Day out – Page 10 – Neil Baldwin's blog : Warning contains walking, technology, photography, holidays.

London walk around Ladbroke Grove

I had Sunday to myself so did some homework on Saturday evening, to see if there was anything on worth doing. I remember that I have often ended up on the www.eventbrite.co.uk site so I thought I would have a search on the website directly. I came up trumps I found Londoner offers walks in London cost just £10 for a 3 hours which seemed good value. The meet up point was Ladbroke Grove tube station. The instructions in the email said “The walk will start fairly promptly at 11am. From the meeting point outside Ladbroke Grove tube station we will be heading along Malton Road to St Marks Road so, if you are delayed, by walking briskly in that direction you should be able to catch up with us.”

The subject of the walk was “Stuart’s first walk”. According to the website: In Geoff Nicholson’s novel Bleeding London, jaded tour guide Stuart London sets out to walk every street in the A-Z.

London house with preserved pub frontage

“He knew he had to begin somewhere and he knew that in one sense, any place was as good as another, but he scanned the index of his A-Z looking for a street name that sounded appropriate. His eyes fell on a line that read North Pole Road. Next day he went there and started his walk.” (p.84)

This walk takes in some of the streets that Stuart would have covered in this first walk.

I considered driving up just like Stuart did as it would save 30 minutes journey time, but in the end opted for the more relaxing train journey. The 09:07 from Berkhamsted would get me to the appointed tube station for 10:30 time for a coffee and cake. Unusually the Euston train was alighting on platform 2, rather than the usual 4. A few people had not read the signs and an elderly gentleman put them right. He told me on a Sunday it was best to wait at the top of the stairs as you never knew if the platform would change. Apparently the lights indicated the line was in slow mode, hence the reason for platform 4 not being used.

At Euston I walked west to Euston Square station to so that I could get on a train without changing before getting to Ladbroke Grove. I wax early so popped into Cafe Nero for a coffee and a pee. They had the Sunday times lying around so I spent some time reading up on the news, or what ever it is they have in that publication. Apparently most of the last 12 London marathon winners were tainted by suspicious blood counts, Mo Farah passed the tests OK so England are off the hook, and it is the Russians who they are pointing there finger at. It looks like the labour candidate Corbyn us going to be the next leader, and will most likely shake things up a bit, which is a refreshing change to the middle of the road stuff we have had for a few decades.

We walked away from the tube station and under the Westway for a bit, then we went into the suburbs. The guide Jen told us about a number 7 ghost bus which has been seen in May at 0130 going down Cambridge Gardens without a drive. It has so the myth goes been the cause of a few accidents.

Further along we passed a church, on St Quintin, which was rebuilt after being destroyed during the war. In the church hall the BBC held rehearsals for such programs as Z Cars. One of my fellow guidees, and a local, can remember hanging around outside to get autographs.

We passed the hospital where Roger Daltry was born, although it is named Hammersmith hospital it is not in Hammersmith. Just on from the hospital we took a detour to look at the entrance to Wormwood Scrubs prison. A few famous people have stayed there including Keith Richards who was sentenced to a year but only stayed a day. George Blake the infamous spy was imprisoned there for a 42 year sentence but managed to escape by climbing out of a window and into a waiting car, he then fled to Berlin.

The football season had started and was in full swing on the Scrubs I overheard a couple of the players complaining that they needed to get fit! We got a bit lost trying to get to The Harrow Road on the edge of the scrubs, and ended up walking through a wooded area, where there was a parakeet roost, there was certainly lots of birds shit about.

Off The Harrow road we crossed the Grand Union, then we walked through one of the Magnificent seven London cemetery’s, Kensal Green. It is a fascinating place and we’ll worth another visit. There are according to our guide regular walks you can join, and I think I will.

Back on The Harrow road we crossed the Grand Union for a second time, then passed a small nature reserve, called Meanwhile nature reserve owing be the fact the council allowed it to be used in the 70’s while they decided what to do with the land, they never have. Shortly after that we were told about the history of the Trellick tower and its Hungarian Architect Goldfinger.

Just around the corner was Portobello road, which even when the market is not on is buzzing. There are lots of interesting food shops, cafes and restaurants. We finished off with a drink at the KPH Kensington Park Hotel, which is a pub now. I then took the tube back to Euston Square then got the fast train to Birmingham which stopped at Berkhamsted.

I will definitely do another walk sometime, it was very enjoyable even if it was a bit tiring in the heat of August.

