WATER WORKS

                   

     The reservoirs are fed by the River Lea which continues southwards through the Olympic Park and into the Thames.

      I think the “spacious open area known for football” is the 73 pitches of Hackney Marshes which are actually a bit further south. We’ve all played there on a Sunday morning - with a hangover. And Hackney Marshes was the scene of a memorable TV ad -                                         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9FLYr57maQ 

     Nike’s 1997 commercial to the soundtrack of Blur’s Parklife was one of the standout adverts of the 90s. A bunch of pub league players showed up to play on Hackney Marshes in east London one Sunday to be joined out of the blue by top Premiership footballers Eric Cantona, Ian Wright, David Seaman and Robbie Fowler.

     Later, Nike agreed to pay £300,000 in an out of court settlement to Hackney council for embellishing its sports gear with an exact replica of the council's logo without permission.

  

     Were it not for the lockdown a full English breakfast and/or meatballs lunch at Ikea Tottenham would have gone down very nicely either side of my Water Works visit. No matter, there’s takeaway coffee and sandwiches at the Engine Room, which apart from the toilets (thankfully) is otherwise closed, as is Coppermill Tower.

     The parakeet (bottom left), isn’t native to these shores but there are now thousands of them in London. It’s a matter of debate how they arrived .... extras from filming of The African Queen (1951); a pair called Adam and Eve, released by Jimi Hendrix (1968); escapees from an aviary during the Great Storm (1987)??  The most likely explanation is that in the early 50s there was a parrot flu (psittacosis) scare in Britain. It can be fatal for humans if caught from pet birds. So it's almost certain some people took the precaution of releasing their parakeets into the wild. 

    The boy band E17 hail from Walthamstow, although they are no longer boys and the current line-up has only one founder member. They took their name from the London postcode of Walthamstow and named their debut album – you’ve guessed it - Walthamstow. In 1998 they imaginatively renamed themselves E-17. But now they’ve reverted to E17. I may have got this wrong, but you get the idea. Anyhow, in their five most successful years, they actually outsold Take That in Europe. 

    En route to and from the Wetlands, I checked out some great street art. It’s hardly essential travel but I consider driving around East London with my camera, a list of postcodes and no social interaction is hardly irresponsible. I do briefly chat with a charming young lady on a Boris bike. She is on a similar quest and we compare thumbnails (now, now) which is not easy from two metres.

www.londonmuralfestival.com

Becks and Beck ….

Harry Beck, designer of the London Underground Map was born in 14 Wesley Road, Leyton …..

        Before Harry Beck …..                            Harry Beck’s map, 1933 ….

           

    A downside to the current map, which isn’t far removed from Harry’s original, is that it’s not apparent when it’s quicker to walk between stations …..

Times in minutes to walk between tube stations.

Beck’s blue plaque in Leyton is in a very familiar font - Johnston Sans. Calligrapher Edward Johnston created the typeface for Transport for London in 1913 and it’s still to be seen everywhere.

Only three other plaques display the font - Frank Pick, designer of much of the Underground who commissioned Johnston, Lord Albert Stanley Ashfield, London Transport’s first chairman, and Johnston himself - at 3 Hammersmith Terrace, Chiswick. There's also a second Beck plaque on the southbound platform of Finchley Central station. For many years he travelled to work from here.

March 10, 2023

God's Own Junkyard:

    It's only eight minutes away and I've been meaning to visit God's Own Junkyard for years. And I'm not disappointed. This museum in a run-down industrial estate in Walthamstow is a little gem with the collection of neon signs providing a stunning backdrop for afternoon tea in the Rolling Scones Café. It also doubles up as a pub; but opening hours vary and it's often shut for functions so check the website before visiting.