The Wrong Location For Mr Crocker

CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE. THOSE IN GROUPS ACCESS GALLERIES THAT CAN BE VIEWED FULL SIZE.

Today was a very wet one. This gave me the opportunity for taking another virtual trip to London, through the medium of another dozen colour slides, from August 2004, that I scanned this morning. These are all images of the Marylebone area.

St John's Avenue NW10

The skilled workman on the corner of St John’s Avenue NW10 is cutting paving blocks to lay beside the newly fitted wheelchair ramp, enabling disabled people to cross the road more easily. Note that the authorities have chosen to retain the early street sign and supplement it with the 10 added as the capital expanded, rendering NW an insufficient location.

In the background of the first of these images of Newcastle Place W2 the vast tower blocks of hugely expensive residential apartments that comprise the Paddington Basin development are under construction. The second shows shutters probably fitted when the building was pristine, although the replacement windows are not contemporary.

Corlett Street NW1

I am not sure how high the gentleman in this photograph of the building on the corner of Corlett Street NW1, is intending to climb, but I thought he may well have been as perplexed as the window cleaner featured on 1st October 2016.

Lisson Street/Bell Street NW1

The Brazen Head at 69 Lisson Street NW1 dates from the mid-19th century.

As can be seen, that public house stands on the corner of Bell Street, in which the second -hand bookshop at number 83 was kept in rather better order inside than was suggested by its window display. At any rate, the proprietor knew where everything was. Rather like my desk, really. FLOS marks the headquarters of the heating and lighting suppliers of that name, but anyone who knows our eldest granddaughter will understand why I photographed the building.

Marylebone Road NW1

Can you see what Spiderman was up to in Marylebone Road? Madame Tussauds provides the answer.

York Terrace West NW1

York Terrace West fronts Regents Park, owned by Crown Estates, hence the insignia on the bollards.

These three images of Melcombe Place NW1 provide a panorama of Marylebone Station’s frontage. Anyone wishing to discover why this was the wrong location for Mr Crocker is directed to the post ‘A Screwdriver Comes In Handy’.

During a brief sunny spell late in the afternoon we drove out to Keyhaven.

Boats

The tide was out in the harbour and the boats were all grounded.

Duck in outfall

A jet-propelled duck bobbing on a bubbling body of water alerted me to the fact that this tranquility was about to change.

The machine churning out foaming cappuccino coffee was the Avon Water Outfall, apparently controlled by sluice gates. An outfall is the discharge point of a waste stream into a river, a lake, or the sea. Here the Avon Water was discharging into the Solent, I imagine as an outlet from the recent storms.

This is what Wikipedia has to say about Avon Water:

“Avon Water is a small river in the south of England, flowing through the New Forest in Hampshire to the sea. It should not be confused with the larger River Avon, which also flows through Hampshire.

Along with the Beaulieu River and the Lymington River, Avon Water is one of the three main rivers which drain the New Forest southward directly into the Solent,[1] although it is smaller than the other two rivers.[2] It rises in the south-western part of the New Forest, near Holmsley, and flows south-eastward, in a fairly straight course for about 9 miles (14.5 km).[3] It flows into the Solent at Keyhaven,[4] close to the shingle bank that leads to Hurst Castle.[3]

The name “Avon Water” is considered modern,[5] although it certainly dates from at least the 18th century. It is labelled on Thomas Milne‘s map of Hampshire published by William Faden in 1791.[6] Cary’s New Itinerary of 1810 also refers to “Avon Water” but confounds it with a stream immediately to the west (the Danes stream near Downton).[7]

I have, of course, been confusing it with the River Avon.

Seascape

The sky soon darkened, and Milford on Sea took on a dramatic air, in which

Gull

I and the gulls battled with powerful winds.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s very hot chilli con carne and savoury rice. She drank Hoegaarden and I drank Cimarosa Reserva Privada Carmenère 2015.

44 comments

  1. Thank you for the tour, Derrick–so many interesting sights, including Spider Man on the roof. 🙂

    I love the photo of the duck and the dramatic seaside.

  2. Interesting stuff. I had always thought that the Avon was all one river, wriggling its way down through Stratford and down to Salisbury — now I find that there are several of them. Not surprising when the etymology takes one to a words simply meaning ‘river’. So in all its appearances it is the River River.
    Milford was certainly looking stern!

  3. The Brazen Head must be quite big inside; I note they have live football, and if I remember correctly a football ground is some 100 yards long and 50 wide.

    I thought those boats looked somewhat mudded rather than grounded, doesn’t appear much solid ground, around but then I’m looking on from a great distance

    Is not Lords in this area? Marylebone, St John’s Wood, ? I seem to remember going to St Johns Wood station in 48 to see the MCC, or it may have been Middlesex; play Bradman’s Invincibles. Bradman spoilt the day!

    Out for 6

    I was quite annoyed at the time, we’d waited throughout the war, to see him score 2 or 3 hundred before lunch, and all I recall is seeing him strolling back to the pavillion.

    The only saving was Miller putting a ball onto the roof of the Tavern and watching the Pathé type movie news cameramen, jumping away for cover.

    1. Wonderful memories (except for Bradman) Brian. Lord’s is nearby. I’m sure it features in the Streets series somewhere. Loved the live football joke. Thanks a lot.

  4. Some great pictures again, and some interesting links. I remember going on a bus tour of Bath and being told that River Avon meant River River. Did our ancestors have no imagination?

      1. It was a pleasure. I love old buildings and sightseeing. I have been to London a long time ago with a group of teachers. We enjoyed an amazing three weeks of plays, and touring along with learning about how the educational system differed from ours. But that was 25 years ago, and now both have changed tremendously. Good to get acquainted.

  5. Your pictures,and story’s give me a lot of enjoyment Derrick, streets and names of old England come to life again, the Brazen Head is an example of old public houses that must have a colorful history.
    Thanks mate.

  6. I liked the cappuccino reference to churning sea water. (I like cups of caramel macchiato and can create something like this at home without equipment. 🙂 ) Those photos are ones I enjoyed seeing the colorful boats in this post.
    The first building photo looks like white marble carving. Is it a stone or other facsimile?

    1. I’ve always assumed these building decorations were some kind of plaster or concrete as in stucco. There are a lot of them from that period. Thanks Robin

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