flaneurs | Recent Entries

We did a bus flanage again this year and started from somewhere new but kept our numbers the same.

The map is very loopy

Last weekend I had a go at challenge II (b):

II. (b)

Get an A-Z map (or similar) of your city - something that has a grid of squares overlaid on the maps. Choose a page at random, then choose a grid column on that page at random. Start in the square at the top of this column, and travel as far as you can down the page without leaving the column.

I couldn't find my A-Z street atlas, so had to use a city centre map. ( Report, with images )

secretlondon

Every year I've done challenge 3a (2014, 2015, 2015b, 2016, 2017). I was worried flaneurs might not happen this year. What should I do? Should I do it anyway? What happens if I break the chain?

III. (a)

Travel to or from your workplace one day using a completely different route to any you've ever used before.

Working in zone 6 is only tolerable as it's 20 minutes by train from Vauxhall to Surbiton. Although I could probably get home by bus in several hours I just didn't have the energy. This was a bit boring so I may come up with something better later on in the month.

I considered the K1 bus to New Malden but felt bored. I walked to a main road and all the buses were boring too. Zzzz.

I ended up walking from Tolworth Hospital to Tolworth itself. It started out as suburbia and became a linear shopping street. Tolworth Tower happened and then a roundabout with underpasses, Elephant and Castle style. It's the 1960s! Walking further I got to the station - 1930s Art Deco like others round here. Unlike Surbiton Station the one in Tolworth needs some love and attention. There are only two trains an hour from here. Going the other way I'd end up at Chessington World of Adventures.
( Photos )

Current Mood: tired

secretlondon

Last year I did two challenges based on small London buses which have letter suffixes - Small buses with letters and The bus of St George. Looking back I've done a few flans with these local little buses which go off the beaten track. In 2013 I did 10 stops of the C10 and I went on the W19 in 2015.

Today was the turn of the K1 - a little bus going from Kingston to New Malden via Surbiton and Tolworth. It also goes past Tolworth Hospital, and in good little bus style it's the only bus that does.

1b is:

Get on the first bus that comes along (and that you're able to get onto).
Stay on the bus until you reach the 10th stop or the end of the route, whichever comes first.
Get off and navigate your way home by a method of your choice.

This was quite a disappointing flan. My current work route is Surbiton Station to Tolworth Hospital and that turns out to be 9 stops worth. Ten stops is just round the corner from Surbiton station. This is very boring.

The other way the bus goes to New Malden. I was going to wait 15 minutes for it when I realised it has a hail and ride section. How do i count stops with that?

Have some photos - Surbiton Station is a lovely Art Deco thing.
( Photos )

Current Mood: tired

bob

As is seemingly customary once again I have done the walking of a column in the A-Z aka II(b).

I did page 162 column A

This tuesday will be bus riding day.

nou

secretlondon reminded me that it’s nearly time for the June challenge! My respiratory health is terrible at the moment and so I’m not certain I’ll be able to participate, but I’ll be eagerly reading other people’s reports regardless.

Here are the themes: theme I: buses, theme II: lines, theme III: doing something different. Here are reports from previous years: I.(a), I.(b), I.(c), I.(d), II.(a), II.(b), II.(c), II.(d), III.(a), III.(b), III.(c), III.(d), III.(e).

To complete the challenge, all you need to do is:

Make an attempt during June 2018 to follow at least one set of instructions from at least one theme.
Report back to the community, either via a complete trip report or simply by leaving a comment on this post stating what you did and how it went.

As before, various bits of flaneurs swag will be offered to everyone who completes the challenge. The more themes you try, the more swag you get.

(Swag is currently stickers, badges, and postcards. I would be very grateful to anyone who can volunteer to organise a different type. You don’t have to be able to afford to pay for it — I have that covered — just able to decide what it should be and then make it happen.)

squirmelia

Diamond Geezer has posted a Random Tourist Inspiration Generator, which is a small grid of places in London, so you can then roll a dice and go and have a wander there:

http://diamondgeezer.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/random-tourist-inspiration-generator.html

rydra_wong

Relevant to our interests:

New York Times: The Disabled Flaneur

Marian Ryan writes about practicing flanerie while using a wheelchair. It's a short piece and I wish she went into much more depth, but it's really interesting to see it being raised as a topic.

spiralsheep

There seem to be an increasing number of fictional women flaneurs who might, or might not be of interest to

flaneurs.

The most recent I've encountered was in the novel Lilian Boxfish Takes a Walk, by Kathleen Rooney, 2017, in which the elderly* New Yorker Ms Boxfish is a fictionalised version of real life 1930s advertising woman Margaret Fishback. Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk on goodreads (currently 3.86/5) and also my review with quotes (3/5).

Any other urban walking books of note?

