What other walking adventures did I have
to in London? Well, I went walking in
Little Ilford Park in East Ham, which may have been the inspiration for the
Small Faces song “Itchycoo Park,” although it may not.
“What did you do there?” Mostly I discussed map/territory relations
and Victorian notions of public good, with Travis Elborough. More about that later, probably.
I went for a walk along
the Regent's Canal from King's Cross, past Gas Holder
Park (which surely could be an inspiration for a song), to Camden Lock and
beyond. I was with members of the Royal Photographic Society, who do that kind of
thing.
It was a good walk but I sometimes felt
uneasy about the narrowness of the path and the imminent threat of silent but potentially
deadly cyclists. Signs like the one
below weren’t really very reassuring.
And in Walthamstow I
did see this bit of (I suppose you’d have to call it) street art -
“Not all those
who wander are lost,” is a line from Tolkien apparently, though I didn’t know that
at the time. It’s undoubtedly true,
although equally I’d say that not all those who are lost do any wandering.
