Day 18
Canonbury - Canons Park - Carpenders Park
The first two stations on today's itinerary, as well as being alphabetically adjacent, share a common ancestry, as they (or rather the parcels of land on which they stand) were both once owned by the Canons of the Priory Of St Bartholomew The Great. Not surprisingly, it is this ancestry which is the reason both their names include the word 'canon', and are thus next to each other in the alphabetical list. What is more surprising is that they are in completely separate parts of North, and North West, London. More surprising still, however, is the fact that the priory that owned them both was actually nowhere near either of them as it was in Smithfield - EC1.
More 'property development' than 'spiritual development' it seems...
The priory was a eventually victim of the Dissolution in 1539 (although parts of the Smithfield building survive as a working church even today) but the names of the two areas stuck, and it is Canonbury, in Islington, which is the first on my list.
***
In the unexpected thrill of a shorts-and-sunglasses-worthy day, I have managed to leave home sans notebook and pen, and more importantly sans the information on the various places I'm visiting today, which I spent hours looking up yesterday. I remedy the former at a newsagent's in the station, but for the latter I'll just have to rely on memory and Google.
It is just as I'm emerging from the newsagent's in the station that I notice that the wall-mounted plastic leaflet-holder in the ticket hall contains a brand-spanking new tube map with the date 'May 2014' printed on the front of it.
The map I've been using was produced in December 2013, and I've spent much time checking and double-checking the list of stations as I travel - making sure (hopefully) that I don't accidentally miss any out.
I'm therefore a little perturbed at the sight of a new map, as it might just possibly have been updated to include stations that were previously closed for some reason or other. I check the alphabetical list on the back of both maps, and - as far as I can tell - they're identical. Phew.
I'm not sure what I would have done had I found a discrepancy. When I first started the blog I did make it quite clear which version of the map I would be using, so if a station suddenly appeared in the A or B section, I would, I think, be justified in claiming that it fell outside the original criteria of the challenge.
But......
Knowing me, it would niggle away until I gave in and felt I had to visit it. Maybe I would add it as an 'Appendix' to the blog or something. Luckily it hasn't arisen this time, but the longer I take about this journey, the more new versions of the map will be produced. Food for thought...
***
Canonbury - on the Overground Line - is a pleasant, leafy suburb typical of many in North London.
The 'gentrification' of the area over the years has meant that it now attracts music and film stars to the grandeur of its Georgian architecture, although there have always been one or two notable residents here, as we will see in a little while.
The first thing I decide to do here, however, is to re-connect with the unwitting watery bystander to my adventures in Bounds Green.
To the south-west of the station, starting at St. Paul's road, is a long straight stretch of manmade waterway called New River, alongside which runs New River Walk. It was this river (or rather, a more northerly section of it) which alert readers may remember was the scene of my unexpected and not altogether pleasant encounter with a replica-firearm.
Unable to imagine anything similar happening in such a genteel-looking area as this however, I follow the path that meanders alongside the incredibly still waters (which contrary to expectation, do not run very deep at all - less than a foot I'd say) and emerge unmolested at the other end...
...having encountered nothing more dangerous than a couple of hungry ducks.
Turning north again, I reach Canonbury Square, where (among others) George Orwell and Evelyn Waugh both lived at one time or another. George Orwell is the only one who seems to have merited a plaque of any kind, but if you're interested Evelyn Waugh lived at 17a.
Also on Canonbury Square (at the corner of Canonbury Road) is the Estorick Collection Of Modern Italian Art. Founded by an American collector called Eric Estorick (and nothing to do with the word 'esoteric' - although a collection which consists exclusively of modern Italian art might be said to be a little obscure) the museum contains works by many 20th Century Italian artists, including Russolo, Boccioni, Carrà and Severini.
No, I've never heard of them either...
***
Just around the corner from Canonbury Square, looking rather incongruous among the three-storey Georgian terraces, is the imposing edifice of Canonbury Tower.
As you can probably surmise from the diagonally placed windows, this tower contains the staircase to what was once the Manor House belonging to the canons of St Bartholomew's. After the Dissolution, the house was granted by Henry VIII to his then trusted advisor, Thomas Cromwell, and remained in his possession until he was suddenly no longer trusted very much at all, and was beheaded in 1540.
After that, the tower passed through various owners' hands, and was renovated several times, until eventually becoming the property of the Earl Of Northampton, in whose family it has remained ever since.
