Golders Hill Park

                                                                              


The graceful and the not-so-graceful at Golders Hill Park 











For more details click on above link. Other walks starting straight from the Underground, can be found at  London Tube Rambles

Sporting Tombstones

Plaistow is a cemetery in East London.   Whenever I have visited it there have been floral tributes in the West Ham colours.   Some people have gone even further and had their favourite sport commemorated in their tombstone.

Some prefer to be remembered for their exploits in the pub darts team. This amazing memorial is also at Plaistow. For more details click on link above.

In East Finchley cemetery you can see a monument that combines the traditional cross with an secular theme quite unusual for the time it was erected. It marks the grave of the cricketer Charles Thornton (1850-1929), famous as a 'big hitter', whose memory is kept alive by the stump, bat and ball carved on his tombstone.  Anyone interested in the history of the game will enjoy the details found by clicking on the Thornton link.






For lots more interesting walks to do straight from an Underground station,  you might like to go to my website London Tube Rambles 

Unusual tombstones

This life-size statue marks the last resting place of an Italian matriarch in Plaistow cemetery

 
 
 The poignant memorial to a young violinist  in East Finchley
cemetery

This amazing chair hidden away in Kensal Green commemorates Henry Russell (d.1900), a musician who wrote such much-loved ballads as 'A Life on the Ocean Wave', 'There's a Good Time Coming', and 'The Old Armchair' (a wonderful example of a Victorian 'tear-jerker').

For details of how to find these memorials, click on the links in bold. Other walks to do straight from the  Underground can be found at London Tube Rambles.

'Any Old Iron?'

 
 

I'm not sure why I like wrought/cast iron stuff so much, but I do.   So here are some shots of things I have found in my wanderings.   Just keep your eyes open and perhaps you too will  start to get excited when you spot an unusual or elegant design.
 
                                                                                     
 




Railway stations are a good place to start.   After all, you probably spend a lot of time just gazing into space waiting for a train.  This example is from Chesham, Buckinghamshire. 

The area round the Caledonian Road has plenty of ironwork - quite a lot of it in the form of bars in HM Pentonville Prison.   However, these three window boxes, plus the one at the top of the page  can be found in Hemingford Road.   To see more pretty cast ironwork, click here for details of how to get to this quiet Victorian road.    

 














Meanwhile at Parsons Green you might like to have a quick look at this lamp before embarking on a long trail to find a series of majestic iron gasholders, one of which you can see in the photo on the left.   


Other walks to do straight from the London Underground can be found at London Tube Rambles.

                                                                

                                          

Canary Wharf - the old and the new

The transformation of London Docklands has been dramatic.   Instead of toiling dockers and the noises and smells of a vast variety of cargoes being unloaded among shabby warehouses there are now huge glass buildings housing smartly-dressed office workers who are only likely to break into a sweat in the gym. However,  there are still a few reminders of the past around  and interesting vessels visit  from time to time.


 

















1. Reflection of Docklands Light Railway train in glass office block
2. The lovingly-preserved Portwey, an old (1927) coal-fired river and coastal tug which was in dock early Summer 2010.

3. The Training Ship Lord Nelson being guided to her berth in West India Dock at the end of a voyage to Holland.

4.Old cranes left as a reminder of past times.

For details of a potter round this area of London Docklands click here.  For more walks go to London Tube Rambles

Chimneys, Chimneys, Chimneys

                                                      

Hampstead

Chimneys on Flask Cottages, Flask Walk.

Hampstead is so full of interesting buildings that it is well worth devoting a whole day to exploring the area. Suggestions for a walk can be found here

 

Kingsbury

This chimney is being used to anchor a washing line.   I am still trying to work out how the occupants of this building in north London managed to get the rope in position . . . The chimney is on some flats built by the remarkable architect, Ernest Trobridge, who built some astonishing houses with all kinds of medieval and 'Tudor' details in Kingsbury during the 1920's/30's.   For more photos and details of the architectural trail click here

 

Chalfont and Latimer

Here we have the real thing - Chenies Manor in Buckinghamshire has twenty-two Tudor chimneys - each intricately decorated.   The house is situated in glorious country surroundings in an estate village - yet can still be reached by Tube. The walk to get to it goes through woodland and then along a path with beautiful views down over the Chess Valley.   Details here

Archway The trail from Archway Tube station takes in Highgate Cemetery - these chimneys can be found on the lodge by one of the entrances.

