Cally Clocktower and Park – guided tours

I have really enjoyed leading tours up to the top of this marvellous clocktower.
Having spent time talking to people using the park or living in the flats around the outside it's clear that possibly 95% of them have no idea that the tower is open, let alone that tours are available. Perhaps it's got something to do with the lack of info on the boards around the park?

Caledonian Clocktower and Park, September 2019

This board on the north side tells us that the tower is being renovated, will open soon and to watch this board for updates.
Er? Also see the big empty space where updates could be easily inserted. It ain't rocket science.
Find out more about the tours here.

Adventure playgrounds – ooh be careful the kids might fall and hurt themselves...

I was walking along Market Road, off Caledonian Rd, last week when I happened upon this sign outside Hayward Adventure Playground.
The statement that the statement that there are 12 Adventure Playgrounds (with initial caps) in Islington no longer holds totally true. There might be 12 sites but not many of them are functioning playgrounds at the moment. In fact, Hayward itself is undergoing a revamp.
And at the award-winning Martin Luther Adventure Playground opposite Freightliners Farm at Paradise Park, N7, is as I write this just a bull-dozed empty site. This saddens me because up until about six months ago I noticed that almost every time I went past it there were lots of children making really good use of the facilities there. Not like at some other similar sites where I have never witnessed any movement apart form pigeons, namely Spa Green, near Exmouth Mkt, and Barnard Park off Copenhagen Street.

I think kids are being protected a little too much these days. God forbid the poor things might fall and hurt themselves and learn a valuable lesson about balance and gravity in the process.
It's all health and safety gone mad – remove the possible causes of pain. Rip it all up, put in some bouncy rubber floors (recycled I hope) and have round padded corners everywhere. Be careful darling. Be careful. No, don't climb that tree. It's dangerous.
And when was the last time you saw a kid with scabby knees or covered in plasters? OK so kids don't wear shorts or carry catapults and penknives anymore, but perhaps they should. Possibly the first time they pick up something sharp is when they join a gang. I am flippantly suggesting this because I see many kids can't even use cutlery properly these days; they use forks as spoons and have no idea how to hold a knife – it's elbows and shovels. 
How are kids supposed to learn life skills? They aren't gonna be magically ready for the big bad world when when they leave school. This is why we've now got so many people in their mid-20s still being treated like and behaving like babies – get Dad to do everything. But what's gonna happen when theses kids finally have kids of their own?
I so fondly recall as a child getting big knee and elbow scabs – the trophy scars of the playground – then picking at those scabs and lifting the harden crusts like lids to see if they'd bleed or come off cleanly –  and did anyone else enjoy sewing their fingers together with needle and cotton through the top layer of skin resulting in little white dead channels once the thread was removed. Ah, happy days... where are my ker-knockers...?!

Update on the old Whittington Park mural

A couple of years ago I took my friend Jen, to Whittington Park to show her an old mural that had become obscured by plants. Read about that here.

This was all we could discern in July 2015

Well, twixt Christmas and New Year's Day I went to check on it again. As you'd expect, the spray can graffiti-ers have been busy. I couldn't make out the images above but I found some others.

Lucky Kelsey!

Two schoolchildren with backpacks and a figure [possibly] climbing over a wall

Toffee tin lid

Whittington Park, just south of Upper Holloway Station, is named after Richard/Dick of the turnaround-Lord-Mayor story. Jen's an expert on Dick Whittington and leads a fascinating guided tour about the great man within the City of London. I gave her this old toffee tin a few years back as a present and she uses it as a prop on the walk. Check here for updates or contact her for more details.
See also Dick Whittington's Cat – a previous blog post

The Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2016

Last Monday, prior to the RA Summer Show, I spent a lovely birthday day in glorious sunshine Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park and got to see Bjarke Ingels' marvellous pavilion outside the Serpentine Gallery.

This one is particularly good I think. It's a beautiful, yet simple, structure and has a function – there is a cafe within it.
A short stroll away there are some other smaller pavilions worth checking out:

Until 9th October.
More info here.

Markfield Beam Engine – Steaming into action this weekend

For many years I have been noticing the brown tourist information signs off the Tottenham one way system that point to Markfield Beam Engine, making a mental note to check it out.
Fiinally, last Bank Holiday weekend I did just that – and what a lovely treat cos we timed our visit so that we could see the power of steam.

It's hard to believe that this amazing piece of waste-pumping machinery sat for many decades bricked up and out of action. But now, thanks to the efforts of a group of enthusiasts and volunteers it can be viewed approximately twice a month including 'steam days' when the steam-powered beam engine can be seen in action. See here for more info.
Markfield Park in itself is also worth a visit – be sure check out how original features from the old sewage works have been cleverly revamped and remodelled for modern use to become gardens, a cafe and a skate park.
Easily accessible from Seven Sisters tube, South Tottenham Station or the River Lea towpath.