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
