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    • TravelerSouthern Hemisphere Travels
      Day 5

      Morning bird spotting on the Tahuayo

      September 20, 2016 in England ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

      A bit of a late post but better late than never!!

      The morning of the 20th me and Rob got up early at around 5:30 to see if we could spot any hummingbirds from the hammock room, as this is when they are seen most often. And fortunately, we were lucky enough to spot one! We watched as it darted from tree to tree, so small and delicate as it hovered by the flowers. It was near enough impossible to photograph, although lucky for us it paused on a branch and had a little stretch of its wings, so we got a pretty good shot then.

      Today we set off early on the boat at around 6:30 to do some morning birdwatching before breakfast. The early morning light on the river and the lodge was beautiful and it was really serene at this time, especially with barely anyone else up and about.

      We set off along the river downstream and saw plenty of birds, especially hawks, sitting close up in the trees either side of the river. We saw a Squirrel Cuckoo, Yellow-headed Cacaras, White Ear Jacamars, Greater Ani, Swallow Wings, Black Collared Hawks and Kingfishers.      Read more

    • TravelerRoots - where I grew up
      Day 36

      Walk 2 - Slade Green to Crayford

      September 28, 2020 in England ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

      The walk from Slade Green to Crayford is also part of the London LOOP. We walk to of Moat Lane and turn right, enjoying the view of the Dartford Crossing, and reach another river confluence; this is for the River Darent and its tributary the River Cray – the Darent continues on to Dartford in Kent whereas we follow the Cray to Crayford in Greater London.

      We pass through another industrial area and reach Thames Road - the Jolly Farmers Pub stood at the corner, but is now gone - before crossing over to rejoin the Cray Riverway Walk (as this section is known). As we proceed through Barnes Cray, there is a lot of building development on our right; we reach Maiden Lane and cross this road to join the other side of the riverbank. Barnes Cray Road runs parallel to the river and much to my surprise we see from the bridge that some of the modest houses here have rigged up moorings for small boats at the ends of their back gardens.

      We reach Crayford and its lovely Waterside Gardens, a landscaped small park either side of the river in the centre of the town; they were refurbished in 2009 and now feature a large modern sculpture and a footbridge - the excellent Penny Farthing micropub beckons on the right hand side of the river from behind a signpost and the footbridge. On the right of this is Vintage Lindy Lou, a family run vintage tea room set in Waterside garden; it has beautiful internal decor now - a vast improvement on the building's previous life as a Crayford public convenience!      Read more

    • TravelerRoots - where I grew up
      Day 36

      Crayford

      September 28, 2020 in England ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

      My father was born and raised in Crayford and my grandparents continued to live there until they passed on in the late 1960s.  I used to go to Crayford a lot as a child.
       
      Crayford Social Club is a working man's club close to the Waterside and was built in 1925; my parents used to take the family there on Saturday evenings. Nearby, the Crayford and Bexleyheath Stadium was a greyhound racing stadium; we knew it as Crayford Dogs and, as children, went there on several occasions.  In 1985 it was rebuilt as part of a development project by Ladbrokes into a new greyhound track and sports stadium and renamed Crayford Stadium.  I took my father there in 2016 as a treat and the picture shows greyhounds being paraded before a race (I didn't back the winner!)

      The Penny Farthing micopub opened in 2014 in what was originally an old bicylce shop on the Waterside; it is a superb place. There is no music, mobiles are not to be used for talking and beer is served from the wood - the picture shows me and dad enjoying a pint after the greyhound racing.

      Crayford Clock Tower, a commemoration of the coronation of Edward VII, was constructed in 1902. It has a secondary purpose; it is also a sewage lift station - there are vents at the top of the tower. 
       
      Looking up the High Street, we see the Dukes Head pub on the left and the green top of the Masjid Abu Makar (the Methodist Church was converted to a mosque in 2007); at the top of the hill is the tower of St Paulinus Church.  This church is of great relevance to the family as my parents were married there and now buried there too; my father was christened there, as was I.      Read more

    • TravelerRoots - where I grew up
      Day 345

      Walk 3 - Crayford to Bexley

      August 3, 2021 in England ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

      The walk from Crayford to Bexley is also part of the London LOOP.  On leaving the Waterside Gardens in Crayford, it is not possible to walk further along the River Cray due to industrial development.  Crossing the road we pass through the small Tannery Garden (there used to be a tannery and brickworks in Crayford) and onto London Road (Watling Street), forking left at the junction with Bourne Road until a garage is reached; the two posts either side of this are all that remains of Crayford Cinema and on the other side of the road is Shenstone Park.  Here there is a sculpture of cows (Cows about Crayford?) illustrating another aspect of Crayford’s industrial history; cow dung and the roots of the Madder plant were used to create red dyes for silk (there used to be a silkworks in Crayford too).  We walk down the edge of a playing field to reach the River Cray; it is a pleasant walk along the river bank and after a while we reach Hall Place; this is a beautiful Tudor house on the outskirts of Crayford and on the banks of the River Cray - we divert from the London LOOP route to explore the award-winning gardens,   .  

