Going walkies

While the weather is good is a good time to get some exercise, preferably out in the countryside.

Saturday's walk was billed as "River Brent and Osterley - a leisurely 6 mile walk".

After traversing the little park near the station, we passed under Brunel's Wharncliffe viaduct -

The story goes that Queen Victoria would have her train stopped on the viaduct so that she could admire the view (photo of view not possible just now...)

Further along, the Hanwell flight of locks -

 and this charming lock keeper's cottage -

Beside the locks is a mighty wall, repaired in crucial places -

Behind it was - and is - the asylum. St Bernard's Hospital is still active as part of West London NHS Mental Health Trust. It came into being in 1831 (when prisons, cemeteries, etc were being shifted to the outskirts of London), and the old buildings are still there ... behind that wall ...

Over the canal -

 ... over the M4 -

 ... and soon to Osterley Park, well used on a sunny Saturday afternoon -

 A long tea stop at Osterley House cafe -

On the way to Isleworth station, this imposing building - Borough Road College, now Lancaster House, Osterley campus of Brunel University. The college dates back to 1889 in this location, and 1798 on its former site on the Borough Road in Soutwark. 

 Through leafy streets to the station (and a little window shopping in Richmond) -

I couldn't trace the exact route on the map -

It didn't feel like "enough" walking so I tried a longer walk the next day:

Seer Green to Amersham via Penn Street

Moderate 11.3 miles / 18.2 km

Linear to Amersham Station (Metropolitan Line, Zone 9) over gently undulating terrain via Coleshill Common, Winchmore Hill, Penn Street, Little Missenden and Amersham Old Town. Through beech woods, some good views and attractive villages. Lunch stop at 'The Squirrel' pub or bring picnic.

As this walk was twice as long, there are twice as many photos - taken on the hoof as the pace was verging on "challenging" for me.

The golden road not taken

Lanes, fields, blue sky

Woods and leaf-litter

Inky caps - exciting to see them after reading about them in years past

Unlike on television, the scenery is 3D

The sign on the post at left says "Quilts" - but I'm not sure of the name of the village

Another sign, in front of Winchmore Hill Memorial Hall

More woods - of a different sort

Lunch stop - but buying a drink didn't give us the "right" to eat our own food on the benches outside

Penn Street village church, at the edge of  Penn Wood

"Mop End" - ah those quaint names!

Regrowth of beech

Across the fields to some village or other...

... Little Missenden

Little Missenden Manor House - its tall chimneys visible from afar

Countryside pursuits

The little river flows under the houses ... charming

Woodsmoke, the smell of autumn

Reminds me of Anselm Kiefer

The house at the top of the hill...

... and its lake at the bottom of the hill (Humphrey Repton dammed the River Misbourne to create it)

Old Amersham runs...

... along a long street ...

... to the 1682 Market Hall ...

... and the church is round the corner

Climbing the (considerable) hill to New Amersham

Through more lovely woods ...

... and finally to the station. The last mile was definitely the toughest, but I'll happily do it again. Red kites and buzzards overhead, flinty fields and crisp leaves underfoot. Not too much mud - yet.

Hitting the buffers

Buffers at Paddington Station

To hit the buffers is to come to a sudden and unsuccessful end. It implies a massive force moving at speed - like a train with brake failure, about to overshoot the station. Good thing they installed these big ones ... just in case. 

More commonly in rail transport, though, "the buffers are projecting, shock-absorbing pads which, when vehicles are coupled, are brought into contact with those on the next vehicle" (wikipedia). Shock absorbers.

As well as it's chemical usage, buffering exists in data ... won't go into that just now ... and "hitting the buffers" has often been used as a catchy phrase in articles about economics.

Buffing - polishing - may require a machine, a buffer -

Which leads me to wonder about the origins of "in the buff" ... won't go into that just now.

On the home front

Sometimes - not very often recently - I go and visit my flat, which is still under renovation. In years to come I'll look back on this "interesting" time, and having a few photos will bring back a flood of recollections, if only of  how not to do it "next time".

Progress is being made. The unopened, returnable packets of the unsuitable flooring await collection by the courier --

This leaves the stairs clear, and as the dusty work is done (or is it?), soon the plastic covering the carpet might be removed, along with bags of cement etc -

Where once my little pots gathered dust, now there are empty shelves! The pots are packed up, and drilling will soon be taking place in this wall, to deal with bits of wiring, and there's a plan to change the shelves to cabinets with glass doors, here and elsewhere -

In the studio-as-was-and-will-be-again - clear floor space! Only a small patch, but it's a start -

Plans for the bookshelves have been pretty much finalised and involve an entire wall of the living room, but bookshelves take a lot of time to build, so the plastic here will be in place for a while yet -

I spent a happy half hour clearing out the under-sink cupboard -

It's so encouraging to have a definite, finite space in order

Tom is using the living room as a workshop at the moment; he's making skirting boards, yet another thing that still needs doing -

The gold flooring is underlay - soon to be covered with a wood floor

The corner - butted, not mitred - isn't a straightforward cut and it's a beautiful fit. In the background, the bits of wiring will be fixed once the drilling through the wall takes place -

Now we are left with some of the prime grade canadian birch flooring - enough for a small room or a couple of landings, should you know someone who would be interested -

Five cartons of birch flooring for sale!