Deails here

For lots more interesting walks to do straight from a Tube station,  you might like to go to my website London Tube Rambles

One of the finest Art Deco buildings in London

Mornington Crescent

Near this station, famous for its association with the famous surreal panel game, is one of the finest Art Deco buildings in London, the old Carreras cigarette factory,  now offices. The building dates from 1928 and apart from its amazing trademark Egyptian cat theme is remarkable for being the first pre-stressed concrete factory in Britain and the first to have air-conditioning installed. A real stunner.

A trail from Mornington Crescent Underground, with many other beautiful/fascinating buildings to be found along the way,  can be found by clicking here.   




To find other interesting places to visit, go to www.londontuberambles.co.uk

Big Brother is watching you - in Richmond (antique optician's sign)

 

Richmond, Surrey

An antique optician's sign found while wandering round this lovely riverside town which has so many beautiful buildings and historic connections.  For full details of the walk that includes this wonderful sign, click here.  Other interesting places to visit can be found at
 Rambles from the London Tube 

Artesian Well house, Wimbledon Park

When the octagonal well was first built in 1763 by the Lord of the Manor, Earl Spencer, it was only about thirty feet deep. A horse was set to turn the mechanism that pumped the water up to the storage tank under the dome for use in Wimbledon Park House. In 1798 the decision was taken to deepen the well in order to improve the supply but it took over a year to strike more water – the rush of which then nearly drowned the workmen. The well silted up in the early nineteen century and was finally converted to a dwelling in 1975.

For full details of the walk that includes this odd building, click here.  Other interesting places to visit  can be found at Rambles from the London Tube 

Morden - beautiful parkland walk and wetland wander

 






Morden Hall  itself is not open to the public, but you can wander freely through the beautiful parkland (National Trust) and find all kinds of surprising things - including an old snuff mill and some fascinating wetlands. A splendid free day out! For full details click here. To find other interesting places to visit, go to London Tube Rambles







Photos: 
1.Morden Hall
2.Bridge over the River Wandle
3.One of the buildings associated with the Snuff Mill

River watchman's hut by New River, Islington

You might wonder what a circular brick building resembling a giant pork pie is doing perched on the bank of the New River Park Islington. In the days when the New River was an important source for clean water, a guard occupied this watch house to ensure that nobody swam or fished in the channel. He also had to keep a look out for people throwing dead dogs etc. into the stream or stealing the stopcocks and other fittings. You can reach this oddity from central London via the Tube. For full details of the walk that includes this strange building, click here. Other interesting places to visit can be found at  Rambles from the London Tube

River walk from Kew Gardens to Richmond

There's more to Kew than the famous Royal Botanic Gardens - here are some photos of the riverside walk from Kew to Richmond - full details can be found  by clicking here.



The pink summer house is on the Duke of Northumberland's estate - the next photo shows Syon House, his main residence. The bright red building (I'm afraid it really is that colour) is Kew Palace, which is actually in the Royal Botanic Gardens.


To find other interesting places to visit, go to Rambles from the London Tube 

Rambling round Old Amersham

Old Amersham on the Metropolitan line is a small town set in rolling Buckinghamshire countryside. Its High Street and Broadway are full of 17th and 18th century houses, with even older ones hidden behind later facades or tucked away in little side streets. Several of the inns have archways large enough for stagecoaches to pass through - a reminder of Amersham's past importance as a coaching town. (If any of the inns seems vaguely familiar, it might be because some scenes in Four Weddings and a Funeral were shot here.) Yes - you really can reach all this from central London via the Tube! For details of this walk click here.  Other interesting place to visit can be found at  Rambles from the London Tube

Photos: Town Mill, High Street

Chimney Cottage, The Platt/Three Gables, Rectory Way

Turpins Cottages, High Street/King's Arms inn

King's Church, off The Platt/Market Hall.