After spending all of Saturday in the house, I decided I needed some exercise and a change of scenery. So yesterday I grabbed the big camera and headed north along Edgware Road for a good, long photo walk.
I trekked through the neighborhoods of Kilburn, Cricklewood, Colindale, Burnt Oak, Edgware and Canons Park. I've been up that way before but it's been years. As you can see above, I was lucky enough to have sunshine for the first part of my walk, and although it was chilly out it felt good.
I stopped at the Welsh Harp Reservoir, which has recently undergone a massive cleanup that involved draining the water, relocating fish and gathering tons of rubbish. I was glad to see it once again full of water and if the birds are any indication, it has been restocked with plenty more fish (as was the plan).
Here are a couple of other fun snapshots I grabbed along the way:
Free perfume/cologne, anyone? I don't wear any of that stuff so I left it behind. (I can't even tell if it's meant for a man or woman, or maybe there's a mix of both?)
A curious name for an apartment building. "Holocene" is the name of our current geological age, but it also stems from the Greek words for "all new," so maybe it's named that because it's a new building?
Mysterious graffiti in Colindale. There is no beach nearby, though I suppose if you head in any direction for long enough you'd eventually hit one.
In Edgware I stopped by St. Margaret's Church, which has an interesting graveyard that provides a green oasis in the middle of an otherwise quite developed area. There were wildflower plantings (mostly gone to seed now), a frog pond, an "insect hotel" and other ecological features, as well as historical gravestones, with the graves of former soldiers marked with red poppies.
Across the very busy road -- where it was impossible to take a picture without cars, though I did try -- is the historic but troubled Railway Hotel. It closed in 2006 and although plans for its renovation were announced more than five years ago it remains mostly shuttered.
From the Canons Park tube station, I caught the Jubilee Line straight back to West Hampstead. All told I walked about eight miles. (According to the health app on my phone, I took 2,153 steps on Saturday, and 20,972 yesterday!)
"Love, Peace and Bananas" sounds pretty good to me.
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking us along on this delightful and very varied walk!
ReplyDeleteI like the silhouetted shades of the chimneys, and the graveyard would have made me want to explore it thoroughly.
I wonder why that hotel was built to look like a Tudor building in the 1930s - sad to hear about it standing empty for so long
ReplyDeleteHistory is about the here and now, your photos catch the tiny details that register subconsciously. The three chimney shadows with their two stacks look like someone is showing two fingers.
ReplyDeleteIt's a constant realisation that London is a series of villages that have blended over the centuries.
ReplyDeleteThe quality of the light in your photos certainly conveys the chill factor.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you resisted taking one of those bottles of Eau de Novichok!
Holocene is one step away from obscene & that's too close for my taste. Ha! (Although I'm sure it's perfectly lovely). I always love your walkabouts!
ReplyDeleteI live by Love, Peace and Bananas.
ReplyDeleteAnd I also love a good graveyard.
I am always a bit envious of your walk abouts and the variety of life you see. Mine our very monotonous in view compared to yours. But I'm not sure I would trade small town life for the big city just for that aspect.
ReplyDeleteEight miles is a good long walk, and never boring in London. I would have thought that the Railway hotel was older than 1932.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a while since your last long walk. I like the reservoir shot.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tour. Love, Peace, and Bananas...what more could you ask for?
ReplyDeleteSo Dig The Photo Walk And Pleased You Kept The Phone As A , Phone
ReplyDeleteRighteous 20K ,
Cheers
What a great walk. I loved Love, Peace and Bananas! A great motto. That churchyard is very peaceful and it looks like it might be a lovely church inside. I wonder when it was built? I'm always up for a good graveyard. Once had wonderful Middle Eastern food on Edgeware Road -- this was down near Hyde Park/Bayswater when we stayed there in 2018. It seemed like there were loads of choices, so that might be the neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteEight miles! Never in my life.
ReplyDeleteBut look at the pictures you got- I especially love the graveyard in the middle of all the hustle and bustle and houses. The dead are peaceful neighbors, aren't they?
Views into city life are always fascinating. Your photos are outstanding. To say nothing about the creative street art and occasional slogans.
ReplyDeleteWalking 8 miles in one day is impressive.
That's a good long walk that you took. I love that Railway Hotel building. I certainly hope something can be done to preserve such a beautiful old building.
ReplyDeleteThe abandoned Hotel looks like opportunity to me! You and Dave in the hotel business- it would certainly be tasteful and fun! I love the first shot of the chimney shadows two finger peace signs. Eight miles? holy cow! you really did stretch those gams!
ReplyDeleteWhat a heavenly walk! I’d enjoy that, and love peace and bananas (although I don’t know what love peace is).
ReplyDeleteGreat job on the steps! The hotel is very picturesque. I can't believe that someone left all that perfume there. I would have been tempted.
ReplyDeleteGreat walk, some of it in my (very long time ago) old neighnourhood when I lived briefly in London. I hope you will go for and share pictures from many more walks once you retire.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good walk, eight miles. It's so nice that you have public transport so that you can do one way walks, we have to do loops.
ReplyDeleteWow! over 20,000 steps! Way to go, Steve!
ReplyDeleteThat is such an impressive step count, and no doubt aside from the photos you shared, many other interesting things were seen.
ReplyDelete