Started out well with a tweeting of three coal tits in one of the small trees in the verges of our road.
Then to the café run with special needs people, handily outside Clapham Junction railway station. Pleasant atmosphere, pleasantly quiet. Tea fine, bacon sandwiches adequate - that is to say the bacon was fine but the white bread had not been out of the freezer long enough and was rather cold on the tongue.
Thus fortified up past the Islamic centre under a much needed reconstruction to the 'Asparagus' for a right turn into Battersea Park Road to inspect the creeping gentrification there. From whence to the south west corner of the Park, also known as the Sun Gate.
The playground which was under reconstruction on our last visit (reference 2, more than six months ago) was now complete (and illustrated above), but being a week day largely without customers. Just the one family having a go at the crazy golf under the trees. with children just about old enough to get the idea.
The invitation had been a little coy about exactly where the fair was to be held, but eventually we found a large tent, in shape a bit like a small office block, complete with a fancy entrance and a car park. Luckily someone had left a side gate to the car park open so we did not have to walk the entire perimeter to get in, get in to find a rather crowded variation on the theme of car boot sale crossed with second hand (or even antiquarian) book fair. There was considerable variation among the accents of the vendors, but those of the visitors mainly sounded money, as did most of their clothes. More women than men, mostly middle aged, perhaps a little younger than ourselves. Some loud. The stuff was mostly the sort of thing that an interior designer on a commission to furnish a restaurant or an expensive town flat would buy, rather than our good selves. In part because the prices were a bit steep, in part because the objects were mostly rather big.
About an hour of that was enough, after which we left by the same gate that we had come in by to take tea at a rather sad looking Gondola Café - not enough business during the week to make it worth their putting much food on or to cover up the shabbiness. But a good cuppa outside on the terrace, watching the birds fooling around on the ice on the pond. Seagulls practising their landings on the ice and coots practising getting out of the holes in the ice that they kept falling into.
From there around the south of the pond to inspect the herons, some of which had made nests in the trees on the big island. Another large bird sitting in one of the same trees which we were unable to identify; very frustrating - with a tourist passing with a camera with a zoom lens not understanding me well enough to help - and his best offer was fat chicken. The zoom on my telephone not being anywhere near powerful enough for the purpose. A first in that we saw a heron joining in a feeding of the seagulls - a heron which didn't like the bread on offer but couldn't bear to leave the action.
Past a fine bed of carex pendula and euphorbias. Spotted a chinook to the west. One assumes some sort of military but we wondered whether they were allowed to tank up at the Battersea heliport, saving them the journey back to base proper, perhaps giving the special forces therein more air time over important targets. See reference 2.
Passing an estate agent after we had left the Park we pondered the merits of having a flat in the area. Without resident children and being less keen these days on gardening, one could certainly see the point. But there was quite a big catch in that our house in Epsom would not buy much flat in Battersea, at least not on the right side of the railway line.
Finished up at the Battersea Food & Wine store in Falcon Road (a little south of gmaps 51.4666467,-0.1697279), where we were able to stock up on dried figs and Turkish Delight. Both very good; figs quite dear, delight quite cheap. There was also the best display of dried vegetables we had ever seen. Mental note to give it some serious attention on our next visit.
Well not quite finished up, as we also managed a quick visit to the platform library at Raynes Park where I was able to pick up a vintage edition of the National Trust guide to Ben Lawers, even older than the one we already had from maybe twenty years ago when we went up the thing. I had not realised, or perhaps not remembered, what an interesting place it was from both a geological and botanical point of view. But I shall return to that in due course.
Reference 1: http://psmv2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/aeroplanes-2.html.
Reference 2: http://psmv2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/a-touch-of-pepys.html.
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