 |
| HMS Belfast 'fires' her guns. |
What a year 2025 turned out to be!
I surpassed last year's walking and underground distances, while visiting new places, and some familiar places, with family and friends.
January
 |
| Almost good enough to eat. |
Some of the highlights from January included visiting Paddington and Kensington, where we saw 'The Wild Table of Love', 'Man in a Clock', Kensington Gardens, Gnome Land (again), the Design Museum and Japan House. At Japan House Keilyn and I visited the 'Looks delicious! Exploring Japan's food replica culture' exhibition, which was a wonderful and informative exhibition, which Keilyn really enjoyed.
Camden, Hampstead Heath, 'London School of Mosaic', the 'World Peace Garden' and the Regent's Park were all visited, too.
The 'Whitechapel Bell Foundry', 'Trinity Green Almshouses', the Regent's Canal, Mile End Park and Ropemakers Fields, Canary Wharf and Trinity Buoy Wharf, for what would be the first of three visits this year.
February
 |
| Knight of Cnihtengild. |
February saw me partaking in only a few walks. I saw the statue of the 'Knight of Cnihtengild' by Denys Mitchell, Elsyng Spital Church Tower, the Bell Building in Lambeth and the 'Sam the Cat' statue, all while learning much more.
March
 |
| BBC Television Centre. |
Some of the highlights from March saw us visit Swiss Cottage, Lancaster Gate, Portobello Road Market, BBC Television Centre, Shepherd's Bush Market and 'The Princess Victoria', one of London's last 'Gin Palaces'.
Crystal Palace Park and its dinosaurs, Primrose Hill, Camley Street Natural Park, the 'Word on the Water' bookshop on a boat, the grave of Joseph Grimaldi and various alleyways were also explored. A highlight was Emma and I staying at The Tower Hotel, for our anniversary.
April
 |
| Whale on the Wharf (Skyscraper). |
April highlights included visiting Barbican, the 'hidden' garden at St Vedast-alias-Foster, seeing possibly the oldest tree in the City of London, Tower Hill Market, Borough Market and Lambeth, where we discovered a piano that was once played by Charlie Chaplin Senior.
East India Docks, the 'Whale on the Wharf (Skyscraper)', West India Docks, Trinity Buoy Wharf (second visit) and the Royal Docks.
May
 |
| Erin in Mr Doodle's Doodle Box. |
Some of May's highlights included my third visit to Trinity Buoy Wharf, watching the London Marathon, a visit to Liberty London, and seeing Mr Doodle, at Outernet, with Erin.
The VE Day at 80 Celebrations saw us watching the flypast, from Waterloo Bridge, before making our way to London Bridge, where we saw HMS Belfast 'fire' her guns, which was a real treat.
Other visits were to Marlborough Road station (disused), discovering Harold Stabler's Decorative Tiles on the London Underground, the Government Code & Cypher School, the Museum of Childhood, the East End of The Krays, Spitalfields and the 'Herd of Hope'. Keilyn and I visited the Imperial War Museum, while Erin and I finally visited the Victoria & Albert Museum. Keilyn and I also visited the Bus Café for the first time.
June
 |
| Iron Maiden playing at the London Stadium, |
The biggest highlight was when my friend David, his son Antonio, Keilyn and I got to see Iron Maiden, at the London Stadium, as part of their 'Run For Your Lives' World Tour. An epic night that will live long in the memory.
Premier Inn breakfast!
July
 |
| Southbank House. |
July saw Keilyn and I take my grandson, Theodore, on a short walk to the Imperial War Museum. While other visits saw us visit Archbishop's Park, 'Nancy's old steps' and Southbank House.
One visit, that was supposed to be a highlight, ended up being a massive let down, And that was 'Elvis Evolution: The Immersive Experience', which ended up being a money-grabbing exercise by the company running it.
August
 |
| Inside the Jolly Gardeners is a piano played by Charlie Chaplin Senior. |
Having taken our summer holiday, towards the beginning of August, I only managed one walk, on my return.
This saw my friend Steve and I visit The Bus Café (my 2nd visit), before walking south through Lambeth, taking in the architecture, before making our way back to Waterloo station.
September
 |
| Keilyn at the London Ambulance Service headquarters. |
I spent September researching various areas, locations, memorials and such. This included the London Ambulance Service, Thomas Peirson Frank ("The Man who saved London from drowning, during The Blitz"), the Dragon Boundary Marks for the City of London, the Tibetan Peace Garden, the Aldgate Pump, Scammell Lorries and the Division Bell's of Westminster.
October
 |
| Erin with Glinda's dress, from Wicked For Good. |
This month saw Keilyn and I headed to London for our first Friday evening walk, in order to see London at night. Hopefully, this will become a regular activity.
Walking with Erin to see 'A Wicked Celebration', at the BFI, before visiting Crossbones Graveyard, the Fours Seasons Hotel Tower Bridge and Leadenhall Market.
Other highlights of October included seeing the 'Cain Memorial to Abolition of Slavery', discovering the Liberty Tower markers and the history of the 'Liberties of the Tower', the history of Pickering Place and much more.
Parkland Walk was a wonderful adventure, with Keilyn, that took us from Highgate to Finsbury Park. We finished the walk by visiting the old Highbury stadium and, then, the Emirates stadium.
October finished with Emma, Keilyn and I heading to Southwark. After visiting the Bus Café (3rd visit) and visiting the Clink Prison Museum, walking along the River Thames at night and staying at Premier Inn Tower Bridge. The next day, following a Premier Inn breakfast, we went to Greenwich and visited 'Cutty Sark'.
November
 |
| Watford Underground Station turned 100 this month. |
Although not in London Keilyn and I visited Watford Metropolitan underground station, on November 2, to celebrate its 100th anniversary. Keilyn also wrote a post, for this website, about London's gas-fuelled lamps.
The rest of the month was spent with family and friends. My daughter's birthday was followed by seeing a show at Watersmeet, in Rickmansworth, starring a great friend of mine. Then there was a weekend travelling to various garden centres to see the Christmas displays. The rest of the month was spent researching and planning trips to London.
December
 |
| The Christmas tree in Pickering Place. |
A solo 7-mile walk from Farringdon to Wapping, saw me visit the churches of All Hallows by the Tower, St George-in-the-East and London Docks. I also found myself on a street with four names, which was a little confusing. In Shadwell and Wapping I explored the history of the Ratcliff Highway Murders.
A week later we took a family trip to see some of the Christmas displays, lights and trees, and explored the city at night. Keilyn and I made our final trip to London, just after Christmas, where we walked from Lesnes Abbey to Woolwich.
- Bus - 27.2 miles
- Cable Car - 0.6 miles
- Car - 2.2 miles
- DLR - 1 miles
- Ferry - 0.0 miles
- Overground - 0.0 miles
- River Boat - 0.0 miles
- Taxi - 32.6 miles
- Train - 16.8 miles (Elizabeth line)
- Underground - 986.3 miles
- Walking - 168.9 miles
 |
| Trinity Buoy Wharf. |
No comments:
Post a Comment