Dear Diary... June 2024
Sunday 30th June - Lando Hope No Glory
It was definitely a day of weather ups and downs today, with it feeling a little on the cold side outside with some wind and rain forecast for later on. We were both hoping that this would clear up at least a little bit, primarily because we wanted to be sure of a dry spell later as well as being able to cheer on England in their Euro 2024 last 16 game against Slovakia. England have not played at all well (understatement) and admittedly I was fearing the worst, in truth, prior to the game later on.
The Love In My Heart and I were off to my sister's later for my niece's birthday, which had planned barbecue, food and drink, and with a telly in the back for the football. Hard to believe that my niece is nineteen now and will be twenty next year (they need to stop growing honestly!) and as I knew she was off to Silverstone next week for the F1, some money in the card would help towards spending and having a good time, and I knew she would appreciate that. In fact, we got ourselves some breakfast earlier and Brian the cat despite the weather was wanting some extended playtime outside on the patio. Well, of course he does!
We set off later and headed for my sister's place, and got a parking spot (not too easy) - and heading around the back, the back wall has a wooden roof coming down so it's an area they can always use even if it rains, and a gazebo was also up as well to keep people dry. The barbecue was good to go for later and the television did have the F1 on, which meant my niece and I were cursing the collision between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen, with the main beneiciary being George Russell, who won the race in the end. We were all gutted for Lando really.
It was good to chat with some of the family and the barbecue burgers and some pork too was very nice, and really appreciated. I was on soft drinks as I had had some beer over the weekend and didn't want to overdo it, and sure enough time came round later for the England game. What we didn't expect was Slovakia to take the lead, and it was a deserved lead too at that which wasn't good. That did deflate the mood a little but everyone was enjoying the nice food and hospitality too, and we had a good time - leaving at half time so I could be at The Love's place ready to head to the train later.
The second half was more of the same - boring turgid play from England and as stoppage time approached I did fear we would be out in disgrace. However, a throw in was headed on by Marc Guehi and Jude Bellingham did an overhead kick - and scored with it for 1-1. Literally with seconds left, we'd actually gone direct and did something decent. And a minute into extra time from a set piece, Ivan Toney headed a ball into the six yard box and Harry Kane did what he does best, scored it, and England then held on for a 2-1 win instead of going for the kill instead.
As I later got the train back to London, needless to say I was not impressed with the performance, the result papered over a lot of cracks. I settled in for a longer journey due to being diverted via Northampton on the way to Euston, and had the iPod playing some quality tunes incliuding several from She Makes War, including the ace Devastate Me, which is tune of the day for definite. I do kind of wish that I could have got home quicker, but those are the breaks and eventually I was able to crash into bed and have a good night's sleep.
Saturday 29th June - Shopping Hip Hop Style
It was an early rise for me as I was off to Euston to get the 0746 London Northwestern train to Crewe, where I would then be on a Northern train to Manchester Piccadilly. However, I was a little bit worried once I had left East Croydon, as approaching Norwood Junction, the train was on a go slow and as it turned out there were signalling issues, meh. So once the train eventually was allowed to go, and I got to St Pancras, it was over to Euston pretty sharpish to make sure I was able to grab a quick breakfast and head straight on the train - remembering that first class is declassified on their 350/2 trains and the only section with 2+2 seats and proper tables!
Once at Crewe it was over to Platform 1 and off on the train via Manchester Airport to Piccadilly, meaning that it took some time at the airport itself to just sit and wait there before heading off. However, The Love In My Heart kindly came to get me at Piccadilly, and all was well with the world as Brian the cat was being super adorable when we got back and allowed me to fuss over him a little bit - which was good. We had a coffee and a bacon sandwich and then later on we thought it'd be a good idea to head into the city centre and do a little bit of shopping, primarily with holiday in mind.
We went to Oliver Bonas in Piccadilly station first and The Love managed to get herself some nice new sunglasses at a reasonable price, which was rather good. They even came with a nice little pouch and cloth to keep them all tidy, and I know she will look super cool when on the beach with them on, so that is a positive. It was then down to Primark where she did see a nice little dress which was good, and managed also to get some little clear bottles to put some of the toiletries in - yes, they'll be in the big case and all, but makes sense to get it all done.
