Country Lanes (5)
Travelling north across the water (or to be more precise under the water) today, over onto the Isle of Dogs for this view of Greenwich that looks like it's in the middle of the countryside.Before we get there, though, I should mention something that Ianvisits flagged up the other day - that for some bonkers reason, it has been decided that no photography is to be allowed in the foot tunnel any more. Not just flash photography, which might have some slim H&S reasoning behind it as being a bit of a surprise to a naughty cyclist whizzing through too fast, no. This is all photography, full stop.
Of course this is not as bad as it could have been - banning Champagne would be a serious bar to future scientific progress, but it still seems a ridiculous regulation (though, frankly, easily ignored - would-be civil disobeyers can just take pictures outside elevator-hours) for no readily-understandable purpose.
I will, in the next few days, be bringing you a similar slightly-sinister ruling, this time by Greenwich Council, that I've just learned about, but for now, lets move to sweeter pastures.
Island Gardens is, in many people's opinions, the best view of Greenwich (as opposed to from Greenwich.) But there's a footpath that runs up the spine of the Canary Wharf peninsula, via Mudchute farm and some rather sweet allotments that also affords some lovely glimpses of the town which is just as much fun in its own way (you can also take a little detour round the sports ground, though don't try some of the 'steps' that lead down to the sports area - they've long deteriorated into mudslides.)
One of these days I'm going to get one of those groovy maps with little arrows that show where I'm talking about, but for now here's a vague Streetmap image to show you where I mean.
At that point you're more or less following the DLR, and it will take you up to Canary Wharf. The whole thing takes about twenty minutes, I'd guess, unless you do as I did and stop off at a dockside bar selling indifferent Spanish drinks at City prices.
Don't forget to keep looking back to see glimpses of Greenwich through the leaves. Ah...
Labels: Green Greenwich
posted by The Greenwich Phantom at
08:12
16 Comments:
How utterly bizarre!
I was going to take some photos of that very same path in a week or two and do am Isle of Dogs version of your "country lanes" postings!
It is a lovely wander, and I often stop at the city farm en-route, and think about supper.
Ian - you should still do it - I know very little about that walk and would love to know more...
''One of these days I'm going to get one of those groovy maps with little arrows that show where I'm talking about, but for now here's a vague Streetmap image to show you where I mean.''
I've just discovered a decent free mapping program released by mapyx (http://www.mapyx.com/. You can plot routes, put in notes, get profile information - i.e. how high you climb, etc - and produce 3-D images of the route. It comes with a couple of demo maps but for detailed maps you will have to buy 10 square km OS ''tiles'' of the area you want. (minimum purchse 6 tiles, under £20 - this tie-in with Ordnace Survey is where they make their money ).
It may not suit your needs, GP, but I've found it very useful for plotting cycling routes around and about SE London.
I'd be happy to show you examples of what the map can do if you' re interested.
Thanks Marmoset. This looks interesting - and a bit less clunky than the Google maps. I'll check it out fully when I have a bit more time...
There's always Google Earth of course... I can see the top of your head Phantom from here
Mudchute is a fab place, I love the fact you can even wander amongst the cattle and pet the piggys.
The sheep are my favourite though (see Benedicts Sheep ).
This from the article "Nazi Occultists Seize the Omphalos", published by the London Psychogeographical Association -
"Many people believe that Greenwich is in fact the Omphalos or spiritual centre of the British Empire. However those with a deeper understanding of Feng Shui, the ancient Chinese art of land divination, will recognise that the actual Omphalos must be on the Isle of Dogs, protected by water on all sides. Those who visit the Mudchute, a piece of park mysteriously built as an exact replica of an ancient hill fort will find a special staircase leading to a cobbled circle. This is the Omphalos, the spiritual centre, where the Magus John Dee conjured up the British Empire in the presence of Christopher Marlowe, four hundred years ago this year. However, using the leyline for such evil purposes necessitated the sacrifice of a human life. A psychic attack on Christopher Marlowe and his friends in a Deptford pub lead to a brawl in which the famous playwright died."
Be afraid, be very afraid.....
This link -
http://www.zenatode.org.uk/maps/ontheline.html
will take you to an interactive map of the leyline referred to in the "Nazi Occultists.." article. You will see that it straight throught the centre of Greenwich Park, and that the Phantom, sorry James Wolfe, statue sits right on it.... hmmm, TGP as a Nazi occultist....
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This post has been removed by the author.
Tee hee. Got me!
Talk of the occult is spooking me out, to change the subject, can i just say I thoroughly recommend Mudchute Farm cafe for a weekend brekky or cake stop...and it's only just off this walk.
This thread is taking a funny turn - two posts removed, and then "tee hee, got me!" ..?
Like to share the joke Phantie? Is the magic circle of John Dee really a duck pond or something?
Nothing as sinister as it looks - just that I found a bunch of references on a far-right (really really far right site)and for a moment was fooled by that really rather wonderful piece of nonsense - do try googling Jack's reference.
For the record, may I just say that I got the reference to the "Nazi Occultists" article from a book called Occult London by Merlin Coverley, and googling it led me to the map. I do not intentionally visit far right websites, and I am neither a nazi or an occultist. When I read the article, particularly the bit about John Dee conjuring the British Empire at Mudchute of all places, I thought it was the most bonkers thing I had ever read, and I just wanted to share it.
Interestingly, the London Psychogeographical Society seem to have removed this article from their website...........
It was in Occult London? I bought that book for a pal of mine for Christmas. Should have read it first!
I'll borrow it back. I think this is a fascinating topic. We'll revisit it soon - it looks absolutely crazy, not least because I can't work out how they made a straight line out of linking the things listed in a different book about it that I've found, and I've also been hearing some stuff which, if true, makes at least part of it look a bit silly.
Thanks for bringing this up, Jack. More research is needed :-)
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