Friday 5th August, our last ACTA Ride in London

Our regular Wednesday's ride was postponed firstly to Thursday and then to Friday to allow Steve and Annette to supervise the roofing renovations of their property. This meant David Ward, who was in London, couldn't make it, so the arrangement was for me to cycle to part of the Thames Path at the far end of Battersea Park. To prepare for this, Barb and I had taken a walk to Battersea Park to scout out the best cycle path routes I could take from our accommodation at Ganley Court, that I felt comfortable negotiating on the bike on my own. A test ride, the day after our walk gave me more confidence in seeing how London cyclists tended to be reasonably assertive on the roads and cars would respect that. Hesitate and you would lose your opportunity of mixing in with the flow. For example, I had got to a T Junction with a left turn only and a right turn only but, the entrance to the Park was directly opposite. Waiting for the lights to change, I was contemplating going right, pulling over to the curb and then walking my bike back to the gate I wanted to enter. Then a London regular stopped his bike alongside me and when the lights changed he went straight ahead and through the 'No entry' gate. Doing it the local way seemed so much easier and I followed him through the gate.
On our agreed morning I found JB, Steve and Annette waiting for me and then there was this guy wearing a Pink Floyd T-shirt and I offered up some platitude that got him going, and what was my favourite Pink Floyd song etc. Boy did he want to ruminate on Pink Floyd and I had to find a suitable expression to wish him well and we were finally able to get going on our ride.
First turn out of the Park and on over the Thames on the Chelsea Bridge and then some zig zagging that Steve had us on heading to Westminster. I can't now recall (December 2017) whether we crossed back over the Thames on the Lambeth Bridge or went across the Westminster Bridge.

The bridge was later the scene of a terror attack by a vehicle hitting pedestrians and the driver running and stabbing people. This prompted extra measures taken to stop vehicles being able to drive up on the footpath. Big Ben notes our time at the scene.

And there was the London Eye, with very few people around at this time of day. Luckily for Barb and I, when Jeantine took us on the ride, she had booked ahead and we were able to avoid the lines, even at the start of their day, and go past them to the pre-booked line.

And over the edge on the Thames side of the pathway was a Sand Sculptor, being grateful for any tossed coins.

When I happened to return to that area of the Thames Pathway on 3 Dec 2017, there was sand sculpting still, this seen at 5:35 on a winter's evening, with Nicole Edwards getting her desired angle through the railing.

This crowd of brightly dressed participants appeared to be involved in a South Bank Breakfast TV Show . With the sound of laughter, they must have been enjoying themselves. I was hoping there might some audience participation to film, but that wasn't to be in our brief pause to view.

The entertainment wasn't sustaining enough, so it was time to move on before pausing to look across to the 'Walkie Talkie' building.

Then we tried mixing wheeled bikes in with pedestrians along some narrow streets. Patience and tolerance is a virtue.







Wandering the narrow streets led us to a historical wall and Annette and JB were interested enough to read the sign. Maybe I should have absorbed the information myself at the time but having seen that wall again Dec 2017 after Jeantine and I had been to the Borough Street market to buy our Christmas Ham, I thought I should look it up on Wikipedia.

Winchester Palace was a 12th-century palace which served as the London townhouse of the Bishops of Winchester. It was located on the south bank of the River Thames in what is now the London Borough of Southwark, near the medieval priory which later became Southwark Cathedral. Remains of the demolished palace survive on the site today. (Wikipedia)

This Photograph on the Wikipedia page is by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net)., CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

3 minutes later we are around the corner at the replica of Sir Francis Drake's ship the Hind

Again more information in a longer read with the Wikipedia page

On further from the Hind replica I was intrigued by the spikey roof tops and the more modern spikey 'Shard'

And more skyward gazing

With the cruise ship and HMS Belfast, the Tower Bridge must have opened to allow them through?