I did have a good little mooch in the likes of TK Maxx but nothing much doing in there, and also Kenji, where we did see this adorable little present for The Cute Little One as she had been so good last week, so no doubt she will love that. We did also then have a good look around a couple of more shops but with it being Saturday afternoon it was pretty rammed, so instead we decided that it'd be good to head for a drink in the Northern Quarter. Fierce Beer was sadly rammed but we did go into Terrace which is always nice, and managed to have a nice local ale from the Runway Brewery so that was a bonus.
We did then think about a late lunch / early tea idea and a number of places were busy, and Seven Bro7ers beerhouse was closed for a private function, but we did remember the Hip Hop Chip Shop is always good, and it was open despite one shutter being down (it was broken apparently.) The staff were as lovely as ever, there is always good Magic Rock beer on, and the fish and chips were excellent, as ever. I love the chilled out hip hop vibe in there, just needed some MC Solaar to complete it really (with that in mind, Nouveau Western is tune of the day - which has a hook from Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot's Bonnie and Clyde no less) - and all good there too.
Tuesday 25th June - Delivering Everything Except Goals
I was working from home today primarily due to some tiredness and not being able to sleep, but also as I knew I had a parcel to collect from the local shop that I definitely needed to collect today, as well as a potential delivery that may arrive later. On top of that, I also noted that the post room in the block of flats is getting something new fitted, instead of the fob access which didn't always work, it's going to have a combi code instead, and so had a chat with the concierge about that to ensure I knew who to call to see what the state of play was there and how to gain access.
As it transpired, I did have two pieces of post arrive, and one had two Commodore 64 cassettes that I had ordered last week: Graphic Editor is a utility I used to make some nice graphics, and it was also the same one that the famous Rowlands brothers used for the likes of Creatures and Mayhem in Monsterland. I also had World Class Leaderboard: Famous Courses of the World Volume 2, which is actually a standalone package containing four courses based on the World Class Leaderboard engine, and immensely playable still today. I did have Volume 1 when younger, so nice to get this.
I collected the parcel from the shop (all good) and I was also expecting a delivery from DPD. Now, say what you want about some couriers, but The Love In My Heart and I agree that when you get a message from them to say the delivery time in a one hour slot is this time, that they always get that done properly. Today was no exception and the new suitcase I ordered had arrived and all good. My old larger case was getting a bit long in the tooth and broken in truth, and so a nice new one for holiday was sensible. And it has the trusty TSA lock on it now too so that will be good if I ever decided to head Stateside.
Later on it was time for the football once again and England's final group game, as they played Slovenia. It was simple really: win the game and the group is won, and a better draw would ensue for later rounds. Lose, and we could finish second or third, and second would get us Germany, which you don't really want considering that they are on home soil. I was hoping for a response particularly after them being spiky back to media criticism. Did we get anything like a response? No. Nothing.
It was yet again another abysmal display with not much in the way of attacking intent, players being frustrated as they didn't have the freedom to do what they can do, and a real sense of just going through the motions. What if Denmark had scored, and this game finished as a draw so we'd finish second? I kept thinking it wouldn't be a bad thing to spur us on, but Slovenia were more than content knowing a 0-0 would see them through as a best third place side at worst, so they were delirious at the end having made it through, and well done them as they did look the better side.
Seriously though, what the hell is going on? Yes, England won the group, and that will help, but dear me, it was playing some of the worst international football I've seen for some time. Look at how Austria went for it earlier against the Netherlands, deservedly won 3-2 and looked like they wanted a goal every time they went forward - it was a joy to watch. Tune of the day ironically is Isomnia by Faithless, the song that proclams I can't get no sleep. Solution? Watch this England side, that'll sort it for you.
Sunday 23rd June - Christening Time
The Love In My Heart got up with Brian the cat, and soon The Cute Little One was also awake. I got up and noted that she was having her breakfast, and then had a good chatter with her whilst she was watching Brave again and having her Rice Krispies and some juice. It's always nice that we can spend some time together and The Love was able to have a shower and get herself ready. In fact whilst doing her make up she kept all the used sets so that The Cute Little One could do pretend make up play with the doll Victoria, and that was quite charming to watch.
