A walk in London, 27 April 2026

 The Swan Whisperer left the charging cable for his computer in Sussex on Friday.  Fortunately our niece was able to bring it back to London, and today we went to her office to pick it up - sadly, she was too busy to come out to lunch with us.  I decided to go too, and then we could have a walk afterwards.  I forgot to set my watch recording when we came out of Temple Underground station, but this was our walk from Cs office onwards:

I'm surprised it was so long - we went fairly slowly through the Middle and Inner Temples and along Fleet Street towards St Paul's .  I spotted a Cote, and remembered that they are offering a daily special for just £10 at the moment, and that Monday's is steak and chips.  The SW didn't really believe me, but I was proved right, and very good it was, too.  And not too much!

After that, we walked across the Millennium Bridge, and along the South Bank to Borough Market, stopping at a random ice-cream van to buy a 99 each, and so to Borough High Street, where we had to wait an unconscionable time for a 35.  But one came at last, and we came home - and I fell fast asleep in my chair for a couple of hours and am only just rousing up now!  A thoroughly enjoyable walk.  Photos on Facebook.

A week in Sussex; 20-24 April 2026

We've just spent the inside of the week staying with my 98-year-old mother, as my sister is in South Africa for a month, and looks to be having a wonderful time!  They have been on safari with friends - the son of an ex-boyfriend of my mother, and his wife - and will soon move on to Cape Town and stay with some cousins before flying home on the 6th.  We are all slightly envious!

Anyway, we had a lovely time in a very different way!  The woods are at their most glorious at this time of year, and as for the birdsong.... okay, it's mostly the usual suspects (robins, blackbirds, wrens, etc), but they are very loud and very cheerful.  It might be all about sex and turf wars, but it's still lovely.

(There was not enough room on the screen to show all the birds I heard in one photo!)

On Monday we arrived mid-morning, and the Swan Whisperer took the motorhome down to a place in Goring that does motorhome repairs, as previously arranged - it needed a couple of minor things seen to (it had had its service and MOT the previous week, in Lancing).  On the way home, he discovered that there was an art exhibition in Highdown Gardens, so in the afternoon we took my mother there, and enjoyed both the exhibition and a short walk round the accessible part of the gardens.

On Tuesday, Mum's carer said they were going kite-surfing that afternoon, and told us where, so after a visit to Tesco's  we drove down to look at the sea, but there the kite-surfers weren't!  Carer said next morning that the wind was too far offshore to be safe - they had thought it would be more to the east than it actually was.  But, apart from the wind, it was simply lovely!

On Wednesday the Swan Whisperer went on one of his very long walks, down to Goring Station, then train to Ford, walked up the Arun past Arundel, and then along the South Downs Way.   I took myself on a very much shorter, but equally enjoyable, walk in the woods, loving the spring flowers and birds (see above for the list I heard). 

Then in the afternoon we took the car south of the road, around the land there, and up to a viewpoint that I don't think I'd been to since my father died!  

On Thursday, the motorhome was ready so in the morning the SW went down to get it, and in the afternoon we drove round Clapham Woods again, up to the Oaks' Bottom (where my parents' ashes will probably eventually be scattered), although I didn't take any photos as we were in the car, and I didn't want to showcase how grubby the car windows are!  

On Friday we had to return to London in the afternoon, so the morning was spent doing the laundry and similarly necessary chores - packing everything (we had left various bits down there as we have been up and down since Easter).  It was the only day that there was a minor hiccup, as the carer who had been coming all week had had a night shift, and her replacement - who is, I gather, the other one's daughter-in-law - thought she was to come at 08:30, but she should have been there at 08:00 or just before.  This would not have mattered, but the hairdresser was due to come then - and did!  Fortunately Mum had realised what was happening, or not happening, and had got herself up, but it was a tad fraught.... Anyway, I got her breakfast ready and served it to her while she was under the dryer!

As it was our last day we went down to the village café, "The Junction" for lunch; the SW and I walking and Mum racing ahead on her scooter!  And very good it was, too.  We left about 16:30, but didn't get home until gone 19:00 as the traffic was horrible once we got to Mitcham!  My niece and nephew are staying with Mum over the weekend, and I have no idea what time they would have got there from Town, either!

A thoroughly enjoyable and relaxing week!

Along the river, 6 April 2026

 A fine Easter Monday, for once, so we decided to walk along the river.  We've been along the South Bank umpteen times before, but we had never walked westwards - and there are some new bits to explore, thanks to the Thames Tideway Tunnel, which has created several new areas of reclaimed land along the Thames where they had works.  

We started by walking into Brixton, where we caught a no 2 bus to Vauxhall, and then a short walk brought us to the first of these, which is is Effra Quay, where the River Effra used to flow into the Thames but now flows directly into the Tunnel.  

It  has superb views over London to the east:

and definitely surreal ideas about seating areas:

Yes, those are what they look like!

I think these pipes are ventilators, but I could be wrong:

We moved on a bit, stopping to admire this very splendid lion on the edge of the quay proper (not, I think, yet in use)

past the Spies'R'Us building (otherwise known as MI6 HQ), to the Isle of Effra, which we thought was less exciting.  But they are building a garden below it (not accessible to the public), and there was an access hatch to the Effra itself!

Then we moved on towards Battersea Power Station, via the posh new developments:

Past lots of river transport

Including sailing dinghies

and barges, moored up.

Above is a good view of the former Power Station (known in certain circles as the Time Police HQ!)

This, below, was the second new bit of reclaimed land, known as the Heathwall Pumping Station, which we thought was a bit underwhelming.  There are plenty of other quays and islands, but on the other side of the river from where we were.

I don't know what the "Tideway Village" was, but there were a few privately-owned barges moored up in it.

and then, where we think was once where the coal barges came to service the power station, there was this rather splendid statue:

with these barges down below, between us and the horse

After which, the photogenic part of our walk came to an end, as we could go no further along the Thames.  So we cut down to the main road, and walked to the start of the P5 route, which took us home again!