24/07/21 - The London Spiral Walk - Stage 1

Distance - 9 Miles

Start - Kings Cross

Finish - Paramo Shop, Melcombe Street, Marylebone

Areas Walked - Kings Cross, Euston, Finsbury, Camden Town, Regents Park

Geocaches - 2

Pubs - 3 

First an introduction to this latest Long Distance Orbital Path of London.

I thought I had completed the lot - The Capital Ring, The London Loop and even the unmarked, nearly lost in time London Countryway.

Then I stumbled on the London Spiral Walk, possibly a variation of Inspiral London.

An indication to my future trips to the Smoke

The concepts are the same - six loops of the City - starting at Kings Cross and moving out to end at Gravesend (same as the Countryway).   The creator's purpose was to encourage urban walking, with an aim to discover public artworks.  

It's just the sort of Psychogeography that I love.  As much as I love public art, I will be adapting the route to take in Good Beer Guide Pubs, Geocaches and Adventure Lab Caches.

You've got to make pilgrimages personal.

So Kings Cross the start - and as well as admiring some very desirable housing in Keystone Crescent, I am also on the hunt for breakfast.  Hard to believe such as quiet, pretty street is a stone's throw from Spice central.

Kings Cross Square - Spice Central

Close to Gorgeous Keystone Crescent

The trail provides an old school cafe, next to a pub converted into a mosque. Sitting outside, you cannot help eavesdrop a conversation between two scots that covers everything from Raith Rovers winning 6-0, to the original bass player in Ultavox to how they kill dogs for food in China. I'm always alone, never lonely.

Blue River - recorded for future posterity.  Free tea and toast with the F.E.B.

First surprise of the day is the Regents Canal just to the North of Kings Cross.  I've never seen Coal's Drop Yard before but is looks an oasis of calm for shopping, eating and drinking.  A place to come back to when I have more time.  

Coal Drop Yard

Through St Pancreas Church Yard - another quiet spot - and south past the side of Euston and into the top of Bloomsbury. Hotels, Tavistock Square, Greys Inn Road and I didn't realise how close Angel/Upper Street are to Kings Cross.  It seemed just as quick to walk as it is to take the tube.

The north, through Somers Town is certainly edgy and more of what you would expect from inner city landscapes. Ghost Tube Stations, graffiti and hoping the marked route will get me across railway lines and the canal.  It does, although its not necessarily obvious in Springbank Walk.  

Ghost Tube - York Road

Regents Canal - and into Camden

Its about time for a break - and there's endless choice in Camden. Surprisingly, I have two closely located, previously unvisited Good Beer Guide entries to discover. Ever so slightly of the beaten track but I am delighted with both.

The Golden Lion, Royal College Street, Good Beer Guide Tick #565

The guide talks about its history of being saved from flat conversion and how its a focal point for the community.  Hurrah - a victory for pubs.

And its a very tidy pub run by a brilliant Landlady prepared to engage in just the right level of conversation and keeping two quality ales on.  Butcombe Original was an unexpected find.

Flats!  There's enough flats in London

Quality Pint in a Quality Pub

Colonel Fawcett, 1 Randolph Street GBG Tick - #565

Not far up the road

Colonel Fawcett was one of the last Englishmen to die in a duel.  He was mortally wounded after a gun fight in 1843, in nearby Camden Road. His stricken body was carried to the upstairs of the pub, where he died and is reported to haunt the premises.

Nothing shows our progress in a woke society more than when the hipster in front of me at the bar orders a Virgin Mary.

I'm not sure the Colonel would have wanted that.  Maybe he will come down and shout "Boo!", as Mr Big Beard removes his virtuous celery.

Beerwise - there's just the one hand pull on.  Other reviewers have commented "how much do pubs pay to get in the GBG Guide, when they have only one cask on".  This seems a fair-ish point but there are plenty of keg, including the much revered Kernel.  Now, I've had this in bottles and wondered about what the fuss is.  On draught, I can understand why.  I loved it until I checked my on-line banking two days later.  £6.10 :-)

Well, it is a bit Gastro

I stayed for two (the music was first class) but I need to head out to the madness of Camden.  If you are looking at the route, you may see a spur to the north that goes nowhere - this was me completing an Adventure Lab Cache.  Alternative entertainment to paying "Punks a Pound to Get Drunk".

Bridges helping Navigation

Camden Lock(s) with Punks that I didn't pay £1 to

Spotting the Spread Eagle on my Camden exit took me back to my first visits to London, where the Britpop Indie kids could be found in either there or the nearby Good Mixer.  As much as I enjoyed trying to spot Justine Frishmann in either of them, I always preferred the Dublin Castle.

I was going to walk on by - but who knows when I will be next in the area?  I need to make sure these places are as I remember them.  And to photograph them in case they do.

Should I stay or should I go?

Beer has improved since the late 90's

Exactly as I remember it.

Enough excitement in Camden.  Regents Park provides some much needed tranquility for a rambler, four pints in.

England in a photo....

I'd read a review of some Urban Walking trousers from Paramo.  The Montero trousers are jean effect, but are water/wind proof and come with discreet ventilation zips along the side.  Everything for the stylish rambler around town.

They're the sort of thing that Mrs M would never allow me to buy, if she was with me.

The Paramo shop is in Melcombe Street at the bottom of Regents Park.  I'll just pop in and try them on to see if I like them.

Never before has a walk ended in a tiny closet, behind a blue curtain.

48 hours later, whilst blogging my Soho Pub Ticking journey, I hear a cry from the master bedroom.

"What exactly are these windproof slacks in your wardrobe?"