We headed back off to drop off The Cute Little one later, and that meant we got some time with The Tiny Little One too, who was being all adorable and looking around as we arrived, and soon was gazing at The Love as she held her, all so lovely. We did then set onwards towards the motorway, as it was the christening of my brother's second child, whose first birthday it also was tomorrow, so it made a lot of sense to do both at once and save some expense.
Before we knew it, it was back at the church where my brother's eldest child had previously been christened, and soon got to see my uncle and auntie, my other auntie, and also some more of the family relations too, which was nice. There are some I get on really well with such as my nephew and his girlfriend, who is always a pleasure to chat to (a view shared by The Love as well.) Before long it was into the church and ready for the 12 noon service, with unlike last time only one child being christened, so in theory shouldn't be too long a service all told.
That all went really nicely, and we were making our way to the local cricket club where a nice little buffet would be served along with a good bar, and like last time, there was some cricket on also - the first team were playing Walsden, who seemed to be batting first and slogging it everywhere to all corners of the ground from the position I had on the outside balcony. As the weather was lovely we thought why not, and admired the handiwork from the batsmen as they scored four after four with a decent run rate ticking over too.
What was also nice was that there was a dedicated play area set up with soft play, so a ball pit,nice cushioned slide and other things to climb on and around, and soft matting to sit and rest at too. It was really nicely done and all the little ones definitely took advantage of that. The drinks were also reasonably priced too and with the weather being nice and warm, being sat outside definitely was a good thing (complete with large brolly for shading too to keep the intense sun off.) Naturally Dreadlock Holiday by 10CC was in my head for the cricket chorus lines, so tune of the day there.
Time went by far too quickly and it was soon time to say our fond farewells as I had to head homewards later. It was good to see everyone though and it was also nice to be able to watch some good cricket at the same time, so a plus point there. The view also with the hils beyond is rather nice, and definitely would inspire me to be hitting the ball all round the ground for definite. We'll be back here later in the year I think, and to be honest I'd just like to come and watch the cricket for the afternoon and have a few beers.
Saturday 22nd June - Midsummer Happiness
After the supposed longest day of the year yesterday which involved a train trip up to Manchester, and falling foul to yet another delay from Avanti Worst Coast, it was nice to have a cosy sleep with The Love In My Heart and Brian the cat before heading up and being ready. We were to have a visitor for the day and overnight - The Cute Little One, yaay. Her Mum brought her over later on and you could tell that she was super happy to see us both and Brian too, and I took her in to see Brian at the window looking outside, just so we could say hello without meithering him too much.
After having a coffee and relaxing with The Cute Little One wanting to watch Brave (she has good taste, it's an excellent Pixar film) it was off in The Love's car up to the other side of Bolton to see The Love's sister. In fact on the way we saw how many of the yellow Manchester Bee buses we could spot - and the answer was quite a few, which was pretty nice to be fair. It kept her occupied and even more so later as she had the little catch bat and ball set with her, and insisted it on playing it with The Love's brother-in-law and then me too, so had us both heading around the garden quite happily, as you can well imagine.
We also headed out to a local garden centre not far away and that was nice as they have fish in a little pond, which excited The Cute Little One massively and meant that we could have a drink outside and chatter away, spotting a model giraffe and some garden stones disguised as other animals which did look good. I have to say that it was a good thing that there's so much to discover, and of course the garden centre cat, Oscar, was all inside in the shade having a good little preen and being utterly adorable - and admired from a distance so as not to disturb.
After going back via The Love's sister's place, we headed to Media City, and had a good walk around to find both Upsy Daisy and Pudsey Bear before having a nice walk along the quayside, spotting some tunes being played and having a little rainbow tunnel which The Cute Little One was of course happy to go dancing in. In fact there were some old school 80s tunes being played including Smalltown Boy by Bronski Beat (make that tune of the day) and even some 90s dance tracks, so had a fair few people up and grooving. We stopped for a drink at The Dockyard and it was a good natter and chatter with us all before we stopped off at the Co-Op, got some pizzas and drinks for tea due to their offer, and off homeward.
Brian the cat had his playtime outside, and The Love made the pizzas which we all sat down at the table together to enjoy, so that was nice and positive. Naturally Brave went back on so that the rest of it could be watched, and it still makes The Cute Little One giggle so she was happy. In fact the hardest thing was getting her to sleep later as she wanted stories and other things and lots of attention - but I did manage to watch some of the football and we later settled in to watch some royal programmes on Channel 5 after she had settled in for a good night's sleep.
