Along the Hertford Union Canal
From Victoria Park, I turned off the Regent’s Canal and followed the Hertford Union Canal towards the Olympic Park.
It had started to rain and by the time I got to the end of Victoria Park, I took refuge in a pub called Top of the Morning, by the locks at Old Ford.
Walking to Victoria Park
Yesterday, I started to walk to Victoria Park to see the site where my son’s ashes were scattered on the anniversary of his death last week.
It is a pleasant walk along the Regent’s Canal. A first surprise was this cafe.
Cafe on the Regent's Canal
Yesterday, the canal was busy with walkers and cyclists of all ages and type. So the cafe shouldn’t be too short of punters.
Good luck to them! I think they’ll be the first of many hostelries on the canal. After all, the canal will be one of the main walking and cycling routes to the Olympics at Stratford.
I also passed the new bridge that takes the East London Line over the canal, just south of Hoxton station.
The East London Line Crossing the Regents Canal
I use the line probably once a week these days and when they finish off Dalston Junction station, I will use it even more. If the line has a problem, it is that it is too successful and has started to get a bit crowded even in the middle of the day. But any good transport project, whether it is a railway, road or a bus route, should attract new customers and it would appear that the East London line has done this.
The Regent’s Canal forms part of the Jubilee Greenway as this sign shows.
Jubilee Greenway Sign on the Regent's Canal
The Greenway runs all the way from Buckingham Palace to the Olympics and then in a circle around London. With due respect to the Queen’s fitness, I can’t see her walking all the way at her age. But it would make a wonderful celebration of her Jubilee to traverse the canal part of the route in a proper Royal Canal Boat.
The canal was busy with traffic, despite the fact that all boats need to transfer through the various locks. I took this picture as I walked through industrial Bethnall Green.
Sailing Through Industrial Bethnall Green
The picture wasn’t chosen deliberately, but it does show how the canal is a long green oasis cutting a bold path across London. Is that spring blossom on the trees?
But it wasn’t just expensive boats. I took this picture just after Acton’s Lock.
Kids on the Regent's Canal
The inflatable boat contained a group of kids and an instructor and they were having a great time, especially as they worked the locks. What better way is there to learn the history of East London, than to experience it from the canal?
There are various works going on to make Jubilee Greenway, one of the ways to get to the Olympics. I particularly liked this well designed entrance ramp and steps to the towpath.
A Well-Designed Ramp and Steps
There is never an excuse for not using the best designs for even the most mundane things.
Note in this picture, you can see the slabs and bricks that cover the high-voltage electricity main, that takes the power to the City from East London. The boat moored at the end of the ramp is a workboat being used by the engineers upgrading this vital power line.
The Regent’s Canal follows Victoria Park for some distance and the park too, is being upgraded. This picture shows the bridge connecting the Park to Bethnall Green.
Entrance to Victoria Park
My kids used to go to the Gatehouse School nearby and used to walk over this bridge into the Park. At the moment due to the works the park isn’t totally accessible.
Works in Victoria Park
It will all be done for next year, when the park will be used as an Olympic viewing venue with big screens, a new cafe and lots of grass to sit on. Perhaps one of the best ways to go to the Olympics, will be to take a picnic to Victoria Park and then walk to the Olympics Park.
In some ways it is one of my favourite parks, and I can remember wheeling our granddaughter through the park with C many times in her pram. As it was also one of late son’s favourite spots it was entirely fitting that his ashes were scattered there.
I shall certainly use it as a venue to watch the Olympics, especially, as it is only about a hundred minutes walk from my house. Or if I feel lazy, it’s just one bus ride away from my local stop.
This sign gives the history of the park.
Victoria Park Sign
I’m certain that Queen Victoria would be very happy about the state of the park she supported and allowed to be named in her honour.
Lost South of the Thames
Whenever I go south of the Thames, I get lost. Why this should be I do not know, but its happened to me so many times. It could be that I’m allergic to it, as I was born on the right side of the river. I summed it up in this post, entitled an Expedition to the Deep South.
Yesterday, all I wanted to do was get to Orpington, so I took the Northern line to London Bridge and tried to find a train. I knew they are fairly frequent, but the boards were incomprehensible, the Information Desk was closed and it was a question of taking pot-luck. There was a rumour, that there might be a train on Platform 5, so I went there and waited.
