The Kelpies
The Kelpies are best described by these pictures.
I liked them and their setting in the sun was excellent. This Google Map shows their location to the West of the M9 Motorway and South of the River Carron.
The Kelpies And The Helix
The area to the South has been converted into a park called The Helix. I came on a bus called The Loop from Falkirk Grahamstown station.
A Rather Sorry Park
Outside of the main Turin Porta Nuova station, I found this small park.
It would have been a nice place to wait in the sun. But it was fully locked.
Visiting The New Park
I finally, got to view the new Queen Eizabeth Olympic Park yesterday.
It is obviously not finished by any means, but it is impressive.
It also opens early in the morning at 06:00 and closed fairly late.
I travelled to the park, by getting a 588 bus from Hackney Wick, to the stop by the Copper Box. At present, the information on the bus isn’t working in the area of the park, but I suspect it will be in a few days.
A Walk In Hyde Park
I went for a walk this afternoon in Hyde Park.
I had gone to see the awful statue that someone had put in the Serpentine to publicise a new TV channel. But I couldn’t find it. There’s a picture here from the Belfast Telegraph.
But I did take a few pictures.
It turned out that the statue had been removed. Judging by the quality of the statue, I hope it’s been recycled.
I did have a very nice ice cream in the Lido Cafe by the Serpentine. I t might have been a bit expensive, but it was good. And I had it in a tub.
Thinking about the walk later, I reckon it must be nearly forty years since I have been to that part of Hyde Park. We occasionally used to go swimming in the Serpentine with the boys, although, I don’t think I ever ventured in. But C did, as she was a manic swimmer. I don’t have any pictures of that time, but the park has been spruced up a lot since.
They were difficult but happy times!
Walking In The English Garden
In the morning, I took the U-Bahn and went for a walk in the English Garden and the streets and other parks that surround it.
The garden was originally designed by Sir Benjamin Thompson, one of the most unusual scientists and inventors of the late eighteenth century. He is also known as Count Rumford.
A Walk In Mile End Park
Yesterday, I went to Leon in Canary Wharf for one of their excellent breakfasts and came back on a 277 bus, where I got off in Mile End Park for a walk.
The park was refurbished as a millennium project and is well laid out between the canal and the road that runs north from Docklands to Victoria Park.
It is very much worth visiting for a walk. Especially for anyone, who lives like I do by the 277 bus route.
It would also be possible to start at the southern end and then switch to the Regent’s Canal at the northern end of the park.
A Real Station With A Real Cafe – On The Overground!
I’d heard that London Overground had done something special at Crystal Palace. So I went and had a look.
It’s not finished yet and it can only get better and better, as lifts and other features are added.
So is it special? I think so, but I’m a grumpy old pensioner, who gets to the station free. The food was good too!
Take the kids and go there and have a walk in one of London’s most unusual parks and then have a snack or more in the Brown and Green Cafe.
They’ve even got a children’s menu without chips!
The one thing I didn’t like was the orange roundel on the station building. Surely, a Grade II Listed building deserves better!
It will also be interesting to see how use of the booking hall develops. It is a display space, that cries out for something better than run of the mill retail. As the current architectural display shows, it could be used for exhibitions.
But of course don’t go to Crystal Palace station, expecting a short walk to Crystal Palace Football Club. For them, you take the train to Norwood Junction station.
Thinking about Crystal Palace station, London Overground has now created its first true destination station. By that, I mean one where you go because of what is in the station itself, to perhaps meet someone for business or pleasure. St. Pancras is perhaps the best example, but others like Waterloo, Liverpool Lime Street, Liverpool Street and perhaps Norwich Thorpe are getting that way.
Walking From Manor House To Harringay Green Lanes
According to Wikipedia this is considered to be a walkable interchange between Manor House and Harringay Green Lanes stations between the Piccadilly and Gospel Oak to Barking lines.
Yesterday I walked it from the Manor House end and took these pictures.
It was a reasonably easy walk, as it’s all downhill. It was also very pleasant going into and out of Finsbury Park and past a cafe and a nursery, that sold plants.
Note the Manor House Pub, which was famous in the 1960’s for its rock music.
Coming back, I took a bus from Harringay Green Lanes to the Angel to do some shopping.
The Magnificent Olympic Park Flowers
So many have remarked that the best part of the Olympic Park is the flowers.
Judge for yourself! Read about how the gardens were created in the Daily Telegraph.
Highbury Fields and the Jubilee Clock Tower
When I looked at the aerial views for nearby to where I live, I found some wonderful shots of a clock tower. There’s one here. So I went to Highbury Fields and walked through to the clock tower.
It was actually erected to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee.
The Anonymous Widower 