Good Times - Lockdown London - Day 66

With very much care and monitoring by James and Maddie, we have, so far, negotiated the lockdown with a great deal of success - still a long way to go!

The week has had one major highlight, Maddie and Kevan have finally settled on their new house and moved 

Relief and happiness as they are about to unlock the door of their new home

The settlement on realestate in the UK seems to be a convoluted process compared with that in Australia. But at the end of a seven-month long process, they finally got their keys on Friday morning. Maddie and Kevan plan to put their own mark on their home, with some lovely ideas - starting with a change of room colours! So, the next few weeks will be taken up isolating ourselves while painting. 

We started some preparations for the painting by filling holes in the plaster and masking up around woodwork and other fixtures. 

Going to the hardware store - one of the UK big ones - was another interesting experience. Why couldn’t Bunnings have make a success of business here in the UK!

Prep for painting, and lining up for hardware store visit. 

We have continued our daily routine of walks around Chiswick. The roses are blooming magnificently with many archways and doorways being framed by these blooms. 

The colours at Chiswick House and Gardens are constantly changing with the rhododendrons in full bloom at the moment. 

On Sunday we moved into Maddie and Kevan's vacated flat - giving James a little respite from the oldies!  That has gone well - about a 40-minute walk to Maddie’s home - not prepared to run the gauntlet of the public transport system at this stage! 

To continue the discovery of London here is another interesting video on the eccentricities of London. 

Paulownia Tomentosa - London Lockdown - Day 59

We meet - at a distance, of course - some interest characters on our trekking around Chiswick. The natives are very accustom to having foreign nationals around, with many different accents being heard in and around the streets. So, a couple of Aussies asking questions of the chap cutting back  shrubs in St Peter’s Square Park was not an unusual happening. 

The chap doing the trimming was one of the locals who maintain the garden in the park. We had been interested in a particular tree in the garden since we first saw it flowering in early spring, but could not find out what it’s was called. 

Today we found out!
It was the paulownia tomentosa, with common names of; the Princess tree, Empress tree, or the fox-glove tree. It is a deciduous tree and a native of central China. 

The Empress Tree in St Peter's Square Park.

The Empress tree, named in honour of Anna Pavlovna of Russia (1795-1865) and queen consort of the Netherlands. 

The paulownia tomentosa flowering in early spring in St Peter’s Square.

Flowers, fruit, seed pods and leaves.

The garden chap was telling us about the seed pods of  the paulownia tomentosa - the Chinese used these for packing around breakable exports - the olden day's version of polystyrene. At the time, the American east coast railways were opening up the continent, boxes from China, with this packing material, would at times break open and the seeds would be dispersed along the tracks. This caused a massive growth of the  paulownia tomentosa along the railway edges. Not a bad tree to have bordering railway lines.

In lockdown you come across a variety of interesting bits and pieces. One such has been a series of videos on how the London we see today has come about. you too, might find it interesting too.

How London boroughs came about. 

Staying Alert - London Lockdown - Day 52

On day 52 of our isolation we are endeavouring to maintain sensible safety measures on our daily routines that we have established. So far, so good! 

The weather has been sensational for this time of the year. The daily adventure into the outdoors has been encouraged by this weather pattern. 

We have many choices of outdoor spaces to explore, with lots of parklands and open spaces where we can maintain our distancing from other likeminded folk. 

A return walk to Chiswick House and Gardens is a weekly destination. It is a constantly changing landscape - just what the designers back in the 18th century set about achieving. 

The statue of Venus atop of a Doric column at the centre of converging pathways. 

The garden here at Chiswick House was the first of what have been called the traditional English landscape gardens. Many other famous English gardens have used the design of the Chiswick garden as a model for their development. The design is centred around recreating a garden of with elements from Ancient Roman gardens, which in turn used Ancient Greek examples. 

Elements of the English landscape gardens were fabriques - in this case the Ionic Temple, based on a Roman and Greek temple.

The Ionic Temple is set in the landscape with a circular pool and obelisk in the centre of it, with three raised circles of lawn surround the pond. 

18th century bridge, urns, statues and obelisks are found around the garden. 

The beautiful, and classical, 18th century stone bridge is a dominant feature of the outer garden. 

Very regal avenues bordered by funerary urns and Cedar of Lebanons interspersed between the urns. 

Other visual impacts as you move around the garden. 

The Thames walkway is often very congested these days so we attempt to keep away from it as much as possible. It is especially frequented by runners who don’t seem to have socially distancing in their thoughts. But on a short passage along the embankment, where there is some very expensive real estate, we found signs indicating where the Thames flood levels impact. Perhaps not the place to buy!

All directions where the Thames flood levels come up to. 

One of the great places to exercise and to catch up with the family - whilst following the Boris’ rule of  "the good sense of the British public" - is at the very unpopulated golf club and grounds. 

This is a panorama shot of the golf club at the weekend. Great for social distancing. 

With this open space a small group of four sitting on the grass - all keeping their distance from each other - were moved on by the police.  Perhaps the message is to keep moving!  No one, though, is sure what the message is!!

All keeping the distance.  Dogs, too.

Hampstead Heath is one of the best vantage points to view London - even with the limited amount of traffic in the city at this stage, the view was of a city partly shrouded in a haze. Being a fine day, many Londoners took the opportunity to wander the surrounding woods. 

Hampstead Heath- with London in the distance.

 

Small Dogwood type flowering plant in St Peter’s Square Park. 

St Perter’s Square - London Lockdown - Day 45

Not a lot has changed as we navigate our way through the London lockdown. Like many others, our days follow a general pattern, with the days seemingly passing swiftly. 

Our daily walks are planned around where we can best be isolated from people and the increasing traffic. This, more often than not, takes us on a route through very pleasant neighbourhoods, including the relaxing St Peter’s Square, which has been mentioned in earlier postings.

St Peter’s Square garden and park, with the very regal horse chestnut trees flowering. 

St Peter’s Square was design and built in the 1830s. The park was originally set aside for garden plots for the residence of the square. In the centre of the park was an engine house to pump water from an artesian well to supply the local residences. 

Some of the flowering shrubs in St Peter’s Square garden.

As would happen, in the early 1900s  when the area was rundown and the gardens in a shambles, the park land was thought to be good for further development. The locals disagreed, opposed the development that had commenced and then came up with the money to buy the land. So, in 1913, the gardens were saved and the land was handed over to the council for use by the public. The gardens were then developed as a park by the Metropolitan Garden Association. The park  was officially opened in 1915. 

The residents that saved the gardens over 100 years would be well pleased with their efforts if they could see it today. 

Daily meeting of like minds!

The Greek Runner is the statue that stands in the centre of St Peter’s Square. It was by the sculptor Sir William Blake Richmond and was presented to the council in 1926 as a memorial to Richmond who lived nearby. 

St Peter’s Square 

The local area around the Square was struck by bombs during the war leaving much damage. But today you would not notice any of this activity. 

Some old images of  St Peter’s Square. Top pic, better times; lower pic, bomb damaged street. 

We are still being looked after by James, not allowing us to go near shops or other gatherings. The pattern observed from afar still looks decidedly isolating!

Queue for service at the post office.

James and Maddie’s dogs, Leelou and Chilli, have lapped up the attention since the lockdown commenced. They both bring a lot of joy to each household with obvious benefits to them. Lots of exercises and runs in the park are a part of their day, too. 

Slight variations on a theme! Love the two drinking together in the top centre photo. 

This video has gone crazy and I can understand why. It is worth revisiting. Enjoy! .... and keep healthy.