The hanging gardens of Balham

On a day (Sat Jul 15th 2006) when Mum and I should have been trying on clothes and purchasing wedding regalia - we instead, after a few hours of shopping and after a hearty bowl of soup, decided to go for a walk. So at 5.30pm we hit the tube network armed with a bottle water each and went to Balham. People who want to sound as if they live somewhere posh say Blahm but I always call it Balhum. But more of that later.

This is another of the London Walks from the infamous book Vol 2. This is the choice meander of Arthur Smith, who writes as he speaks and indeed as we were walking round I did feel as if he were guiding us with his 'useful' commentary! Two things he neglected to tell us - on a hot day the commons' Tooting and Wandsworth will be busy, and the second, when it is hot wear a peg because there are frequent whafts of dog crap stenching their way to your nasal passages. Thankfully we avoided any embarassing incidents! We looked where we were going and tried to avoid cyclists and rollerbladers.

The walk starts as soon as you exit the tube station. Turn right and follow your nose to the Bedford Arms. For anyone interested it's well worth a look in over the weekend as there are good comedy turns each night. I have been twice. Once with Millwall Matt and once with my flatmate. It's pretty good as after the comedy programme the venue reverts to a free disco and you can get the night bus home! The actual comedy room is like being in a mini Shakespeare's Globe. All round views. We strode past the pub and negotiated the traffic lights to get into Fernlea Road. Wandering down the road Mum & I were fascinated by the changing styles of house. From ranging four storey terraces to 1960's prefab flats.

A-ha the common was soon in sight.

A sharp turn to the right and under the railway bridge to follow the wall to Arthur's first landmark!

Another railway bridge. Where he promised us he had sprayed his initials in pink. Well we couldn't see it - but here is the closest representation we could find on said bridge.

You can either traverse the 'Northern Frontier of Tooting Common' via the tarmac path or the bridleway. Yes there are facilities for horses here, though Arthur has never seen one and sadly neither did we.

Here is the tarmac path following the line of the railway track. Happy Southern train passengers passing by as we lapped up the sun. There are several roads to cross before you walk into the woodland part of the common.

Here's my intrepid Mum taking on valuable liquids one third of the way through the walk... Approaching another road we could hear the splashes of the Lido situated over the other side of another railwayline. Once on the road walk over the bridge and down into the Lido car park.
It was very busy which was hardly surprising for a hot and steamy Saturday evening. For just under fiver you can go and swim in an open air pool. The changing cubicles are all brightly painted and the squeals of laughter could be heard echoing around the trees. The pool itself is one of the largest in Europe care of Arthur's factfile! The Lido was also to be the venue for Radio Five Live's Breakfast show this week. Nicky Campbell woke me up as he sat in the car park just aside this sign.

Tooting Common was actually a real surprise for me. The trees, shapes and sizes, against the blue sky were most appreciated. There are tennis courts and a lake - for fishing.

Walking via the tea shop we strode off of the common and into Doctor Johnson Avenue. Just over the road from here we re-entered housing - but now we were in deepest Balham! And the houses were huge! Huge I tell you. But great to wander passed and see what's going on through the windows!

Judging from the types of car parked in the roads there is an untapped seam of celebrity and wealth here....

Once more then unto the Balham High Road. Along this stripe of road are a few fast food joints, Swan House, two churches and a petrol station. And the two greats: the Polish Church and Du Cane Court...Guess which one is which!!

The Polish Church has been there since 1978 and represents a focal point for the Polish community which moved to Balham after the war. I wonder if the community in CW also use this church? Speaking of which Arthur makes some very disparaging remarks about CW, well in a roundabout way, he cites Dr Johnson, frequent visitor to Streatham, who coined the phrase 'when a man is tired of London he's tired of life; when a man is tired of Colliers Wood, he's been there about ten minutes'. I guess that may explain several aspects of my life?! Or they have spent the ten minutes in the wrong part of CW!!! (My address can be requested!) Perhaps the local council took this on board and used it as the business case for building loads of shops and executive flats... ruining the peace and quiet. To defend CW the Wandle and Abbey Mills are rather joyous and Sun Hill is in the district. But I have wandered from Balham High Road and into Colliers Wood High Street - which was not the route for this walk!

