'Panic'

Day 11

Blackhorse Road - Blackwall - Bond Street - Borough

Today starts with a minor panic, as the horrifying possibility that I might have inadvertently missed out a station hovers menacingly before me for a few moments.

 

I've been using a "To Do List" app on my phone to keep track of the stations I've visited - painstakingly typing in the whole list of stations before I started, and checking them off as I go.

 

Unfortunately, it seems I didn't take quite as many pains as I'd thought...

As I sat at home planning today's trip, my stomach lurched as I realised that one of the stations on the tube map, and which I was due to visit today, wasn't on my list! Horrified, I checked back through the stations I'd already ticked off - but thankfully I hadn't missed any out on my travels. I had, however, missed out another station further down the list - so it was lucky I spotted it now.

It was a nasty moment. What would I have done if I'd got to the end of this challenge, only to realise I'd missed a couple of stations out? The OCD part of me would have had a breakdown and insisted I do it all again! (The lazy part of me would have told the OCD part of me not to be such a prat, but nevertheless, the nagging feeling that I hadn't actually completed the challenge would always be there in the back of my mind...)

I double checked the list, and praying that it was now correct, I set off.

 

***

My first port of call, Blackhorse Road station, is, I'm afraid, a disappointment. Located in Walthamstow, in north-east London, it sits on a crossroads - the junction of Forest Road, Blackhorse Lane and, of course, Blackhorse Road - and in every direction the view is a bleak collection of industrial estates, run-down shops, and cafes.

 

The station itself is mainly grey and blocky looking, although the bas-relief of a black horse on the frontage does liven it up a little.

 

Blackhorse Road - a splash of colour in an otherwise grey landscape

On the map, I've seen that Forest Road spans a collection of reservoirs, which I hope will at least provide some interesting photo opportunities, so I set off on the long straight road. Sadly, the water is mostly obscured by high walls and, where it is visible, the view is uninspiring. I try my best to make an interesting photo out of what I see, but end up with a shot of railway tracks rather than expanses of water.

Reservoir No. 4 - I suspect the others were equally fascinating.

 

Despite my best efforts, I can only stretch out my enthusiasm for this area to a meagre fifteen minutes, and I'm soon on my way south again, heading for Blackwall.

 

***

Famous for its tunnel (if not for much else), I'm initially worried that Blackwall is going to prove equally disappointing as I stand at the bottom of the staircase from the DLR station platforms. I seem to be in the middle of a rabbit-warren of subways, and can't see above ground beyond the surprisingly elevated station.

Blackwall - a lot of steps.

 

I revert to technology and discover, via Google Maps, the direction I need to head in order to find the river. Blackwall is pretty much the north-easterly corner of The Isle Of Dogs (which is that sticky-out bit of land in the looped section of the Thames seen on the opening credits of Eastenders) and is very  much in the dockland area.

 

I walk along Preston's Road as far as Blackwall Basin, passing many new and semi-built apartment blocks in the shadow of the Canary Wharf skyline and finally get some interesting views of the water.

 

Blackwall Basin

There are views across the Thames of the O2 Arena (formerly the Millennium Dome) and, somewhere under the wide expanse of the river, is the Blackwall Tunnel, taking cars north and south between Blackwall and North Greenwich.

O2 Arena

The Blackwall Tunnel (honestly, it's under there somewhere)

 

In the opposite direction, the high-rise skyline of Canary Wharf provides a somewhat incongruous background to the older, and more bijou residences, which were presumably here long before the Docklands Development of recent years.

The old and the new - together in perfect harmony?

Having retraced my steps towards the DLR station to look for somewhere for lunch, I'm disappointed to discover my only option is a McDonalds. However, as I approach it I realise that just a little further along the road is Billingsgate Fish Market - another famous landmark I can visit while I'm here.

 

Unfortunately however, my visit consists of nothing more than standing at the front gate and taking a photo, as being a market dealing in fresh fish, it opens at 5am and closes at 8.30am. Now, I consider myself a relatively early riser (not being able to sleep in past 8am, even at weekends) but I'm afraid there's no way I'm getting up that early!

Billingsgate Market - No wonder they have a reputation for swearing
if they have to get up that early every morning.

On a roundabout just in front of the Fish Market is a piece of art created by French sculptor Pierre Vivant (which must surely be a pun - who but a sculptor would have a name which translates as "living stone"?).

 

The Traffic Light Tree

It's called the Traffic Light Tree, for obvious reasons, and is fun to watch for a few minutes. However, time is getting on, and I'd like to get through two more stations today if possible, so I head back to the station and on to Bond Street.

 

 

 

 

 

 

***

I step out of Bond Street station onto Oxford Street.

