Old London Underground map

Apologies for the suck-tastic picture (it was cold and I was miserable and my camera was feeling the same...) - Whilst walking along the Victoria Embankment, I came across this old LU map. Notice how it doesn't have some of the newer stuff on it (as well as the fact that it's in an older style, and more geographically correct), such as the fact that the Northern Line goes much further than in the map.


(Get there: Temple (LU))

Carey Street motorcycle bays

I always smile a bit when I see innovative solutions for bikers in cities or means of parking for motorbikes - such as the parking bay on the right in this picture =)


(Carey Street, WC2)

Faulkner's Alley

I love little alleys like this one with old buildings such as the one below which appears to be some kind of former warehouse and it's outdated light.

Greenwich Foot Tunnel

I hope you've all had a lovely Valentines and/or Chinese New Year! Mine was nothing interesting, doing a bit of cooking and a film but it was good! Dad's now out during the shop closure so it's all good, and today was spent at the library and learning the streets of the Capital on Duke.

I've got nothing better to post so this week's entry is on the Greenwich Foot Tunnel in London. Construction was started in 1899 and it was opened in 1902. It links the Isle of Dogs with Greenwich and replaced a previous ferry service. At the time the Isle of Dogs and surrounding area was occupied by shipyards and docks and it's purpose was for their workers to get across the Thames. (The old Chinatown was also in neighbouring Limehouse.)

So here we go - the Greenwich side is next to the Cutty Sark, a 19th century clipper (that's a ship, for you guys who have no idea what a 'clipper' is). It's currently all covered and fenced off as it was undergoing renovation work before an accidental fire burnt parts of it. Both sides have a building similar to the one pictured, with a spiral staircase and addition of a lift.



For safety reasons, there is no cycling.

And this is the other side - it sits in what is Island Gardens.


Looking back over the Thames to Greenwich, you can see the tunnel building as in the first of the pictures.


Getting there: Island Gardens (DLR)/Cutty Sark (DLR)

Thanks for reading, speak soon! =)

Calne, and a bit of Wiltshire

These pictures are now a few weeks old, but I'll chuck them on here anyhow! There's a lot more to see considering Wiltshire is rather big and I always travel West to East (and vice versa) rather than North to South. I like Wiltshire though, because it's very, very country, compared to neighbouring Berkshire. That said, Wiltshire also has some of the worst roads (especially with new potholes on the usual roads that have opened up since the snow and ice!). Still, this is my bit of Wiltshire along the A4.


Took Duke out on another big outing, this time with a few pictures of Calne, which is probably one of my favourite Wiltshire towns (the other being Marlborough) and lies on the edge of the Marlborough Downs. Calne has quite a number of stone buildings and has a prosperous history. Historically it is known for rearing pigs (on their way from Ireland, through Bristol and onto Smithfield Market in London) and also cloth. It's quite pretty!

This little bit of street is called Market street - Calne was once a market town.

The main street, Curzon Street:


This is St Mary's church, built in the 15th century from donations from clothiers and wool merchants:


Many of the buildings were built with stone in a yellow colour such as these:


This is the, rather elegant, Town Hall:

..and right next to it is a river or a canal - I can't tell and the map isn't clear.

About 3 miles east of Calne is the village of Cherhill. Cherhill is known for it's White Horse - one of many across this region of the UK. It's not the oldest, and it's white colour is a result of the chalk which was restored in 2002 - I assume it was originally chalk before then. It was made in 1780, and although it has had an "eye" made from glass bottles which glistened in the sun on a few occasions, those have "disappeared" and is now made from stone and concrete. By now, the weather started getting a bit bad, it was getting dark and my phone's cradle setup was crackling due to the shaking from the handlebars.. so here is a MUCH better picture from a previous visit: (I don't know that guy on the motorbike, he just happened to be in it! =)


By now it's getting really bad for picture-taking, and we're now in the Marlborough Downs, but this is a building covered in vegetation with only the windows left uncovered in Beckhampton, another few miles further down.

Also in Beckhampton is one of the prettiest pubs I've seen - the Wagon and Horses. It gets it's name from being a coaching inn in the past for travellers stopping on journeys from London to Bath. Dickens travelled this way in 1835 and wrote: "It was a comfortable-looking place. There was a strong cheerful light in the bar-window" in the Pickwick Papers. I also have a much nicer and not-so-gloomy picture of the pub, from a previous trip that dad took of me and mum, so here it is!:

Last stop before it really got too dark to take pictures... this is Silbury Hill, an ancient man-made mound measuring 40 metres high. No one really knows what it was built for, but there is an overwhelming view of it as you come near from either direction of the A4. You can't help but wonder, "what an earth is that?" - I did! Not far from here is the village of Avebury, which has an ancient stone circle similar to Stonehenge, but on a much smaller scale. Perhaps I'll visit that in a month or two to get some nice pictures =)

... and that, is my bit of Wiltshire for this month!

How one house is recycling in Bristol

If you're familiar with Bristol's recycling system, you'll know that every unit (be it a household or flat) gets a black kerbside box to place all their recyclable wares in it.

This house (which has been split into a number of flats, I've been inside...) has decided to pool together their recycling boxes to sort their recyclables... interesting..!