Dear Diary...
This is my diary. How things are. Or something. Please note that the diary is archived month by month, so feel free to click the links for the archives (which now will go back five years maximum):
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Sunday 2nd February - Chiswick Chilling
I decided this morning that it might be a nice idea to head out to a car boot sale. I hadn't done one for a while and it is always good to see what people do have for sale, and may even locate a bargain on occasion too. I had been wanting to go to the one at Chiswick for some time but it is usually on the first Sunday of the month (excluding January) and that doesn't always coincide with me being here, but on this occasion, well it did. I knew that the trains were also not that regular on that route on a Sunday and had an idea as to which way to go from the station, so after having some breakfast, it was time to set off.
I got to Clapham Junction for the second day on the bounce and this time over to Platform 5 for the train to Chiswick (which would go on to Woking via Brentford and Staines.) and that was relatively fine, although it seemed to wait at Barnes for a few minutes, despite no train heading the other way. Anyway, from there it was a short walk along Burlington Lane and turning right for the school. In hindsight had I known there was a second entrance further down that lane, I could have gone straight on (noted for reference) and paid the £1 entrance fee and started to look around.
The website had already noted that the field at the front could not be used, so the sellers were crammed into any playground and hard standing space possible. This did work well and I was able to get around perfectly fine without any issues. There was also a food truck serving breakfast items and also burgers if you fancied one, as well as coffee. I did note some rather cute ornamental cats but decided against them as they would be (as The Love In My Heart would say) dust collectors, and I do like the fact the flat these days is fairly minimal of ornaments now.
Still, that was enjoyable enough to walk around, and as I was here, I headed through the Burlington Gate and into Chiswick House's large gardens. That was quite nice actually as one path took me along towards the Classic Bridge (which was steep either side to get over the lake) - and I then followed the lake along with the morning sun reflecting the house in the water really nicely. Outside the house itself there was a small market with some gazebos and just to the right, the café, where I had a well earned coffee inside to relax the soul.
Afterwards I took more of a walk around the gardens, heading past the Italian Garden and conservatory before heading out towards Park Road and back to Chiswick Station. As there was no train for some time I decided to walk the path I had seen on the map which would take me virtually alongside the railway all the way to the River Thames (and I do remember this part of the North Bank of the Thames Path) before heading on the pedestrian crossing on Barnes Bridge (next to the railway) and heading over to that station to get the train later on - that worked out pretty well and meant I'd walked another three and a half miles or so at least today. Good going all round really.
I did keep an eye on the afternoon's sport too, with Manchester City's women losing 4-3 to Arsenal and didn't help themselves going two down in eight minutes either. BBC Two had Chelsea playing Aston Villa away, and to be fair Villa acquited themselves well and only an own goal proved the difference - heart for the new Villa women's manager to take from that. City's men virtually copied the women by conceding early on and eventually would go on to lose that game, albeit by a rather heavier scoreline - 5-1. It's another painful lesson in that we cannot keep playing Matheus Nunes at right back and expect to get away with it (cue Electronic classic Getting Away With It being tune of the day.)
Saturday 1st February - Walking The River
This weekend would have been a weekend where The Love In My Heart would have come down to see me, and we'd have a lovely time. However, because of the train strikes on Avanti West Coast, realistically she would not be able to go back on the Sunday unless it was really early in the day, and staying until the Monday isn't an option because her work requires her to be physically present, so no can do there. In the end she did manage to get a refund for her train tickets at least, but still, would have been nice to see her. The main consolation she did have is that The Cute Little One was going to stop over, so she would have lots of fun there (and indeed she asked where I was, which was lovely.)
With that in mind and with the recent stormy weather meaning countryside walks might not be the best idea due to lots of sodden ground and mud (or else the next section of the Vanguard Way may have been considered) I instead went back to the South Bank of the Thames Path. I had done sections 1a to 1d back in late 2023, and really wanted to get back to doing that. The advantage is that it's almost all on hard standing paths so no mud to speak of, and this did mean that the next section (2) is around six miles or so, so a good distance to go and see how the legs handle it.
I got the train to Clapham Junction and changed there for the 170 bus, as the signage from TfL appeared to indicate that the stop by Battersea Bridge was closed, and as that head across and then right to the Albert Bridge, that made sense. Sod's law was a temporary bus stop was in place a Battersea, but hey ho. Still made sense anyway to walk over Albert Bridge to the start of the walk and then of course see all the park runners doing their weekly run around Battersea Park. I did of course walk past the peace pagoda which looks out to to the river, and before long I was heading under Chelsea Bridge and indeed the railway bridge.
It was on to Battersea Power Station, which had a light exhibition on and the one with the yarn by the front was pretty good. Upon leaving there, a diversionary route was on because of works around by the Thames, so managed to pick it back up close to Nine Elms (with its posh Waitrose) and follow the river by the wharf close to Vauxhall before then crossing the road close to the bus station, and again, due to the extended sewer works close to the river, had to walk down the main road before joining the Albert Embankment.
It was onwards past the old fire brigade headquarters and over Lambeth Bridge and past Lambeth Palace that it was on to the National Covid Memorial Wall. I must admit I did feel a tinge of sadness here with so many hearts hand painted, each one representing a life lost, and with messges from some families inside the hearts. It is a stark reminder of the time gone by and a moment to pause here felt the right thing to do. Once done, I passed the millions of tourists by the London Eye, and carried on down the South Bank past the Southbank Centre and the National Theatre.
I had walked this section many a time, not least with The Love In My Heart anyway, so it was more than familiar heading past Shakespeare's Globe, around past the Golden Hinde, under London Bridge and along past Hay's Galleria and past City Hall towards Tower Bridge. Six miles completed in around two hours and the latter part way more touristy of course. The next section pretty much mirrors what I did for the Jubilee Greenway in the reverse direction, so that might be interesting how I decide to handle that in the end.
I headed towards the railway arches from Tower Bridge and turned right, and headed over to Hop King. I'd not been in there for ages and the vibe is still very good - effectively a skate park with a pub bar area too. These days you get charged £5 but the first drink is free - and their pale ale is a very good and solid pint at that. I had a nice relaxing drink with the skateboarders doing their thing on the ramps and street ledges, and all of them ensuring no drinks were taken into those areas and being respectful. Naturally I had Suicidal Tendencies' iconic Possessed to Skate in the head (make that tune of the day) and that was all good to relax in there.
On the way home I did decide to go a different way, so did London Bridge to Waterloo East, walked to Waterloo, got the train to Clapham Junction and changed there to get the one to Wandsworth Common for the Belleville Brewery. I did fancy to see if they still had their Pret a Porter ale there as that's rather lovely. They didn't have that but the Southie Stout was on of theirs which is rather nice, so treated myself to that - and well why not? So that was a good way to relax during the afternoon, and headed home later all definitely feeling better for the good walk. You can see how I got on with the camera here, should you wish to.