Signs of a vibrant city with the distinctive shapes of the 'Walkie Talkie' and 'Gerkin' buildings

So much history to absorb on an Auckland Cycling & Touring Association (ACTA) group ride.

Hay's Galleria is a mixed use building in the London Borough of Southwark situated on the south bank of the River Thames featuring offices, restaurants, shops, and flats. Originally a warehouse and associated wharf (Hay's Wharf) for the port of London, it was redeveloped in the 1980s. It is a Grade II listed structure.

Looking splendid in the sunlight

Contre jour

With strong sunlight comes deep shadow.

The 'Walkie Talkie' framed by the Tower Bridge. I was later to be up in the Walkie Talkie trying the reverse shot.

Taken 18 August 2017, from the large viewing deck, bar and restaurants that are included on the top three floors - when Barb, Jeantine and I had dinner in the Walkie Talkie Restaurant.

Somewhere in this view is where we headed with our bikes to find a place for lunch

We ended up at the Surrey Docks Farm, which seemed to be an oasis of dung and animal delights amongst a world of high rise buildings - a working city farm with an on site cafe. As their blurb on their website says; "Surrey Docks Farm is an Interactive, Free to Enter educational farm on the banks of the Thames, London. Open 7 days a week from 10am til 4pm we offer a beautiful bit of rural life in the heart of the city. Come and explore, feed the goats and get in touch with your inner countryside!"
For some reason, in being served last, I ended up with an enamel dish instead of the enamel plates the others had. I don't know what I was being sensitive about, it didn't alter the flavour of the coffee or scones.

After lunch we noticed a bike parked near ours, that had a bunch of flowers decorating it and JB briefly revealed his feminine sensitive side.

Surrey Docks Farm - Bing Maps 13 reviews - Zoos, Specialty Food Address: Rotherhithe Street, London, XGL SE16 5ET - Phone: +442072311010 - Hours: 10:00am-5:00pm
Sep 8, 2015 Did you know that there are more than a dozen farms dotted around London?! Proper farms that is, not just horse riding stables or allotments. Surrey Docks is my favourite so far ...
And there is a Facebook page

Steve then lead to a different path by the Greenwich Observatory (where David Ward was that day) and by the Clipper Ship, the Cutty Sark where Steve took us into a lift, with room for our bikes, that took us down to a pedestrian path under the Thames. Just a little scary to contemplate all that water above us and how the tunnel didn't look totally bone dry. Hmm - we made across and up the lift at the end and, some zig zagging to get to the Limehouse Basin. This had Steve double checking his smart phone map app and conferring with Annette about which roads they went along the previous time. 

And on our wandering journey, we passed a set of feline eyes watching our moves

At the Limehouse Basin the space opened up and JB was extolling the virtue of the lock pump system


And when you look at the mechanism, and see a hydraulic system (as against the old muscular push) and look at the background housing, you realise there is more money evident in the Limehouse Basin 

Working our way around the narrow part of the lock we found the place opened up to the Basin itself

This was an area I was going to come back to a number of times - in a walk by myself from our Dalston airbnb along the Regent's Canal  and back on 24 Nov 2017 and again taking a bike ride with son Cody and doing the reverse of this journey, under the Thames path to Greenwich for lunch and back through the Limehouse Basin. And later again, on a bike ride with Cody, taking the Lea River Navigation through from Springfield Park, Upper Clapton, past the Olympic Park area and via the Limehouse Cut to the Basin


On this 5 Aug 2016 ride we headed out of the Limehouse Basin toward the Regent's Canal 

past an old style lock and then under various road bridges

and along the Regent's Canal

to a point where I recognised I had walked with Jeantine from her place on Upper Street, Islington

This long boat was on the section between Danbury Street and Duncan Terrace and was about to go underground but the towpath we were on, stopped at that point and we climbed up Duncan Street to cross over Upper Street, through the Angel Central Shopping Mall area (from memory) and then with Steve's smart phone mapping found our way down various streets back to the Regent's Canal at Muriel Street.

and onwards to our lunch stop at Gasholder Park

 

Gasholder Park was quite impressive, with JB explaining how the old gasworks with their support structure was retained for a unique look and reminder of what used to be - as new apartments were constructed within the existing footprint

In September 2011 the University of the Arts London moved to the Granary Complex. A whole series of new public squares and gardens have opened, among them Granary Square with its spectacular fountains, Lewis Cubitt Park and Square and the new Gasholder Park.

