Day 85
Surrey Quays - Swiss Cottage - Sydenham
Before I regale you with the ups and downs of today's travels, a brief word of warning for anyone tempted - following my previous post - to visit the Orbit Tower at Stratford's Olympic Park.
Given that it's Britain's tallest piece of public art, at over 370 feet tall, you won't be surprised that I sensibly took the lift to the top of it. On the way down however, I felt that the 'scenic route' offered by the spiral staircase surrounding the tower would be more appropriate. And, at the time, the 455 steps seemed a very gentle descent.
However, for several days afterwards my calf muscles have been strenuously complaining.
In fact, I could go so far as to say that for a time they moved beyond complaints, and actually went on strike, returning to work only after prolonged negotiations and a hot bath.
So - feel free to visit the tower (indeed I urge you to do so) - but perhaps take a physiotherapist with you, just to be on the safe side...
***
Anyway, back to today.
After the glorious sunshine of last week, today feels oppressive and muggy. The heat is still there, but there are heavy clouds threatening rain and after only the brief walk to the station from home I could already do with a shower and a change of clothes.
Still - I only have a short-ish day ahead of me today, as there are just three stations left on my list of 'Ss', and it shouldn't be too much of a chore to tick them all off.
Two of them (Surrey Quays and Sydenham) are - conveniently - only a few stops apart on the Overground Line heading towards West Croydon.
Unfortunately, and rather less conveniently, they're interrupted alphabetically by Swiss Cottage, which is way up north-west on the diametrically opposite side of London. So - another day of heading back and forth along the same tracks.
It's a fairly straightforward journey to my first stop, Surrey Quays - Central Line to Bond Street, Jubilee Line to Canada Water, and Overground to Surrey Quays - and 45 minutes after boarding at Ealing Broadway, I'm there.
Surrey Quays is just to the south of Rotherhithe and Canada Water, and is - as the name suggests - connected with the former London docks.
In fact, the station's earlier name was 'Surrey Docks' and it was only renamed in 1989 after the construction of the local shopping centre.
For reasons best known to marketing executives, the builders of the shopping centre preferred the word 'quays' to the word 'docks' (more 'Cannes' than 'Canning Town'?) and the name was gradually adopted by the surrounding area.
The shopping centre tries very hard to present a 'maritime' façade - with colourful murals of dock-life over the entrances and even an old ship's wheel turned into a clock.
The trouble is, it all feels like the sort of stuff you'd find in an antiquated Torquay guest house - the kind that hasn't updated its décor since 1973 and calls itself 'The Crow's Nest' or some such nonsense.
However, just beyond the shopping centre, heading slightly east, is the main feature of the area - the docks themselves (or what remain of them).
The main body of water is called 'Greenland Dock', with 'South Dock' (obviously) to the south.
The original 'Surrey Commercial Docks' were a system of nine docks, often (as usual) named after the countries they most traded with - hence Greenland Dock, Norway Dock, Canada Dock and so on. Like most of the area, it suffered a decline in the 20th Century but was extensively redeveloped in the 80s and 90s.
I take a walk around the perimeter of Greenland Dock, and as always I enjoy being by the water's edge.
At one point I spot an incongruous little building in front of one of the modern apartment blocks and stroll over to take a look.
Seeing the little plaque attached to the building I expect to be informed as to its vital place in the history of the docks - but other than telling me that it is a 'Yard Office', the plaque is amusingly uninformative.
At the Thames end of the dock is a sculpture called 'Curlicue' by William Pye, which I think is supposed to represent the anchors of the ships that docked here in days gone by, but which reminds me more of those little puzzles you get in Christmas Crackers...
I complete my pleasant circuit of the dock, and head back towards the station.
On my way I spot an intriguing piece of graffiti (or should it be 'street art') that catches my eye. It has a vaguely 'Banksy' look to it, though I'm pretty sure it isn't his work. Still, it's caught my eye and that's all I ask for in a piece of art - so whoever the artist is, they've done their job as far as I'm concerned.
But with nothing else really on offer in this part of town, I retrace (in part) my steps of this morning and head back to Canada Water and on to the Jubilee Line - this time heading north.
***
Swiss Cottage is, so the story goes, named after an inn called the Swiss Tavern, built in 1803-4 in the Swiss style, and later renamed the Swiss Cottage. As you emerge from the tube station you will see, next to the main Finchley Road on which the station stands, a pub very much bedecked with the ornate woodwork and shuttered windows required of any self-respecting Swiss Cottage. However, this is not the original, but a replacement built in the mid 1960s.
It should be obvious really - the sign above the pub proudly proclaims it to be 'Ye Olde Swiss Cottage' - and as everyone knows, anywhere describing itself as 'ye olde' is actually anything but...
Still, it adds a touch of eccentricity to an otherwise fairly run of the mill area.
