Monday, October 18, 2021

Latimer and Wormwood


A couple of nights ago, Dave and I were watching "Ted Lasso," like the rest of the planet, and suddenly I recognized where they were filming. "Hey, that's the Westway!" I exclaimed -- the soccer fields under the elevated highway known as the Westway, near a large sports center. I used to walk Olga there all the time when we lived in Notting Hill. I'd go to photograph the omnipresent and ever-changing graffiti.

Olga and I hadn't been back to the Westway since we moved, but we could get there easily by taking the tube to the Latimer Road stop. So that was our outing yesterday.


It's hard to tell with dogs, but I would swear Olga remembered the place. She seemed so comfortable there.

The area has been transformed by the Grenfell Tower disaster of 2017 -- the fire that swept up the side of a newly refurbished council-owned high-rise, killing 72 people. The Westway Sports Centre is practically in the shadow of Grenfell, and there are memorials and murals everywhere. (The criminal inquiry into the fire, incidentally, is still dragging on. The government is considering tearing down the remains of the building, over the objections of some survivors and relatives of victims.)


After that, we walked up Latimer and North Pole roads to Wormwood Scrubs, one of Olga's favorite spots to run wild and chase squirrels.

You might remember the last time we were at Wormwood, back in April, a massive utilities construction project had begun that required the clearance of some of the woodlands. There was a protest camp near the area being cleared. Well, that's gone now.


All we found at the site of the camp were some stacks of old debris and, weirdly, a grimy unicorn hobby horse.


Oh, and not too far away, some very autumnal mushrooms.

We walked through the Scrubs, enjoying the wilderness around the construction zones, and then made our way back to West Hampstead via the overground railroad from Willesden Junction. It was quite a walk for Olga at this stage of her life and she's still asleep as I write. But she had a good time and I enjoyed being able to take her to once-familiar places she knew as a young dog.

I finished "Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze," which was better than I thought it might be. Given that it was written in the 1930s I feared it would contain outdated Asian stereotypes, and it kind of does -- the author refers to workers as "coolies," for example. Still, it wasn't as scary as I thought it might be.

Whenever I hear the term "coolie" I think back to a woman my brother and I knew when we were kids in Florida who had a shrub in her yard that produced flowers she called "coolie hats." (I see that Wikipedia gives it the more acceptable names "Chinese hat" or "Mandarin hat.") I remember collecting some while visiting her and drying them for display in our house. Those things were kicking around for ages.

44 comments:

  1. A lovely walk round old haunts! I don't think I would like to see Grenfell Tower
    and be reminded of what happened there.
    In the interests of accuracy, a " hobby horse" is a horse's head on a stick...you put the stick between your legs and gallop about holding the head in front!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I never realized a hobby horse specifically meant a stick horse. You learn something new every day. Anyway, wouldn’t that be (still incorrectly) a hobby unicorn? You didn’t take it home and clean it, Steve? You and Olga could have ridden it home. The mushroom photo looks like an alien landscape.

      Delete
    2. Oh, interesting! What would you call that, then, Frances? It's not a rocking horse because it doesn't have rockers. I'm not sure I know of anything else to call it, except just a toy horse (or, yes, more accurately, unicorn).

      No, I did not keep it, Mitchell. We have enough junk. LOL

      Delete
    3. It is definitely not a rocking unicorn! I don't know what it would be called. It looks like the toy horses ( or unicorn in this case) that a child sits on and if they press down on the foot rests ( stirrups!) the animal moves forward a little bit. ( I never had one of those either!!)

      Delete
  2. PS...perhaps a hobby horse is different in USA ? (I never had one, but my grandson has a little one)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had a rocking horse (actually on springs and a metal frame, rather than rockers -- so a spring horse?) but not a hobby horse.

      Delete
    2. The one I had also had springs. It was called a rocking horse and, I agree, it should be called a springy horse. I’ve heard the stationery ones called riding horses. But I never really understood that. They don’t move. Shouldn’t they be called sitting horses? Anyway, in the States we said we were going horseback riding. I understand in England is horse riding. As an English horse-riding friend here asked, “Horseback riding? Well, on what other part of the body would you ride?“

      Delete
  3. Great artwork in a sad place.
    Nice to have a change of scene for a walk

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was a nice opportunity to revisit a familiar place.

      Delete
  4. If you had used the self-timer facility on your camera you could have shared an image of yourself sitting astride the unicorn. That's a great photo opportunity missed.

    Incidentally, last weekend I was on The Westway. We drove past Grenfell Tower - now a monument to indifference and empty promises. Then we came off it and drove along Bloemfontein Road back to Ian's pad.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I suspect that ultimately, no one will be prosecuted for Grenfell. I hope I'm wrong but I suspect they'll all wriggle out of it somehow.