      Hall Place is a stately home; building started in 1537 for a wealthy merchant using, in part, stone recycled from nearby former monastery, Lesnes Abbey (in what is now nearby Abbey Wood).  In 1649, the house was sold to another wealthy City merchant who added a second wing built of red bricks, doubling the size of the house, but in highly contrasting architectural styles. Today Hall Place is restored to its original Tudor and later 17th-century designs and is managed by the charity Bexley Heritage Trust. There are 65 hectares of landscaped gardens and grounds, a topiary lawn, herb garden, tropical garden and long herbaceous cottage garden-styled borders.  It was lovely to walk round some of these.

      We head back to our route and have to skirt the outside of Hall Place gardens to the railway line and cross under the A2 (aka the East Rochester Way) via an underpass where the local graffiti artists have been busy.  From here we walk along the edge of Churchfield Wood to Bexley (aka Old Bexley or Bexley Village).  Walking along the High Street into Bexley we cross the River Cray at The Old Mill; this was destroyed by fire in 1966, rebuilt in replica form and is now converted to residential use.      Read more

    • TravelerRoots - where I grew up
      Day 71

      Dartford, part 2; historic town centre

      November 2, 2020 in England ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

      The Romans paved over an ancient Celtic trackway as part of their main Dover to London road and crossed the River Darent by ford (hence the name Dartford).

      We start on the far side of the River Darent, a tributary of the Thames (see London LOOP post), having crossed the bridge here to view the Holy Trinity Church. We cross back over the bridge onto the High Street to see the other side of the church, which is close to the Wat Tyler pub. Wat Tyler is famous for having been a leader of the Kentish part of the 1381 Peasants Revolt, basically an uprising about workers rights. Close by, on One Bell Corner, is a large mural entitled 'One Town That Changed The World" celebrating "the pioneering industrial heritage of Dartford".

      The Royal Victoria and Bull Hotel is Dartford's oldest inn and pilgrims were able to stay here (as well as that originally on One Bell Corner) in medieval times on The Pilgrim's Way to Canterbury and beyond; the inn was rebuilt in 1703 with a gallery overlooking the yard and these both are still visible today (albeit covered now).

      A short walk away is Dartford Priory, England's only Dominican Convent. Founded in 1346, the Dissolution of the Monasteries led to Henry VIII replacing it with a Manor House, of which only the Gatehouse survives.      Read more

    • TravelerRoots - where I grew up
      Day 71

      Dartford, part 3; The Rolling Stones

      November 2, 2020 in England ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

      It is well documented that Keith Richards and Mick Jagger were brought up in Dartford; they went to the same infants school, but different secondary schools, before being reunited on platform 2 of Dartford Railway Station - Mick was carrying blues records and they got chatting.  The rest is history!

      As a young child, Mick lived in Denver Road, attending Wentworth Primary School before moving on to Wilmington, near Dartford, where he was brought up as a teenager; the current owners of thease two properties apparently do not want signs there.  As a young child, Keith lived round the corner to Mick along Chastilian Road in a flat above what was a greengrocer's and went to Wentworth Primary School as well, before moving to Spielman Road on Temple Hill; these two properties have a blue plaque and a sign, respectively, to celebrate Keith's residency in them.

      Whereas Keith went to Dartford Tech, Mick went to Dartford Grammar School; the Mick Jagger Centre is a performing arts venue on the grounds of the school and was opened in March 2000.  Mick is also present in the town as a life-size sculpture by a commemorative bench in Dartford Central Park; he is joined there by sculptures of two other memorable sound makers from Dartford - a Vox amplifier, invented in the town in the 1950s, and a Dartford warbler, first spotted on nearby Dartford Heath.  The first Vox amplifier was made along Dartford Road, which is en route to Crayford, and there is a plaque outside the building to commemorate this; Vox amplifiers were used a lot by top British bands in the 1960s including the Shadows, the Beatles and the Yardbirds.      Read more

    • TravelerSteve W's birthday
      Day 1

      Steve W's 60th in London

      June 25, 2018 in England ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

      Gymkhana Indian restaurant with Steve, Marta, Phil, Graham & Stella, Mich & Alison & Gosha for Steve's 60th. Michelin star. 8 course tasting menu. Fantastic! Stayed at Abbey Wood C&MC. Dannie & Dom joined for drinks 😁 (everyone had G&T with egg white on top!). First night in Sally2 (Dizzy)Read more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Bexley, BEX

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