Double Hubble in London

My birthday was coming up and Helen had arranged a treat in London, for the Saturday so we were up earlyish and out of the house to catch the 0915 from Berkhamsted. We managed to find a spot in the free parking outside Berkhamsted castle. We got travel cards from the machine and only then did we notice delays and cancellations on the Euston line, apparently due to signalling problems. It turns out that we would have less of a wait because the 0901 was due in at 0908 so we only had time to get a coffee before the train arrived.

I had plans for the trip too, I was going to choose a new light tripod, with a tilting centre column to help with taking photospheres. I thought I might also have a look at a Canon 8-15mm lens, which would enable me to apply to be a Google trusted photographer.

The weather was grey with the threat of rain, temperature was below 10 degrees. It turns out the signalling issues were near Tring so it did not affect our journey time. We got on the 68 bus and because we were early I suggested that we get off the bus at the British museum. I thought it would be a good idea to take some photospheres of be fantastic roof inside the british museum.

Helen tried to help some Chinese guys looking for the university of London once I told Helen that she had the map upside down she send them on the right direction. We can across a load more Chinese tourists outside the museum some of them in factory overall suits, not sure if they were the guides or something else. Once at the museum helen send a happy half an hour with the elgin marbles while i went round and took photos of museum roof.

Suitably photographed we left the museum and got on the 188 and alighted on Waterloo bridge, then headed to the BFI iMax cinema which was the surprise that Helen had arranged, the film was about the Hubble telescope in 3D, which I was well pleased about. We had time for a coffee at the Costa franchise.

The film was excellent it told the story of a mission to upgrade the Hubble telescope in 1990. The result I on of imax is very high and the footage from n space was stunning. After the film we headed to o the National Theatre just in case there was a photo exhibition in the lobby, it turns out there was not but in the past we have seen the press photographer of the year and landscape photographer of the yeat., both free and well worth a visit to. On the was to the NT we past a street food market and after some deliberation I had an excellent griddle toasted sandwich and Helen had a Polish cottage cheese, onion and potato dumpling.

We decided to walk to Tottenham court road, I wanted to check out Park cameras. I looked at the to pods and liked the look of the 190 carbon fibre model with 4 sections, it is small light, has a 90 degree centre column feature and is very expensive. So I bought the even more impressive Canon 8-15mm USM lens because I asked and got a £50 discount. It is likely to become my goto lens as it covers that wide angles I look and is suitable for photosphere sets. Oh forgot to mention we also stopped off Foyle’s and helen bought some books.

Having spent enough money for the day we headed back to Euston on the 73 bus.

Tropical Nursery tour at Kew Gardens

Special orchid display in the Princess of Wales Conservatory Kew

I noticed on the Ian visits website that there were tours round the Kew gardens tropical nursery so I sent an e-mail off on Thursday but didn’t get a reply the next day so I tried again on Friday. By lunch time I had decided that I not got a place but when on checking my e-mail I noticed that there was a reply from the lady at Kew . It said i should phone her back by 12 o’clock so it looked like it was a bit late however on rereading the e-mail I noticed that it said call by 12 o’clock or just turn up on the day so that’s what I decided to do.

I was up at a reasonable spent hour an tinkering around on the computer then headed off to buy the M25 about town 2 o’clock writing good time on 11 o’clock at the Ferry lane car park. The parking machines were solar powered and apparently there was not enough sun to power them so I had to get the parking ticket at the entrance booths. It is not cheap getting into Kew gardens it cost me £7 to park and £16 50 to get into the gardens on top of that I was having to pay £10 for the tour, however they have been in the new recently due to funding issues so they need all the support they can get. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-31715081

The weather was sunny and warm a coat was not necessary iI spent a couple of hours wandering around the park looking at spring flowers taking photos then I stopped off at the Victoria gate cafe for lunch. I have a packet of crisps and a hummus, beetroot and carrot sandwich which was very nice I took them and found a bench in the sun to eat it, as the cafe was heaving with people. There was plenty of wildlife about particularly birds, I spotted lots of Ringed-necked Parakeet, Greater Spotted wood pecker and a couple of Jays. As I was walking along the edge of the lake I spotted a fat looking squirrel eating a nut sat on a branch of a bush. I stood and watched tit for a while it seemed quite tame and I was able to get within 2 metre of it. The it moved towards me ran up my leg and and then onto my rucksack had a look around realised there was nothing to eat then head back down the way it had come.