Next to the Polish Church is Du Cane Court. I think Arthur sums it all up best, 'an enormous ocean liner of a building'. Opened in 1934 it boasted its own restuarant, shop and roof terrace, and the lobby is so modern Agatha Christie adaptations are still filmed there. Mum & I were caught up by the scale of it. If you were flying over head it would look like a huge E... The back of the building being the spine of the E whilst the rest of the E creates two bays of trees and parking. The windows are all identical - a few have been replaced with double glazing but these too are exactly the same as the orginal leaded frames. We tried to work out how many flats were in the building...at its highest there are 8 floors and it graduates down to 6 floors at the front. Back in its early days it was a hotbed of action and celebrity. It was also rumoured to be the corner stone of Luftwaffe navigation - a huge landmark for them to locate the key areas of the city.

Looking at it now there is indeed a real sense of curiosity. Who and what went on there? Who lives there now? Is it noisy? Are the flat large etc etc?

We walked along it's front - along the wall, passing the elaborate arches of the entrance ways to each bay. Turning left down the side of Du Cane Court we passed a primary school with 6 foot fencing and notices to parents that the gates will be shut and locked at 8.30am. It looked more like a mini detention centre. Continue down Balham Park Road until you reach the alley way towards Wandworth Common... we reached as far as the Hope Pub - the evening sun light shimmering through it's windows and beyond we could see the Common.

Technically we had completed Arthur's walk - but I will be returning to Wandsworth Common to check out the Bowling Green; Pond; Cricket Pitch; Nanny's Corner and the Trim Trail - oh and to see if I can catch a view of Wandsworth Prison... this fine evening though had tired me out so we headed back to Balham tube and home for pasta and sauce.

We went shopping Sunday and were successful so all in all a grand weekend.

Where are the orchards??

I was at home this weekend and Sunday morning Mazza and I went for a wander.. here are the piccies... text to follow!

Blossom - make the most of it. In this part of Kent it is fast disappearing.

Some of the original houses which make the lanes of Kent so fascinating.

Ludgate Lane

The duck pond - and it was great weather for ducks!

Baaa!

Great walled gardens

Well it was St George's Weekend! Too early for a pint though!

I shall call this the road to football. At the end of the path is the park where I first started watching live football - every Sunday afternoon. Que cera cera

Sewage and Celebrity

On April 5th 2006 I walked 16 miles, 30,000 steps, in pursuit of completing one of the walks in Time Out's London Walks book, Volume 2. This is the story of that day and the parts of London I had no idea existed.

We start at Liverpool Station. 11am. Wednesday morning. I say 'we' as it was my Mum's choice to do this particular stomp, so the pair of us used the toilets at the station and set forth.

The weather was ideal for walking. Not bitterly cold and bright enough to make all the potentially grey buildings gleam. We decided not to catch the bus to our start point - instead preferring to walk Shoreditch High Street. Soon enough Dunston Road was within our sights.

Crossing the bridge we found the steps down to the canal and joined the towpath. As we descended and begun the day some jolly van driver yelled out if this was the way to Amarillo. We sang back la la-la la laa! Smiling. Jollity and sunshine. All on the doorstep.

Ten minutes along and all sounds of the city had dissipated. We were alone. Well not exactly - the weather had the cyclists out (minus their bells - so we needed eyes in the back of our heads), joggers, mothers and toddlers and the Easter holidaying teenagers who just wanted to mill around and look cool. The early section of canal we walked along was the Regent's Canal. Every effort has been made to keep the walk ways litter free and pleasant. Mosaics on the walls, signs to help you know where you are, and numerous warning signs to ask cyclists to dsimount under the low crossing bridges. They don't. In fact how some of the riders managed to squeeze under the arches I am not sure. Did make me wonder how many watery accidents had occured.

We missed the first noted land mark. Little Georgia. Clearly so small - we over looked it! We couldn't however miss the next landmark - Victoria Park. This nestles in the intersection of the Regent's Canal and the Hertford Union Canal. If we had followed the book to the letter we would have continued along the Regent stretch, but me, being, me decided to just follow my nose! So we wandered into the park in order to rejoin with the Hertford stretch. Maybe I get over whelmed by green spaces in our fair city - or maybe I didn't actually bother to read the accompanying text. I should say at this point that this walk was the choice of David Aaronvitch. Along with a map and photos of buildings he provides a commentary of his experience. Consequently for most of the walk I was reading his commentary backwards! So my apologies to David. But I do agree wholeheartedly with your observation - cyclists along the route - no matter which way you tackle it do not make you aware of their prescence...!

The park is quite spacious. A great pond and plenty of flora and fauna to keep the active eyes alert.

Along the route we passed several locks.. no further comment is necessary for this one. Although maybe...