      Delete
  5. A most interesting post full of things I didn't know about-Ted Lasso-never heard of it! Wormwood Scrubs-didn't know it was a wood, just always knew the name as that of a prison!
    I like the picture of Olga with the unicorn-they look like friends!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you can get access to "Ted Lasso," give it a watch. It's a fun show and you'll get a kick out of the English/American cultural jokes! It's on Apple TV.

      Delete
  6. A London female friend felt rather uncomfortable walking in Wormwood Scrubs park a year or so ago.
    It was an interesting outing for Olga with a couple of train trips.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Interesting. Some parts of it are woodsy and if you're walking those paths alone I could see how it might seem threatening. I have occasionally come across dicey characters. But overall I've felt pretty safe there, especially with KILLER OLGA at my side.

      Delete
  7. As a woman it sometimes crosses my mind that I might not feel comfortable walking in some of the places you walk. Is that ridiculous? And then I saw Andrew's comment- exactly.
    This is not a criticism of any sort. It's wonderful that you have so many interesting and beautiful places to take Olga for walks in such an urban setting but it does say something about how women always have to take their safety into account when venturing out in ways that men just do not.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, absolutely. I'm sure I would feel differently about walking in some areas if I were a single woman alone -- which is a sad statement about our society. (I'm sure you saw the appalling case of the woman who was recently abducted off the sidewalk in South London and murdered BY A POLICE OFFICER!) Having said that, I've never felt too threatened at the Scrubs, although there is a major prison at the edge of the park.

      Delete
    2. Ms Moon is so right. I have walked for hundreds of miles on my own and I never feel that I am being courageous but I am sure that if I were a woman I would have often felt trepidation. Once in a while, I see a lone woman walking in remote countryside and I think to myself: "You are a brave lady!"

      Delete
  8. That was quite a walk for little Olga. I'm glad she enjoyed it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She did well. We walk much more slowly than we used to, but she can still do distance.

      Delete
  9. Nothing like a happy dog face to bring a smile to my face!
    Thanks Olga!

    ReplyDelete
  10. That's a great photo of Olga with the unicorn. She looks so happy. Enjoy your day, hugs, Edna B.

    ReplyDelete
  11. That looks like such a nice walk. I'm so glad you and Olga got out there.
    I don't remember the word "coolie." Mmmm... I'm going to have to google around to see when it was most often used.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's an outdated term for an Asian peasant or worker. I don't know the origin off the top of my head.

      Delete
  12. Interesting that when stories are written they reflect the time period very accurately . Sometimes those descriptions are not very nice.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. At least they weren't more awkward than that! Some of these old books use REALLY inappropriate language.

      Delete
  13. I'm sure Olga does remember those places. why wouldn't she? humans aren't particularly unique when it comes to cognitive abilities though we seem to think we are.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just don't know how far back a dog's geographical memory goes. But yeah, I expect she does remember that area. We went there many times.

      Delete
  14. I like the photo of Olga and the Unicorn! I can't believe, tho, that we are discussing the proper term for the Unicorn. I think you are most patient because really, we all knew what you were talking about when you wrote, "unicorn hobby horse"! I don't think you needed to be corrected! You are a good sport, Steve!! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, it's fine! I find language really interesting, and I don't mind it when someone questions my usage, as long as they aren't nasty about it. Plus Frances is a pal. :)

      Delete
  15. I love the unicorn & might have been tempted to bring it home (but where on earth would it live?). But the most important thing I learned from this post is that Ted Lasso it filmed in England - ha! I've never seen it & hadn't paid attention to the premise. Now it sounds WAY more interesting to me!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes! Not only is it filmed here but I've been to many of the locations, so watching it for us has been doubly interesting.

      Delete
  16. What An Adventure For Olga Girl - And U Bet She Remembers - And She Thanked You For Changing It Up - That Unicorn Olga Girl Photo Needs To Be Printed On Canvas - What A Shot - Stay Strong Brother Reed

    Cheers

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I also think she appreciated coming back to a place she knew long ago!

      Delete
  17. Anytime I think of Grenfell, I think of the moving music video featuring various artists performing Bridge Over Troubled Water.

    Love the photo of Olga and the unicorn!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't think I've seen that video. I'll have to look it up.

      Delete
  18. I have yet to watch Ted Lasso but I will, one day, maybe. It sounds like a good show.

    I agree with Ms Moon, men and women walking alone are two completely different things. Even some of the walks Mr. Pudding does, I wouldn't feel comfortable doing along. And yes, it as a sad testament on the world that women don't feel safe.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was resistant to "Ted Lasso" for a while, because it's about sports and I hate hate HATE sports. But it's such a positive show it won me over despite that!

      Delete
  19. Replies
    1. It's such a fun show and always uplifting, which is nice to have now.

      Delete