I took the long route round to the White Peaks cafe and shop which was the agreed meet up for the special tour of the Tropical nursery. I arrived at the allotted time and we hung around for 10 minutes, then the nice volunteer took all 9 of us into the largest green house in a botanical park in, I’m not sure if she said United Kingdom, Europe or the World. In any case it was very extensive. The tour was very informative and the works had left out examples of Succulent, Carnivorous, rare and Orchid plants which the guide knew all about, and was very good and explaining to us. After the tour I headed home.

Sample of succulent plants in the Tropical Nursery Kew

A very nice lunch at Wisley RHS

We had a Sunday to ourselves and following a recommendation from my parents, I suggested Wisley RHS might be worth a try. The weather forecast was overcast with a promise of some breaks on the could and it was the middle of winter, not the best time to visit a garden, but we threw caution to the wind.

I picked Helen up after church at about 1020 then we headed off around the M25, the road to all venues. I missed the turning off of the A3 so we had the pleasure of visiting a plane called Burpham! The detour was slight and we were soon parking up. Given the time of year the car park was surprisingly busy we were in the last few rows of the third and final car park.

I had checked out the membership options on the RHS site, and enquired whether the single membership which allowed for a “family guest” would stretch to letting the wife in, it did so £42 later I had one year’s entrance. Given that adults pay £12 all I had to do was to visit twice on my own or once more with Helen and we were quids in.

We took a look at the map and decided that the cafe at the far side of the entrance was the place to head for as it was more or less coffee time. The cafe was heaving by the time we got there it seemed like every Londoner had decided to have coffee or lunch at the Wisley RHS cafe. We did however manage to find a table inside amongst the screaming 5 year olds. The coffee and walnut cake was great shared with Helen and the cappuccino was good.

Our next stop would be the glass houses where they had a special feature for the winter, butterflies from exotic lands were in one section. The queue sign suggested a 20 minute wait did not seem like too long, so we waited and it did not. The man controlling the entry said the sun had made the glasshouse hot so people were moving though quite quickly. Once in it was great there were lots of different types of butterfly, most of them much larger than the British varieties. They seemed quite tame too, sitting on leaves and allow me to take their photos.

From the glass house we headed up hill towards the apple tree collection, at the top there is a great view over the site. From there we headed kind of back towards the entrance. We looked in on the alpine area and I took a pan of the small glass house. The bonsai were interesting nearly all were over 50 years old and one was 150 years old, clearly not a hobby you should start a when you’re tire if you want to see the results of your efforts. The veg growing area was impressive and almost inspired me to sort out my two metre square patch at home.

We headed toward the restaurant and cafe for some lunch, it was about 13:10 and the food hall was Ramos but once we had got some food we found a whole courtyard in the the sun where no one wanted to sit, we had the place to ourselves then shared it with another couple. The food we chose was Parmesan butternut squash baked in filo pastry with a celeriac and beetroot coleslaw and a couscous salad, it went down a treat.

After lunch we wandered towards a bird hide in a far corner of the site, where the pines and heather collections are. On the way I suggested that we might see a ringed neck parakeet and would you believe it about a minute later one flew over and perched in a tree ahead. For once I had my binoculars with me and we got a good look. I have seen enough now to be able identify them was they fly over, with tree long tails and fast fighter jet like flight. There is a public footpath that runs through that part of the park and the park path goes under a bridge to allow the path to be bordered by chain link fence and barbed wired, then strangely at the other end you can get into the park with just a sign suggesting you should not and a couple of CCTV cameras as a deterrent.

We had to exit via the gift shop which was very comprehensive, and had a good book department which along with all the other tut meant that Helen spent some time browsing then spending (ed: Helen was ushered too fast out of said gift shop!). I did buy a device that allows eggs to be decapitated. The journey home was smooth and without traffic issues, we chose the M40 Beaconsfield route just for a change. I will look forward to visiting again throughout the year to see how the plants and flowers change throughout.

Tarka Trail bike ride

Activity number four was to be a bike ride, split into two teams and five of us went for a bike ride from Fremington on the Tarka Trail. We rented bikes from http://www.biketrail.co.uk/Biketrail_Home.htm where found the bikes to be reasonably priced and well maintained, i.e. everything was tight tyyes hard, gears changed and brakes worked. We got ourselves helmets and headed down the Tarka Trail.

According to the sustrans website : “The Tarka Trail is one of the country’s longest continuous traffic-free walking and cycling paths, and forms part of the Devon Coast to Coast Cycle Route.”. it is a great place for a bike ride as it is fla because it follows for the section we were on the route of and disused railway track that hugged the estuary edge along the Devon coast.

