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| A proper Mosque near the station at Streatham Common |
What a lovely day we had for our walk. My son was around, so he came as did Rue the dog. It was soon obvious why I don't take Rue on my walks because he hasn't improved much. He still whines on public transport and when I stop at traffic lights or to take a photo. He pulls on the lead like he just wants to go home! But at least on this walk he had a chance to be lead-free now and then. This walk is approximately five and a half miles.
I had with me one of the old-fashioned actual maps before everything went online. I much prefer these maps, but only have around three of them. I find them easy to follow and they are small and neat, yet with enough information covering the important stuff.
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| The imposter - Thames Water Streatham Pumping Station |
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| Stained glass window (see below) |
Exiting from the station at Streatham Common, we walked under the bridge to the other side of the tracks. One of the first places you see is the Thames Water Streatham Pumping Station, built like a mosque in 1888. Very elegant. Along the street is a stained glass window in a house of a woman watching a ship depart. I didn't get a very good photo as there was someone coming out of the house, so I snapped it rather quickly!
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| Streatham Methodist Church |
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| Freedom for Rue! |
Tooting Bec was the first place we could let Rue off the lead, and he loved his freedom. This is a lovely open space containing the Lido, tennis courts, a lake and play areas. After that there is a little pavement walking until we reached Balham. Here is Du Cane Court, built in the art déco period of the 1930's. Many celebrities have lived here, and it was used for the television series Poirot. Balham had loads of theatres and cinemas in the 20th century and locals included Margaret Rutherford, Jimmy Hill and writer John Sillivan, creator or Citizen Smith and Only Fools and Horses. Peter Sellers made a spoof travelogue calling it Balham, gateway to the south.
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| Tooting Bec Common. Bec comes from St Mary de Bec in Normandy whose abbey held this parish during the 12th century. |
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| Du Cane Court, Balham |
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| St Mary and John the Divine, Balham built in 1808 |
Turning off Balham Park Road, we eventually came to Wandsworth Common station. We carried on and into Wandsworth Common, another lovely place with trees and open spaces. Rue got his next free time. There is a boardwalk trail around a lake, but we put Rue back on the lead here, as the notice says. He never goes in water, but he likes chasing birds and ruffled a few feathers just with his presence.
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| Wandsworth Common |
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| By the boardwalk |
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| The cafe on the common. Dogs not allowed! We had taken our own lunch, but I needed the loo, so my son sat on the common with Rue. |
Shortly after leaving Wandsworth Common, we came out by Wandsworth Prison, an imposing, outdated place, too overcrowded, and like all prisons, with many problems. After that there is a longish walk up Magdalen Road towards Earlsfield station. There is the option to leave the road and walk through Wandsworth Cemetery, which we did.
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| Wandsworth Cemetery |
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| Are we home yet? |
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| Wandsworth Prison |
At Earlsfield we crossed the River Wandle, which exited me, being mad about rivers. Then there is much pavement walking until Durnsford Road Recreation Ground, though we only skirted round the edge on one side. From here, it is a short walk to Wimbledon Park Station. We did consider walking on to Wimbledon to catch the bus home, but I saw the hill ahead of me and decided to be lazy and catch the tube at Wimbledon Park for one stop.
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| Earlsfield |
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| Door to at theatre in Earlsfield |
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| River Wandle |
I am now one third through walking the Capital Ring, and it was nice to have some company, even if said son did moan about my map reading skills at one point!
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| Wimbledon Mosque built in 1977 |
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