Half of my 15000 Flickr photos were taken in London. So I wondered if there were any parts of London I hadn't photographed, or indeed visited.
I used Flickr to cobble together a giant map of the capital to show where my London photos have been taken, and started looking for the gaps.
The darker yellow circles are gaps with a diameter of three miles. The lighter yellow circles are gaps with a diameter of nearer two. Only gaps that fall within the Greater London boundary are included
Altogether I found fifteen gaps where, inexplicably, I had never uploaded a photo. It turns out I have indeed been to almost all of these places for blogging purposes, and taken photos, just never stuck any of them on Flickr. Sometimes the area was a bit dull. Sometimes the weather was so grey and miserable that no decent photos came out. But today I thought I'd raid those unFlickrd photos to fill in the gaps, and see if I could tempt you to take a look.
Gaps 2 and 3: Mid-Hillingdon, between South Ruislip and Hayes New photo:Golden Bridge, where Charville Lane crosses the Yeading Brook, is badly named because it's actually a concrete arch. I deliberately walked Charville Lane earlier this summer because I recognised I had a gap in my London knowledge (ditto Yeading back in January). New photo:Stockley Park footbridge, a longer, larger, spikier beast within a reclaimed business park, and one of the few off-canal highlights of London Loop section 11.
Gap 5: Friern Barnet, between Finchley and Arnos Grove New photo:Friern Barnet Town Hall served just 30000 residents, was built during World War Two and mimics Watford Town Hall. It's now flats.
Gap 6: The Havering void, between Rainham and North Ockendon New photo:Two local residents in a pony and trap on the Aveley Road, in this godforsaken scrappy rural backwater that might be London's most undervisited corner. New photo:Damyns Hall Aerodrome, a two-strip airfield and flight school which still doesn't appear on Ordnance Survey maps because it was once 'secret'. New photo:Belhus Woods Country Park, run by the Essex Wildlife Trust but somehow half in London, including this fowl-topped lake.
Gap 7: Rochester Way, around Kidbrooke and Blackheath New photo:Kidbrooke Village - yet another badly named development, but marginally softened by a bit of waterside gardening. Seen here at the height of autumn 2016.
Gap 8: Northumberland Heath, between Belvedere and Bexleyheath New photo:Erith's Hovis factory, one of the few interesting features I found amid central Bexley's interminable expanse of unremitting suburbia. New photo:Bursted Wood, which looks like it could be any suburban park, but with a dash of wintry sparkle.
Gap 9: SE Bexley, between Bexley village and Joydens Wood New photo:Modern Screws, a shop with reassuringly retro signage, on the last shopping parade before Kent begins.
Gap 11: Sutton south, between Ewell and Wallington New photo:Belmont station, another single platform halt of little regional consequence (and London's 10th least used station).
Gap 12: Croydon south, between South Croydon and Coulsdon New photo:The Purley clock, a Gillett & Johnston 'Balmoral' 2-dial Pillar clock with a standard overall height of 3810 mm.
Gap 14: Orpington, between St Paul Cray and Chelsfield New photo:Crundale Tower on Tintagel Road, one of three large tower blocks on the Ramsden Estate, because even outer Bromley can do gritty.
Gap 15: SE Bromley, between Downe and Knockholt New photo:Pratts Bottom, which is a brilliant name for a village in the outer reaches of shouldn't-really-be-in London. New photo:A Pratts Bottom sign, the ideal spot for a selfie, for the lols. New photo:The Blacksmith's Arms, a pub in Cudham which was the childhood home of Harry Relph, better known as music hall star Little Tich. New photo:Downe Road, Cudham, which is, as far as we were able to ascertain, London's steepest hill (with a 1 in 4 gradient).
If you've been paying attention, you'll have spotted that there are two gaps where I don't have any photos. One I'd only been through on the bus, and one I genuinely hadn't been to before. So my next plan is to visit those gaps, take some photos and come back and tell you about these unvisited, unblogged areas. And then that'll be London finished.