The Finchley Road is the main - and very busy - road running northwards out of London through the area, and has a reasonable selection of shops and so on to cater for the locals - and for those visiting the area.
These visitors are likely (unless they're doing something silly like visiting tube stations alphabetically) to be attending one of the two establishments in the area that are both connected - in different ways - to the theatrical world.
These two buildings are located opposite one another just off the main road, and the first of them is the Hampstead Theatre.
The Hampstead Theatre is one of the foremost theatres dedicated to producing new writing and has two spaces - a main house and a studio theatre. Over its 55 year history it has seen new work by such writers as Harold Pinter, Mike Leigh, Terry Johnson, Abi Morgan, Dennis Kelly, Mike Bartlett and many more, and seen many of the acting world's leading lights tread its boards.
Some of whom may very well have begun their acting careers across the road at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama - or 'Central' as it's more commonly known.
Laurence Olivier was a student there, as were Judi Dench, Harold Pinter and Vanessa Redgrave.
The school, which opened in 1906, was originally housed at the Royal Albert Hall - a marginally more 'central' location than Swiss Cottage (though only just) - but moved to its own building in Swiss Cottage in 1957.
South of both of these buildings is another one with some history, though unconnected with the theatre.
This is the Swiss Cottage Central Library and is a Grade II Listed Building. It was designed by Sir Basil Spence and opened in 1964. It's definitely a building of its time, and I can't make up my mind whether I like it or not. It certainly isn't 'pretty', but it does catch the eye, which I suppose counts for something.
But that's about it for Swiss Cottage as far as I can tell. I grab a bite to eat at one of the many coffee shops on Finchley Road, before retracing my steps (again...) and heading back to the south east of London, and the Overground Line to Sydenham.
***
The station sits just off the main road - Sydenham Road - down the short and unimaginatively named 'Sydenham Station Approach'.
However, there's something rather unusual about the tracks on which my train arrives, in that they have actually been laid in what was once a canal. Way back on Day 3, while visiting Anerley, I noted a short section of waterway that was all that remained of the short-lived Croydon Canal. This was abandoned as being commercially unviable after only 27 years of use and was sold to the London and Croydon Railway, who drained the canal before turning it into a railway line.
(And before you all start a commenting frenzy, I realise that turning it into a railway without draining it first would have been rather tricky... you know exactly what I mean!)
Sydenham is the part of London to which the original 'Crystal Palace' structure from the Great Exhibition was moved in 1854 - giving its name to that bit of the area ever since.
I walk up the main road from the station - discovering (to my still-suffering calves' displeasure) that it's a very hilly area. Many of the road names reflect this - Sydenham Hill, Westwood Hill, Peak Hill, for example - and just to the north is the area known as Forest Hill.
On the other hand, some of the other road names do seem a little unusual. I walk up a road called Kirkdale, which - though vaguely North-Country sounding - isn't too unconventional, but then I come across Jews Walk.
The name itself is explained by the tale of a wealthy Jewish resident who planted the avenue of trees to mark the boundary of his daily walk. But the grammatical pedant in me sees the lack of apostrophe in the name, and immediately thinks it sounds like a statement of fact - as if the world was unaware of the Jews' ability to put one foot in front of the other...
At the top of Jews Walk is a drinking fountain erected as a memorial to Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, and restored for our own Queen's Silver Jubilee.
I've been following a triangular rout, and I turn back eastwards towards the station at the bottom of Jews Walk.
On this road - Westwood Hill - I spot two houses next door to each other, both with Blue Plaques.
The first commemorates George Grove - who was a Victorian writer and lover of music, who wrote the encyclopaedic 'Dictionary of Music and Musicians'.
And next door, is the former home of Polar explorer Ernest Shackleton - who undertook many expeditions to the Antarctic.
Next door to both of these is St. Bartholomew's Church, which has a couple of claims to fame.
It was painted by Pissarro in 1871 from the road opposite - Lawrie Park Avenue - and is also the final resting place of several workmen who died during the reconstruction of the Crystal Palace.
A plaque explains how twelve men, working on scaffolding, fell to their deaths when the framework collapsed under them.
Which isn't the happiest note on which to end, I admit - but it does mean the end, not just of another day's travelling, but also of the list of stations beginning with the letter 'S'.
Next time I'll be kicking off the 'Ts' - of which there are just twelve - followed, before too long I hope, by the six 'U' and two 'V' stations. At my present rate of progress I should have ticked that little lot off by the end of June - which is good because the 'Ws' are a rather longer list.
In fact - and of course it would be the final letter of my journey - it's the longest list of any letter of this entire venture, with a grand total of forty stations to visit.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. For now, let's just celebrate the completion of the 'Ss'. Hurrah!