Thursday 20th June - Boredom
I worked from home today which meant that I could effectively plan the day around a few things, including a couple of deliveries to home I was waiting for due to some online orders, and could also head over to WHSmith in my lunch break and get some birthday cards for forthcoming birthdays as well as a christening card for Sunday's occasion. That at least meant some fresh air and a chance to get anything I needed for later, with England kicking off against Denmark at 5pm.
The laptop was positioned on the table so I could see the telly, but did have some stats to pour through also so it was a sensible move to keep an eye on both and be able to make sure I got the work done for the 5.30pm finish, and then see the rest of the game without work distractions. That said, it was useful that the afternoon game had ended up with a 1-1 draw between Serbia and Slovenia, meaning that if England won tonight, they would win the group with a game to spare, so here was hoping, obviously.
That hope looked good early on with England pressing a bit and looking like they wanted the ball a fair bit. The Danish defence fell asleep thinking there was no danger, except the super fast Kyle Walker was on it, nicked the ball and played the ball into the box, it found its way to Harry Kane and it was 1-0 to England in good time. That was pleasing but I was hoping that we wouldn't do what we did on Sunday and sit behind the ball inviting trouble, as the Danes were much better at creating moments and would punish us if we sat back.
So what did we do? Sit back. It was a painful remainder of the first half as England just sat defensively minded, not allowing our forward players to express themselves, Harry Kane coming back too far and not demanding the ball further forward. As it was, it did take a rather majestic long range effort from the excellent Morten Hjulmand to equalise, but that was nothing more than Denmark deserved. They were the better side and England looked very poor, very poor indeed (as Vic Reeves might have rightly said.)
The second half was more uninspiring crap to be honest, and considering that a second goal would have won England the group, it was turgid and rubbish - no method, no plan, just hang on for a point. Pointless really. In a way a defeat might not have been a bad thing for a wake up call to be honest, but it was like watching paint dry, it really was. Boredom by Buzzcocks is rightly tune of the day because it describes how I felt in that second half. And Alan Shearer was not mincing his words at all at the final whistle - I am so glad really as it needed to be said and he was spot on.
Sunday 16th June - Fathers and Faltering
It is Father's Day today, which has its own joy and sadness for a number of people. On the joyous side, The Cute Little One and The Cute Tiny One were both able to get lots of love from their Daddy and they fussed over him too for the day, and they had a nice family day out with The Love In My Heart saying hello on the phone. On the other side of that, for those who have lost their fathers, it's always a tough day - and as The Love said, for those, the last thing you need is every single pub reminding you to book a table - surely if you were asked once to be removed from email comms, that message is simple.
In any case, we had booked a table at The Ashlea in Cheadle for later today, primarily as we wanted to go out for Sunday lunch together and knew that realistically booking somewhere was the only way to guarantee a place really. In the end that worked out fine - they had a nice golden ale which did the job for me, and a menu with a fixed price for two courses. I had the calamari to start and then for the main a roast with mixed meats, so had a bit of everything which was nice. The Love had the chicken strips which looked fab, and then roast pork with some very crunchy crackling.
England were on later against Serbia and as my train home did clash with that a little, I had set myself to watch the game on BBC iPlayer once I got home and to avoid the scoreline before then where possible - may not be so easy with the likes of Boxpark near me blasting out the commentary, but doable. In any case, after lunch we headed to Wine and Wallop and had a drink outside, with them having the Cornish lager Korev, so I had that for a change and that was rather delightful being sat outside before getting the train.
Once home later, it was time for the game, and England at least started well enough. The runs down the right from Bukayo Saka were good and one of those produced a cross for Jude Bellingham to score the opener. Excellent, and well worth that lead. Well, for the opening half hour or so at least. After that England were just content to sit back, be cautiously defensive and not go for a second goal. I did hope things might work out better second half - but no, more of the same.
