the ten years since I left that project. Some of the buildings that were new then have been knocked down and replaced by newer ones, sometimes offices but more appear to be hotels and housing (not sure how much is affordable for the people who lived and worked in the area before the finance houses moved in). Our old office building looked deserted and due to be pulled down. The pub we went to after work (and where I had an unscheduled stag night a couple of days before my wedding) has long gone.

There are still buildings going up in the high-rise core of the area and the streets and shops in the shopping complex under and around One Canada Square were busy. I was planning to walk along the eastern side of the Isle of Dogs return through the foot tunnel and then on to Canada Water but with the high temperatures and the long detour on the Thames Path earlier I decided to end here do a bit of shopping at Waitrose (of course!) and then start the next leg of the walk here.

Old and new meet at the water's edge

Thames wherry

More Dallas than Isle of Dogs

Tracking the Tube: Northern Line 05: Camden Town to Edgware

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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

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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!

10 Stations 5 Different Styles

The walk started in fairly bright sunshine at Camden Town. I had never been to Camden before, in fact this part of the Northern Line was pretty much new territory apart from the area around Hampstead station where some of my friends live.

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.

Storm Clouds over the City

The day before the walk the UK had voted to leave the EU but London (as well as Scotland, Northern Ireland and Gibraltar) hadn't and this stormy view reflected some of the concerns and confusions that will continue to rumble on for years as the government tries to untangle itself from the EU or the (non-binding) referendum result.

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!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rodwey2004/13104893513

 

Saurum Chase Letterbox

Hampstead station itself is quite low key and is the last of the red tiled style on the line, the rest are a mixture of styles and ages.

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!

Tracking the Tube: Northern Line 04: Mill Hill East to High Barnet

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Weather: Warm sunshine with cold winds
Distance Walked: 13.12km 
Distance By Tube: 7.60km
Stations Visited: 6
Fantastic Place: Mill Hill Viaduct

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The bright blue skies in the photos might make you think the weather was warmer than it was! As soon as I was in any sort of exposed position the strong chill winds cut through my jacket, but when sheltered I wanted to take it off as it was too warm. 

Lots of blossom and fresh green leaves sprouting on the trees and the air was full of the smell of spring.

Mill Hill East station has the feel of a countryside station. Very quiet and a single track with a platform just on one side. It is, according to its Wiki page the least used station on the Northern Line and it feels sleepy and peaceful so different to the hustle and bustle of the central portion of this line.

Just after leaving the station, passing a very large and new looking Waitrose store, the route goes under the Dollis Brook Viaduct over which the tube runs to the station. It soars 18m above the road on slender brick arches and was worth travelling out to see.

Finchley Central station continues the theme of this part of the line with stations built from an attractive pale brick.

The next section of the walk heads north east along the busy shopping street of Ballards Lane. Half way along I passed Leisure Games provider of Role Playing Games and accessories. I've shopped here via the internet for many years as well as various Dragonmeet shows. Turning north west towards West Finchley I was now on the High Barnet branch after completing the spur from Mill Hill East. I don't know this part of London at all and one of the best things with this series of walks is discovering new and very attractive parts of London.

Dollis Brook Greenwalk

After West Finchley the route joins the delightful Dollis Valley Greenwalk. Apart from dropping off the path to visit the stations the route follows the Greenwalk for most of the rest of the way to High Barnet. The Dollis Brook isn't a large stream, even after all the recent rain, but it pretty and it meanders through grassy fields and light woodland. 

Early Oak Leaves

Lots of dog walkers, cyclists (on their own dedicated path) and birds in the trees along this stretch. It is places that this that would surprise some people that everything inside the M25 is concreted over and polluted.

Leaving the Greenwalk as it reaches the playing fields near High Barnet and after a short road section I arrived at the end of this section.

Next tube walk will be the final one along the Northern Line heading north from Camden Town towards Edgware via Hampsted.

I wonder if my rope's still hanging from the tree

Peacock Path

 

  

 

Tracking the Tube: Northern Line 03: Euston to East Finchley

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Weather: Sunshine and scattered heavy showers, cool.
Distance Walked: 13.12km 
Distance By Tube: 7.62
Stations Visited: 8
Fantastic Place: Temple of Bastet Greater London House

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Not the best weather for walking, a mixture of relatively mild sunshine and blue skies suddenly changing to heavy grey cloud with penetrating drizzle. So I was both too warm from wearing a coat but it the rain was too frequent to take it off.

Just 8 stations on this leg

The walk started off at possibly my least favourite terminus, Euston. The current station is a rather unappealing blocky structure while round the corner the original tube station in the traditional ox-blood red tiles stands rather forlorn and decrepit.

The Original Euston Tube Station

Just past the station there is a small open space which looks at first like a small public garden, or a space that had been cleared after WW2 bomb damage but in fact turns out to be the grace yard for the church of St James Piccadilly. There is one grave in particular that shows several generations of the Christie family that all seemed to have died in interesting ways such as a fever caught in Port Royal or in Persia by Russian troops.

Walking north in bright winter sunshine under a dome of blue sky the walk improved with one of the most fabulous art-Deco buildings in London. The Carreras Cigarette Factory, now named Greater London House, was inspired by an Egyptian temple to the goddess Bastet. As someone who is owned by three cats I could not fail to be enchanted by this and it was good to see that it has been well maintained.

Greater London House

Bastet

 The next station on the route is Mornington Crescent made famous as a complicated game in the long running BBC Radio 4 comedy show I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue. Like many of the stations on this part of the walk the station displays the ox-blood tile frontage with large arched windows designed by Leslie Green.

Moving on I reached Camden Town station just as the rain was settling in for much of the rest of the walk so I didn't detour via the famous Camden Market. Instead I continued heading north towards Kentish Town. In between Camden Town and Kentish town there is a very distinctively styles building - the former site of South Kentish Town.

Ghost Station - South Kentish Town

 I have visited this part of London quite frequently but only a small part of it, the road between the station and the Forum. Many a cold winter's night I have spent queueing outside here to get close to the front to watch bands, in particular, Marillion.

Doesn't seem the same without a queue

The next station, Tuffnell Park is currently closed, for refurbishment which is an ongoing business on the underground network. Many of the lifts, escalators and pumps (many of the stations are below the water table) are old and there is an ongoing program of replacement and repair going on.

The road from Tufnell Park climbs steadily and steeply, just as the sun came out again making me quite warm in my nicely moist coat! The area between Camden and Archway has lots of nice looking coffee shops but they were filled with rather hip looking gents (beards, those strange earlobe plug things and tattoos) who were probably web designers, advertising executives and other such b-ark type occupations (yes I wish I was as hip as them!) into which circles I wouldn't have fitted in.

Archway station was invisible behind hoardings where a new tower block is being built so I can't tell you what it looks like. As I was waiting at the crossing a horse drawn hearse went by.

The on and off rain stopped for a bit as I joined the disused railway line (and the Capital Ring) for a time as it soars above back gardens (lots of very nice conservatories and dining room extensions on the backs of some of the houses). The ground was heavy black sticky mud and I had to keep dodging cyclists and dog walkers (one of which had eight dogs of various sizes (all muddy) before emerging at Highgate station. Before the station there are some old tunnels occupied now by several types of bat according to a helpful information panel. The rain started up again as I walked to East Finchley and the end of this leg, familiar territory as this was again part of the Capital Ring route I walked several years ago.

Next month I hope to complete this side of the northern end of the Northern Line with the spur to Mill Hill East and the terminus at High Barnet, two places I have never been before.

Camden Town Graffiti

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

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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

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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.