Sat 1: Several new 'No pedestrians', 'No cycling' and 'No horses' signs have gone up alongside the A12, and you are so lucky I haven't blogged about that yet. Sun 2: My smart TV (aged 7) won't do much that's smart any more. Most of the apps that used to work have vanished, those that remain are rubbish and the web browser now allows you to go no further than the manufacturer's homepage. Mon 3: I've lost count of the number of times English Heritage have mailed me over the last 18 months urging me to renew my annual membership. It's late summer during a pandemic, guys, not likely. Tue 4: My local library still hasn't reopened so the return date on the four books I took out in March has now been extended (again, again, again) to 1st October. Wed 5: Watched ITV's local evening news in case I was walking past while they were interviewing Christine Ohuruogu, but they must have cut that section out. Thu 6:Signs of autumn: The football pitches on Hackney Marshes are being repainted, and a few of the goalposts replanted.
Fri 7: Ooh, LNER are doing cheap midweek train tickets during August. Ten pounds to York, fifteen to Newcastle, twenty to Edinburgh. Normally I'd leap at the chance, but 2020 is not normal and I haven't even been to King's Cross recently, let alone the north. I bet trains to Lincoln are quiet, though... Sat 8: After yesterday's 36.4°C, London just experienced a 'tropical night' when the temperature didn't drop below 20°C. We'll miss the heat when it's gone (and curse when it becomes the new normal). Sun 9: Dear BBC iPlayer, I started watching that series about supernatural French surfers but it was rubbish, so I do not want to be continually reminded to watch episode 2. Mon 10: Actually I'm not sure I could survive seven hours in Lincoln, not with access to the castle and cathedral being more restricted than usual... but I see there are onward trains to Grimsby and that sounds much more my cup of tea. Go on then, I'll buy a ticket and surprise myself. Tue 11: Three roses bloomed on my balcony last night, which is unusual because normally the bush only flowers once. I blame the unprecedented heatwave (or the Baby Bio).
Wed 12: TfL have built a bus stand next to Custom House station with room for one terminating route, maybe two, so it looks like they're serious about rejigging the local bus network in readiness for (cough) Crossrail. Thu 13: It's still 'Happy Pride' at Westfield, according to the banners nobody's taken down outside M&S. Fri 14: The lady behind me at the supermarket checkout nudged up a little closer than felt comfortable, then put 18 bottles of Tippex and four staplers on the belt. Sat 15: Sky Arts are filming whatever the Sky Arts version of Watercolour Challenge is, with the contestants spread out across the northernmost bridge in the Olympic Park. They've not got the best weather for it. Sun 16: It's early Sunday morning and I'm walking through a very quiet Mile End. OMG that's MichaelaCoel crossing the road towards me! It's definitely her. I've just watched twelve episodes of I May Destroy You and she was excellent. What do you do, what do you say, how do you act? I decide the most respectful thing to do is smile. She smiles back, and that is my day made. Mon 17: The new album from Dizzee Rascal is to be called E3 AF, which looks well cool flyposted across a shopfront in Roman Road but somewhat provocative on a wall in Whitechapel.
Tue 18: ITV are filming The Only Way Is Essex on the bridge by the Aquatics Centre in the Olympic Park. Technically this was once Essex so they are historically correct. I keep well out of the way. Wed 19: The burnt out van on Stephenson Road I told you about, the one with a toilet dumped in front, has now been joined by an abandoned organ. Thu 20: Quite fancied a walk round Bow Ecology Park, but spotted two blokes in padded jackets training an alsatian to bite them, so decided against. Fri 21: My trip to Lincolnshire is pencilled in for Tuesday, and it's becoming increasingly apparent from the the weather forecast that I couldn't have picked a worse day of the week. Sat 22: The sign outside the Hot Tub Boats kiosk at West India Quay promises 'London's Most Unique Experience'. The dour faces of the two groups of partygoers adrift off the quayside suggested otherwise. Sun 23:Signs of autumn: Half of Hackney Marshes is awash with Sunday footballers (but there are still cricketers on the other half, so all is not lost). Mon 24: The Eagle pub in Chobham Road, E15, has a sign in the window saying 'Cash Only', in case you were labouring under the false assumption that the contactless event horizon had been passed. Tue 25: I haven't been on a train in five months. Today I'm taking seven.
train 1: I need to be at King's Cross at 8am but have no idea how busy the tube is, so rather than risk Bow Road I walk all the way to Aldgate to catch the Metropolitan line (and get ridiculously wet in the process). My new Oyster card works. The train is as quiet as it would normally be. train 2: King's Cross is uncannily empty for the peak of the morning rush hour. I have a reserved seat on the train to Lincoln, but someone is already sitting in the seat next to mine (which is not how the compulsory reservation system is supposed to work) so I go and sit at the even quieter end of the carriage instead. I see fields and cows for the first time in months. The train never gets busy. train 3: The little train to Grimsby is easily distanceable. Lincolnshire looks grey and miserable. train 4: My onward journey to Cleethorpes only takes eight minutes, but the two conductors still manage a full ticket check. train 5: The little train from Grimsby is easily distanceable. Lincolnshire looks green and gorgeous. train 6: The LNER service back to King's Cross is much better policed than the trip up. Mel the conductor patrols the train politely reprimanding anyone who's slipped off their face covering, and makes regular announcements to remind everyone to sit in their reserved seat. We like Mel. train 7: By now it's well after the evening peak so I decide to take the Hammersmith & City line all the way home. We have plenty of seats each. In fact all today's trains have been perfectly fine... but then I did choose them for that very reason.
Wed 26: The penultimate day of Eat Out To Help Out is exceptionally busy at Here East. I haven't seen the riverside this busy since last summer (or maybe it's just that everybody's now eating outdoors rather than indoors). Thu 27: If you're looking for additional psychogeographical London content I heartily recommend keeping an eye on The Lost Byway - John Rogers' blog - on which he's often to be found walking across outskirts, contemplating woodland or following a lost river. He also makes films and has a YouTube channel. It's very much your kind of thing. Fri 28: The bus map outside Canning Town station is ten years old today. It is still nearly correct, but should have been updated nine years ago when the 241 was extended to Stratford City. A map in a bus shelter on Woolwich High Street is five weeks older (or at least it was last time I looked). Sat 29:Signs of autumn: Last year the first autumn day that didn't reach 15°C was 2nd October. This year it was 29th August. Sun 30: Turned on the oven, light came on, fan whirred into action. Came back ten minutes later to shove a pie in only to discover that the oven hadn't heated up. Tried again, still no joy. Thankfully it's a dual oven so I didn't go pieless, but that is a poor show from a nine-month-old appliance. Mon 31: If your 13 year-old son headed off this morning on his chunky-wheeled bike, he may well be among the 200-strong posse assembled outside Pudding Mill Lane station doing wheelies on the piazza (unless the police van that just arrived dispersed the gathering, in which case he may be flicking Vs at drivers on the A12 or regrouping at McDonalds for a banana milkshake).
