Sun 1: I went back to Barking Riverside now its pier is open, and I can confirm a) it's a very long pier b) from tip to riverbank is a 2½ minute walk c) nobody lives within 10 minutes of the boat d) a handful of people are already using it.
Mon 2: Eid very rarely coincides with a bank holiday, so it was a joy to see the full length of Whitechapel Road buzzing with men and families in their finest white clothing, some clutching balloons, streaming merrily towards mosque. Tue 3: TfL are still announcing "We strongly recommend you wear a face covering over your nose and mouth" on trains and at stations, which is fair enough because it's only a recommendation. But the announcement continues "Some exemptions apply" which is ridiculous because we've all been exempt for the last ten weeks. And then it goes on "Please be considerate and remember that exemptions may not always be visible or obvious", which is utterly irrelevant given that nobody has to wear anything any more, indeed a complete non-sequitur. Does nobody listen to these announcements before they subject us to them over and over? Wed 4: Remember we had a sweepstake on which day Crossrail would open? Only one person guessed correctly but they didn't leave a name, so there's lack of forethought for you. Thu 5: Managed to squeeze in voting between a day trip to Northants and pizza night at BestMate's, not that it did much good. Fri 6: My oven has finally been fixed and it only took 38 days. The engineer chucked the dead fan into my recycling, but thankfully I noticed before I took the bag out. Then I celebrated with a pie. Sat 7: I was half an hour from home when half the sole on my trainers came unstuck, and I had to flap back home for a new pair (being very very careful on escalators to avoid accidental mutilation). Sun 8: Today's walk I never blogged about: the Silk Stream, the misery of nu-Colindale, a discarded panda in Montrose Playing Fields, Barnet Millennium Walk, a bouncy bridge over the Burnt Oak Brook, Arrandene Open Space, Mill Hill village pond, Ridgeway Views.
Mon 9: Inflationwatch: 500g bag of own-brand pasta - one year ago 53p, six months ago 70p, now 75p. (↑ 41%) Tue 10: Nextdoor are having some building work done so have left their front door open, which proved an interesting lesson in the mutual geometry of our flats, and now I know how close to their hallway I am every time I strip off and have a bath. Wed 11: A special hello to the gentleman on the Central line this morning who was reading my blog on his phone. It's the first time in 20 years I've ever seen my content being consumed in situ! If you were the tall beardy bloke wearing Sony headphones, a black baseball cap and a North Face jacket who alighted at Liverpool Street, that was me squashed into the space beside you thinking "OMG, I thought I recognised that grey background". Thu 12: All the decent songs were in the first Eurovision semi-final because the second was a bit pants. Fri 13: Buses I rode today: 432, 417, 249, G1, 77, 270, 28, 424, C3, 31.
Sat 14: It's 150 years since the first Cup Final, so I was intending to write a post about how the first ever goalscorer lived in Caterham in the big house with the cedar tree out front, but instead Birmingham got in the way, sorry. Sun 15: If you're going to publish an excitable article about a forthcoming lunar eclipse, or 'blood moon' as the clickbaiters will insist on calling it, at least have the honesty to mention that the weather forecast is overcast and nobody will see it. Mon 16: Successfully dodged the TV cameras again. Tue 17: Today's walk I never blogged about: Kew Bridge, Brentford's still-Premiership stadium, Gunnersbury Temple, the North Korean embassy, Fox Lane on Hanger Hill, the best view of Wembley Stadium from Tokyngton footbridge.
Wed 18: Near Woolwich Dockyard station an old lady was taking her tortoise for a walk along the pavement (or at least watching it carefully after it had inched out of her front gate), and I suspected this was a regular occurrence. Thu 19: The Greenway never used to be this busy of an evening. Tonight I was forever dodging cyclists, skaters, dogwalkers, joggers and delivery bikers... and I suspect it's the latter making all the difference. Fri 20: I haven't yet written about today's city trip so technically it's unblogged, but I do intend to write about it eventually so best I don't mention it here. Sat 21: We all have relationships that somehow never happened. One of mine from years ago sparked briefly this afternoon, and then sparked out again. Sun 22: Today's walk I never blogged about: Beam Parklands, the remains of the Romford Canal, a statue of Billy Bragg, a footbridge over the District line, Eastbrookend cafe, multiple angling niches, the Central Park gash.
Mon 23: I picked up a Central London Footways map from Liverpool Street (just launched and available at several London railway stations). It's an excellent resource, depicting carefully-researched quiet walking routes in a legible and appealing manner, and a definite improvement on the original iteration. Grab yours while free stocks last. Tue 24: The really important Crossrail question turns out to be 'What's my nearest station?', so with the aid of a stopwatch I've confirmed that Canary Wharf and Whitechapel are both 16 minutes away. That's front door to platform and assumes perfect onward connections, which hardly ever happens, and is frankly a bit of a letdown considering how fast the rest of the journey now is. Wed 25: Damn you Wordle. I've got every single word correct since December but today you decided my current streak was only two rather than the 148 it ought to be, and it's going to take another five months to overcome that evil blip. Thu 26: Had to change buses in Chichester, but only briefly so all I saw was roadworks, a spire and the Shippams clock. Fri 27: I watched the red carpet outside the Abba Arena being rolled up, and boggled slightly that the entire group were standing on it last night in advance of tonight's public opening. Sat 28: I accidentally stumbled into crowds of Wigan and Huddersfield supporters pouring towards White Hart Lane for the Rugby League Challenge Cup Final, hunting for food and/or beer before kick-off and bedecked in an assortment of up-to-date and out-of-date jerseys. The stadium may be enormous but it did seem ridiculous dragging everyone 200 miles south to an area with no local interest in the game.
Sun 29: Ride London, the day-long festival of cycling, has shifted its road circuit from Surrey to Essex this year with the result that a massive number of local roads were closed. These included chunks of the A11, A12 and A13, indeed the entire Bow roundabout, and completely buggered most Lower Lea Valley bus services. The cyclists seemed to be having a great time, be they lycra speedsters already at Mile 95 or puffy stragglers only at Mile 9, but that bus diversion via the Olympic Park is 35 minutes I will never get back. Mon 30: I rode Crossrail for free from Heathrow Terminals 2&3 to Heathrow Terminal 5, and it was slow, empty and architecturally depressing. Tue 31: In advance of four days of Platinum shenanigans, Buckingham Palace has already disappeared behind a screen of barriers and a massive media village at the foot of Green Park. The Mall looks great with all its flags, and Saturday's big stage is set up and ready beneath the Victoria Memorial, but you have to feel for the tourists who jetted in for the jubilee and can't get anywhere close.
