June Challenge III. (b): Doing something different: Eating apple crumble pizza and visiting Sutton

[squirmelia]

Sometimes I take a train from Victoria to Clapham Junction and then change there, but on Monday, I decided to instead stay on the train until it terminates.


The trains that go to Clapham Junction are varied, but I often tend to get ones that go from the main concourse, that are not going to lovely seaside destinations such as Bognor Regis, Littlehampton, Brighton and so on.

So, armed with an Oyster card, I opted for one that was going to Sutton.

Instead of the usual 7 or so minutes it takes to get to Clapham Junction, I intended to stay on the train for 51 minutes.

The train stopped at Clapham Junction and I wanted to get off. Instead, many people got on the train and the train filled up.
--

I see a fox between Streatham Hill and Balham, walking alongside the tracks. I also see what looks like a car wash, but for trains. I mostly stare out the window and try to read the graffiti and identify the flowers. Paint rollers and ox eye daisies.

I watch the reflection of a woman blinking.

I feel self-conscious about writing or taking photographs as there is a woman sitting next to me until West Norwood.
Her phone rings.
"I'm on a train. I'm okay," she says.
Mostly she seems to stare past me and out the window too.

I see cow parsley or maybe hogweed, I wasn't paying attention enough to tell, as we get closer to Gypsy Hill. It's a popular station and most people seem to leave the train here.

A dog on the train barks with a high pitched bark.

At Crystal Palace, the arms of the benches are painted orange to match the Overground sign.

Approaching Norwood Junction, I see a pond, and wonder if I should have got on the train to the seaside instead, as there hasn't been much to see really. I remember the journey I took to work in Melbourne and how seeing the sea from the train made me smile every time.

We pass West Croydon and I wonder if Kake is in Croydon at the moment.

Next is Waddon and then Wallington.

We pass a cemetery and then an allotment.

I see dandelions and stinging nettles.

We pass Carshalton Beeches, where my Auntie Marjorie once owned a shop.

I see blue flowers.

--
I arrived in Sutton and at the station was a sign that said, "The Magical Haircut." I wondered why it was considered magical, whether getting a haircut there would give me magical powers.

I met a friend who had been at a yoga class nearby, and we then went to a pizza buffet, as he had told me they sold apple crumble pizza.

They also had chocolate and marshmallow pizza, baked beans and sausage pizza, macaroni cheese pizza, roast dinner pizza and other combinations. They sounded great! Alas, I am a vegetarian and the selection was limited and there were no interesting sounding pizzas for me to eat.

The Wikipedia page for Sutton lists various street art, so we wandered around looking for them.















I saw a building with plants growing on it:



There were various wooden animals, such as giant cats and giant cockerels hanging out on the streets of Sutton.

There were poems on the pavements about libraries:



Another said:
"Don't know of the past
Nor dream of the future
For time shall grow older
Seize the moment
Enjoy today
Not yesterday
Nor tomorrow"

We wandered around a park and looked at the irises and the angels:



I found a shiny building to photograph, where as my friend found a 20p in a bag marked "evidence".





It was getting late, but I decided not to go back to Clapham Junction. I instead took the X26, which is an express bus that goes to Heathrow.

It went through Cheam, where the buildings seemed old and white with wooden beams. In North Cheam, I instead saw a white building with black trees painted on it.

I saw a pie, mash and eels shop.

The bus stopped at Worcester Park station, and then New Malden/The Fountain. I couldn't see a fountain from the window though. It then went through Kingston, a place I am more familiar with.

Then I got off the bus in Teddington.

I then got on the 33, which passed Strawberry Vale and Pope's Grotto, and that took me close to home, so I walked from Marble Hill Park.

The map is somewhat inaccurate, but gives an idea of my journey:

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=204716157281407857203.0004dee7797fae40538c9&msa=0

Comments

[kake]

I've been on that train! Though usually I seem to get the ones that go via Norbury and Selhurst. I was indeed in Croydon that evening, and by the time you passed through I was probably even at home, which means we were mere metres apart as your train went past my back garden.

Did you at least get to eat the apple crumble pizza, and was it any good?

Cheam is where I ended up on last year's bus challenge, and I've also been there for RGL purposes. It's quite villagey.

Last time I was in New Malden I also failed to locate a fountain, but I did have a drink in a pub of that name.