Given that it's Britain's tallest piece of public art, at over 370 feet tall, you won't be surprised that I sensibly took the lift to the top of it. On the way down however, I felt that the 'scenic route' offered by the spiral staircase surrounding the tower would be more appropriate. And, at the time, the 455 steps seemed a very gentle descent.
However, for several days afterwards my calf muscles have been strenuously complaining.
In fact, I could go so far as to say that for a time they moved beyond complaints, and actually went on strike, returning to work only after prolonged negotiations and a hot bath.
So - feel free to visit the tower (indeed I urge you to do so) - but perhaps take a physiotherapist with you, just to be on the safe side...
***
Anyway, back to today.
After the glorious sunshine of last week, today feels oppressive and muggy. The heat is still there, but there are heavy clouds threatening rain and after only the brief walk to the station from home I could already do with a shower and a change of clothes.
Still - I only have a short-ish day ahead of me today, as there are just three stations left on my list of 'Ss', and it shouldn't be too much of a chore to tick them all off.
Two of them (Surrey Quays and Sydenham) are - conveniently - only a few stops apart on the Overground Line heading towards West Croydon.
Unfortunately, and rather less conveniently, they're interrupted alphabetically by Swiss Cottage, which is way up north-west on the diametrically opposite side of London. So - another day of heading back and forth along the same tracks.
It's a fairly straightforward journey to my first stop, Surrey Quays - Central Line to Bond Street, Jubilee Line to Canada Water, and Overground to Surrey Quays - and 45 minutes after boarding at Ealing Broadway, I'm there.
 |
| Surrey Quays |
Surrey Quays is just to the south of Rotherhithe and Canada Water, and is - as the name suggests - connected with the former London docks.
In fact, the station's earlier name was 'Surrey Docks' and it was only renamed in 1989 after the construction of the local shopping centre.
 |
| Surrey Quays Shopping Centre |
For reasons best known to marketing executives, the builders of the shopping centre preferred the word 'quays' to the word 'docks' (more 'Cannes' than 'Canning Town'?) and the name was gradually adopted by the surrounding area.
 |
| A typical day on the docks... apparently |
The shopping centre tries very hard to present a 'maritime' façade - with colourful murals of dock-life over the entrances and even an old ship's wheel turned into a clock.
 |
| Yo ho ho... |
However, just beyond the shopping centre, heading slightly east, is the main feature of the area - the docks themselves (or what remain of them).
 |
| Greenland Dock |
The main body of water is called 'Greenland Dock', with 'South Dock' (obviously) to the south.
The original 'Surrey Commercial Docks' were a system of nine docks, often (as usual) named after the countries they most traded with - hence Greenland Dock, Norway Dock, Canada Dock and so on. Like most of the area, it suffered a decline in the 20th Century but was extensively redeveloped in the 80s and 90s.
I take a walk around the perimeter of Greenland Dock, and as always I enjoy being by the water's edge.
At one point I spot an incongruous little building in front of one of the modern apartment blocks and stroll over to take a look.
 |
| Yard Office |
 |
| 'Search me, guv!' |
Seeing the little plaque attached to the building I expect to be informed as to its vital place in the history of the docks - but other than telling me that it is a 'Yard Office', the plaque is amusingly uninformative.
 |
| 'Curlicue' |
At the Thames end of the dock is a sculpture called 'Curlicue' by William Pye, which I think is supposed to represent the anchors of the ships that docked here in days gone by, but which reminds me more of those little puzzles you get in Christmas Crackers...
I complete my pleasant circuit of the dock, and head back towards the station.
 |
| Kids learning to sail |
 |
| Hmmm |
On my way I spot an intriguing piece of graffiti (or should it be 'street art') that catches my eye. It has a vaguely 'Banksy' look to it, though I'm pretty sure it isn't his work. Still, it's caught my eye and that's all I ask for in a piece of art - so whoever the artist is, they've done their job as far as I'm concerned.
But with nothing else really on offer in this part of town, I retrace (in part) my steps of this morning and head back to Canada Water and on to the Jubilee Line - this time heading north.
***
 |
| Swiss Cottage |
Swiss Cottage is, so the story goes, named after an inn called the Swiss Tavern, built in 1803-4 in the Swiss style, and later renamed the Swiss Cottage. As you emerge from the tube station you will see, next to the main Finchley Road on which the station stands, a pub very much bedecked with the ornate woodwork and shuttered windows required of any self-respecting Swiss Cottage. However, this is not the original, but a replacement built in the mid 1960s.
 |
| Ye Olde Swiss Cottage |
It should be obvious really - the sign above the pub proudly proclaims it to be 'Ye Olde Swiss Cottage' - and as everyone knows, anywhere describing itself as 'ye olde' is actually anything but...
Still, it adds a touch of eccentricity to an otherwise fairly run of the mill area.
 |
| Finchley Road |
The Finchley Road is the main - and very busy - road running northwards out of London through the area, and has a reasonable selection of shops and so on to cater for the locals - and for those visiting the area.
