There was me thinking that the clocks would go forward tonight, when they actually went forward last night. But it was OK.
I had a really nasty dream and woke up about 6am, couldn’t get rid of pictures from the inside my head. Every time I closed my eyes they were back. No I’m not going to tell you what it was, enough that it lived in my head for a while.
It was foggy AGAIN this morning, not sure if this is the norm, but here it does seem to be.
So after a slightly late start we consulted our trusty guidebook and decided to head to Manor House tube station and do a walk from there. I guess it took us an hour to get there on the tube, all underground unfortunately. Good thing the company of The Man was good. A short walk from the station and we found ourselves outside a very quirky building. It looked for all the world like an historical grand mansion. It was in reality a Victorian water pumping station. The pumping house is next to what used to be the reservoir. Now the reservoir is used for water sports. We eagerly walked in through the entry and followed the signs to the café, which is in the old pump house. We thought that it would be nice to walk around the perimeter and watch the small yachts testing themselves against each other. Think again!! Not only, was the only place to view the water from the outside the small deck of the café, but only members are allowed anywhere near the water. So we left there and walked back towards the road hoping that we might find something unusual in the main building. Think again. The old building is now an indoor climbing centre with no sign at all that it had ever been anything else. Oh well at least he sun was shining and it was a nice day for a walk.
According to our guide there would be a park about seven more minutes along the road, and sure enough there it was. All green grass and family groups. We had a nice stroll around the ponds and admired the water birds. The breeze was a bit cool so we wandered on until we found a more sheltered place to sit and have our lunch. We found it outside Clissold House, which is what the park is named for. According to the guide the house was originally owned by a wealthy merchant who didn’t like the fact that his daughter was in love with a local vicar. He did everything he could to keep the two apart even resorting to threatening to kill the person who was delivering their love notes. The daughter had the last laugh though because when the father died she married the vicar and re named the place Clissold Park.
The old church across the road from the park looked worth a visit and we were not disappointed. There was a beutiful modern stained glass window. The church suffered major bomb damage in 1940 and this replacement window was dedicated in 1960.
The window in teh church. The park-keepers house. Art on the tube. Tube entering staion
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