A Suburban Wander around Muswell Hill, London N10

Still not being able to shake off my, now not so recently discovered, love of Psychogeography, and with a couple of hours free one evening after work, I ventured up to Muswell Hill. It's one of those places in North London which is not really served by a convenient underground station, and getting there generally requires either a reasonable hike from the nearest tube station or a bus. The former Muswell Hill train station now long gone, and instead replaced by a school. The weather was not great so I was in two minds about going, but quite glad I did, despite getting soaked at one point, finding my micro-umbrella barely up to the job of keeping me dry.

Anyway, enough of me moaning about the weather. My wander started with a couple of views down the hill and across London, with beautiful houses lining the streets.

Muswell Hill, London N10

Muswell Hill, London N10

Nice to see an old sign still in use. If you look closely you can see that it's actually made with pieces of metal riveted on to a metal back board. I particularly like the lamp, positioned somewhat awkwardly to illuminate the sign at night.

Muswell Hill, London N10

One of many double doorways in Muswell Hill.

Doorways, Muswell Hill, London N10

Fortis Green Road is probably my favourite road in Muswell Hill, with its neat parade of shops with beautiful curved window frontages.

Shop front, Fortis Green Road, Muswell Hill, London N10

This church is quite incredible and towers massively above anything else around it.

St. James' Church, Muswell Hill, London N10

    

An Urban Wander through the contrasts of Putney, London SW15

I found an opportunity for an evening, urban wander this week in some glorious late summer/early autumn weather. My chosen location was Putney. I'd wandered around Putney a few months ago with a promise to myself to return to explore more.

My wander started from Putney Bridge underground station where I walked across the footbridge that's connected to the railway bridge. Welcoming me after only a short distance was this wonderful ghost sign. Some of the words are very clear, others considerably less so, and the name of the company completely missing.

?

AND

SONS

EVERYTHING

WOODWORK

?

Ghost sign, Putney, London SW15

I've run along this part of the Thames path before a couple of times, but generally too hot and out of breath to focus on anything, so it made a pleasant change to be able to spend time enjoying the views, rather than gasping for breath. The football stadium across the river is Craven Cottage, home of Fulham. 

River Thames and Craven Cottage, Putney, London SW15

River Thames, Putney, London SW15

As I drifted through Putney along the Lower Richmond Road, my eye was taken by a site of abandonment. A quick bit of internet research showed this to be the former Putney Hospital, closed in 1998. It looked quite eerie in the fading light so I was glad to keep my distance. 

Abandoned hospital, Putney, London SW15

Abandoned hospital, Putney, London SW15

Abandoned hospital, Putney, London SW15

Abandoned hospital, Putney, London SW15

Abandoned hospital, Putney, London SW15

Abandoned hospital, Putney, London SW15

Just outside the former hospital is the beautifully manicured lawn of the Putney Bowling Club.

Putney Bowling Club, London SW15

Across the wasteland from the abandoned hospital is a row of labourer's cottages, erected by the Peat House Charity in 1862. The cottages are only on one side of the road, and I assume the wasteland outside the now fenced-off former hospital opposite the cottages was perhaps once the hospital grounds.

Commondale, Putney, London SW15

Being a big fan of doors, I couldn't resist snapping these two pairs.

Labourer Cottages, Commondale, Putney, London SW15

Labourer Cottages, Commondale, Putney, London SW15

Finally, as my wander was nearing its end, I came across this wonderful, old sign, complete with manicules, on the edge of Putney Common, showing the way to Putney and Richmond.

Old signpost, Putney Common, London SW15

    

Rural Wandering: a short bike ride through the Deverills in Somerset

I've managed to get a bit out of sync with my postings, and this is in fact from last weekend when we were away for a long weekend at Center Parcs, in Longleat, Somerset. I had not really expected to do much exploring, but was fortunate enough to manage to find time for a couple of bike rides outside the main complex. The countryside was beautiful, the roads were quiet, and on one of the rides the sun was shining. The only downside was on the second bike ride, where my rear disc brakes all but seized up, meaning that it was a tremendous effort to peddle at all, and on the down hill stretches I still had to peddle to keep going. I stopped a few times to take the wheel off, and adjust the brakes which seemed to free them up for a short while, but overall it was really hard going. However, going at this slow speed, I did spot this old AA sign in the village of Brixton Deverill, which marks the villages of Kingston Deverill and Longbridge Deverill both as being 1½ miles away, and London being 99½ miles away.

Old AA road sign, Brixton Deverill, Somerset

Tales of my Urban Wandering will continue later in the week, with a post about an Urban Wander over to the Pall Mall Deposit building in West London already in progress ... so stay tuned folks.