Granted, we did win and we did get the three points, but not without several scares and a real sense of making harder work than it needed to be. I just wondered why we were just so defensive, playing Phil Foden in completely the wrong place, and not really pushing on to kill the game off. I've seen other sides in the tournament play so much better and at least go for it, so I am hoping for an improvement on Thursday and at least make sure of the next round. Tune of the day is World in Motion by New Order, complete with the iconic John Barnes rap of course.
Friday 14th June - Opening Gambit
It was a strange one today as I was in the office and all prepared for the journey up North to see The Love In My Heart, as per usual, but as this was the final Friday before a big work event taking place next week, the office was pretty empty. Either those who were on their way were on flights heading over, or were due to fly over the weekend to make their stuff happen. However, what that did mean is that I would be able to at least get on with a few things and also create new Windows WIM with the June updates included ready for future deployments, so there you go - making a positive.
I did head over to do some more cycling today - even if the weather was quite warm. I knew that the aircon in the office would cool me down well later on and that indeed I could do a little circuit of around the places close to work. So I started off heading along towards Farringdon, then taking the road along Smithfield Market all the way to Barbican, and followed the Goswell Road then back along Clerkenwell Road to the green and beyond past the nice Italian deli Terroni (you can get proper Italian red Peroni beer here incidentally) and then over past Red Lion Square and back to the start point.
That was useful to do, and later on as I was heading past the trusty Captain Flinders pub near to Euston, and went in for some tea, I had a brainwave - and so decided to plump for a nicer seat on the journey with a Seatfrog upgrade to standard premium. Not only is this much cheaper than paying on the train but your seat is already reserved and sorted too - and got a nice solo window seat. I had the laptop plugged in as I wanted to finish off a game review I had been writing but also wanted to connect to the wi-fi and listen in to something later.
Of course tonight is the start of the Euro 2024 football tournament with the hosts Germany up against Scotland. You can imagine the Scots brought lots of fans with them, and they did, but Germany were really bossing the game to say the least, scoring two goals early on through Wirtz and Musiala. As half time approached former Man City player İlkay Gündoğan was attempting to get a rebound off the bar, was clattered by Ryan Porteous and afte a VAR check, it was a penalty and instant red card. No complaints really, that tackle was a leg breaker. 3-0 Germany at half time.
It was more of the same in the second half and once Germany had brought on Jakub Fullkrug to get a fourth, it was game over - and even with an own goal from Antonio Rudiger to give the Scots a goal, by the time the train was pulling into Manchester Piccadilly, Germany were all set for a fifth and Emre Can did so right at the death to produce a 5-1 scoreline. I do love a good 5-1 me, seen many of those in my time, but did feel for Scotland in that they got such a tough opener. Tune of the day is Du Hast by Rammstein, perfect to get the mood right for a Germany game.
Sunday 9th June - Cycle Sunday
So as part of a drive from Transport for London (TfL) to get everyone more active and cycling, they have denoted the Sundays in June to be "cycle Sundays" with lots of routes created and offer for you to do, but also as part of this, you can claim a free day pass for unlimited 30 minute bike rides via Santander Cycles. As I already have an account and the app etc, this made a lot of sense for me to get out there and cycle, albeit I needed to travel a bit to get to places I could hire a cycle. With a route worked out, and after some breakfast and the F1 qualifying highlights, I headed off from West Croydon to Hackney Wick via Stratford.
Once at Hackney Wick I followed the road round to the footbridge over the A12, which meant I could get to Cadogan Close and the cycle station there to hire the first bike of the day. I went to the app, selected the station, went for the one day hire, entered the promotional code, and - nope, "Internal error". Just in case I restarted the app and reconnected the data, tried again, still nothing. Well TfL, that's not very good is it - surely you knew demand would be bigger right? Anyway, I thought I'd use the kiosk there instead, swiped the card, it recognised me, and well what do you know? Entering the code worked without hassle, I got the release code printed, and off I was!
I was going to do a full circuit of Victoria Park, as it is quite big, but there was a 5K and half marathon event taking place, so crossed over and did some infield paths and then headed across to one side of the park not being used, and managed to circle that quite a bit before taking an exit and off to a cycle hire station at the far left side of the park, and that worked well. Second time around I did the far North part of the park and then looped back to do the Well Street common and head around there, which was pretty good although I did notice that masses were queueing outside the People's Park Tavern, waiting for it to open.
