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flaneursSometimes 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
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
