diamond geezer

Saturday, December 30, 2017

dg 2017 index

Ten memorable London jaunts in 2017
1) Herbert Dip: 52 weekly-ish trips to London boroughs that never were. That was fun. For a full index, see here.
2) Open House: Choose carefully, and September's buildingfest never disappoints [photos]
3) Pedways: I hunted down all the City's elevated concrete leftovers.
4) Boring VII: Typically the annual Boring Conference never is.
5) Isabella Plantation: A cluster of glamorous shrubbery in the heart of Richmond Park [photos]
6) Walthamstow Wetlands: Numerous reservoirs, newly opened up and well worth a hike.
7) Syon House: It's taken me far too long to visit this historic mansion and its fine gardens [photos]
8) London postcodes: Which are the first and last London postcodes in alphabetical order? A surprisingly tricky question to answer.
9) Wembley Stadium: it was only to attend a shareholders meeting, but hey, I got a free lunch out of it.
10) Walking the Heathrow flightpath: So simple, so illuminating, so noisy.

Runners up: Newyears Green, walking T4→T5, 50 things to do, Exbury Egg, Silvertown explosion, air quality, Hackney Walk, Bromley Historic Collections, Westminster Bridge, Circus West, National Army Museum, Maypole, National Mills Weekend, barriers on bridges, V&A extension, Green Chain 7, Garden Bridge, New Addington, Big Ben's last bong, National Archives, Fenton House, Chessington, the Low Line, one two three swing, Holmesdale Tunnel, Bloomberg, Old Flo, Downe/Cudham/Pratts Bottom, London's steepest roads, Barking Riverside, Winter Wonderland, London Plan, winter fairs, Hacton, Kneller Hall, Stairway to Heaven

Tube: planned closures, Express Tube, window seats, staff shortages, Oyster v contactless, Greenwich Peninsula, Bakerloo extension, wifi trial, Eduardo Paolozzi, train loading, Met line extension, new tube map, D Stock farewell, no bus stop, zone boundaries, new tube map, anorak corner, Next Train Indicators, tunnels map, ticket machines, green lanes trial, pulped tube maps, DLR map, advertising screens, closing ticket offices, maximum fares, fare rises, step-free stations, off-peak, how many stations, ticked-off tube map
Rail: the Goblin reopens, station names, Waterloo closure, the ineffectual train, Overground capacity, OVERGROUND WEEK, anorak corner, Night Overground
Crossrail: 'Tunnel', the first train, Canary Wharf, Abbey Wood, in three parts, launch partners, 2018 tube map
Buses: 387, EL3, 52, 13, 94, 402, W5, 499, 298, Barkingside colour trial, Stratford changes, Crossrail-related changes, bus stop DG, bus maps discontinued, bus cuts, more bus cuts, missing timetables, Hopper grace period, more bus cuts
Dangleway: restaurant, fifth birthday, Thunderbirds Are Go

Bow: Bromley-by-Bow consultation, E3 coffee map, Widow's Son, Stroudley Walk
Bow Road: Next Train Indicators, update, update, update, update, update, 1907 signalling
Bus Stop M: update, update, update, update, other Bus Stop Ms
E20: Waterworks River path, Stadium Island, Barbers Road, 10 years after closing, Hero Village, 5 years later, Capital Towers, orienteering, driverless shuttle, QEOP update, Endeavour Square
Unlost rivers: Norbury Brook, Graveney, Ching, Folly Brook
London Loop: section 16, final round-up

Twelve long-distance UK trips
Jan) Leeds: I enjoyed the Royal Armouries, the Arcades, the canals, and omg the pork pies [photos]
Jan) Middlesbrough: A ride across the amazing Transporter Bridge (plus a visit to the National Railway Museum in Shildon) [photos]
Feb) Harrogate/Knaresborough: The former's a genteel spa town, but the latter is proper gorge-ous [photos]/[photos]
Feb) Exeter/Dawlish: First a look round Devon's county town, then by train to the proper seaside [photos]
Mar) Cardiff: Ymwelais â dwsin o leoedd ar fy nhraith dydd i brifddinas Cymru [photos]
Apr) Stourbridge/Dudley: Little trains, glassmaking, top geology and a canal tunnel cruise [photos]/[photos]
May) Birmingham: Specifically Aston, where Spaghetti Junction is (and then to the National Cold War Museum) [photos]
Jun) Tyneside: I spent a magnificent weekend in Newcastle, Gateshead and exploring down the Tyne [photos]
Sep) Liverpool: My thanks to the reader who accompanied me to Birkenhead Priory, Stanley Dock and down Penny Lane [photos]
Sep) Matlock: A cablecar, crags and gorgeous scenery on the edge of the Peak District [photos]
Oct) Manchester: Specifically Quarry Bank Mill, the Co-op in Rochdale and New Islington
Oct) Hull: A triumphant splurge of top-class art invaded the 2017 City of Culture [photos]

Ten favourite Out-of-London destinations (other than the above)
1) Ghent: Because Bruges is over-visited, and Brussels is nowhere near as pretty [photos]
2) The Needles: The chairlift over Alum Chine is the ultimate in low-tech spectacular [photos]
3) Les Catacombes: A macabre attraction in the dead centre of Paris (with annoyingly long queues)
4) Cliveden: The Astors' amazing Bucks mansion (and a splendid stretch of Thames Path to boot) [photos]
5) Folkestone Triennial: Every three years, art installations make this must-visit seaaside [photos]
6) Virginia Water: I highly recommend a long walk round the lake and a diversion into Valley Gardens.
7) Wakehurst: The other part of Kew Gardens, in deepest West Sussex, where the seedbank and stunning trees are [photos]
8) Sandwich: To improve a visit to this Cinque Port, turn up on Heritage Open Days weekend [photos]
9) Brighton: A five-clue Treasure Hunt, striding out over the Downs to Hassocks.
10) Beachy Head: My most favourite walk, from Eastbourne to Seaford via the Seven Sisters [photos]

Runners up: Nork, Warlingham and Woldingham, Building Research Establishment, Derby, Framlingham Castle, Chesham Outer Ring, Crawley
Least used stations: Swale, Buckenham
Beyond London: Brentwood, Thurrock, final roundup
North Downs Way: day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4, day 5

Ten other favourite posts from 2017: Bob Dylan painted my photograph, Ginopolis, milko, UV Index, trigger happy, categorising photographs, Chocolate Week, DG shop, solar elevation, toilet map

Half of my ten favourite photos of the year:

(or all ten here)

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