After a night of rain, it had stopped for today's travels and hopefully, there wouldn't be too many showers through the day. All of today was outside and rain doesn't do me much good at my age.
There had been some problems with the earlier trains but we arrived on time just after 10 am. Waterloo Station was eerily quiet for a Saturday due to this virus so got some photos from the upper level before topping up the Oyster Cards and catching two buses into Battersea. It would have been better to get off the train at Clapham Junction on the way into Waterloo but this would mean changing trains and probably platforms, it's just to much hassle getting on and off with the ramps.
The old Battersea Power Station is now being turned into luxury apartments with high-end shops so it's mostly a building site around here at the moment but a short walk down the side of the famous dogs and cats home brings you into the first of today's park, Battersea.
Battersea Park
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| Peace Pagoda |
Battersea Park opened in 1858 from reclaimed marshland and covers 200 acres and has been home to several festivals since the early 1900s, this was also where we caught the first glimpse of some of the wild parrots.
There's also a large lake with plenty of wildlife and paddle boats you can rent although they are not working at this time of the year, they even have a children's zoo in here.
We headed north through the park past some formal Gardens and fountains which weren't is switched on at the moment and came out at the peace pagoda which is a large Japanese style structure, from here we took a walk along the banks of the Thames until you come out at Chelsea bridge then caught a bus a few stops before we jumped on another one that took us into Chelsea. After having a spot of lunch in McDonald's we decided to head off because it was busy around here and most of the pubs overcrowded and expensive.
Kingston Gardens
Kensington Gardens gardens were only a short bus ride and we entered the park by the Albert Hall where a very large monument greats you. This park covers 270 and was a lot quieter than the previous one.
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| Wild Parrots |
The main reason for coming here is wild parrots of which there are around 6000 breeding pairs which will gladly take food from you. I had bought a banana but they weren't to keen on that so ended up with some monkey nuts that somebody gave to feed them. Oddly the weight more than I thought they would but didn't get bitten or pooped on.
it was surprising how many people were here, they must be the most well-fed birds in London.
After spending around 30 minutes or so trying to get some all decent photographs it was time to head to the north side of the park to the Italian Gardens which have fountains set above a lake. It's a great place to relax around here.
it was surprising how many people were here, they must be the most well-fed birds in London.
After spending around 30 minutes or so trying to get some all decent photographs it was time to head to the north side of the park to the Italian Gardens which have fountains set above a lake. It's a great place to relax around here.
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| Italian Water Gardens |
After about a mile of walking, we got down to where the problem was crossed many lanes of traffic then jumped onto another bus to take us to the pub, time was starting to get on now.
So, what should have taken us around 25 minutes on a couple of buses ended up taking almost an hour.
The Pub
We finally arrived at the Willow Walk pub just after 4.30 and managed to find a place to sit, most Wetherspoon pubs in London are always busy so getting a seat can be a problem. After spending 90 minutes in there it was time to make a move, this would give us just over an hour to get back to Waterloo Station. As always I end up walking in the wrong direction to the bus stop, even with GPS and a map on my phone.
Homeward bound
As it turned out we didn't have long to wait for a bus so was back at Waterloo Station with around 30 minutes to spare which gave me time to take some photos of The Shard, unfortunately, these didn't come out very good.
The train ride back was uneventful but now the bus leaves Fareham slightly earlier so we just missed that although this gave us just enough time for a swift beer in Wetherspoon before crossing to the bus station.