 

Bond Street - looking quite deserted for a change.

And that's probably all I need to say, if you're familiar with this part of London. Anyone who has lived, worked, or been a tourist in London has visited Oxford Street at some point; and whether you arrive, as I do, via Bond Street station, or via one of the other stations along its length (Marble Arch, Oxford Circus or Tottenham Court Road), your experience is going to be pretty much the same.

 

Ah, here come the hordes of shopping fanatics.

Oxford Street is, and has been for generations, the destination of choice for the serious shopper. The big names in retail have always referred to their Oxford Street shops as their 'Flagship Stores', Selfridges, one of the most famous department stores in the world, is located here (and nowhere else in London) and the pavements are always thronging with people bustling along (albeit bustling along at a snail's pace).

 

And I really can't see the attraction.

 

It's always been a mildly grubby street in my opinion, and anything you can get here can also be found in far more pleasant shopping areas elsewhere. With the exception of Selfridges, and one or two of the more 'independent' type of shops (where you can buy cheap t-shirts with "I ♥ London" printed on them, or have your phone lovingly covered in pink glittery plastic) every single one of the businesses here will have an outlet that's nearer to where you live, not surrounded by hordes of tourists, and quite simply a nicer place to visit.

 

Having experienced the 'delights' of Oxford Street all too often in the past, I decide instead to visit the street that gave Bond Street station its name - Great Titchfield Street.

 

(That was a joke.)

 

Bond Street doesn't, in fact, exist as a single entity and is actually two streets - New Bond Street and Old Bond Street, which between them stretch from Oxford Street south to Piccadilly.

 

New Bond Street, which is by far the longer of the two, being about four times longer than its older brother) is the most northerly, and therefore the first part I walk down.

 

It was added to the original Bond Street only about forty years after the first part was built in the late 1600s, so the epithet 'New' is somewhat misleading. In fact the two 'halves' are fairly indistinguishable - oozing with ostentatious wealth from every jewellery store and art gallery window, it's no surprise that all the cars parked here have personalised number plates, and there are 'bouncers' outside every shop door.

 





Henry Irving lived here

I'm pleased to spot the name of one of my theatrical 'ancestors' on a blue plaque as I approach the Old part of the street - though Henry Irving must have been more successful than most actors these days, who could barely afford to walk down this street, let alone live here.

 

 

 

 

 

Across the street from Henry Irving's house is my second piece of public artwork of the day.

 

Called 'Allies', it's a depiction of Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt having a bit of a natter, by the American sculptor Lawrence Holofcener. I say sculptor, he's also been an actor, director, poet, playwright, novelist, singer and songwriter in his time, so naturally I hate him, the successful git.

 

'Allies' (or 'Do You Come Here Often?')

I'm surprised to discover that the sculpture was only created in the 90s, as I'd assumed it would have been a post-war celebratory piece. However, it seems it may have been the germ of an idea that the artist went on to develop in creating several more pieces, celebrating great figures of the 20th Century.

 

Having reached Piccadilly, I head to the station at Piccadilly Circus and on to my final destination of the day - Borough.

 

***

Borough station is in Southwark, as indeed is Southwark station. Southwark is the name of the London borough in which you'll find both stations. Borough is not a borough, but just another name for Southwark, which, historically, was also known simply as 'The Borough', and therefore 'Borough'... which can get confusing.

 

Borough - not a borough

The station sits on the corner of Borough High Street and Marshalsea Road and, for anyone who has read much Dickens, the name Marshalsea will instantly bring to mind one particular novel - Little Dorrit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There really was a Marshalsea Debtor's Prison here, although all that remains of it now is a stretch of wall, part of which formed its southern boundary.

 

Marshalsea Prison - Welcome To Dorritland

Along Angel Place, the tiny alley that gives access to this wall (appropriately enough, given its literary association, running alongside a library), are various signs and paving slabs referencing the novel and its author, and it soon becomes very clear that the local authorities are going to milk Little Dorrit for all she's worth.

Angel Place paving slab - a kind of York Stone York Notes.

And a quotation from the novel.

I  walk through the tiny Little Dorrit Court, into Little Dorrit Gardens, where children play on the Little Dorrit Playground, and I turn the corner, ending up rather unexpectedly in Disney Place.

 

Disney Place - which is
the one thing it's not

Along with its neighbour, Disney Street, it was apparently included on a 2011 'Disney Adventure Trail' map produced by the Disney Store - despite not having anything whatsoever to do with the American animator or his cartoon creations. Should anyone have followed the map they must surely have been perplexed at the very un-Disney-like tiny little back-street in which they found themselves.

 

 

 

 

Still waiting...

Still, having got here, they can at least find someone else to play with if they wait long enough...