Paddington

Terminus of the Great Western Railway and the name of a famous bear from "Darkest Peru" but also an area of contrasts with gentile town houses at one end and one of those areas that was given the "notorious" tag by Evening Standard.On a less serious note Norman "je ne regret rien" Lamont was reputed to have bought a bottle of champagne on his credit card here.

 

 

Platform 5 on the way out from the suburban platforms on the right of the picture.  The train on the right is for Heathrow and the one on the left an Inter City to Wales or the West Country.

 

 

Last night��s chips in the foreground and the A 40(M) Westway which takes traffic from the Marylebone Road out towards Hangar Lane and Shepherds Bush and eventually to Oxford and Birmingham. 

By the way the bag of chips wasn't put there by be it's genuine.

 

 

Some new building and this classy apartment block include built in Sainsbury��s and an outlet of Starbucks. Surely a Waitrose and a nice little bistro would have been more appropriate oh and it looks like the front is designed for theatrical performances well I guess they can afford Robbie Williams or maybe Jack Dee could do a bit of stand up.

 

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Another arty shot of the Westway this time featuring the Paddington Slip which is always mentioned on traffic reports.  Rumour has it that Chris Tarrant is back on Captial.  Drivers looking to head find the Harrow Road are warned to expect a scenic detour under the flyover once again consult your marriage guidance councilor before attempting this route.

By the way if anyone from the "Tower of Power" reading this we would like to do a series of shots of London's top traffic blackspots such as The Canning Town Flyover, The Hangar Lane Gyratory, The Wandsworth One-Way system and of course the Strand underpass etc. etc. so get in touch if you are interested. For those who don't know the "Tower of Power" is Capital Radio's headquarters at Euston end of Tottenham Court Road.

 

They have built of most of the free land in Central London but presumably this one escaped the bulldozers because it featured in a favourite episode of The Sweeny and someone has decided to preserve it for the nation.

 

 

 

Well I couldn't resist switching to black and white for this one.

 

 

Time for another arty shot but I wasn't sure. Perhaps a steam train would have made the picture.  Oh I could put some in but that would be cheating.

 

 

It's impossible to find but when you do it��s worth it.  Little Venice and one of the hidden areas of London that has a small cult following.  Here we see someone trying to enhance walkers to their caf�� but although they have tried to compromise may risk starting a row over the Euro and anyway shouldn't the sign say yards ?

I wonder if anyone has thought of buying some former industrial land and creating a Little England. I'll have to be careful, we'll get letters.

 

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A couple of boats indicate we are on a canal.  This is the Paddington Basin of the London to Birmingham canal and 15 minutes from Heathrow Birmingham (Gas Street) is around 7 days �that"s if you keep to the speed limit of four knots.

 

 

From the footbridge wee see a very English party just getting going.  I didn't bother attempting to gatecrash though I got the feeling they might have liked it but I wasn't dressed for it.

 

 

A foumous church of Mary Magdalene pronounced Maudlin in upper class English.  In the Church of England version of The Bible she is described as a friend of Christ and a prostitute. She has this church as well as a college named after her at both Oxford and Cambridge Universities at least that's what it says on the signs.

 

 

A long boat or canal barge designed for cruising the narrow canals of England.  There is plenty of accommodation on board and most of the Inns (pub / hotel) that along the London to Birmingham route have been converted to restaurants fortunately the original mooring positions have been retained leaving bargees a very short walk home.

 

 

Another view from a bridge and we could almost be in Holland here.

 

 

Away from the canal and into St. John��s Wood where GBP 1 million doesn't get you very far, Lords Cricket Ground is about ten minutes walk away but I decided against going there as I had just bought my first GBP 3 pint of beer and was hungry having refused the Nouvelle Anglais cuisine on offer.

 

 

Another one of my trademark perspective shots.

 

 

Some classic ��Street Furnature. From left to right at Routemaster bus, Zebra Crossing, Belisha Beacon, mini-roundabout, old-style phone box and post box.

 

 

A very discreet tube station on the Bakerloo Line in keeping with the area.  The line runs from Harrow and Wealdstone in the North Western Suburbs to Elephant and Castle in South London where, like Rome all roads go.