Wimbledon to Croydon

Posted on 21 Mar 2025 by Phil

We decided to explore the tram route from Wimbledon to Croydon today. First off, a train to Waterloo East, a walk to Waterloo and a train to Wimbledon:

Then onto a waiting tram heading eastwards:

We got off at Phipps Bridge, which is VERY conveniently located for Morden Hill Park, a National Trust property that I visited last year – see London Explore

The River Wandle flows through the park:

After eventually finding an open cafe for a morning coffee, we explored the rest of the park:

and then back to Phipps Bridge (seen behind the trees) for a tram onwards:

Next stop was Mitcham Junction, unfortunately with a very uninspiring bit of Mitcham Common nearby:

One stop down was Beddington Lane, with a more interesting bit of the Mitcham Common:

And “One Island Pond”, which did indeed have one island:

We then got the tram to Wandle Park, again nicely adjacent to the Tram Stop. I’d visited this park last month (see Trams), but it was much warmer this time:

And a nice place to stop for lunch:

Flowing through the park is the River Wandle, looking a LOT smaller than at Morden Hall!

From there, our final tram was to East Croydon station, and a fast train to London Bridge and another fast train home to Orpington.

A nice day out!

Docklands Explore

Posted on 13 Mar 2025 by Phil

Another day out exploring London. First was a train to Hither Green and another train to Dartford. There are some interesting plaques on the fence at Dartford Station:

From there, a third train took me to Woolwich Arsenal, then the DLR to Pontoon Dock:

Adjacent to the station is the Thames Barrier Park, so it’s off for an explore:

This leads down to a Pavilion of Rememberance by the Thames:

and as its name suggests, a good view of the Thames Barrier from the north side:

Then it’s back to the station and a train to Canning Town:

There is a footbridge that crosses the river to ‘City Island’:

City Island turns out to be a mixture of new housing and retail, all still looking very sterile:

After all that (non)excitement, its back on the train to Limehouse:

This is right by the northern portal of the Rotherhithe Tunnel under the Thames:

A short walk takes me to Limehouse Basin, the place where the London Canals join to the Thames:

As you can see, the DLR is nearby:

This is the lock to the Thames:

There is a wide variety of boats in the basin:

You can see Limehouse Station at the end of the alley in this photo:

Back on the train, this time to Bank, where I took the escalator link to Monument Station:

The Monument is right outside:

After a bit of lunch, I took the tube to South Kensington:

and from there, a tube to Victoria and a train to Sutton:

Shortly followed by another train to London Bridge, then a final one back to Orpington:

London Explore

Posted on 7 Mar 2025 by Phil

Another nice day, so it’s back on the trains for an explore…

First a fast to London Bridge. I was going to take the tube to Fenchurch Street, but it was such a nice day, I decided to walk:

It was a bit noisy walking over Tower Bridge though. I had intended to follow the path between the Tower and the Thames, but it was closed, so I found a new path along the back of the Tower:

This lead to Trinity Square gardens and Trinity House itself:

After all that grandeur, the Fenchurch Street entrance seems a bit grim:

I had a bit of a wait for my train, so took some photos:

It was a nice run out to Upminster, whizzing past the tube trains sharing the route. Upminster Station is a bit unexciting, unfortunately with quite a long wait for my next train:

Eventually my train appeared:

This is the newly named “Liberty Line” overground service, a shuttle between Upminster and Romford and turned out to be fairly busy.

We arrive at Romford a long way from the main platforms:

From there I got an Elizabeth Line service to Stratford, and walked around what seemed to be most of the station to find Platform 11, somewhere out in the “sticks”.

However, a Class 720 was waiting to take me on an untravelled line to Tottenham Hale past the Temple Mills depot full of Class 720 and Eurostar trains.

Tottenham Hale station is a very busy interchange between the Victoria Line and trains to Stansted:

But for me, it was time for lunch, so I escaped back to the real world:

Nearby is the River Lee Navigation, complete with a sunshine, a nice bench and a lock:

From there it was back to the station and a train to Liverpool Street station.

From there I walked to Moorgate and got a train to Finsbury Park. It’s mostly in tunnel, but this line now has new stock and is running under ETCS – which is slowly being rolled out on the East Coast main line.