The station's redevelopment led to the demolition of several buildings, including the Gasworks

from Wikipedia
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kings_Cross,_London

After lunch we were on another short section to Camden where Steve and Annette did their best to explain to me, how I might leave the canal towpath and make my up to road level in Camden and find the Camden Road Station to catch a train back to Clapham Junction. Well I got up to the road level and headed off on what I thought were the directions just given. Realising I was moving away from the Station it was a back track to an intersection and puzzlement over the Google Maps direction pointer. Not getting a grasp of that, I resorted to walking a short distance to see if the blue dot was going in the desired direction? No, oh well this other way then. But, I found I was wanting to go against the one-way traffic flow and so I took to the crowded footpath, and struggled with the bike against the bustling Friday Camden Market pedestrians. I was hoping I looked suitably apologetic but nobody seemed to curse me and after some hesitation of which side of the tracks I should be I settled down to wait for my train.

I really was wanting a train that would take me all the way to Clapham Junction without having to change stations. While I was waiting I was intrigued to see a freight train roll through.

Thinking now, post Brexit, this might have an been example of just in time car manufacture that the UK did so well within the EU setup

I was so pleased to have got on my desired train before the recommended 4pm shut off time for taking bikes on the train. This photo is time stamped at 3:30pm.
But then, we get to a station on the way and an announcement is made that there was a problem on the tracks somewhere and we would all have to de-train and wait for another train when the service resumed. Oh dear, search on my iPhone map on how / where to cycle back to Clapham Junction through unfamiliar roads. While this uncertainty of direction and plan was occuring, I was relieved to hear another announcement that the track problem had been resolved and the train would continue on.
However, now it is past 4pm and the train is busier with a lot more passengers but I'm really NOT wanting to cycle home. So I figured I'll seek forgiveness rather than permission and finding a wheel chair reserved space I do my best to blend into the side of the carriage and hope the front wheel protruding into the standing space doesn't generate strong objections. Thanks to the patience of my fellow travellers I make it back to Clapham Junction, down the stairs, onto the road and round the back streets, to Glanley Court, past where Mark Andrews was living (and where I went to borrow his father Stu's bike) to our airbnb place. Apart from the anxiety at the end of ride, it was a great day out on another ACTA Ride with the 'London Chapter'

London Wanderings - Kew Gardens, local stabbing and meeting up with Demi and Whitney at The Flat White

Another day with Jeantine at work, so we made our way by train to Richmond and had a coffee with Jeantine at the Butter Beans Cafe (Their Facebook page said - "a Kiwi creative, funky, rustic, chilled cafe in heart of Richmond. Super close to station.") . Jeantine was across the road at Thoughtworks and she suggested that if we go to lunch down by the Thames, could she bring her friend across to meet us. We bought some picnic snacks to take down to the nearby park by the Thames and met Jeantine's work colleague who had a New Zealand gym instructor and this poor girl (of Indian extraction) could not always make out what her Kiwi instructor was saying to her. Hopefully listening to our 'Kiwi speak' and my radio trained voice, helped her get a better grasp of what her instructor was trying to tell her.
It was difficult to tell whether our discussion of Kiwi speak would assist her for her next session at the Gym but hopefully it helped. After our picnic lunch Jeantine and her colleague went back to work and Barb and I headed off to interpret the bus stop guides and we hopped on a bus we hoped would take us all the way to the Kew Gardens, but after a couple of stops, Barb thought we were heading in wrong direction so we hurriedly got off and walked up to and through a major intersection and deciding that was wrong, we retraced our steps and headed off on a tangent that we hoped would take us to Kew Gardens. This road had buses going along it but sadly our timing was all wrong for being near a bus stop for when a bus should happen along. We did stop outside 91 Sandycombe Road attracted by what appeared to be a large spiders web covering some of the plants in their front garden.