Among the other people who have lived here is the philosopher, scientist and writer, Francis Bacon. Some have claimed that he secretly held many Masonic and Rosicrucian meetings within its walls, although the evidence for this is less than conclusive. Nevertheless, the building has still been used as a Masonic research centre in recent years.
A sign on a very grimy window tells me that, if I call a certain mobile telephone number, and ask very nicely, I will be given a guided tour of the tower. However, the sign is sadly at least a year out of date, and the current occupants of the building (a school of some kind) have the only key. A tour is therefore, unfortunately, impossible.
So - it's back to the station, and on to Canons Park.
***
In contrast to the genteel elegance of Georgian Canonbury, the street outside Canons Park station has its architectural feet firmly in the 20th Century, with its semi-detached two-up two-downs, and low brick walls protecting the fuschias and hydrangeas beloved of the local residents.
However, since we know that this area was once similarly owned by those property-conscious canons, there must be more to the place than that - and indeed there is. The station, as you might have guessed, stands at the south-west corner of a park of the same name, which was originally part of the manor of Stanmore (owned by the priory) but which later formed the grounds of the stately home owned by the 1st Duke Of Chandos, James Brydges.
He named the house was 'Cannons', for obvious reasons, and lived there from 1713 until his death in 1744, when it passed to his son Henry. In that brief period it was a repository of many works of art collected by the 1st duke, and had the distinction of playing host to George Frideric Handel as 'resident house composer' - albeit for just one year.
However, a combination of the original building costs and losses in the South Sea Bubble meant that poor Henry didn't inherit very much actual cash, and the house and contents were sold off or demolished in 1747. A smaller house was built on part of the site by a prominent cabinet maker of the time, William Hallett, and this later became a school, while the remainder of the grounds was eventually acquired by Harrow Council and turned into the park that survives today.
The park is very nice (although on a sunny day, most parks would probably qualify for that description) and I spend an enjoyable hour or so wandering its open spaces and its nooks and crannies. In one such nook (or is it a cranny?) I come across a folly called the 'temple'.
A lone sun-bathing young girl tries her best to ignore me as I take a photo, and I'm sure she thinks I'm mad wanting a picture of this old ruin - either that or she thinks I'm a pervy peeping-tom of some kind...
In the middle of the park are some more formal gardens - the George V Memorial Gardens - in which I sit on a bench for five minutes before working my way round the rest of the perimeter of the park towards the station.
Next to the park (although I don't visit it today), is the church of St Lawrence, Whitchurch. Inside, behind the altar, the church is proud to display Handel's Organ (stop sniggering please) - the organ which the composer is known to have played during his residency at the house. Sadly no longer playable, its gilded pipes have been silent since 1877.
Much as I've enjoyed the sunshine in the park, if I'm going to see another station today I'll need to get a move on, so I head back to the station and try to work out the best way of getting from pretty much the top of the Jubilee Line, to pretty much the top of the Overground Line...
***
Although they look quite close on the tube map, the journey from Canons Park to Carpenders Park could be quite a trek on the tube: I'd need to go eight stops south to West Hampstead, then four stops across on the Overground to Willesden Junction, and finally another ten stops up to Carpenders Park.
However, knowing (as I've mentioned before) that the tube map can be geographically misleading, or at best restrictive, and with a bit of lateral thinking (literally as it happens in this case) I can go just one stop north from Canons Park, and then get a bus all the way from Stanmore to Hatch End - from where it's a quick and easy one-stop journey up to Carpenders Park.
Since, as you will know by now, I like to throw the occasional bus journey into the mix, this is what I decide to do. With the sun still beating down, and sitting on the top deck, I'm hoping the journey will pass particularly pleasantly.
Unfortunately the bus is rather like a greenhouse, despite all the windows being open, so it's not quite as pleasant as I could wish. Nor was I quite expecting the twenty-minute wait for the next train north that I encounter at Hatch End. Eventually, however I arrive at Carpenders Park - only to be very disappointed by what I find there.
I suppose I should have realised that I wasn't going to be overly impressed with the place when I emerge from the station subway (having narrowly avoided being run over by a teenager on his bike, trying to impress his girlfriend) directly into the corner of a Business Centre car-park: not really the most welcoming of sights.
Beyond the Business Centre I discover a collection of identical residential streets, primarily made up of bungalows but with a smattering of local shops and a lone pub called The Partidge, festooned with St George flags.