These visitors are likely (unless they're doing something silly like visiting tube stations alphabetically) to be attending one of the two establishments in the area that are both connected - in different ways - to the theatrical world.
These two buildings are located opposite one another just off the main road, and the first of them is the Hampstead Theatre.
 |
| Hampstead Theatre |
The Hampstead Theatre is one of the foremost theatres dedicated to producing new writing and has two spaces - a main house and a studio theatre. Over its 55 year history it has seen new work by such writers as Harold Pinter, Mike Leigh, Terry Johnson, Abi Morgan, Dennis Kelly, Mike Bartlett and many more, and seen many of the acting world's leading lights tread its boards.
 |
| 'Central School' |
Some of whom may very well have begun their acting careers across the road at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama - or 'Central' as it's more commonly known.
Laurence Olivier was a student there, as were Judi Dench, Harold Pinter and Vanessa Redgrave.
The school, which opened in 1906, was originally housed at the Royal Albert Hall - a marginally more 'central' location than Swiss Cottage (though only just) - but moved to its own building in Swiss Cottage in 1957.
South of both of these buildings is another one with some history, though unconnected with the theatre.
 |
| Swiss Cottage Library |
This is the Swiss Cottage Central Library and is a Grade II Listed Building. It was designed by Sir Basil Spence and opened in 1964. It's definitely a building of its time, and I can't make up my mind whether I like it or not. It certainly isn't 'pretty', but it does catch the eye, which I suppose counts for something.
But that's about it for Swiss Cottage as far as I can tell. I grab a bite to eat at one of the many coffee shops on Finchley Road, before retracing my steps (again...) and heading back to the south east of London, and the Overground Line to Sydenham.
***
The station sits just off the main road - Sydenham Road - down the short and unimaginatively named 'Sydenham Station Approach'.
 |
| Sydenham |
However, there's something rather unusual about the tracks on which my train arrives, in that they have actually been laid in what was once a canal. Way back on Day 3, while visiting Anerley, I noted a short section of waterway that was all that remained of the short-lived Croydon Canal. This was abandoned as being commercially unviable after only 27 years of use and was sold to the London and Croydon Railway, who drained the canal before turning it into a railway line.
(And before you all start a commenting frenzy, I realise that turning it into a railway without draining it first would have been rather tricky... you know exactly what I mean!)
Sydenham is the part of London to which the original 'Crystal Palace' structure from the Great Exhibition was moved in 1854 - giving its name to that bit of the area ever since.
 |
| Sydenham Road |
I walk up the main road from the station - discovering (to my still-suffering calves' displeasure) that it's a very hilly area. Many of the road names reflect this - Sydenham Hill, Westwood Hill, Peak Hill, for example - and just to the north is the area known as Forest Hill.
 |
| Kirkdale |
On the other hand, some of the other road names do seem a little unusual. I walk up a road called Kirkdale, which - though vaguely North-Country sounding - isn't too unconventional, but then I come across Jews Walk.
 |
| Jews Walk... but they're not the only ones. |
At the top of Jews Walk is a drinking fountain erected as a memorial to Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, and restored for our own Queen's Silver Jubilee.
 |
| Queen Victoria Memorial Fountain |
I've been following a triangular rout, and I turn back eastwards towards the station at the bottom of Jews Walk.
On this road - Westwood Hill - I spot two houses next door to each other, both with Blue Plaques.
 |
| George Grove's house |
The first commemorates George Grove - who was a Victorian writer and lover of music, who wrote the encyclopaedic 'Dictionary of Music and Musicians'.
 |
| Home of Ernest Shackleton |
And next door, is the former home of Polar explorer Ernest Shackleton - who undertook many expeditions to the Antarctic.
Next door to both of these is St. Bartholomew's Church, which has a couple of claims to fame.
 |
| St. Bartholomew's Church |
It was painted by Pissarro in 1871 from the road opposite - Lawrie Park Avenue - and is also the final resting place of several workmen who died during the reconstruction of the Crystal Palace.
 |
| Workers' Grave |
A plaque explains how twelve men, working on scaffolding, fell to their deaths when the framework collapsed under them.
 |
| The story of the accident |
Which isn't the happiest note on which to end, I admit - but it does mean the end, not just of another day's travelling, but also of the list of stations beginning with the letter 'S'.
Next time I'll be kicking off the 'Ts' - of which there are just twelve - followed, before too long I hope, by the six 'U' and two 'V' stations. At my present rate of progress I should have ticked that little lot off by the end of June - which is good because the 'Ws' are a rather longer list.
In fact - and of course it would be the final letter of my journey - it's the longest list of any letter of this entire venture, with a grand total of forty stations to visit.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. For now, let's just celebrate the completion of the 'Ss'. Hurrah!
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