I thought I’d have a long wait at Finsbury Park, but a Thameslink train was running late and after a bit of nifty footwork, managed to catch it back to London Bridge, with a fast back to Orpington 10 minutes later. So no photos of this bit!

Trams

Posted on 28 Feb 2025 by Phil

Another fine day, so I thought I’d revisit the Eastern section of the Croydon Tramlink trams and routes.

I saw one of the new tram-buses being charged at Orpington Station. The pantograph comes down from the charger:

I’m not sure why it needed quite so many people to watch it though.

First a train to Lewisham, then to Elmers End:

South Norwood Country Park is right by Elmers End station, but the path was a flooded so I gave up on that:

From Elmers End, I got a tram to Sandilands (where the fatal derailment occurred in 2016):

Next was a tram to New Addington. Not the most exciting places, but nicer now than when I first visited:

Part of the route goes through the Addington Hills, so I got a tram back along the line to Coombe Lane:

I was last here when I was walking the London Loop in 2016:
London Loop Walk 4 – Coney Hall to Whyteleafe

Addington Hills is adjacent to the stop, so had a nice walk up to the viewpoint:

Splendid views across London, from Croydon in the west to Docklands in the east:

The back down again, and a tram to East Croydon (looping via West Croydon):

And yet another tram westwards to Wandle Park:

The park is adjacent to the tram stop, and a pleasent spot to stop for lunch:

Then back to the tram stop for a tram back through Croydon to Beckenham Junction and train home:

A lovely day helped by clear blue skies!

Reading

Posted on 21 Feb 2025 by Phil

The weather has finally warmed up enough to warrant having a day on the trains, so it’s off to London again.

A quick journey to Farringdon via London Bridge, then an Elizabeth Line train to Maidenhead. This train was very delayed, and with a Reading train following behind, was fast from Hayes & Harlington to Maidenhead, giving me time to stop for a quick look at Maidenhead station:

and nearby clock tower:

Then back to the station to wait for the Reading train:

I’d not explored Reading Station since it was rebuilt in 2014:

It’s a 10 minute walk from the station north entrance to the River Thames and the Christchurch Bridge to Christchurch Meadows:

And a nice spot to stop for lunch:

Then it was back to the station for a rather slower journey back to Paddington:

There is a new Underground entrance and ticket hall:

A Bakerloo line took me to Trafalgar Square and a (comfortable) fast train home:

London Stroll

Posted on 18 Jan 2025 by Phil

We finally managed a “day out” for the first time this year. The temperature was a bit warmer than it has been, and no too unpleasant for being out’n’about.

When we first travelled on the Elizabeth Line, Bond Street station hadn’t opened, so that was our first port of call. Nothing appeared to be too special about the station, so it’s still a mystery to me why it took so long to be completed.

Then time for a coffee in a nice little cafe around the corner:

We wandered through Mayfair towards Grosvenor Square and past the ornate Claridges Hotel:

Then onto Grosvenor Square; nothing that exciting:

Then on to Hyde Park, but we couldn’t see a way across Park Lane, so we headed south with all the traffic until we found an underpass that took us into the park:

After a bit, we got to Apsley Gate in the Southeastern corner of the park. Our intention was to visit the nearby Apsley House, but we found it was only open at weekends in the winter!

So on to Hyde Park Corner itself, with the various statues and monuments:

Wellington Arch WAS open, so we took the lift up to the viewing balcony:

From the opposite balcony, we could see the HorseGuards coming up Constitution Hill complete with police escort:

The horses passed under the arch and on to Hyde Park:

Then back to ground level and the walk towards Buckingham Palace:

We carried on through St James’s Park and Birdcage Walk towards Westminster:

Parliament Square was (as usual) full of tourists getting in the way and photograhing each other by red telephone boxes, but we eventually made it onto Westminster Bridge:

From there, we managed to find a side entrance into Waterloo Station, and headed to the excellent Wetherspoon there for some lovely Titanic Plum Porter and lunch.

Snow at High Elms

Posted on 11 Jan 2025 by Phil

Not much snow in Orpington at the moment, but get out into the “country”, there is at least some. The temperature in High Elms car park was -7.5C this morning – ideal for Rocco, less ideal for me!