The old dead tree has fallen

Willesden Herald Exclusive (tada!)

Fallen tree at the corner of South Vale and Wood End Road, Harrow

The old dead tree has fallen in the recent gales (Wednesday night, I think.) It's lying across the path that starts the walk along this small section of the Capital Ring. pic.twitter.com/Yz6dkBIBqp

— SJ Moran (@storyofthemonth) March 15, 2019

End of the line for the Water Poet pub

The Water Poet in Folgate Street closes thanks to British Land's redevelopment of Norton Folgate for a hideous corporate plaza! pic.twitter.com/ftCTwjfWU2

— Spitalfields Life (@thegentleauthor) March 12, 2019

According to this, the Water Poet corner pub in Folgate Street is closing to make way for "a corporate plaza." London is disappearing, welcome to nowhere.

Got that?

New signs have appeared near Sudbury Hill, Harrow

The sign says:
NO

• spitting
• urination
• defecation

in  a public place. [Plus details of fines applicable]

And it has three graphic illustrations in case we were in any doubt. But since when did we need signs to tell us what should be known to every individual? What next, signs telling us to breathe in and out?

EU Settlement Scheme sign

Bus shelter, Greenford Road

The sign says, "I'm an EU citizen, how can I find out more about staying in the UK? To find out more about the EU Settlement Scheme, including how and when you need to apply, visit http://gov.uk/euexit".

Car wreck on Wood End Road

Car wreck on Wood End Road, Harrow today. Let's hope no one was badly hurt.

Plankton: Minemizu "Black Water Dive"

Japanese Underwater Photographer Ryo Minemizu (@ryo_minemizu) captures the beauty of plankton. Minemizu developed the Black Water Dive, a night dive with underwater lighting to bring out the best of larval plankton pic.twitter.com/TbV1VuRKKz

— 41 Strange (@41Strange) February 26, 2019

Keep Saturday March 23rd free! #PutItToThePeople

#PutItToThePeople March.

Join us in London on March 23rd for the ‘Put It To The People March’ to make the calls for a #PeoplesVote too loud to ignore. Please RT:https://t.co/z4hWRpcCPT pic.twitter.com/ey8kWVMEhK

— People's Vote UK (@peoplesvote_uk) February 16, 2019

Seagull

Sudbury Hill, Harrow this afternoon

Storm Erik - a timely warning

This is the moment a man fell from a promenade into the water in 2018. Passers-by naturally rushed to help. They too found themselves in difficulty. All escaped with their lives. If you see someone else in trouble, call 999 or 112 and ask for the Coastguard. #ThrowbackThursday pic.twitter.com/GrFc265HIu

— RNLI (@RNLI) February 7, 2019

Don't get near the waves in a dangerous place like this (above, from 2018). I was nearly swept off my feet into the sea from some huge rocks many years ago. You just don't know when a bigger wave will crash in. (Ed.)

A walk through Grove Farm, North Greenford

"The road not taken" (took the right hand one, left goes west)

The not very narrow path to the not very deep north

Not much of a path here. Go up left towards exit or right to follow the stream. 

View towards the landmark Kellogg Tower (now flats) across the stream

Should have gone that way

Okay, we're down here, let's keep going, fool!

A local nature reserve, with wild service trees etc* but don't know what these ones are.

Across the stream to the back of the Kellogg Tower office-to-flat conversions

You can just about see the stream in this. Anyone know its name, if any?

Uh oh. Heading for a dead end, only some four-legged tracks here.

Had to turn back and up to the plateau behind the David Lloyd sports centre

Found a way out. "Thank you for visiting Ealing parks". Pleasure.

The David Lloyd sports centre road. That's Sudbury Hill station on the left.

This walk started from the entrance between houses on Whitton Avenue West and ended at the side road that leads from Greenford Road to the David Lloyd sports centre.

* Grove Farm is an 8 hectare Local Nature Reserve (LNR) in Greenford in the London Borough of Ealing. It was declared an LNR in 2002 by Ealing Council, which owns and manages the site.

The site has ancient woodland, and woodland flower species, while trees include the wild service tree. Plant species include welted thistle, hairy violet, pepper saxifrage and adders tongue fern.

There is a circular path, and there is access from Whitton Avenue West, Dimmock Drive and Lilian Board Way. (Source: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grove_Farm,_Ealing)

Another view from the railway bridge today

Midday, and snow from last night has not melted yet.

Views from the rail bridge on a cold but sunny day

Chiltern Line going west away from Sudbury Hill Harrow

Chiltern Line going east towards Sudbury Hill Harrow

Update:  Later in the afternoon, the sky became completely overcast and it rained steadily with some sleet and snow at times, till nightfall.

Spare poems going cheap

Breda Rainey


Breda Rainey you would
hammock in the rainy box
chaps sodden from the night dew.

Breda Rainey you wear
tiny leaves of the hedgerow
in your hair.

Breda Rainey you are,
though you heave a pushchair,
forever garlanded in box.

.

The Weight of Words


The number of all the raindrops that have ever fallen on England
and all the flakes of snow that ever fell on Japan,
in words,
would not outweigh a pinch of cotton
as would make a pillow for a dormouse.

.

Canal of Days

Life is a canal, on which we are narrow boats

with no reverse gear.

Each night, each sleep, is a lock.

We enter the lock and the water of yesterday is released,

till we emerge into tomorrow, to another gated day.

Behind us and above that again,

lie the days gone by. Ahead only today,

its prospect, its gate, its fall.

Gone the hundreds, hail the one.

Oh lucky swans!

.

Superb John Prine session w/ Gordon Lightfoot in the room

Great atmosphere, anecdotes, wonderful songs and a brilliant performance.
And it must be said, "not a dry eye in the house." "Laughter through tears" is another stock phrase that comes to mind.

Ebikery redux

Once again, an ebike partially blocking the path, near a junction in the Sudbury Hill area #ebikes #LimeE pic.twitter.com/v1z9CQ2k9d

— Willesden Herald | New Short Stories (@storyofthemonth) January 4, 2019