After 30 minutes we stopped for a coffee at a shack at the entrance to a £5 beach car park.It was not an ideal spot as the wind was blowing and with the dry weather dust was being blow about, however the hot chocolate I had was nice. Back on the trail we actually hit a very slight incline as we got towards what would have been Bideford station where we could have stopped for lunch at a pub but it was a bit early, soe we cycled on by, our aim was to get to the Puffing Billy pub a place we had stopped at the previous occasion that we used the Tarka Trail.

The trail does have some slight inclines and descents especially when it crosses land which is does a few times when the river meanders and the railway takes the more direct route. The trail often crosses the river on a bridge at those points and they are usually populated by fishermen, who had caught a few crabs but we did not see any evidence of fish. Eventually we arrived at Puffing Billy bit after using he facilities we found out that the new owners only had soft drinks, sausage rolls and pasties to offer. We then had a dilemma do we carry on to the next place or turn back to the pub we had passed earlier.

We opted for the pub as they was a sure bet and the other two options, carry on or cycle up steep hill, all had risks. Risks that the two girls would not like cycling up hill and then after having cycled up hill (or not) the place not serving food as it was getting towards 14:00. It did not take long t get back to the pub as we were all hungry and it seemed that there was a very slight incline in our favour. The food at the pub was of good quality and generous portions, if it was not salad/sandwich then it was deep fried but done very well. I had a cheese and pickle sandwich which was essentially the same as the ploughmans that Mr T had but the cheese was between the bread I got all the same trimmings. Two of us had scampi and chips which looked very nice too. All in all a very nce lunch and the half of bitter went down a treat.

On the way back we stopped off at Bideford beach for an ice cream and a slightly alternate route along the sea front and then rejoined the trail again. We were soon back at the cycle rental place in Fremington at about 16:30 in plenty of time for the 17:00 deadline when the establishment shuts up shop. We had cycled about 24 miles and spent best part of a leisurely day doing it.

We had a salad/buffet evening meal prepared by H&C and foraged by N&A, followed by an exciting episode of Bake Off.

Real day one of the holiday in Croyde

First day of holiday has to start with a good walk with a view of the sea today would not be and exception. We were up relatively early after a sensible time going to bed. A leisurely break fast saw myself, Helen and Helen’s dad leave the house at 09:30 heading north up the coast path around the headland to Pulborough sands, where we had a coffee at the campsite/seaside cafe.

The return journey took us over the headland and down a very old track, you could see three ruts in the bedrock, one in the middle wide and shallow and two eaither side narrow and deep, clearly made by a horse and cart. We also spotted many Red Admiral butterflies feasting on the flowering ivy plants which they seem to love. Apparently they migrate back to Morocco when they have had their fill.

In the afternoon I had a walk across the rocks and then the beach with my camera, and took a panorama set looking back to land which turned out better than I expected. The sea was quite calm so the surfers where not getting a long run in, but I guess it was ideal conditions to learn. Back at the hut we decided to pop to the Manor pub in town which looked good from the menu we found on line, but in reality the food was not great, I like to think that it was probably because it was a Sunday and the pub had been busy all day.

Jam yesterday jam today

With two weeks holiday to look forward to we eased into it slowly. R and L had a welcome party for J round at his parent house. It was great to catchup with some people we had not see for quite a few years.

R was showing off his Ogle car and K was showing off his immaculately restored Land Rover convertible I thing it was number 62 off the production line. The Ogle is the only one still on the road.

Sunday as a short drive got see H&N in their countryside residence on the Essex Cambridgeshire Suffolk border. They lurcher puppy call Wilco which was as made as a bag of badgers. We went for lunch at a pub where Dick Turpin was born one of many pubs in Essex which have claims to the highwaymans heritage. After lunch we watched the start of the Grand Prix then headed further east to Southwold where we had a room booked at Sutherland House.

We could not check in to the hotel till 18:30 sort we wandered down to the pier and I took a few photo’s as the sun was low and the light was that special Suffolk light. Helen won 78 tickets on the slot machines and cashed them and gave the receipt to a young child who was on the premises.

We walked back to the car then drove to the hotel where we managed to find a parking space nearby which would mean that we did not need to move the car till 10. The room was big well furnished and has an ornately moulded ceiling. We had a table booked for 19:00 and it was a good job that we had booked a table as the restaurant was full after we had sat down for 10 minutes.

