A winding route I take for fun, this time in the wet. The timeline below uses up my description allowance.
00:00 Pancras Rd. You can see the east side of Pancras Railway station (the one depicted in Harry Potter) and west side of Kings cross (the one mentioned in Harry Potter)
01:12 Cross Euston Rd.
01:17: Belgrove St. This starts a windy back way for bicycles and pedestrians. It’s fun, but not the fastest.
01:31 St Chad’s St.
01:40 Argyle St.
01:50 Whidborne St.
02:15 Cromer St. Just a short stretch of bike lane before the mode filter.
02:18 Harrison St.
02:29 Unnamed bike trail.
02:40 Regent Square, which has a bicycle contraflow.
03:00 Sidmouth St.
03:15 Westking Pl. Despite looking like a private parking lot, this is a public cut-through for bikes and pedestrians.
03:37 Heathcote St.
04:02 Gray’s Inn Rd, which has improved (and still improving) bike lanes.
08:02 High Holborn.
08:20 Southampton Buildings. Is that really a road name? At this point, I’ve properly entered into the City of London. Previously I was in Greater London.
08:47 Chancery Ln.
09:21 Carey St. This was a second mistake, I should have stayed on Chancery Ln.
09:33 Bell Yard. This and Carey St. were a mistake. I should have stayed on Chancery Ln.
10:18 Fleet St. Named after a subterranean river beneath it.
11:08 Bouverie St. Which transitions straight into…
11:36 Temple Avenue.
12:16 CS3 “Cycle Superhighway” which follows Victoria Embankment.
12:53 Leaving the City of London. Notice the silver dragon statue on the left, a symbol used to mark the boundaries of the City. The head faces people entering the City.
13:23 Temple Pier is on the left, with a long queue for the “Comedy Boat Party”.
13:28 London Eye. The iconic “Ferris wheel” is diagonally to your left, across the Thames, marking the east end of Westminster Bridge. You can see The Eye for most of this cycling segment.
13:55 Passing _under_ Waterloo Bridge. The view is much nicer when I cross _over_ it!
14:25 There is a sphinx statue on the left, watching or guarding Cleopatra’s Needle (one of two) that was gifted to London by Egypt in the 19th century. This wasn’t it’s first move, but the previous move was 12 BC. There is a second sphinx statue just after.
14:50 Passing under the Golden Jubilee Bridge for pedestrians, and a second later under Hungerford Bridge / Charing Cross Bridge designed by the much-loved British engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. A pedestrian bridge in 1845, now it supports trains to and from Charing Cross station (the address-centre of London). Just afterward is another Golden Jubilee Bridge.
14:58 A Thames Tideway Tunnel “super sewer” construction site. This decade long project is finally finished and should be “fully operational” in 2025. I am looking forward to the end of construction fencing.
15:32 Royal Air Force Memorial with a gilded eagle perched atop a globe.
15:45 Ahead on the right is the Elizabeth Tower that houses “Big Ben”.
17:09 The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben / Elizabeth Tower are plainly in view ahead
17:15 Bridge St. Note that Westminster Bridge is behind me.
18:05 The start of the CS8, beginning on Parliament Square and transitioning onto Millbank. The Houses of Parliament continue on my left.
18:14 St Margaret’s Church from the 12th century is on the right, first built in the 12th century.
18:23 The gorgeous Henry VII Lady Chapel situated just east of Westminster Abbey.
18:51 Victoria Tower ahead left, Jewel Tower ahead right.
19:42 Crossing the west end of Lambeth Bridge.
20:37 Tate Britain museum is ahead on the right.
21:15 Crossing the west end of Vauxhall Bridge and transitioning to Grosvenor Rd.
22:45 The freshly-renovated Battersea Power Station is ahead on the left, across the Thames (south side). This is now a big shopping and living destination.
24:10 About to pass _under_ the Grosvenor (railway) Bridge.
24:57 Turning onto Chelsea Bridge. The four landmark smokestacks of Battersea Power Station are visible on the left for a short while.
25:40 Turning right onto Carriage Dr. N., and hence into Battersea Park.
27:00 The London Peace Pagoda is coming into view on the right. This is a Buddhist monument celebrating (wait for it) peace, built 1985.
28:38 Crossing Albert Bridge Rd. onto Parkgate Rd. My favourite London bridge, Albert Bridge, is (not visible) to the right.
29:23 transitioning to Westbridge Rd.
30:24 Granfield St.
30:34 Unnamed bike and pedestrian path.
30:56 Battersea High St.
31:45 Battersea High St (still), despite having passed through a mode filter. Motorised vehicles must turn right onto Gwynne Rd.
32:59 Crossing York Rd onto Falcon Rd.
34:16 Passing under train tracks exiting east from the enormous Clapham Junction railway station.
34:48 The recently-restored Arding and Hobbs building. At one time this housed a well-known British department store by the same name. This beautiful building appears in a few TV shows and films.
35:46 Crossing St John’s Hill (right) / Lavender Hill (left) onto St. John’s Rd.
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