By this time though, the park was starting to fully reopen with the runs pretty much done, so got another bike at Gascoyne Road opposite the People's Park Tavern, went in and did a full lap around, which did take some time and there's a slight uphill at the top right corner close to Cadogan Terrace, and passing lots of food and drink stalls that they have there as a food market each Sunday. I managed to do a full lap in around eighteen minutes or so, not too bad considering you do have to slow down for pedestrians and so on. I then thought it sensible to take another bike but this time cycle round, head over the bridge at Hackney Wick and dock near the Olympic Park, which worked well too - I did have to wheel the bike up stairs and cross the canal but that worked.
I did a pit stop at a Tesco Express near the Copper Box for some lunch and then did a little lap loop around the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, taking in the Velodrome. There is a cycle circuit you can take there but only if you enter the velodrome and pay the fee, which looked pretty good, and so I did another dock and undock close to the velodrome and did another lap, albeit having to go slow as the masses were heading across to the London Stadium for the MLB baseball game being played there this afternoon, but once past that it was a pretty nice speedy run back to the velodrome.
I then did another different route, and possibly a good one to note for future too. I started at the velodrome, went past the hockey centre (which had a game on) and then along the paths by Hackney Marshes, over the River Lea and then towards the canal, taking a run Northbound before then crossing a bridge, heading back along quiet roads to Homerton, before then crossing over to the back end of Victoria Park and joining up at Cadogan Terrace so I could dock the bike - 22 minutes in all and quite some scenery taken along the way too, so that worked out well.
After a quick chat with The Love In My Heart (I do miss her lots you know) it was back for one final loop around Victoria Park, this time going anticlockwise instead of clockwise, and that worked out nice to do it differently, and I must admit it was tempting to stop at the Five Points Brewery stall but was good and carried on, docking the bike for the final time later on. So all in all, that lap was 2.8 miles, and did that at least twice, with others being alternate loops around a similar distance, and the velopark via Homerton route was 3.1 miles, add going round the Olympic Park and I reckon I did 20-22 miles or so today overall, which was more than expected!
It was a nice little walk back to Hackney Wick to get the Overground over to Stratford, and there were many people getting off the train and heading over the canal via the Copper Box to the baseball game at the London Stadium, so somehow the iconic Take Me Out to the Ball Game is tune of the day. It was good to head back via Stratford and the purple train to Whitechapel before then getting the Overground to West Croydon and home. It had been a long day worth of cycling but proven to be a really good one.
Saturday 8th June - Vanguard Way Section 1
I had decided during the week that as this was a weekend I'd be at home that I'd take a nice walk in on the Saturday to make the most of the dry weather - it wasn't too hot either so good conditions for walking and with a walk that started quite close to me, no travelling to get to the walk either, which was a definite plus. I had my eyes on the Vanguard Way for some time and do want to do all of it (66 miles across 10 sections) so that would be good to set a goal of achieving. With that in mind, I set off at a reasonable time after some breakfast and headed for East Croydon station where the walk would start.
After reaching there and down Altire Road, it was then following the Fairfield Path as it wound its way between houses before diving underneath the tram line on the way to Lloyd Park. It was the parkrun this morning too so plenty of people doing that, and I walked across the park, around the copse and through some lovely paths of high grass and trees before then getting back to the tram line, crossing over and following Coombe Road past a Premier Inn and on to the lane that would take me to Coombe Wood, and Conduit Lane was its name. That was quite nice and the first of three woodlands in Croydon alone.
Once I got to the other side, I followed the path along the back of some posh houses towards Ballards Way, with the trees and the slight hill really making for a lovely backdrop, before coming out and following Crest Road and a footpath opposite to take me left towards Littleheath Wood. That was a good climb up and a nice little diversion to not disturb some badger setts (cue Badger Badger (Save the Badger) by Weebl and Brian May, has to be tune of the day that) before the London Loop path came in and joined us, as part of Section 4 of that which I've walked before takes in part of the Vanguard Way too.
From here it was another slight climb up Littleheath Woods and through to the main road (and some high nettles too to dodge!) and following the path by Ashen Vale towards Sorrel Bank and descending down to the entrance to Selsdon Wood. That all came back to me as I walked through that (in much muddier conditions!) for the London Loop, and was much nicer today to do, and at Forestdale crossing right for the walk with Puplet Wood on the left side, on the border of the Surrey district of Tandridge and along what's called Baker Boy Lane towards Farleigh.