We were given complimentary amuse bouche as while we waited for our starters, smoked salmon, caper berry, and horse radish on a shaped piece of toast. Helen was given a veggie one after refusing the salmon, it was cucumber and onion marmalade I think they may have put it together in a panic, but hHelen said she enjoyed it.

The starters were crab tian for me and goats cheese pannacotta with walnut pesto for Helen both very tasty. For a main I had skate with potatoes soufflé and Helen had goat cheese (again) on potato soufflé again both were very tasty. We had eaten at lunch time so we forewent desert.

Then it was early to bed the real holiday would not really start till Monday and everyone was at work. Bring it on!

Tower of London Poppies

Helen and I have the day off so I thought I would treat Helen to a day in London. We got the 09:31 from Berkhamsted by the skin of our teeth due to the queue at the ticket office and our in ability to figure out how to use or travel card on the automatic machines. The train must have started from Tring as it was empty so we got good seats.

The plan was to go and look at the poppies at the tower of London, where I had a surprise for Helen, then the museum of London which neither of us had been to before, and then possibly the British museum if we had the stamina and the time. We had ofg peak tickets so had to avoid the rush hour.

We took the slow bus to the tower of London it seemed to stop for every traffic light. In the end we got off early and walked the short distance remaining. The poppies at the tower are very impressive and there was an army of people planeting the new ones. The surprise I has for Helen was that one of them was hers, you can buy them on line here, then when the installation is over with they pay out to you. Helen seemed really chuffed with the idea.

We stopped for a bite to eat at Eat whisly we consulted the maps to find the most interesting way to walk to the museum of London. It is close to the barbican and was probably built at the same time. On the way we stored at the guildhall to have a look at the Roman ruins that are displayed there but they were refurbishing so we had a look around the great hall which was quite interesting. The is also a church which inside is very bright and airy not quite enough though for a handheld panorama.

Moving on we passed through the banking district and on to the “roundabout” that the museum of London is on top of. The museum is free to look round and I would say worth a visit, you are taken from the earlier time to current time as you make your way through the exhibits, I found the more recent two centuries most interesting. Helen preferred the older stuff.

The journey back was for more straight forward we eventually found a tube station and got on the Northern line and popped out at Euston, “simple”. I got Helen a bit worried while we waited for the train to leave I jumped off the train to do a panorama of the platform, just 5 minutes before the train was due to depart. I got some wifely looks when I came back.

London Triathlon

I had nothing to do on Sunday morning then I noticed that the London Triathlon was on so I checked the website they were still accepting entries, excellent my Sunday was sorted, the bike would need oiling apart from that I was ready. Actually Mr T was doing the Triathlon I was going to watch. I had arranged to pick up A at 08:30 and we drove to the Excel Exhibition centre via the M25. The weather was great but a not of a chill in the air at that time. The atmosphere was clear and there were nice white clouds in the sky great for taking some photos.

The Emirates Airline (Dangleway) terminus Emirates Royal Docks end

Parking at the Excel wax expensive at £15 but A paid. We wandered to the centre a and grabbed a coffee then contacted Mr and Mrs T who were off the rack his bike and sign in. I went off and took some pictures around the Emirates Airway ( the Dangleway) including some panorama sets. I don’t like to take too many otherwise I have too many to do and sometimes rush them resulting in a far from perfect result. The weather had warmed up and cumulus clouds had joined the cirrus from earlier. All the different elements of the triathlon started and finished at the Excel so we watched the swim the hurried over to where we could see the cycling after one and a half laps of that we headed to the running area then three laps of that and we went to the finish. Mr T did it in about 2 hours 35 minutes and a bit which puts him in the very fits and take it seriously category.

Steam trains Sewing machines an Eid

Steam train at Moorgate Tube station London

Being home alone while Helen is on a weekend coach trip /song a long I needed Ian Visits website to rescue me by pointing me in the direction of an event to take a look at. 2 things took my fancy a Seeing machine museum in Tooting and the Eid festival in Trafalgar square I had a plan.

I was up early and and checked the logistics as I had breakfast, it turns out the festival starts at 12 and the museum opens at 14:00 not ideal for me I wanted am early start. I umed a and ahed a bit then spotted that the last steam train event on the London underground would be this weekend as part of the 150 anniversary of the tube, I now had a revised plan.