[squirmelia]

I should have waved. :)

I did eat the apple crumble pizza, but was extremely disappointed. I love apple crumble, and I love pizza! But this was mostly just crunchy and not very appley. I think it had been sitting there for a while, so maybe it was better when it was warmer and fresher.

I had contemplated getting on the 213, which was the bus you got from Sutton on that bus challenge, but the express bus was more convenient for me in the end.

[kake]

That is very disappointing! (Incidentally, the LiveJournal version of this post is now the fourth Google hit for 'sutton apple crumble pizza'...)

The X26 also goes between the ex-Ship of Fools in West Croydon and the Nonsuch Inn in North Cheam, the latter being where the Ship of Fools manager is going with nine of her team. I will be taking that bus there to visit her new pub at some point.

[spiralsheep]

we were mere metres apart as your train went past my back garden.

That's perfect.

[spiralsheep]

I never know whether you'd prefer comments here or there so I c&p. Let me know if the 2xcommentspam is unwelcome. :-)

I always feel self-conscious about taking photos when other people are watching me, especially when they might co-incidentally appear in the image, but I braved the disapproving stares on a train a few days ago and got an unusual portrait as my reward.

I'm sad you weren't offered more exciting pizza, but I'm glad you found consolatory street art. They have quotes from local people in the pavements in Chepstow too (example). I like that you continued to do something different in three stages, especially when you didn't backtrack to Clapham Junction.

[kake]

I generally try to avoid taking photos with other people in without their consent (obv it would be different if I was e.g. attempting to document police violence or something like that). Under what circumstances do you think it's OK to do this? e.g. if the person is incidental to the scene and the resolution is small enough then I'm happy to do it, especially when I'm photographing a street scene.

On the other hand, I have lost my self-consciousness about taking photos with people watching. Sometimes when I'm taking photos of shops etc people come and harass me (a few months back the harrasser informed that I should have brought my partner with me to protect me) but I've got to the point where that's just annoying rather than upsetting.

[spiralsheep]

As is probably fairly obvious from my posts full of deserted city centre caps, I also prefer to avoid publishing easily identifiable images of people without their permission. The only formal research on criminal-levels of stalking in this country suggested that 1 in 7 women has been stalked in ways that are crimes by the time they're 21. I prefer not to assist stalkers, especially the dangerously obsessive types who might search street scenes, although stalkers using social networks and openly requesting info ("My sister is missing, please help!" &c.) has worked to a dangerous degree in many cases. However, I'm aware that my standard is non-normative and most people think that anyone who doesn't want invasive personal images published should stay in a private room with no unblocked windows. Images of numberplates are probably currently easier to trace though.

There's only one recent exception: I was taking this cap when the man, who had seen me, pulled forwards in front of my lens instead of waiting a few seconds until I finished so I assumed his tacit permission. I note that his hands also appear relaxed, which indicates a lack of tension in the situation (despite the trying driving conditions). There wasn't another available angle and there was another car behind him so I took the cap before a different driver was framed. ::shrugs::

TBH, I'm self-conscious enough about existing in public and semi-public spaces at all so adding a potentially attention-attracting activity, such as photography, is very circumstance dependent. Tangential: but I'll never cease to be amazed how many photographers endanger themselves by completely losing track of their surroundings beyond the frame. I find photography connects me deeper into my space but I'm aware that this seems unusual and the opposite seems more often the case for most people.

[kake]

Wow, I didn't realise the figures were that high.

I don't blur out numberplates in my photos, partly because I don't like the way it looks, and partly because I kind of resent that people are allowed to leave large items of private property sitting out and getting in the way on public streets when I'm trying to photograph the shop behind them.

Re consent, I was recently at an event where a man kept taking photos of people, including me, even when I was obviously trying to avoid being in his photos. I spoke to one of the organisers, who basically said "oh dear, we should have thought about getting people's permission for photos, shouldn't we, I'll do something about him in a bit", but before she got around to sorting it out, he'd tried to photograph me again, so I just left. (A few days later I was official photographer at an event. I made sure to check who didn't want to be photographed in advance, and just didn't photograph those people. Simple.)

Yes, looking at your cap, I'd agree with your assessment that the driver doesn't seem bothered!

[spiralsheep]

resent that people are allowed to leave large items of private property sitting out and getting in the way on public streets when I'm trying to photograph the shop behind them

Hee!

It never ceases to amaze me how many people in positions of power over others don't feel any need to trouble themselves with gaining consent.