We were gathering pace and heading towards the Top of the Morning pub. We missed that too... not very good at following the guide huh! But it sits by the canal near the M11. Yes we saw that - walking under was done at speed - too much weight above for my liking. The route then took us up to Carpenters Road so we could cross and begin the sojourn towards the Big Breakfast house. It was also at this stage that the canal meets the River Lea. At the junction there is in progress major development. Look down the Hertford Union and you can see the Swiss Re building - the Gherkin - in the distance. Looking down river you can see Canary Wharf and associated buildings. But we were in search of Celebrity and for once we didn't miss it!

The Big Breakfast house was unmissable - maybe it was the astro turf garden or the brightly painted flowers on the wall or the paddling pool and happy kids outside. In any event there is was - on the river and not quite as spacious as the TV would have you believe. To compliment the sight was well... sewage pipes.

Can we go home now? Well we have seen celebrity and sewage! I am glad we didn't. This was the closest we got to Stratford station. Passing underneath it we continued along a less salubrious piece of river side walk. Glad not to be alone for this part of the walk we encountered our first lake of water. No bridges to cross here in fact we were going under a bridge and the water had been festering for a while. We tip toed along the edge of the road way and turned up into Blaker Road. Crossed the High Street and found Greenway... not so inspiring when you look at it from the midway point. But in front of us was a sight worthy of the day...

Abbey Mills Pumping Station.

It is a truly fascinating site - disused, but in London terms covering a large spance of land. The building itself is has history and as one who loves to promenade the Embankment it was a wow moment to see what David A describes as 'Sir Joesph Bazalgette's baby'. I can see why. This place pumped the great stinking sewage of London out beyond the centre to Dagenham and beyond. Now idle it poses a great unseen monument to Sir Joseph's work.

As the walk suggests where there is shite there are flies or should that be starlets? We had had success with the Big Breakfast house but could we spot the infamous other BB house? Oh yes - get in! Here is therefore the Big Brother House!

This part of the walk was met at around 1pm. The sun was very warm and to be frank the section of river we were on was not exactly well populated. Driven by hunger (!) we pressed on and found the wall pictured in the book which we took to be the outer rim of the Three Mills Studio. From somewhere above a voice boomed out 'Over here we can see you'. Okay. We were unfazed. Intrepid. But the wall was not exactly as pictured. It was graffiti covered. The original was supposed to be a film strip. This wall was not. It was inner city out on the waterfront. And loud voices were perturbing. But following the wall round we hit a haven. Across the water in the distance was a Tesco. But wait...

Why go for a prefab sarnie when the Three Mills cafe was still open. A charming cockney made us a cuppa and a fresh tuna and sweetcorn sandwich. It was delicious. A real haven. We could have sat here for ages. As it was we made our arrangements for the evening which at this point in the walk seemed an age away. Here are a few more snaps from this point - an amazing vista. For those of you not so keen on long walks grab a tube to West Ham or Bromley by Bow.
The weeping willows. Their colours amazing in the sunshine. Yes this picture really was taken in the East End of London!

This shot reminded me of standing on a platform.. like all those commuters day in day out. This platform though as different. Sitting beyond the sign and on the actual lock was a heron. No briefcases here. No dot matrix expected train times.

Our next major line to follow was under the Blackwell Tunnel to join the Limehouse Cut. A word of warning to those of you planning a walk along a canal - it gets a bit linear! And at times you feel yourself veering towards the edge - so at times walking two abreast can be very entertaining or depending on your mood slightly scary! Well if you don't want to get wet! Also it perhaps not the walk to take with a argumentative friend - one push and its a Den Watts moment.... splash!

This leads down to the Limehouse basin. From the edge of the canal when you look up you can see all sorts of historcial buildings The Mission Building and St Anne's Church. Limehouse Basin is a like a millionaire's marina. New flats have sprung up on all sides of the tract of water. It was entralling for its new viewpoint of Canary Wharf. Close and yet still so far away.
The Limehouse Basin

Out onto Commercial Road you see the Catholic Church of Our Lady Immaculate - or should I say you see a red robed Jesus arms outstretched staring out over the route we had just walked. The reason for hitting tarmac was to find the Regent's Canal once more and get to wander back to where we were earlier in the day.

Here is the colourful view of Mile End Park's daffadils and the imposing Canary Wharf in the back ground...! Again!

This me at the end of a very pleasurable day with my certificate of completion. It was while we sat here and enjoyed the afternoon sun that we finally saw a barge - and one going through a lock at that. Ah a momentus occasion. There's only so much empty canal you can walk beside. The only pain I had on the Thursday was a red nose and the grief of disbelieving work colleagues.

We ended the day back at Liverpool Street - quick pint followed by possibly the most enjoyable curry I have ever had! As days in London go - it didn't actually feel as if I had been in the Capital at all.

My advice - go discover!