Saturday Morning Walk

Cross Bones Graveyard - Shrine to the Outcast Dead

Last year sometime I recall catching a snippet of something on TV about a place called Cross Bones Graveyard. I wanted to find out more, so today after a quick look on Google Maps and realising that I work just a few streets away, I paid a visit to the site during my lunch break...

Cross Bones Graveyard was in medieval times an unconsecrated graveyard for 'single women' or 'Winchester Geese', the prostitutes licensed by the Bishop of Winchester to ply their trade in Southwark. By the 18th century it had become a pauper's burial ground for the people living in the slums around Bankside. It was closed in 1853, described as being 'completely overcharged with dead'. In the 1990s, London Underground dug up part of the site during the Jubilee Line Extension, removing 148 skeletons. The Museum of London estimates the site contains an estimated 15,000 bodies, making it one of the largest graveyards in London.

For more than a decade, Friends of Cross Bones have worked to influence the site owners, Transport for London (TfL), to rededicate part of the site as a Garden of Remembrance.

You can read further information here;
www.crossbones.org.uk

The more I read and research into the Cross Bones Graveyard, the more I'm discovering what this part of London; Bankside and Borough was like during that time; a dark and seedy place one of brothels and theaters, slums and prisons, completely different from the Bankside of today. If you have an hour to spare, THIS BBC documentary provides a fascinating albeit grim insight to what the life of someone who was buried here in the mid 1800s may have been like.

Every night and every morn,

Some to misery are born,

Every morn and every night,

Some are born to sweet delight.

Some are born to sweet delight,

Some are born to endless night.

Grand Union Canal

Last Sunday we walked part of the Grand Union Canal. We started in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire and walked North, ending up somewhere just North East of Watford. It really was a perfect day for a waterside stroll. We plan on walking the length of the Grand Union Canal (in stages!) over the next few months, so this was the first step!

HERE is a useful website with information to help you plan your journey.

Some photos of the day...


And this is where we deviated from the canal path and headed off into a wood, came across a couple of nice pubs in a place called Croxley Green and that was that.

The path is to yet be continued......

Dogsitting

I've been looking after a friend's dog, Piya whilst she's away on holiday and will be for a couple more weeks, so my weekend plans have turned very dog orientated indeed, lots of walks and outdoorsy activities and drinks in dog-friendly pubs...This weekend we're off to check out her part of town, Stoke Newington, more on that to come, but for now some snaps taken in the park whilst on one of our morning strolls...

Sam the Shepherd's Hut

Happy New Year everyone, I hope you all had a great one!! We very much enjoyed ours and I can now tell you where we decided to spend it - Sam, the Shepherd's Hut at The Old Forge Bed & Breakfast, Compton Abbas, Dorset.

Peace. And. Quiet. Wonderful!

Sam is a wonderful restored shepherd's hut, beautifully equipped with all the necessities - double bed, wood burning stove, table and chair, wine glasses, homemade rock cakes, lanterns and board games. At first we thought it was a bit mad to go at this time of year but once we got the fire going it was really warm and cosy inside.

Simon in Sam -

It was so nice being on the farm too, the Old Forge has free range black hens, 3 dogs, 2 horses and a donkey, Scrumpy Jack -

The breakfasts Lucy, the owner of Old Forge cooked were delicious and hearty. All ingredients are locally sourced, eggs from their hens, apple juice pressed from apples in their orchard and mushrooms, tomatoes, bacon and sausages (although being a veggie mine were just Quorn) from local organic farms. Lucy also makes her own marmalade and relishes, which were also delicious!!

Some more photos of Sam -

The views.

The inside.

Across the field from Sam is Rosie, a lovely old red wagon that is also available to rent out (if there are 2 couples, you can hire both the hut and wagon for a discount). You can see more photographs and read about it on the website, but I took a peek in just before I left - here it is!

Secret London

I've been asked to arrange our Christmas work party this year and whilst researching, I remembered a very good book my friend Caitlin showed me a couple of years ago - Secret London.

They have a website HERE and it lists all interesting, quirky and hidden attractions in London and is a very good source of ideas for things to do! There's a lot of places I didn't know existed and houses that I didn't even know I could go into!!