A Train to Which Minster?
A train was going to Orpington first stop, but I had a feeling there was an earlier one on another platform. In the end I waited and caught it.
But which Minster was this train going to? The one I know is on the Isle of Sheppey. So I didn’t want to fall asleep and end up there!
What is needed is some simple means to determine which is the platform for the next train to Station X. Perhaps a terminal with times and platforms, but then that would enable people to be at the right gate for their train, instead of waiting in a scrum until it was announced.
I’ve got to go to Gatwick tomorrow, as I’m off to Greece for a few days. I’m almost tempted to get a train to Croydon on the Overground and then get one to Gatwick from there. But the East London Line goes to the other Croydon.
I wish my flight was from Heathrow, Stansted or City, as that would be so much simpler
Should Buses Be Named?
The number 30 bus, I got on today was dedicated to Dave Gardner. This picture shows the plaque inside. His name is also on the back.
Plaque on a Bus Dedicated to Dave Gardner
He was obviously a great guy to have around and the named bus is a great tribute.
I think we should do it more often. It has to be remembered that many acts of heroism on the railways have been commemorated by the naming of locomotives. They are described here.
Would John Betjeman Be Amused?
John Betjeman didn’t like Slough. So what would he made of this workboat on the Regent’s Canal?
Pride of Slough
He’d have probably giggled at it. But then he did write.
Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough!
The complete poem is here. Slough has probably improved since he wrote the poem.
How The City of London Gets Its Electricity
I did mention briefly in an earlier post about this, but today as I walked from home along the busy towpath of the Regent’s Canal I saw this notice.
Notice on The Regent's Canal
Note that it says that it links St. John’s Wood and West Ham.
This closure is due to essential works being carried out by National Grid to refurbish the cable cooling system between our substations at St. John’s Wood and West Ham.
It also links up to the City Road Basin, where there is a major sub-station that actually supplies the City. For more details of the work, there is a press release here. It’s all good engineering combining the best of modern technology with some superb historic infrastructure.
City Road Basin, Regent's Canal
The sub-station is to the left of the Basin in the picture.
Where the cable is is quite obvious, as this picture shows.
Cable Duct in the Regent's Canal Towpath
But it is well-marked.
High Voltage Warning
It could almost make a story for a James Bond film.
Imagine an evil megalomanic, who wanted to do some sort of share coup. What better way to disable dealing in the City of London, than to cut the power supply, by attacking it along the Canal. But of course the film would end with an amazing chase through the East End of London, all the way to the Olympic Park.
On the other hand working on high-voltage cables without the proper precautions is not to be recommended, unless you want to end up as little more than a collection of atoms.
The Holy Rosenbergs
This looks like a play worth seeing.
The Real Olympic Legacy
The Wellcome Trust has made a bid to run the Olympic Park and the Village after the 2012 Games finishes. Read about it here.
It seems to me that this could be a real lasting legacy for East London, especially if they eventually create a science and technology park, as they are indicating.
London’s Bendy Buses Are a Dangerous Joke
Yesterday on my way to Kings Cross, I was nearly run down because of a 73 bendy bus. In fact, if it hadn’t been for the fact that I’d just got off it, it might have been closer. It blocked the junction by Kings Cross, because it was just too long to get round the corner and then everybody jumped the lights to get through. I was crossing on the green in all this mayhem, but pulled back to safety well out of the way. As I wasn’t in a hurry, I decided to be safe rather than sorry.
Thinking about it afterwards, the bus might have been blocking drivers views of the lights, so they thought it safe to carry on. A standard double-ecker with a smaller footprint would have been able to get round the corner and allow the lights to be clearly seen.
And then today, as I was coming back from the Angel, another 73 bendy was causing a traffic jam as it struggled to pass another of its ilk at Essex Road station.
They are just too long for London’s streets. If you don’t believe me read this from the Evening Standard.
I just can’t wait until the 3rd September this year, when according to Wikipedia, they will be replaced by a mixture of hybrid and diesel buses. The seventy-free will only be missed by fare dodgers.
The Dafs Are Out
Or they certainly are in the Thames Barrier Park.
Daffodils in the Thames Barrier Park
This park is one of London’s hidden gens, in that it has beautiful modern gardens, the river, the barrier and of course the coffee.
The Anonymous Widower 