As regular Daily Constitutional readers and some London Walkers will know, on my days off I like to stride out and walk London. I'm a big fan of the Capital Ring orbital walking route and I love to walk the Thames. Many of the pictures and ideas that end up on this blog are born out of my rambles.
On Wednesdays here on The Daily Constitutional, I'll be sharing some snaps, random observations and the odd bit of trivia picked up along the routes of my wanders.
This week…
Route: From East Finchley to Crystal Palace.
Date: Wednesday 11th January 2017
Weather: Mostly cloudy, wind Westerly, high temp 8C
Distance: 17.41 miles
(Yup, I've got STATS for this one. Things just got even MORE nerdy. I'm using a new app, on which I'll blog later)
Starting point, as last week, was my own front door in East Finchley with the intention of drifting roughly south east – right across the London clay from high point to high point.
The first hill, an easy one, toward Highgate looking away from East Finchley…
Always a dramatic view from Archway. The northbound lane is empty, southbound (out of shot) not-so-much – it is the tail end of rush hour…
Click HERE for an earlier blog on Archway. And HERE for a wintry photoblog view from atop the bridge.
Down the Holloway Road…
… past my very favorite work of street art…
… for an earlier post on Joe Meek click HERE.
And then… BZZZ-BZZZ-BZZZ!!!
I've hit my 10,000 steps before 10 o'clock…
I duly report my stat on Social Media… to little response because I am clearly being SMUG IN THE EXTREME.
I console myself with a visit to one of my all-time favourite caffs, a bastion of culinary sanity in the firework display of ever-changing Islington eateries…
Where I treat myself to this beauty…
Did you know that black pudding is a superfood? No? How about this from The Daily Telegraph last winter…
"Loaded with protein, potassium, calcium and magnesium, as well as being practically carb free… It's also rich in iron and zinc - two minerals frequently missing from modern diets. Iron is needed to make healthy blood cells and prevent anaemia." Read the full article: www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/03/22
All I can say is… I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT!
There are, of course, a number of caveats to the superfood story – eating a pound of sanguine sausage at every meal will probably make you superdead in no time at all. Everything in moderation, and all that.
There are others yet who doubt the veracity of black pudding's claim as a superfood. All I can say to them is that I'm typing this with my index fingers jammed in my ears (quite a feat) while singing "Black Pudding! Black Pudding!" to the tune of Night Fever by the Bee Gees in my loudest falsetto.
A sentimental detour next. I always try to loop my wanders through Clerkenwell, the place where I first fell in love with London. I blogged about that HERE.
In 1993 we held the office Christmas party in the vault of the adjacent Middlesex House of Detention – an appropriate venue for debauched media types and hacks.
The Middlesex House of Detention c. 1840
Southward from memory lane lies Farringdon station. Now part of the new Crossrail development, it was opened in 1863 and formed the terminus of the world's first underground railway
More than 50 shades of gray as I cross the Thames via Blackfriars Bridge…
Past the Invisible Bridge – the livery of the London Chatham & Dover Railway and the columns are all that survive of the Blackfriars Railway Bridge which stood from 1864 to 1985…
The chimney in the shot is, of course, the Tate Modern art gallery, the former Bankside Power Station, designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. Another of his designs, the famous red telephone box has been pressed into multi-tasking at the southern end of Blackfriars Bridge…
The Shard looms round every corner…
Jack Kerouac, in his On The Road, pontificates on the ascending quality of apple pie the further he travels westward from New York. Sweeter, richer, bigger portions. Similarly, as I headed south last Wednesday, the richer the street art became…
A dead pub, recently passed, The Gladstone closed last October and is much missed by music fans and old farts such as I…
The Avon Place Mural is the work of Morganico and Steven Ball. The building is occupied by a health center and I love how the anatomical painting bleeds into the pipes and arteries of the building itself…
I blogged about Morganico in a previous Daily Constitutional post, click HERE to catch up.
At Georgian Trinity Church Square, Strata tower, the 43-story nosey neighbor at Elephant & Castle peeks jealously over the wall…
Very much alive, the Roebuck in Great Dover Street is a Victorian gem and one of London's best-kept pubby secrets…
Part one of this photoblog ends in Content Street - and no wonder, given the walking-induced endorphins coursing around my system…
Part Two (coming soon) sees us off to Denmark Hill, East Dulwich, Dulwich Woods and Crystal Palace Park. A London Walk costs £10 – £8 concession. To join a London Walk, simply meet your guide at the designated tube station at the appointed time. Details of all London Walks can be found at www.walks.com