An Urban Wander near Holland Park, London W14

I was delighted late last week when not only did I manage to find time to take a lunch break, but also the weather was reasonable, and I found a few nearby streets that I'd not wandered around before. This particular wander took me to a collection of roads to the north of Kensington High Street, east of Addison Road, but west of Holland Park itself. Unlike a lot of my wanders which take me off in search of abandonment, decay and ghost signs, this drift was very much the opposite as I found myself drifting through tree-lined streets of magnificent houses, no doubt with a price tag to match.

Doorway on Holland Park Road, London W14 

As always I'm pleased when I discover something new to me, so here was a museum I never knew existed for an artist I'd never heard of, Frederick Leighton, perhaps meriting a return visit one day to look inside. Also, many of the houses in this area bear plaques stating that various artists had lived in the area, known as the Holland Park Circle. 

Leighton House, Holland Park Road, London W14

Doorway on Holland Park Road, London W14 

Doorway on Melbury Road, London W14 

 Doorway on Melbury Road, London W14 

 Doorway on Melbury Road, London W14

Melbury Road, London W14

 Doorway on Melbury Road, London W14

The only part of this wander which did veer slightly off-piste and down a side road was here, where intrigued by the shapes of the back of the buildings, I turned into a service road for the flats in Oakwood Court.

Back of flats, Oakwood Court, London W14

Presumably these elevated, zig-zag stairways are some sort of fire escape, although strange that they don't come all the way down to ground level. Made for a good picture though.

 Back of flats, Oakwood Court, London W14

 Back of flats, Oakwood Court, London W14

As my wander drew to a close, I spotted this curious building on Napier Road. Little evidence though to suggest what it perhaps once was.

Napier Road, London W14

I think there are a few more side streets heading up towards the park itself which I didn't have time to explore, so will definitely be returning soon.

    

New Year resolution still going strong

Well, tomorrow is the beginning of my first full week back at work this year. If I'm honest I can't say that I'm looking forward to it very much as it's been great having time at home, being able to chill a bit, and getting outdoors for some much needed post-Christmas exercise.

I've now managed 2 bike rides in 2013, but despite having a mountain bike I have kept to the roads, which in places are muddy enough to be mistaken for off-road cycling. I've also managed to keep to my New Year's Resolution of doing something new every week ... in fact in this week alone I have been to several new places. The most recent of which was a brief visit to Wilton, in Wiltshire this afternoon. I only had time for a quick walk around the town, but it did seem to have a few antique shops worth returning for, on a day when hopefully they are open.

Yesterday we were up in London to see a couple of exhibits at the Tate Britain as we were fortunate enough to get some free tickets. We went to the Turner Prize exhibits first which, apart from Noble, did not float my boat at all ... glad we didn't pay. The pre-Raphaelite exhibition was all together a lot more impressive, but unfortunately very crowded. Probably the best part of my day was a short walk between Sloane Square and Pimlico, which was a first for me and has opened up a whole other area of London that I need to find time to explore ... and hopefully I'll get some better weather in which to do it. As you can see from the picture below, the weather was pretty dismal, and even the towers of Battersea Power Station, which looked much better in real life, is somewhat lost against the greyness of the sky.

Battersea Power Station across the train lines from Victoria, on a very grey day

    

Another London

We were fortunate enough to get some complimentary tickets to the Another London exhibition at the Tate Britain, so on Saturday we made our way into London for a day out. The tubes were pleasantly crowd-free, as we made our was around on the Circle line from Paddington to Victoria. From there it was only a short walk, through what was now surprisingly warm sunshine, despite the weather forecast. The exhibition had some incredible pictures from 1930 through to 1980. Great images of "british-ness" that you simply don't see any more, for example streets filled with bowler-hatted mean going to work in the city. In fact come to think about it, most of the photos included some for of head gear, whether that be a top hat, a bowler hat, a cloth cap, or a scarf.

After the exhibition we caught a bus to Kensington where we, thanks to some more free vouchers, we grabbed some lunch (we are not normally this frugal, but following our California blow out are taking things easy this month now). The food was ok, not brilliant, but unfoftunately just as we finished eating, the heavens opened up, and torrential rain came down, all mixed in with some thunder and lightening for good measure. We were quite "museumed out" after the exhibition of the morning, so after deciding not to go to any more, we caught a bus to get out of the rain. Although I know my way around London reasonably well, the bus we caught took us to somewhere I don't think I've ever really been ... Wandsworth. I had no idea what to expect but it almost had a village feel in places, but not quite so much as Battersea did, which was definitely a surprise to me. Plenty of scope for future visits I think, if only to check out some of the restaurants in Battersea Square, which confusingly seems more of a triangle than a square.

Between Wandsworth and Battersea we walked along the Thames, apart from when we were annoying diverted back in land (one of the most frustrating aspects of the Thames path is that it often strays away from the side of the river). We did get to see the London Heliport though, which I never even knew existed, so that was a bonus. We were also treated to the sight of a freight train on the London Overground line, as it crossed the Cremorne Bridge, heading south. Unfortunately I didn't manage to get a photo, but instead took one from the other side of the bridge after it had gone across.

Boats moored by the Cremorne Bridge (aka Battersea Railway Bridge)

Despite the heavy downpour in the afternoon, we had a great day out, and got back home to catch some of the Reading Festival highlights on BBC 3 before taking our aching limbs off to bed.

Sunday was a different story, and with a much better weather forecast I decided to embark on a bike ride, looking to get some miles under the belt, rather than gruelling hill climbs. In the end I seem to have managed both, cycling out west towards Hungerford, through to Little Bedwyn and Froxfield, and then back via Littlecote, Chilton Foliat and Kintbury, covering 36.7 miles. It was a great ride, but I think I probably need to invest in some new padded shorts as I'm feeling a little tender today.