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Post by spindrift on Mar 28, 2009 19:09:23 GMT
Most people don't realise that London is criss-crossed by canals and it's possible to walk around the capital by following tow paths. After lunch at Maida Vale last week I wandered around Little Venice....so called because three canals merge at this point. (I remember that Richard Branson started Virgin Records from a barge anchored at Little Venice. I was working for a record producer at the time and we all heard of this Richard Branson. We wondered 'Who is he?' ! There must be thousands of Londoners living on barges like these:   I'd love to have a flat in Bloomfield Terrace  |
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Post by spindrift on Mar 28, 2009 19:13:50 GMT
Isn't this tiny garden wonderful?  I spied this Forsythia - trained as a standard which is rather unusual.  Then under the recently restored bridge  And here is where three canals meet  Wonderful London is full of surprises. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2009 19:23:34 GMT
That really is amazing. I have never seen a canal in London.
In a few weeks, I am planning to show what the canals in Paris look like as well. I am waiting for spring to work its magic on the trees, which are still barren at the moment along the canal Saint Martin.
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Post by spindrift on Mar 28, 2009 19:32:52 GMT
There's a fantastic canal flowing through Regents Park near the Zoo. There are many rivers running under London; there was a small lake behind Harley Street. I have recently seen original old maps of London before Nash designed the terraces around Regents Park and showing villages at Marylebone, Hampstead and Barnes.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2009 19:36:18 GMT
There are some underground rivers in Paris, too. Big cities are so strange. "That river isn't big enough, let's cover it up!"
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Post by spindrift on Mar 28, 2009 19:40:29 GMT
There are tours of 'Underground London'....I'd like to go on one. Perhaps I'll make an effort and organize this.
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Post by BigIain on Mar 29, 2009 13:12:55 GMT
it is around 65 miles to walk or cycle (or anything else) from Berkhamsted to the canal basin near Camden Town by the Grand Union Canal which is around 50m from my appt here. It goes all the way to Birmingham in the other direction
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Post by spindrift on Mar 29, 2009 13:31:53 GMT
Iain - please go for a long walk and take some pictures for us?
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Post by BigIain on Mar 29, 2009 15:34:29 GMT
I can not guarantee all the 65 miles, but I do enjoy the canal and use my car to travel to some of the various nicer parts of it for walking. I shall try to remember my camera.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2009 15:44:17 GMT
Oh yes, it's not true that I had never seen a canal in London -- I did see a canal at Camden Town when I went to the market there.
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Post by BigIain on Mar 30, 2009 18:58:07 GMT
Today's London canal sighting... from the elevated section of the A4, just as I was literaly passing the very last few buildings before being out of the city heading for Heathrow. The very last few hundred meters of the elevated part traverses the Grand Union Canal. I was amazed to see it there, due west of the city.
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Post by spindrift on Mar 30, 2009 21:05:37 GMT
I've been over that flyover thousands of times and I've never spotted a canal...well done Iain..dangerous what?
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 30, 2009 22:18:45 GMT
This is such a feast for the eyes! The forsythia just sings "Spring!", and I'd love to know what else is growing in that garden. I think that's primrose in the stone box, but what are the large red leaves unfurling in the bottom right and the brilliant blue flowers at the base of the forsythia?
The blue bridge is so graceful and bright. I'm curious about those half-moon objects on the white wall on the right in that picture.
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Post by onlymark on Mar 30, 2009 22:41:58 GMT
I'm curious about those half-moon objects on the white wall on the right in that picture. They're for placing baskets of flowers or plants in. |
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 30, 2009 22:53:45 GMT
Aaaah -- Okay! That's what I thought they were, but I couldn't figure out how they were accessed. Looking at the picture again, I see the walkway below the windows.
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Post by spindrift on Mar 31, 2009 7:03:47 GMT
Bixa - I think those blue flowers are Scylla or perhaps 'Grape Hyachinths'...
London front gardens seem to be uniformly paved in grey stone with plantings of box, yew, magnolia, cherry trees, bay and (unusually) forsythia. I made a point of wandering round nice areas of London to get ideas for doing my new garden. Around Knightsbridge, a couple of weeks ago, I noticed the plantings were mostly olive trees, trained in all sorts of ways and shapes, but a lot of them looked very unwell in our chilly climate.
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Post by BigIain on Apr 1, 2009 8:45:21 GMT
Olive trees hate cold weather and I think that frost means pretty much certain death. Certainly for the young ones.
Writeon, If you do find a good Underground London tour, I would love to accompany you on it!
Back on-topic, Its a beautiful day here, so I may well explore the canal today and take some pics.
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Post by spindrift on Apr 1, 2009 15:33:32 GMT
I'll have to ask my ex about the Underground London tour. When he was a Master of a livery company he organised such a tour for certain members of the honourable company. I'll get my daughter to ask him.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 1, 2009 16:57:52 GMT
Didn't Iain promise to post those photos of his walk today by now?
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Post by spindrift on Apr 1, 2009 21:20:48 GMT
Yes he did. What's he doing? Drinking champagne? if so, who with?
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Post by BigIain on Apr 1, 2009 22:33:15 GMT
A typical canal view, North of Berkhamsted  The wonderful Chiltern countryside [/img]  The Marina at Cow Roast, in the middle of the countryside North od Berkhamsted.  Cow Roast Locks  Now back in Berkhamsted town. My appt is maybe 70m behind the last white building on the right which happens to be the Cristal Palace pub!  And finally, Berkhamsted high street. The church on the left is very, very old and has these two ancient graves. The stone has worn down, removing the names and dates sadly.  |
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Post by onlymark on Apr 2, 2009 6:22:20 GMT
So it's you Iain who puts the Berk in Berkhamsted.
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Post by bazfaz on Apr 2, 2009 6:56:08 GMT
I guess it is Mark who puts the ham in.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 2, 2009 7:12:50 GMT
In any case, it is a vision of pleasant rurality -- everything I felt necessary to flee!
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Post by BigIain on Apr 2, 2009 7:36:35 GMT
You may say that K, but civilisation is all too close. I am only 19 miles from Heathrow here and slightly more to the very centre of London. The suburbs start only 6 miles South of here at Watford.
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Post by spindrift on Apr 2, 2009 9:12:07 GMT
The famous Watford Gap! (I don't know what the 'Gap' is)...
The pics are lovely, Iain...it will be very pleasant to be able to stroll down to the pub and have a beer whilst watching barges going through the lock and children playing and all that. Do people live all the year round on some of those barges? Perhaps life would be more interesting if we lived on barges? Even narrower than it is now.
Now we are waiting for Kerouac's pics of Parisian canals.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 2, 2009 9:21:29 GMT
The leaves are just starting to come out. It won't be long.
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Post by tillystar on Apr 2, 2009 9:48:19 GMT
Lovely pictures!
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Post by BigIain on Apr 2, 2009 15:59:46 GMT
I have seen close up how cold it gets at these marinas. I would imagine it gets bloody cold inside them and all they seem to have for heating is solid fuel stoves! A few people do live on them all year round particularly at Aplsey Marina, its 2 mins walk from the mainline station in to Euston... 25 mins trip to get in there.
These barges/boats are cast iron hull so it must be tough when the water in canal is cold enough to ice up for several days on end!
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Post by spindrift on Apr 2, 2009 17:43:15 GMT
Not ideal for me then - too cold.
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