* "elderly" = a compliment in cultures which respect older people.

nou

Here's the roundup for this year's June challenge! Below is the list of who did what — please let me know of any errors or omissions.

bob did I.c [post] and III.d [map with photos] in London.
dooriya did I.b [post] and III.d [post].
nou did II.a [post] in London.
secretlondon did I.b [post] and III.a [post] in London.
spiralsheep did II.b [post] in Penzance, II.c [post] in Tewkesbury, and III.d [post] in Torbay.
squirmelia did I.c [comment] in London and III.d [post] in Kraków.

This means that bob, dooriya, secretlondon, spiralsheep, and squirmelia all did two themes, while nou did one theme. Congratulations to all participants, and special congratulations to dooriya as a first-time participant!

flaneurs swag is available to everyone who did at least one theme of the challenge. We have button badges, postcards, and stickers. If you did one theme, you get one thing, if you did two themes, you get two things, and if you did all three themes, you get all three things. Please message or email me (kake@earth.li) with a postal address and your choice(s) of prizes, and I'll get them sent out ASAP.

nou

I only managed one attempt at the June challenge this year: a modified version of Theme II.(a): Lines.

The full version of this challenge involves starting at a railway terminal and walking outwards from the terminus, following one of the railway lines as closely as possible. I’ve been doing this in stages from West Croydon Station to London Bridge Station, and this month I did a new stage.

I was originally going to walk from Tulse Hill to East Dulwich, but my lungs were playing up so I stopped at North Dulwich; i.e. I only walked one stop. Here’s a map showing my route so far (plus the bit I intended to but didn’t walk, which will be done next time), and here’s a photoset including all stages so far.

I photographed quite a lot of railway bridge identifiers on this one, since secretlondon and I are collecting them, and railway line walks are a very good source. My favourite photo is the one below, showing the premises of a “Fibrous Plaster Specialists”.

A view through a square brick-lined tunnel to an open passageway and buildings at the far end. A dilapidated sign on the left wall reads “19a / E J Harman & Co Ltd / Fibrous Plaster Specialists / 19a Birkbeck Hill SE21 8JS”.

Someone came out just after I took it and asked me why I was taking photos. They seemed a bit offended by my use of the phrase “old sign”, oops. They were very keen to make it clear that the business is still going!

bob

Hello,
As is customary I did Flaneurs bus challenge I. (c) from the same stop as before with an unchanging n of 6.
In exciting news I managed to finally cross the river and in fact ended up at Tottenham Hale. I covered about 30 miles on buses on the hottest day of the year. The routemasters were hellish.

* Map
* Google Photos or Flick Photos depending on what you prefer. Includes lots of video.
* Twitter thread

I'm currently uploading the videos to youtube and may make a longer video of them.
Talking of which I often post videos of my bus journeys on my youtube channel

Current Mood: accomplished

squirmelia

I arrived in Kraków on Monday afternoon and decided to do challenge III. (d), take the first left, then the second right, etc. I prefer to use the adaptation of take the first left, then take the first right, etc.

( Write up and photos )

secretlondon

Every year I attempt 3a - and this year is no exception! (2014, 2015, 2015b, 2016)

III. (a)

Travel to or from your workplace one day using a completely different route to any you've ever used before.

I've been thinking about how to do this for several weeks when it came to me. The little bus from work ends in an estate in Battersea. The little bus that goes nearest home starts in an estate in Battersea. I'll get one bus, walk between the termini and get the other!

( Ooh buses )

secretlondon

1b -Get on the first bus that comes along (and that you're able to get onto).
Stay on the bus until you reach the 10th stop or the end of the route, whichever comes first.
Get off and navigate your way home by a method of your choice.

Hospitals are often served by little buses and having worked in several hospitals I have previous little bus experience: the C10 from St Thomas’ in 2013, and the W19 from Whipps Cross to Ilford in 2015. 2014 was night buses instead, and 2016 was bus free. I’m currently lucky enough to be working in the beautiful grounds of an 1840 county pauper lunatic asylum. In the past such places were hidden away – now they have little buses, in this case the G1.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: accomplished

spiralsheep

Hi!

Report: Flanzance with ten small images.

I've noticed that flaneurs has been lucky enough to acquire some new members so I decided to include a brief introduction with my first June challenge post this year.

On the flanning spectrum from rules constrained walkers at one end to free flowing wanderers at the other, I'm an absent-minded deriveur. I bend the rules until they're origami because even in this seventh year of the challenge I can't remember whether I'm supposed to be walking first left then second right or first right then second left. I also often play in towns and smaller cities where if I want to walk in a straight line from a (somewhat) random starting point then I need to have a choice of heading south or north, so I don't almost immediately walk out into countryside or fall into the sea!

I hope you all enjoy the June challenge as much as I do and that it shows you interesting places. :-)

mummimamma

I have to post this before June and all the June challenges start pouring in.

This is from a beer glass walk I did in Athens where I have been staying this spring. I've found that beer glass walks are good for walking getting to know a neighbourhood, but somehow I missed all the useful things like bars, cafes, shops. I also tried to to the first street to the right, second to the left, but that didn't work so well, the streets of Athens are a bit confusing, and after ending up where I started twice,