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*.BAK

Pangbourne to Goring

We take train from Paddington to Reading, and from there to Pangbourne. There’s some family event going there, weather permitting.

We make a short detour to take a look at a pretty little church.
Then we walk along cow pastures.

Stumble upon what other group of middle aged hikers suggests to be a female stag beetle crossing the road.

Kites are flying so low they look huge. Maybe they are huge.

We watch some young cows race down a hill to an unknown but rather desirable target. They can be fast when they want to.

Then by abandoned factory we need to make a small detour around a herd of cows blocking the path, and a longer detour, because part of the path is closed.

Now I remember that Goring is the village with a cafe in the arcade. There are a couple of cafes that look decent, but we decide to travel back to Canary Wharf and have a brunch at a newly opened Brother Marcus.

The experience is better than on Borough Market. Although they still don’t get their poached eggs right.

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Uncategorized

Capital ring walk section 4 and 5

This weekend we did 2 urban walks. The walks are the highlights of my weeks.
Saturday – Crystal palace to Streatham common
Crystal palace is very “family-oriented” which means a lot of miserable 30+ with strollers and sitting on the benches around kids’ playgrounds (I think we passed 3 of them).
The streets are not very interesting architecturally, but we spotted some cats and Rockery is a pretty garden within Streatham woods.
We didn’t walk up to the official end at Streatham common, but took a bus from Rockery to Tooting bec. There we had a tasty lunch in The green monkey.

Sunday – Capital ring walk section 5 Streatham common to Wimbledon-park
There are two train stations – Streatham and Streatham common. According to co-author measurements, getting from one to another takes less than two minutes of very slow riding. And our train stopped at both of these stations.
The walk is very urban or rather suburban, the same as previous one. But I liked it. The architecture of English row houses varies a lot in this part of London. How much do these houses cost? Millions, literary. Or, rather, the older the house, the more expensive it is. Edwardian period houses are all above a million. Mid 20th century small boxes can cost “as little” as 700k.
None of them represents a good choice to live in, in my opinion.
We didn’t go until the official end of walk at Wimbeldon part station (it’s hard to get home from there). Instead, we called it a day at Earlsfield station. We had a lovely brunch at Bean&Hop before going home.

 

Categories
Travel

Waldingham

Yesterday we went on a circular hike from Waldingham. Had to take 3 trains instead of usual 2 and make a change at East Croydon. Luckily, there are trains there every few minutes.
Spotted another fox by the tracks on the way there.

The most excitement I’ve got from that hike was from passing through the farm and the start of the trail. There are pigmy goats, and alpacas (we learned that they are used to protect other animals from foxes, and can even trample a fox if needed in the process), and a cat.


Seen a couple of rabbits. The first darted into the Bush, but the second one was just sitting there eating grass like a total maniac.

Lots of cattle:


There was a bench with a view in a shade in the middle of the trail, which is rare. Even more so that it was free. Actually, we haven’t seen many people on that trail at all. Mostly cyclist passing above us.

There was a promise not to see dormouse as well:

All in all, enjoyed this hike greatly. Not the easiest one, but the weather was on our side, as most of the walking is in the shade.