Sunday 6th September 2020

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Sunday 6th September 2020

Lockdown day 167
Shopping embargo day 45

08:25 BST

Yesterday was another day that started bright, but clouded over around lunchtime. If I recall correctly there were some sunny periods later in the afternoon that didn't appear in the forecast. The morning, and maybe afternoon sunshine, warmed my front, south facing rooms up nicely, but outside it was something better than "mild", but maybe not "warm". The temperature only rose to 18° C. It did look like it might rain once or twice in the late afternoon, but stayed dry.

It may not be sanctioned by the weather forecast, but it is bright and sunny right now. It is probably the case that today may well turn out to be very similar to yesterday. One small change that is probably more definite is that the temperature may rise to 19° C today. The amount of sunshine, and when it might happen remains in a state of flux for now, and the forecast is liable to keep changing. Tomorrow may feature a lot of sunshine - most, but not all of it as sunny spells. It may also be warmer at 21° C.
a very hilly walk !

I finished yesterday saying I would probably go for a walk, but that it would take no much of a distraction to stop me. Evidently there was no distraction, and from the route I took, I must have been feeling quite positive about the walk once I had had a shower.

I thought the route I had in mind was rather ambitious, and so it turned out to be, although it was actually shorter than I guessed. I expected it to be 5 miles or more, and yet it was only 4 miles. It was another case of a place I thought was really distant being closer than I had imagined.

It was a walk that involved going up quite a few hills (and coming down the other side again). I had an ambition to go up One Tree Hill, but never really thought I would do it. I did yesterday, and it was just as steep as I imagined. I had to stop a couple of times on the way up because my legs were complaining. Earlier in the walk I had the strange wheezy, but not wheezy feeling that I have mentioned a lot recently. I expected to be winded going up that hill, but while I was breathing hard, it wasn't lack of breath that stopped me.

Walking to Crofton Park once seemed a long walk, but it isn't that bad now. I meant to take this picture the last time I was passing. It is of an old public toilet block that is now an estate agents. In other words, they are still taking the piss in there.

blocking
vehicular access to a footbridge

This looks a lot like one of Lewisham Council's traffic calming road blocks, but it isn't ! Beyond this is a footbridge across a railway line. Maybe in the days of horse and cart it was suitable for crossing by wheeled vehicles, but never for heavy cars, although I expect there used to be occasions when some car thief, or other driver trying to escape from the police would try and drive over it. It is a lot more difficult now. As a footbridge it is really annoying because it has really high sides, and you can't see over them.

Once upon a time my friend (maybe ex-friend) Sue asked me to guide her to Honor Oak Crematorium because he mother was cremated there, and there is a small plaque in a rose garden. I looked it up, and it seemed to be a short walk from Crofton Park station, but in the end she got someone to driver her there. Having now passed the place I know it is just a short walk, albeit up a hill, from Crofton Park station.

I've noted this on my "places to visit" list.

This is the view from Brenchley Gardens - but only in one spot where there are no trees blocking the view. You can tell it is fairly high up, but the worst was still to come. Brenchley Gardens is a thin park that seemed to be mostly grass and trees rather than "gardens", but it is named from the road it runs next to. It is actually an old railway embankment that carried the railway from Nunhead to Crystal Palace High Level station. It was closed in (I think) 1952.

This was my primary objective - One Tree Hill. As a kid, maybe 55 years ago, I remember it being open and grassy, but now there is most definitely more than one tree on it !
history

I thought the story of the name was worth blowing up from my original photograph.

I must admit I rather like the idea of the queen being pissed, and knighting a tree. It makes her seem so much more human.

It is no wonder the queen needed to rest. This is the first flight of steps that go up, and up, and up, and up....

The first flight of steps level out for about 10ft, and then you have to tackle these steps. At the top of these the path levels out, and runs at right angles to these steps. Then it turns another right angle before there are yet more steps to the top. I saw one young sporty looking girl running up these steps, but I just had to plod up them, and taking a rest at the top of each flight.

Once upon a time, during the 1914 - 18 great war, aka WW1, there was a gun emplacement at the top, and as the faded picture shows, there were no trees to block the view over London.

The gun has obviously long gone, but the octagonal base remains, and is now a sign posted "feature". You'll note the emplacement is hemmed in by trees on all sides except one where there is a small seating area. The seat may have once had a view towards London, but all you can see from them is more trees.

I suspect this signal beacon was a replacement erected for the Millenium (or maybe the Queen's silver jubilee). I can remember it being a wooden construction (except the fire basket), and being visible from the road. It is now only visible once you get within 30ft of it !

St Augustine's Church is situated half way up One Tree Hill. Two thoughts come to mind. The builders must have done a marvellous job with the foundations to stop it slipping down the hill. Secondly, it's parishioners must be a hardy lot to be able to walk up that hill every bloody Sunday !

Yesterday's walk was very educational, and it was once again interesting to realise that some of these places are a lot nearer to home than I previously thought they were. On the other hand, it did feel like the entire walk should have been more like 5 or more miles long by how I felt when I got home. I think that 5 miles on level ground, such as along the coast, would feel quite easy these days. One day I will be able to test that theory out once masks are no longer required on trains.

Like many of my long walks now, I was not 100% knackered when I got home. My feet and legs were a bit sore. I think my boots are wearing out. I have not worked out how many miles I walked in them, but they were new in May, and that doesn't seem that long ago. I guess I really have been pounding the roads a lot in that time. I think that maybe they still have a little life in them, and yet another new pair of socks may give a bit more comfort.

After I had got home, and stripped off my outdoor clothes I got on the scales. I was very happy to see I was now just over 100gms from the units digit going down by one. I was 2kg lighter than I was at the start of the month when I started recording every reading of my weight instead of just a few good ones. I rewarded myself with some grilled bacon. I was going to have some beans as well, but I thought the bacon by itself was all I needed.

During the afternoon I worked on the pictures I had taken, and had a snooze. I had gone out comparatively early, and so I was home early too, but somehow the afternoon didn't seem to drag, and before long I was thinking about dinner. I have plenty of eating options here still, but I fancied a takeaway. I also fancied a change from kebabs, and I considered other alternatives. The answer came when I found a place that did kebabs, peri peri grilled chicken, and fish and chips.

I decided that despite it not being the best choice I could make, I would have cod and chips last night. I also ordered a large chicken shish kebab for tonight, and a Peri Peri chicken for maybe the day after tomorrow. I also ended up with a small portion of chips. I think I might have clicked on the wrong chicken shish kebab option - one came with chips ! I am not sure when I will have those chips. Chips rarely heat up OK, and I probably should throw them away, but at some point I will zap them in the microwave, and eat them regardless.

Apart from being woken up by a drunken Lee, just a few seconds after I had gone to sleep (sometime before 9pm), I slept OK last night. I did remember part of a dream, but it seems to have evaporated now. I blame Lee again. He phoned me up well before 9am this morning to tell me the same boring stuff that he told me last night !

I feel almost not bad this morning. My weight has dropped another 100gm compared to yesterday morning. I am not sure how that happened after eating yummy, and greasy fish and chips, but the scales don't lie (much). Maybe climbing One Tree Hill burnt far more calories than I expected. Even my blood glucose level has dropped a bit. It is still over 8 this morning, but while annoying, it is no real worry.

Today I am tempted to go for another walk. The sun is currently shining, and that is acting as a lure. If I do go out, and I think there is a 75% chance I will, I am thinking of going to Forest Hill a revisit some of the walk I would have done with my mum before I was even a teenager, and possibly more like 6 or 7 years old. It could be less than 4 miles, but it would be easy to extend it to something like 5 miles or more.