In fact the only remarkable thing about the place as far as I can tell, is the street names.
The row of shops stands on the corner of 'Delta Gain', while the Business Park is on 'Gibbs Couch'. There's an 'Upper Tail' and 'Lower Tail', and the incomprehensible 'Hangar Ruding' - none of which, despite their exotic nomenclature, has anything more to entice me.
The same teenage couple I saw hanging around the ticket hall on my arrival are still there - comparing text messages from their friends, and moaning about having nothing to do. I imagine this is a common complaint here, and giving up, I head back onto the platform to catch the train back southwards, only to discover that I have yet another twenty-minute wait before it comes...
More 'property development' than 'spiritual development' it seems...
The priory was a eventually victim of the Dissolution in 1539 (although parts of the Smithfield building survive as a working church even today) but the names of the two areas stuck, and it is Canonbury, in Islington, which is the first on my list.
***
In the unexpected thrill of a shorts-and-sunglasses-worthy day, I have managed to leave home sans notebook and pen, and more importantly sans the information on the various places I'm visiting today, which I spent hours looking up yesterday. I remedy the former at a newsagent's in the station, but for the latter I'll just have to rely on memory and Google.
It is just as I'm emerging from the newsagent's in the station that I notice that the wall-mounted plastic leaflet-holder in the ticket hall contains a brand-spanking new tube map with the date 'May 2014' printed on the front of it.
The map I've been using was produced in December 2013, and I've spent much time checking and double-checking the list of stations as I travel - making sure (hopefully) that I don't accidentally miss any out.
I'm therefore a little perturbed at the sight of a new map, as it might just possibly have been updated to include stations that were previously closed for some reason or other. I check the alphabetical list on the back of both maps, and - as far as I can tell - they're identical. Phew.
I'm not sure what I would have done had I found a discrepancy. When I first started the blog I did make it quite clear which version of the map I would be using, so if a station suddenly appeared in the A or B section, I would, I think, be justified in claiming that it fell outside the original criteria of the challenge.
But......
Knowing me, it would niggle away until I gave in and felt I had to visit it. Maybe I would add it as an 'Appendix' to the blog or something. Luckily it hasn't arisen this time, but the longer I take about this journey, the more new versions of the map will be produced. Food for thought...
***
Canonbury - on the Overground Line - is a pleasant, leafy suburb typical of many in North London.
 |
| Canonbury - Bicycle Graveyard? |
The first thing I decide to do here, however, is to re-connect with the unwitting watery bystander to my adventures in Bounds Green.
To the south-west of the station, starting at St. Paul's road, is a long straight stretch of manmade waterway called New River, alongside which runs New River Walk. It was this river (or rather, a more northerly section of it) which alert readers may remember was the scene of my unexpected and not altogether pleasant encounter with a replica-firearm.
Unable to imagine anything similar happening in such a genteel-looking area as this however, I follow the path that meanders alongside the incredibly still waters (which contrary to expectation, do not run very deep at all - less than a foot I'd say) and emerge unmolested at the other end...
 |
| New River Walk - a distinct absence of naughty people... |
 |
| ... Although I don't like the look of those two... |
Turning north again, I reach Canonbury Square, where (among others) George Orwell and Evelyn Waugh both lived at one time or another. George Orwell is the only one who seems to have merited a plaque of any kind, but if you're interested Evelyn Waugh lived at 17a.
 |
| George Orwell Lived Here |
No, I've never heard of them either...
***
Just around the corner from Canonbury Square, looking rather incongruous among the three-storey Georgian terraces, is the imposing edifice of Canonbury Tower.
 |
| Thomas Cromwell Lived Here |
 |
| Canonbury Tower |
Among the other people who have lived here is the philosopher, scientist and writer, Francis Bacon. Some have claimed that he secretly held many Masonic and Rosicrucian meetings within its walls, although the evidence for this is less than conclusive. Nevertheless, the building has still been used as a Masonic research centre in recent years.
A sign on a very grimy window tells me that, if I call a certain mobile telephone number, and ask very nicely, I will be given a guided tour of the tower. However, the sign is sadly at least a year out of date, and the current occupants of the building (a school of some kind) have the only key. A tour is therefore, unfortunately, impossible.
So - it's back to the station, and on to Canons Park.
