Working on the highway, laying down the blacktop
Working on the highway, all day long I don't stop
Working on the highway, blasting through the bedrock
Working on the highway, working on the highway
-The Boss
A photo-heavy word-light (ish) post for a change showing some of the things I got upto this weekend. Saturday saw us head off to Moka East at the ViewTube with my sister-in-law to admire the Olympic Stadium and have some breakfast. My two companions chose the full English, whilst I went for a broccoli and goats cheese frittata which was pretty tasty and made for a change from the standard brunch fayre available in most cafés. You'll see below some photos of Moka East's post-apocalyptic surroundings (though again I should emphasise it's actually a nice walk).
Having practised my insect photography during the week I had a potter about the garden at the ViewTube and the patches of wilderness planting. Even though the ViewTube is immediately next to the train lines coming out of Stratford, it's a really pleasant, secluded spot for a drink or a bite to eat if walking the Greenway.
On Sunday, it was another quiet day, though this time the peace and tranquillity came from the closure of The Highway. Normally for the marathon and the Triathalon, the road is closed to allow someone else to use it. And this was the case, but unfortunately, the users of the road were some cyclists going through at 7.30 and a few professional cyclists 5 hours later. I had needed to cross The Highway and had walked up to Glamis Road to use the subway assuming I wouldn't be able to cross, but on finding the road abandoned at 10 am I decided to be a bit of a radical and walked down the middle of the road in sections as I ticked off my E1/W to-do list, ultimately walking its length to St Katharine Docks. An unexpected pleasure was hearing the shrieking of a peregrine falcon as it carried a whole pigeon back to its nest and then began to devour it. An 'amusing' sight (given the relative size of the birds) and a spectacular one, especially for a day in the city.
Despite not advertising the ability to exit Wapping, I did spot one motorist successfully negotiate with a steward to let them cross from Vaughan Way to Dock Street, but another at Garnet Street was unsuccessful at being offered a way to exit Wapping. All the while for about 5 hours the road sat empty and unused, with stewards unoccupied bored rigid playing on their phones. I understand the need to let the mass of riders start first, as they take longer, but there must be a better solution than closing so much road capacity for so long and preventing access to locals.
Onwards we made our way, having a coffee at White Mulberries, but not before spotting a chalked graffiti tag that I have now seen at Wapping Station, Thomas More St and Brick Lane. Some research is in order. My final spot was the ongoing progress on the expansion of Pumblechooks.
As an aside and following on from my post on wildlife last week (and accounts of youths killing birds), when I was undertaking my tour of The Highway, I saw and spoke to a friend who gives up her evenings to assist youth workers. Together, they walk the streets at night speaking to teenagers who are out on the street. During Ramadan she does this nightly as more Muslim teenagers are allowed out whilst their parents are at prayers. Another friend with us was cautious about how effective this was, and what the dangers were (he once spoke to some teenagers sat on his garden wall and then discovered his car windows had all been smashed the next day). Having heard from my friend previously how she deals with a group of boys who hang around her bin room drinking (basically being polite, acknowledging them and treating them as a neighbour, including offering cake) I'm a great admirer of the technique. At the times that I'm about I don't really encounter ASB, so the opportunity to engage isn't there, but did make me question if more could be done. Whether or not the work going on across Tower Hamlets could be replicated in Wapping I don't know, but it has made me question whether I am doing enough to be part of a positive solution, rather than relying on others to move the problem onto someone else, and my current inaction doesn't sit well with me, but I need to find the courage as well as conviction to act.
