Across the capital

 A cooler start

After a the stretch of warmer days and nights, Friday morning dawned a little cooler, and walking conditions were more reasonable as I headed south from Potters Bar, towards the M25.  A former colleague from John Lewis joined me as I walked under the motorway, heading towards Barnet where we found a monument to the Battle of Barnet, a decisive moment in the claims for the English throne during the Wars of the Roses in the late 15th century.  

Not long after, the familiar sound of a tube train rattling into the terminus of the Northern Line could be heard in the distance, marking the beginning of the Greater London area which has been the backdrop for the last three days of walking.  

Nonetheless, there was still quite a lot of green space around on Friday as Sue and I walked along some of the footpaths of the London Loop (London Outer Orbital Path) and Dollis Hill Greenwalk, so only the last hour of my walk to Muswell Hill (my overnight stop) was in a built up area.  Having lived in SW London between 1987-94, North London is somewhat unknown beyond the names on the tube map, so there was still a sense of exploration as views over the City of London opened up.

The friends who hosted me on Friday had arranged tickets to see Rob Bell on his tour, 'Everything is Spiritual.'  Having had lots of nights with just my own company or with smaller family groups over the past three months, it was a bit of a shock to the system to be out in the metropolis, returning home well after recent bedtimes!  Whether it was that or the somewhat cooler night, I slept very well and even enjoyed a lie-in of sorts.  The manse cat having spied on my every move as I packed up, Central London beckoned.

My walk continued through London suburbs not really known well to me, but passed the clock tower in Crouch End, built as the village was growing and being subsumed into the wider London conurbation during late Victorian times - follow the link to see more on what is described as its 'friendly chunkiness' !

Another hour or so's walking brought me towards the northern fringes of the City of London itself, and Wesley's Chapel, built in 1778 in a style typical of the Georgian period by John Wesley, the founder of Methodism.  The building houses a museum telling the history of the Methodist movement, but is equally home to an active Christian community with members drawn from across the world, serving the local area as well as the many visitors who come each year to visit the mother church of world Methodism - including me (I have been before).  Having settled in and caught up with my colleague, the roof of the manse proved to be a good spot to catch the afternoon breeze and relax:

Underwater walking

Once I'd been to morning worship in the chapel, my eldest daughter Jasmine joined me at lunch time today (Sunday) for a walk across the city, along the Thames Path (using the northern shore) and to Greenwich where Jasmine has been studying over the past year.  It was nice to share one another's company, catch up as we walked alongside the river, and for a short time underneath it (in the Greenwich Foot Tunnel) so I will simply leave you with some photographs of some places en route - some perhaps well known, and one with a connection to Bristol through Brunel, whose ship 'The Great Eastern' was built and launched from a spot on our route.