At the entrance to Farleigh Golf Club (now officially out of Greater London) I followed the path alongside the road to the clubhouse, and then turned right heading towards Farleigh Court Road, and crossed over past an equestrian centre and to the historic Church of St Mary the Virgin, which has stood here since 1083. Yes, that's right, nine hundred and forty years old at that. It was then a nice walk along another bridleway path, and this time taking in Greatpark Wood on the left side before diving under a bridge to the Greatpark estate and arriving at Chelsham Common for the walk's end.
I did have a fair wait there for a bus to Selsdon, so instead decided to walk down Chelsham Road for a mile or so (so did another mile of walking) and to Warlingham where a nice cold drink via Sainsbury's was awaiting. I did note that the 403 bus back to Croydon was on diversion, so fancied a country route on the 409 instead (not a TfL bus, but fare capped at £2) which took me back to Chelsham and Farleigh before dropping down and up hill to Selsdon itself, which was good as I could stop for lunch there and then get the 412 bus back homewards.
All in all, it was a very enjoyable walk indeed, and I have to say that if the other sections of the Vanguard Way are as good, I am going to look forward to doing them - it says it is from the suburbs to the sea, and the final section looks absolutely brilliant, so will definitely be getting the remainder done when I can - but need to time some buses by the looks of it. There's lots of helpful guidance via the walk's website and even an app with photo guidance which you can download for offline use too, which is also very useful, so well done to those maintaning that.
Thursday 6th June - Cycle Commuting
So I've been doing a little bit of experimenting with the cycle hire this week, as I've been over in our office in Hoxton under the railway arches, and I must admit I do prefer working there than our main office - it has much more of a community feel throughout with people there, there's some nice walks not far away if you wish, and also it just feels an easier commute on the Overground too. All of that made me think about also hiring a bike at lunch times and getting back in the saddle a little bit too.
So with that in mind, today after a couple of route attempts per se, I decided to get my lunchtime cycle done, and although I do have the official bike key for TfL's Santander Cycles which works perfect on the pay as you go basis, the day pass is currently £3 which is less than two rides, so did that instead on the app (as I would be cycling after work) and then from Hoxton station did a left turn and round to Hackney Road, following that for a small time until I got to Hackney City Farm and turned left along cycleway 13, following this along to Broadway Market and to London Fields Park.
It was nice going through that park with the breeze in my hair, I have to admit, and from there it was then a left turn and under the railway bridge on to Richmond Road. I could follow this for a while with a final climb as the road heads over the railway and the last part is also now cycles only too so definitely feels safer. Over that bridge and twisty turn it's then a left on to Kingsland Road and down the main A10 back towards Hoxton itself and to re-dock the bike close to the Sainsbury's to get some lunch. That was pretty good and around 3.5 miles in all, which I did feel a bit afterwards.
Once I had finished work, albeit a bit later than planned as I had some data transfers to finish off, it was then over to Hoxton station for another bike. Because the Overground goes through Shoreditch High Street which is in Zone 1, the fare for me is £5.10. However, I worked out if I go to Whitechapel, Shadwell or Wapping, then that goes down to £3.00, or even £2.00 off peak. I had cycled to Shadwell after work yesterday and that was good, but thought I could extend it more, and so instead of turning left for Shadwell I went straight on, did a left right to go past Tobacco Dock and the docking station was right outside the Wapping Tavern pub. So I went in!
I had been there before of course, and so got a drink of the Gipsy Hill Hepcat, and noted they still had the Addams Family pinball machine. I was looking to put the £1 in, but then noted that the machine was on freeplay. Oh get in! Winning. So naturally I was going to have a few goes of that, with the theme tune in my head (make that tune of the day) and it was all good wholesome fun before heading on the Overground and becase it was off peak time by that point, £2 it was. So that worked out nicely and I had also done some of my favouite things (pinball and cycling) in one day too.