I arrived at Berkhamsted station bought a ticket and the train was already pulled in when I got to the platform perfect timing, the plan was coming together. The 08:31 train was quite busy but not at Berko so I easily got a seat by the window. It was a day train and skipped a few stations on the way in and arrived at 09:05.We passed through some reason on the way but nothing enough to dampen my enthusiasm.

I was running late the as I only had 15 minutes to get to Moorgate and it helps if you get the Bank line rather the the one that does not go through Moorgate, so I got off the treason that I just managed to catch and starved the journey back to Euston and got back on the Bank branch of the Northern line to Moorgate, once again jumping on just as the doors closed. At Moorgate I headed for the the Hammersmith and City line, the train was running late so I saw it since slowly into the station under steam. There were quite a few train enthusiasts there but not as many as I would have expected. Suitable pictures were taken and posted on Facebook. I had a chat to a policemen who was in my field of view, I had seen him worrying in his now pad and thought he might be a train spotter. My next stop would be Trafalgar square and I figured a trip round the circle line would be best as the trains depart from the next platform over from where I was stood.

After a pleasant journey with a seat I got off at embankment and walked up to Trafalgar Square where the festival was still in preparation. I had an hour to waste so o headed to the National Portrait Gallery I had a vague idea that the BP portrait award was on, I was not to be disappointed. If you are ever in London it is worth a look, it always amazes me how people can paint and it is only when you are within 6 inches of some of the detail that the brush strokes are evident. I have caught it a few times over the years and have always left in awe. I still had time for a coffee before 12 and it was welcome as the last one I had was for breakfast. The National Gallery cafe would be the venue which severed great coffee but tired looking Chelsea buns. The cafe has a queue up part and a table service with waiters in white shirts with aprons, something Helen would enjoy.

I hung around at the top of the square waiting with the masses for the festival to be opened. When it was my first mission was to find something to eat, there were plenty of stalls to chose from I had a Dahl rice and vegetable curry which I eat sat in a cordoned off arrears that the public seemed to think was out of bound but the security guards said otherwise so me and another couple had a whole table each with table cloth and an chiefly view of true stage. The cities were very nice work just the right amount of spice. Google provided me with a bus option to the sewing machine museum, number 88 followed by a 249 to Tooting Bec. The 88 was interesting as it went round the back of Westminster on small streets but past lots of Government offices such as the Home office. I changed at Clapham common, which I had never appreciated the size of it is a massive piece of green real estate. The locals were making the most of it some resting others playing sport tag rugby and volley ball the less common ones that I saw. I got off the bus at Tooting Bec about 20 minutes before it opens. It was not obvious where it was so I had to get my phone out and check the building number.

Shoes at the London Sewing Machine Museum

I went over to the building about 5 minutes early an Asian looking lady was there who asked me whether this was the museum. Then the owner of the museum arrived and said it would be another 5 minutes before it would open. The museum is owned by the the Wimbledon Sewing Machine Co. and is a real gem of a specialist museum. The ate literally hundreds of old sewing machines from miniature ones to industrial table top ones on display in glass cabinets in two large rooms and a few side rooms. I spent so me time looking around an taking some pictures, it was surprising how specialised some of them were built for a single purposes such as joining carpets or stitching eyelets in leather. There were photos and letters on the wall from presidents of sewing machine manufacturers on the walls up the stair way the owner had and/or is a big player in the sewing machine market. The owner looked quite an old and I hate to think what might happen when he is not around to look after it. There should be some scheme like the listed building scheme to preserve the collections that are worthy of preservation. I picked up a copy of ISMACS News the official journal of the International Sewing Machine Collectors’ Society to read on the journey home. By the way if you want to visit the museum is open from 14:00 to 17:00 every first Saturday of the month, its website is here.

I jumped on a bus but then decided that the tube would be quicker and jumped off the bus at South Clapham where the Northern line goes to Euston without the need to change lines. I got talking to a guy who was interested in photography and said I should take some pictures of the people to in the carriage, explained that I preferred landscape photography he seemed a bit out of it and it was hard to hear what he was saying over the noise of the train, so I was glad when he got off a few stops later. I spent the rest of the journey using the Virgin WiFi at each station to purchase a battery case on Ebay for my mobile phone as I regularly run down the batteries on a trip to London because I use the GPS a lot for navigation and use the screen a lot for writing this blog post.

I got the 15:34 from Euston which arrived on the platform at the same time that I did with a fresh coffee. I got a take away curry from Waitrose, yes my second of the day, and went home for an early night, tomorrow I am back in London to watch Mr T do a Triathlon at or around the Excel exhibition Centre.