Play it again Sam!

Yes, play it again Sam.
But where is Sam?  He is gone
I'm at Victoria Station and have poped into the Grovenor hotel (as one does) for a quick cup of tea and a use of their 'virtual office' and there was the normal piano siting in the main reception area.
A camera phone shot was all that was required!
Look at that marble staircase and the 'old masters' on the walls!

Pub signs in Worthing

Blue sky day and I managed to get to worthing to see Wyn in the late afternoon and on the way to Cornelia Grange I decide to take some photos of two pub signs along the way.
The first is small and certainly traditional in style.  It sells real ale.
It is an old pub and dates back to at least 1869. It was winner of the Worthing Pub of the Year competion 20052004, 2003, 2002 and 2000 and was runner-up and Town Pub of the Year in 2001
I must pop in one day soon..........

The second sign is far more important my dad Jack always made some mention of this pub as we drove by(when he was alive) to my knowledge he never visited it
The pub is on the High Street in Worthing, next to Waitrose and opposite Lidl supermarket. In the recent past it has been bought by a gay couple.
Now this pub has a huge following and is Worthing’s only openly gay pub, a hive for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
We decided to change our clothes, then set off, wanting to blend in, but

White suit man

White man .......no suit
What is this white suit doing here?
I'm at Dexter House a training venue at the Royal Mint with loads of art 'laying arround' the coffee area and among the 'treasures' was this White suit man!

Lady Daphne sets sail

Cancelled visit in east London meant I changed train at Fenchurch Street and decided to use the virtual office down at Starbucks in St Kathreen's Dock.  Just before I logged on the the VPN a Thames barge begain to store.  It was leaving the dock and going down to Tilbury

Here is Lady Daphine tieing up in the main dock ready to turn onto the Thames

Amazingly St Kathryn's was full of Thames Barges.
I counted seven altogether.  Above are two ..............

Almost ready......... well maybe

Maybe Hallamrk will be ready to leave Laleham this week.  But only maybe.
There are just a few things remaining to be done.  There is the rusty bits on the paint work to deal with and a bit of wood repair on the back deck rail.
So time to get her provisioned for maybe a May bank holiday cruise.
So filling up with water, changing the gas and checking the main's power shoreline and even firing up the central heating.

London views: the old and new

The Gerkin in the city seems to peek through here as I walk accross the road to the Tower Gatway

It is probably one of the best looking stations on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR)
What a contrast to the Tower of London wehich goes back to Norman times in the 11th century.

Heading down to the river now for London's most spectualar bridge.
Yes Tower Bridge.  The offices of the London Assembly is the dome tucked behind.

Blooming marvelous

A great summer day and the garden looks just wonderful.
So here are some camera phone shots of some of the plants in flower.
Isn't late spring and early summer great?

Simple flowers but such stunning colours.
A wonderful pink clematus with lime leaves, mult-coloured polyanthus and yellow and cream pansies

The pear tree in all its glory

The heavy prunning of last autumn has done no harm to the wonderful pear tree.
It is a mass of white blossom and looks to be in great health.
Another year and masses of pears.
Too m any................. as always

Streaming light and stream people

The beginning of the evening rush hour at Paddington station.
The light streams in on the stream people through the great glass roofs.
A station with a great history.
Much of the current station dates from the 1850s and was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Great bike shop?

Tucked away in the daily market in Strutton Ground near St James Park underground station is a great little bike shop.  It called dialAbike which sounds more like a bike hiring company.  But it is not!
It does a roaring trade in repairing and servicing bikes.
It also sells some amazingly good value second hand bikes.
Incidentally, if you Goggle dailAbike you will find an interesting Spanish entry for a rental bike company in Torrevieja on the Costa Blanca.  http://www.dialabike.net/index.htm

Is this a green bike?

What a great window display.
A truly green one!  Yes a green bike (I thought they were already green).
This is the window in a shop just up from Northfield Station on the Piccadilly Line
With the bike 'dressed' in moss I thought at first this was a flower shop.
But know it is bit of an everything shop but mostly books.

The old station

There has been a railway station in Reading since 1840 when the Great Western railway reached the town on its way to Bristol.. Eventually the station also served Newbury and Hungerford and later came Basingstoke
In 1860 a new station building, in Bath Stone and incorporating a tower and clock, was constructed for the Great Western Railway..

This photo is the station in Reading used between 1860 and 1965 built in a lovely Bath stone..

In 1989 a brand new station concourse was created and the 1860 building were converted into the Three Guineas public house.

Good place for a drink and to watch the world go by.

Is this really an old building?

This building in Vespasian Road, Southampton looks amazing. Is it old……..  Well before 1900?
It is set right alongside the River Itchen amongst some pretty normal houses.  Rampart Road joins Vespasian Road nearby.  The only clue I could turn up was there may have once have been a Rampart Boatyard nearby.  Any clues?

Hulks on the River Itchen by Northam Bridge

Around the Northam Bridge on the River Ichen in Southampton you will find a number of  wooden and iron wreck. on the foreshire south of the bridge is very large hulk.

In the centre of the river near the main channel is a wreck now well and truely buried in the mud and on the foreshore south of the Northam Bridge is a very large hulk up against the river wall by the flats built in 2007

Chestnut trees on Ealing Common

Recently some of the old horse chestnut trees on Ealing Common have sadly had to be cut down.
They are rather old and have become dangerous
What a sad sight the trucks are just laying there.