***
In contrast to the genteel elegance of Georgian Canonbury, the street outside Canons Park station has its architectural feet firmly in the 20th Century, with its semi-detached two-up two-downs, and low brick walls protecting the fuschias and hydrangeas beloved of the local residents.
 |
| Canons Park |
He named the house was 'Cannons', for obvious reasons, and lived there from 1713 until his death in 1744, when it passed to his son Henry. In that brief period it was a repository of many works of art collected by the 1st duke, and had the distinction of playing host to George Frideric Handel as 'resident house composer' - albeit for just one year.
However, a combination of the original building costs and losses in the South Sea Bubble meant that poor Henry didn't inherit very much actual cash, and the house and contents were sold off or demolished in 1747. A smaller house was built on part of the site by a prominent cabinet maker of the time, William Hallett, and this later became a school, while the remainder of the grounds was eventually acquired by Harrow Council and turned into the park that survives today.
The park is very nice (although on a sunny day, most parks would probably qualify for that description) and I spend an enjoyable hour or so wandering its open spaces and its nooks and crannies. In one such nook (or is it a cranny?) I come across a folly called the 'temple'.
 |
| The Temple - although I don't see much worshiping going on... |
 |
| ...unless you count sun-worshipping of course... |
 |
| George V Gardens |
Next to the park (although I don't visit it today), is the church of St Lawrence, Whitchurch. Inside, behind the altar, the church is proud to display Handel's Organ (stop sniggering please) - the organ which the composer is known to have played during his residency at the house. Sadly no longer playable, its gilded pipes have been silent since 1877.
Much as I've enjoyed the sunshine in the park, if I'm going to see another station today I'll need to get a move on, so I head back to the station and try to work out the best way of getting from pretty much the top of the Jubilee Line, to pretty much the top of the Overground Line...
***
Although they look quite close on the tube map, the journey from Canons Park to Carpenders Park could be quite a trek on the tube: I'd need to go eight stops south to West Hampstead, then four stops across on the Overground to Willesden Junction, and finally another ten stops up to Carpenders Park.
However, knowing (as I've mentioned before) that the tube map can be geographically misleading, or at best restrictive, and with a bit of lateral thinking (literally as it happens in this case) I can go just one stop north from Canons Park, and then get a bus all the way from Stanmore to Hatch End - from where it's a quick and easy one-stop journey up to Carpenders Park.
Since, as you will know by now, I like to throw the occasional bus journey into the mix, this is what I decide to do. With the sun still beating down, and sitting on the top deck, I'm hoping the journey will pass particularly pleasantly.
Unfortunately the bus is rather like a greenhouse, despite all the windows being open, so it's not quite as pleasant as I could wish. Nor was I quite expecting the twenty-minute wait for the next train north that I encounter at Hatch End. Eventually, however I arrive at Carpenders Park - only to be very disappointed by what I find there.
 |
| Carpenders Park - as attractive as it gets |
Beyond the Business Centre I discover a collection of identical residential streets, primarily made up of bungalows but with a smattering of local shops and a lone pub called The Partidge, festooned with St George flags.
In fact the only remarkable thing about the place as far as I can tell, is the street names.
The row of shops stands on the corner of 'Delta Gain', while the Business Park is on 'Gibbs Couch'. There's an 'Upper Tail' and 'Lower Tail', and the incomprehensible 'Hangar Ruding' - none of which, despite their exotic nomenclature, has anything more to entice me.
The same teenage couple I saw hanging around the ticket hall on my arrival are still there - comparing text messages from their friends, and moaning about having nothing to do. I imagine this is a common complaint here, and giving up, I head back onto the platform to catch the train back southwards, only to discover that I have yet another twenty-minute wait before it comes...
 |
| Not even the trains want to stop here... |
Right - fully up to date, two trips in one day and it is not even 9:00am. I too had not heard of any of those Italian artists but had heard of Handel's organ and the behaeding of Thomas Cromwell but not of his connection with Canonbury Tower.
ReplyDeleteHave you thought of being a tour guide - taking rich Americans on 'The Delights of Hidden London' - could be quite lucrative.
Good to read something that has nothing to do with the 'World Cup' and will try to keep up in future.
Ttfn
If only it took as little time to do these trips as it does to read about them! Glad to continue to expand your knowledge of obscure London-based trivia, and impressed you're up so early on a Saturday. The thought of me with umbrella aloft leading a gaggle of tourists around the less salubrious parts of town doesn't, I'm afraid, tempt me a great deal - I suppose they could prove a useful shield in case of future encounters with gun-toting hoodlums, though a Nurse might be more practical...
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