There are still flocks of black headed gulls on the river between Hammersmith and Richmond. As many as a thousand have been counted below Richmond Lock, which must have been a challenging task. Soon they will all disappear to breed along the coast to be replaced in summer by terns.
You see how much there is to learn from stopping to talk to birdwatchers. I was looking at the black headed gulls on a sunny Saturday morning and also saw geese, ducks and crows feeding along the shoreline.
I think this is a pretty amazing view, forty minutes walk from my front door. Not much point moving to the country when this rural idyll is on my doorstep. On the north bank is 157 acres of parkland bought from the Duke of Devonshire in 1923. An esplanade and bandstand with a jetty where steamers could land passengers was opened in 1926 but it looks a bit forlorn today.
Much of the Meadows are used for sports but there is still plenty of empty green space, even on a sunny Saturday.
I also noticed a double triangular Dreadnought ductile iron manhole cover.
Drop into Ham House for a cream tea sit in the little library and read a book before heading back to the smoke. Life is good!
I would hitherto not have placed the author in the same company as Jeremy Corbyn, however a parallel fetish for drains and manhole covers seems to suggest otherwise. Perhaps one can view the image allegorically – suggesting modern civilization is cascading aimlessly down the drain? Please don’t feed the fatberg CJB.
I have been trying to interest Jeremy in the blog since September 2015.
https://christopherbellew.com/a-blog-for-jeremy-from-islington/