Dawn Walks II

[juliet]

Got up at the truly horrendous hour of 5am this morning, in order to meet the lovely kitty_goth at Waterloo to go for the second of my dawn walks along the river. This time we went westwards - Waterloo (at the NFT) along to Vauxhall Bridge, and then back to collect my bike from Waterloo, & along to Southwark tube to get breakfast at a cafe (sadly they only had toast available for me, but Ben had bacon & eggs) & then head to work. Took us a couple of hours, though we weren't being particularly speedy - detours to peer at things, and lots of stops to look at the river and take photos. It was lovely and deserted, as well - and a very pretty morning (it's become cloudier since - I think we had the best of the day).

Things in no particular order:

• Seeing the Palaces of Westminster twice, once about 10min before dawn, once about an hour after, was cool - different light.
  
• Ben going "What the fuck is *that*!", pointing at Lambeth Palace.
  
• Tried to go across Vauxhall Bridge to have a look at some Henry Moore in a garden there, but they appear to be digging the garden up so no go.
  
• Discovered that the Thames Path appears to run out just past Vauxhall Bridge - it's been extended exactly as far as the Exciting New Development at St George's Wharf, but no further. Further investigation reveals that you can carry on walking past there, but you have to detour away from the river. Which we weren't up for anyway, so it was as well that we turned back then (not to mention how damn hungry I was when we finally got to breakfast...)
  
• Saw the bricked-out outlet of the River Effra, which used to flow into the Thames, by Vauxhall Bridge.
  
• There is a Museum of Garden History near Lambeth Bridge, which I wish to go visit sometime soon.
  
• The London Fire Brigade HQ has truly splendid doors & exciting gold pictures above the front door.
  
• Battersea Power Station seen from around Vauxhall Bridge is *gorgeous*.
  

Pictures to follow, when I've uploaded them. Blimey, I'm *still* starving. Splendid start to the day, though, even if I will be heading for an early night tonight.

Comments

Henry Moore

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

You probably already know this, but he did the Stations of the Cross in Westminster Cathedral. They're pretty good.

[arkady.livejournal.com]

I was up at the ungodly hour of 4:30am this morning, but it was for the rather more prosaic excuse of an early shift. The view from a Thameslink train window is nowhere near as pretty as the Thames at dawn, I'm afraid!

[hatmandu.livejournal.com]

>outlet of the River Effra

Corking stuff. I did a walk along the whole route of the Effra a coupla years back (lost rivers being one of my obsessions, and it was research for a book which others have rather beaten me to alas), starting in Norwood.

And I tracked down the outlet of the Falcon Brook to a housing estate in Battersea!

[popocatapetl.livejournal.com]

If it used to flow into the Thames, where does it go now?

[hatmandu.livejournal.com]

All part of the sewerage system...