Sunday 2nd June - Slow Sunday
It was a relatively calm and chilled out day today for myself and The Love In My Heart, as we were having a nice slow weekend and that suited us both down to the ground after a hard week at work each. In fact, it was good to have a bit of a lie in with Brian the cat purring happily on the end of the bed knowing he had his Mummy close by and ready for fuss, cuddles an any treats being offered. Needless to say when I did get up, he gave me the "I'm so cute and please give me some Dreamies" look that he does, hard to resist to be honest.
After some breakfast, and having got ourselves changed and ready, we headed off towards the city centre and towards Ancoats, as the makers market was on today and The Love wanted to see if there were any nice outfits she could get. We did see some nice cards and some art prints too which looked really ace, as well as some food stalls offering all sorts including one that had already sold out of all of their Portugese cuisine, which shows that they must have been good!
We did stop off at Seven Bro7ers Beerhouse for a drink, and that was nice to sit outside by Cutting Room Square and have the Satin Stout to boot too. We did then head off back to The Love's car (free parking close by on a Sunday you see) and then head off to the Gateway. On the way I did note that my train back homewards had been cancelled, so most likely getting the one before was going to be the sensible option anyway. With that in mind we had plenty of time still and so were able to get an outside table for some well earned lunch.
In fact, it was nice to just do that and chatter away and have a mixed grill whilst The Love had the chicken boneless basket, which is always a decent option to be fair. I think too that we both were thinking ahead to other plans including holidays but also a stay in August that we had planned courtesy of one of The Love's relations, so that was going to be good. It was nice to be in the relatively nice weather too and before long it was off to Manchester Piccadilly to say a fond farewell before getting my train.
I did carefully notice the outside door notice which said that two of the carriages were overheating and their aircon had failed, so as I didn't have a reservation for this one, managed to find a window seat in Coach U and all was good there. I had some tunes on whilst on there and the rather excellent Millennium by Front Line Assembly certainly got me in the mood (make that tune of the day) ready to head over to St Pancras later to get the train home. I for one love the real power of that one, it does get you pumped up!
Saturday 1st June - Walk Across the World
It was nice to have eventually arrived with The Love In My Heart and Brian the cat last night, and was just to nice to snuggle overnight, with Brian assuming the position of being next to his Mummy and getting cuddles (because he can, of course). We got up and had some lovely breakfast before then settling in for some morning James Martin (and so wanting all of those meringue creations, understatement) and once that was done, we decided it'd be nice to head out for a walk.
It made sense with the weather being nice to head on to the Ashton Canal and towards Manchester city centre. It's a pleasant enough walk and does take you past the old gasometers, and then onwards past some old mills (close to Old Mill Street, oddly enough) and then down towards New Islington basin. We did note part of the route was going to be closed off - possibly the bridge over a lock that may need repairing, and then walked over to Cask close to the basin and had a nice drink in there sat outside, and well why not to be honest?
We then walked to Cutting Room Square and then to the Hallé St Peters, where their cotton café is always a nice place to stop and have a coffee and that's what I did - with The Love having a glass of wine. It was good to watch the world go by, and then we walked on to Great Ancoats Street and over to Port Street Beer House, where they had a mixed mild from a Cumbrian brewery that was very nice indeed, and we sat outside spotting people getting parking tickets for not being able to read the "pay at meter" signs. Ooops.
After this, and a quick pit stop to the Sainsburys in Piccadilly station, we took the tram back to The Love In My Heart's place and fed Brian the cat some well earned tea. We wanted to get back before the masses were heading to Co-Op Live to see The Eagles (where the cheapest tickets were £200!) and so settled in together. The repeat of Great British Sewing Bee was on and as I had missed it the other night, it was well worth a watch and indeed for some really nice tunes during the sports week, including Dreadlock Holiday by 10CC for the transformation of cricket outfits (cue "I don't like cricket, I love it!" etc) which has to be tune of the day.
The Love made some lovely tea, with some wild mushroom soup and bread to start, with a main of steak, mushrooms and fries and a gorgeous sauce, and even a little tiramisu dessert in a neat little glass cup for afters. We did also decided to watch the first series of Race Across the World (the first four episodes in fact) as there was not much on telly. It was good to see it again, five or so years since it originally aired, and showed just how much of a pioneering thing it was. I loved the way that it excited the wanderlust in me of course, but showed also the growing relationships within the teams (Darron and Alex in particular.)