please empty your brain below
Great stuff, makes me think of some of the work of Richard Long.

Kevin | 12.04.18 - 7:10 a.m. | #

No City AM at Devons Road station, since Easter my local stations have had no City AM's when I get there. Maybe they are printing less copies.

John | 12.04.18 - 7:11 a.m. | #

50 minutes - South Quay. That little shopping precinct (which had to be rebuilt after the IRA bomb - the bomb left the shopkeeper with what we now euphomistically call life changing injuries) is about to be flattened for yet another tower block of apartments.

IslandDweller | 12.04.18 - 7:36 a.m. | #

1 hour 30 minutes. New Capital Quay. The concierge has a more important duty than managing the lift lobby. That building has the same cladding system as Grenfell Tower, and it is now an insurance requirement that the building has 24 hour patrol. The residents/owners are in a court battle with the freeholder and the developer about who pays to replace the cladding - and the first court decision was against the residents/owners. It's made flats in this building impossible to resell.

IslandDweller | 12.04.18 - 7:43 a.m. | #

One: Are "Large" copies of the pictures available?
Clicking on the samll ones produces nothing...
Two: If you do the other compass-points ... then ... North, you will pass very close to me, but not along my road - you will probably traverse either Stainforth Rd or West Avenue Road (Walthamstow)
Three: Fascinating changes in "scenery"

123 | 12.04.18 - 7:52 a.m. | #

Walking is very good exercise.

Leuconoe | 12.04.18 - 7:56 a.m. | #

That's a rather good idea DG. I'm inspired.

Lux | 12.04.18 - 7:58 a.m. | #

DG, was there a single point during this marathon trek that you really enjoyed? Apart from the start at the church, with the daffodils, it seems to me to be a well written reason why nobody with choice would wish to live in South East London. Your prose, as ever, was brilliant but the subject was truly depressing. I know it was a gloomy day but your journey seems to be to have been one of unremitting dullness. Other than, presumably, a quick train or bus journey home.

J | 12.04.18 - 8:02 a.m. | #

Nice to see the name Millwall lives on in the area. A name the developers appear to be determined to not apply to any of their reconstructions of the locality. Should the 1980's Millwall outer dock ever find itself gentrified it is predictable that it will be called Aspirational Towers or some such. The bad boys of Millwall FC too much of a downer on marketing I guess.

DannyR | 12.04.18 - 8:34 a.m. | #

See also: Go West - a westerly hike from Bow to Perivale, blogged in June 2005.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 12.04.18 - 8:57 a.m. | #

...a nod to upscaled gentrification, .... A cuppa costs a quid.

Some disconnect here, surely?

dg writes: The very idea of a coffee stall in Devons Road would have been utterly ridiculous until they built the new flats round the corner.

Pedantic of Purley | 12.04.18 - 9:20 a.m. | #

Another fascinating post , as always.
A small opportunity for pedantry here, the Lewisham Office is actually a Register Office, although for some reason most people call them Registry Offices, and here in York, where we have just moved, there are signs pointing to the 'Registry Office'.

RogerB | 12.04.18 - 9:38 a.m. | #

Walk 3 hours north? You'll end up in Ponders End, Enfield according to my calculations. 3 hours east and it'll be somewhere in Dagenham.

Adrian | 12.04.18 - 9:58 a.m. | #

I don't know why but I always assumed Lewisham and Catford were further west than Greenwich!

Whiff | 12.04.18 - 10:09 a.m. | #

I basically use the same method when walking in London and other cities, pick a starting point and walk. I don't stick rigidly to a line, instead I'll just turn into a street that looks interesting that I haven't seen before.
I find it the best way to get a feel for a town or city.

"There’s only one way to learn about any town and that is to walk as much as you can."

From This is London by Jimmy, 1944

Tetramesh | Homepage | 12.04.18 - 10:40 a.m. | #

Clearly whoever lives at 101 has had enough of the chancers and scumbags that make cold calls, if you are expecting the doctor or a nurse, then you can't just ignore the doorbell.

However I have never felt the urge to employ someone to 'fix my chimney' or 'tarmac the drive', or alternatively let someone check my back garden because 'someone broke into my van' just because they happen to knock on my front door.

Still Anon | 12.04.18 - 10:45 a.m. | #

Wow, lack of graffiti in London always amazes me. If the Greenwich foot tunnel were in Paris you'd barely discern the tiles were white.

Chris | 12.04.18 - 11:39 a.m. | #

J, SE London is largely the same as every other corner of London. Houses, shops, flats, roads. Some, as elsewhere, are nicer than others. Just as there are enclaves of (usually expensive)pleasantry in other parts of London, so there are in SE London. I don’t suppose a walk due north will reveal much of difference.

Anonymous | 12.04.18 - 12:10 p.m. | #

It wasn't until I looked at the same distances due NESW from my location that I realised that, blimey, that's a long way!
If I copy this I might try 3-5 miles or I'll be stuck in the middle of nowhere forever more, or face a long walk home again!

Cornish Cockney | 12.04.18 - 12:24 p.m. | #

Thank you 'Anonymous' for your view on the J comment. You got in before me.
I am looking forward to reading about DG's trek due north and east. I expect it will be much the same as today's post,like the curate's egg some parts might be quite good. 😏

Jo W | 12.04.18 - 1:09 p.m. | #

I would encourage anyone who commutes within London to try and make the same journey on foot at least once over the summer.

Even if it takes 3 hours, it's a great experience. You notice all sorts of things you don't see on the bus / train / tube.

ap | 12.04.18 - 1:28 p.m. | #

Do you take notes during your walks DG or use a voice recorder?

Jerym | 12.04.18 - 4:39 p.m. | #

Each verbal snapshot a little gem. Put me down at 18 random locations, and I might manage to produce a couple of half readable observations, but I could never manage the lot. I just don't know how DG does it.

I agree that walking (or gently cycling) around any built up area is the only way to get to know it properly.

Malcolm | 12.04.18 - 6:15 p.m. | #











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