Expedition got off to a good start, with the charity shop on York Road doing us ten episodes of the 'Tudors' for a modest £2. At that price one did not care that the star on the front of the box looked more like a male model than a 16th century aristo.. Hopefully they will do for holiday viewing in due course, as while holiday cottages are much better turned out than they used to be, this does not usually include a supply of easy viewing for when one returns from one's day on the beach.
On to 'Il Molino', at the top of Balfern Street, for elevenses, including in my case a quite respectable ham and cheese roll of the old size. For some reason the clientele at the time seemed to be mainly youngish women, some with children. A place for which, for some other reason, I have a soft spot.
And so to the park to find that it had been taken over by some motor racing people (see reference 1) and illustration above. Somewhat irritated that our visit to the park for a bit of peace and quiet (and aeroplanes) had been hijacked by some noisy and presumably money spinning event, with the construction of the one-day track knocking out great chunks of the park and making access to the remaining chunks difficult. Not to mention the damage being done. Somewhat puzzled by the cost of the barriers, which looked brand new, heavy duty and expensive. Did one get enough money back from paying punters to pay for them all or was the event being subsidised by the London taxpayer?
Eventually made our way through to the lake where there were some fine specimens of carex pendula (see reference 2). Also sisyrinchium striatum and a number of herons. Took lunch in the café there, with two toasties proving slightly too much for me after the ham and cheese roll. On the other hand, sitting outside, there was a regular supply of aeroplanes heading west, and I even scored the odd two, despite the trees obscuring the horizons.
On to the fountains built for the Festival of Britain which were in fine form. I was able to continue aeroplane spotting from a recumbent position, while BH was able to watch all the people, large and small, playing at the edge of the fountain. The aeroplanes were coming across at two or three minute intervals and I got the impression that the Park might have been the start of the flight path down proper, with planes swinging onto it from a maybe 90 degree sector. Larger planes holding straight, presumably not as nippy and manoeuvrable as the smaller ones. Surprised once again at how large and how low some of the planes are when seen from central London.
The last stop in the park was the enclosed, old English garden which was looking very well in a carefully designed, quiet sort of way. In the capable care of the Thrive organisation (see reference 3), a charity which looks to be doing lots of good work. Including something which we had never seen before, a pomegranate tree. This one in bush format, maybe six feet high.
Took a decent glass of New Zealand white at the branch of the Draft House, more or less opposite the RCA in Battersea Bridge Road. Quiet when we were there, but looked as if it might be full of young people later. Wine done, hopped on a 49 bus which took us the long way back to Clapham Junction, learning on the way the the roof of the hall at the back of the Battersea Arts Centre (a repurposed town hall) was missing. Google tells me this morning that this was the result of a big fire in March, an event which we had missed at the time. Eagle Wine also looked firmly shut, so I hope they have not gone down. They used to be a convenient & well stocked place for the odd bottle of wine, a lot more convenient than fighting one's way into the 24 hour ASDA.
Reference 1: http://www.fiaformulae.com/.
Reference 2: http://psmv2.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/apsley-3.html.
Reference 3: http://www.thrive.org.uk/.
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