A train to Stratford, a walk down The Highway and a non-existant bikeride

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.

Canes, coffees, ducklings, damsels in distress and dragons

In a valiant attempt to use up my annual leave before the end of the leave year I took the day off. However, as ever, my inability to have a lie-in led me getting on the overground at just before 9am. What I discovered was that commuting after 8am is a very different experience to my usual route to work. In hindsight I question why I would feel compelled to travel to Whitechapel at such an hour to buy some bamboo canes for my tomatoes. However, I'll allow the qualified psychologists amongst you to delve into my inner psyche.

Regardless, I obtained 6 novelty sized canes for the reasonable price of £1.50 and headed over to St Katharine Docks to get a coffee from White Mulberries to try a latte made from their current guest espresso, Nude, of Brick Lane. Despite the heat and lugging around both my e-reader and novelty canes I'm glad I did; Nude's beans make a lovely smooth espresso, and with due care and attention given to the milk from the barista, makes for a rich, velvety latte with a distinct cocoa flavour and a delicate crema. The mild flavour profile provides a contrast (and thus an excellent stablemate) to White Mulberries' house espresso from Allpress.

Making my way back home via Waitrose, I walked down the canal and was amazed to see the hundreds of small damselflies hovering above the water. Slightly more odd was reaching the basin and seeing a straggly haired fellow swimming in the basin.

What I was really struck by though was a handful of larger flying insects that I think are dragonflies (I'm not an entomologist, so apologies if this is spurious). On getting home, I dropped off my shopping, rejigged my tomatoes with novelty canes and headed back out with my camera.

Lessons on the basin were in full swing, with both dinghies and kayaks on the water.

Having just returned from Whitechapel, seeing the Air Ambulance flying overhead made me think that helicopter would be a speedier means of transport than the D3, and a reminder of how important a service the Air Ambulance offers.

Also on the basin was a large group of ducks, seemingly sticking together in solidarity. Walking round to the canal, I met the newest brood of mallard ducklings. As I took some photos I became aware of the looming presence of a chap with a rather large net. Chatting with him, he introduced himself as Aaron, and his net as belonging to the sailing club, readying himself to try and lift the ducklings out of the canal and into the basin. Aaron told me about youths which had stoned the last brood of ducklings and the extent of duck poaching and the landing of fish that has been going on. Despite some perpetrators having been caught red handed by the police these incidents continue to occur.

At this point we were also joined by Dom, a neighbour of Aaron and LBTH's biodiversity officer. The chap from the council wasn't keen on netting the ducklings, so a floating piece of chip board was commissioned into a ramp in the hope the ducks would sort themselves out. Dom also explained that in addition to adult ducks being poached and ducklings being stoned, any ducklings trapped in the canal were also at the mercy of foxes.

Leaving the ducks to get on with their escape plan, I returned to my original plan of taking some photos of the insects, whilst Aaron chatted to the chap from the council. It appears as ever that there is no joined up thinking, with every authority one can imagine stating that a given aspect of wildlife protection is the responsibility of a different agency or organisation. Everyone denies owning the basin, the Council is prepared to accept responsibility for the canal but not for crime, the police see ASB as something the council needs to deal with etc etc ad nauseam. Aaron flagged up Love Wapping's blog post on the cygnet death to the Chap from the Council (I understand that Aaron and Dom may in fact be deputized LW Wildlife Rangers).

As we were about to go our separate ways, two fellows on scooter and motorbike drove over Brussels Wharf and stripped off and began diving by a coot's nest. Almost immediately a white staffie started barking at the swans in the south-east corner of the basin. It was quite clear to me from just a few minutes talking to Aaron some of the problems wildlife in the area have to face. As we made our goodbyes, the white staffie and its owner had reached the canal, at which point the dog climbed out on to the stone of the terraced steps on the canal and made it known it was interested in duck for dinner. Fortunately however the duck escaped, though without any intervention from its owner. His lady friend instead picked up a stick and started jabbing in the vicinity of the ducks.

Having let Aaron know how to find me if he needed future assistance (give a little whistle), I made my way down the canal. I discovered that taking photos of flying insects is rather difficult - I managed a handful of shots in focus out of about 200. However, I now have plenty of practice in manual focusing. However, I'm rather pleased with what I managed to achieve.

By the time I returned home, the number of swimmers, divers and sunbathers on the pontoon and Brussels wharf had swollen, unaware of some of the unintended consequences of the actions of others, including previously damaging the sailing clubs pontoon. Realizing the number of people in bathing costumes, I put away the camera and headed home.