Then another passerby said she thought it was a moth web and pointed out the caterpillars or larvae. I did some research later and came across this Daily Mail article about these moths. Wikipedia didn't have too much information on these moths but this link references the Daily Mail article.

I think we then went left into The Avenue across to Kew Rd and entered Kew Gardens at the Victoria Gate. We stopped outside the Palm House and like some other people there we chatted to, we decided to come back to the Palm House later and we found our way to the demonstration Beehive that had a guide giving multiple explanations of the life of bees and their importance. He even had people flapping their arms as if they were flying bees. There was also an option of walking up to the top of this demonstration Beehive.

Inside the Palm House - with more information from this Wikipedia Link

Admiring looks

Mother Nature's colourful delights in the Waterlily House which Wikipedia says is the hottest and most humid of the houses at Kew.
That photo time stamped at 3:05pm.
After admiring the variety in the Palm, Temperate and Waterlily Houses we headed off for a drink and snack at the Orangery, which according to Wikipedia, dates back 1761. It was found to be too dark for its intended purpose of growing citrus plants and they were moved out in 1841. After many changes of use, it was turned into the restaurant. As we exited the Gardens we sought advice on the best place to find the nearest bus stop and managed to ride all the way back to the Richmond train station and thus back to Ganley Court and found our recovery sit down was interrupted by the sound of a helicopter and police sirens at around 5:30pm.

This photo time stamped at 6:39, It seems we had missed a fatal stabbing near where we had walked back to Ganley Court from Clapham Junction. This stabbing was a brutal form of 'conflict resolution' and we got to meet the husband of the family next door (we had chatted to the mother and kids before), he had gone to Park to ask a policeman about what was happening. On the evening news there was mention of a stabbing but, not of this domestic dispute. The more significant stabbling related to a "19-year-old man being held on suspicion of murder after a woman was killed and five other people were injured in multiple stabbings in central London."
We were later to be interviewed by a couple of policemen going door to door to get information on our 'local stabbing' and it made me realise how costly such incidents can be with the health costs and time and effort spent in getting the facts and background. Gaye and Stu Andrews' son Mark living closer to the crime scene had to negotiate the cordon to get out to work in the morning and ID himself when he came back at night. I think the cordon was in place for around a week. We mentioned to our interviewing police that with any CCTV they would be examining, a woman seen in a blue raincoat was bound to be Barb. A 360 photo of Ganley Court We were at York Gardens end of Ganley Court, one floor up, where you can see the white car. The block past the rubbish bins was where the stabbing took place and a map of Ganley Court in relation to York Gardens and Clapham Junction. We were at the corner of Mewcomen Rd and Ganley Court.

After the excitement of that day, the following day with Jeantine again at work, Barb and I headed to the Jeantine recomended Flat White Cafe. It was interesting we were using Google Maps to get to this location and would leave the map open on the smart phone so that when out of wi-fi range we would still have a reference to what we were looking for. We were meeting up with Whitney Nuku, my cousin Jean Shortland's granddaughter and Barb's niece Demi Cope and both wanted to know the 'postal code' for the Cafe so they could find their way there.

Whitney is my first cousin twice removed on the Mankelow side and this cafe was reasonably close to her work, so she could easily make it in her lunch break.

Barb had thought about meeting Demi before this, while I was out bike riding, but wasn't sure of finding her way to Demi on her own. Demi was working evenings and managed forgo too much of a lie-in to make this rendezvous.