Those trees remain continue to thrive and look amazing

What might this be?

I took this photo while walking on the Thames recently meaning to investigate further.  I called the photo ‘a load of metal’.
But what is it?
Is it water related?
The find is right at a house leading down to the River Thames near St Nicolas Church and Chiswick Steps.
Any ideas?

The black wasp

The sun is out.  Spring might be finally here............
So time to uncover the Vespa, full the tank and start her up.
The first spin of 2010 beckons.
Yes lets ride the black wasp.today!

Florist par excellent

Churchfield Road has always had an amazing collection of shops.
Far better than Acton High Street.
The range seems to grow and even in the recession most of the stylish and imaginative newcomers seems to survive.
Heart and Soul is a florist and will have been in business in Churchfield Road for two years in the summer.
http://www.heart-n-soul.co.uk/
The shop has a wonderful shop window and appears to be more a florists that creates flower designs than sells bunches of flowers.
Some of its work is pure art!
Acton is lucky to have such a shop and it really brightens up Churchfield Road

     

A quick snap of blossom

Time for a quick snap with the camera phone.
I am down Petersfield Road in Acton.
Great Edwardian properties line this quite street.
Lovely pink blossom from the many trees on left and right.

Walking by the River Hamble

The River Hamble is one of Southampton Water's three great rivers.
The Hamble rises near Waltham Chase and flows past Botley, then Bursledon, past Hamble-le-Rice and into Southampton Water and into the Solent.

The Hamble is a great place to walk and there are many walks that are linked up by the Strawberry Trail.
http://www.ldwa.org.uk/ldp/members/show_path.php?path_id=8608
This is in total some15 miles with a variety of coastal, riverside, country park and rural walking.

The trail is basically a figure of eight starting at Botley.
The three miles going from Manor Farm County Park http://www3.hants.gov.uk/hampshire-countryside/manorfarm.htm  and along the river from Botley to Bursledon takes in some great woodland stretches as it weaves along the river in and out of the many creaks.
Botley is a great starting point with plenty of historic places and good pubs

Below Botley, the river is tidal and in medieval times there were many sites that were used for ship building using the timber grown locally.  The photo above is looking towards Botley and the phot below shows some new woodland.

Boats and sunset on the river Itchen

Boats, boats and more boats
and if you catch the sunset too

Here we are looking across the River Itchen in the stretch towards the Northam Bridge.

Historic buildings at Sudbury Town

While out in Sudbury today I came across some great bits of 1930s architecture.
It was at Sudbury Town underground station.
The original 1903 station was demolished and replaced in 1932 when the line was electrified and became part of the Piccadilly Line.

The station was designed by Charles Holden, who was responsible for many of the classic Piccadilly Line stations.  It combines brick, reinforced concrete and glass to create a stunning high, light and airy ticket hall.
Inside a few of the original features remain..  These include the 1930s ticket office which is no longer used and a newsagent store.

High up on the wall above the newsagent and only just in this picture is the original station barometer.
Still working and accurate too.
The final picture is a view of the platforms and the linking bridge.

Incredible light at Turnham Green station

The train tracks snake towards Stafford Brook station on the District line.
Bright morning sun...........spring sunshine brings some incredible light or is it darkness and shadows to an April morning.

Laleham Reach at its best

The rain has finally gone and the day has cleared up. 
I am down at Laleham village looking at the river and taking a few minutes at one of my favourite moorings. 
Deserted……. no boats to be seen.
But today the weeping willow is looking at its very best.

The view is looking towards Staines and Harris Boatyard on the other bank

End of a good walk

It was a weekend of walks.
So as a follow up to walking the Boat Race course on the Thames on Saturday it was canal walking on Sunday.
Around mid-morning I headed off down the Grand Union from Elthorne Park in Ealing to down to Brentford.
Here is a link to walking in the Brentford and Syon Park area http://www.waterscape.com/media/documents/20507.pdf
There were many highlights to the walking.
One of these was visiting one of my favourite canal bridges.
This is  the ominously named Gallows Bridge.
Certainly built in 1820 and probably by Thomas Telford.
In recent years this brdge has been restored to its former splendour.
Its key purpose in days gone by was to enable horses pulling boats to cross from the tow path which continued on the other side.

Brentford has changed totally in recent years with masses of new waterside lifestyle dwellings built where there were once thriving storage sheds and repair yards
Despite all this change the heart of the canal is there as this picture shows.
This is Lock 100 A and B otherwise known as the Brentford Gauging lock below which the Brent rejoins the canal.

The end of the walk led to a pub and lunch.What a treasure was found. It was The Weir.
Click its web site here http://www.theweirbar.co.uk/

Although it is actually right on the water edge it is only accessible from Brnetford High Street via Market
Place. This was once known as the White horse and is one of the oldest pubs in Brentford and was first licensed in 1603. A bar with plenty of good dining room areas overlooking the water.  A great place for summer drinking too with large outside garden 

Great well cooked food too

Stunning glass at Westfield

The Westfield Centre at Shepherds Bush is certainly big and shiney. 
Currently it is the biggest shopping centre in the UK.
Its glass especially the floating roof structures such as at the Wood Lane entrance below are very appealing to the eye………… some would say inspiring.



Some of the sharp angles elsewhere also stand out


It all seems a long way from the forest of cranes and scaffolding was the view in the years while it was built