Thursday, 25 January, 2018
After some wet and windy days, when staying home seemed exactly what was best, there was some fair weather. Perfect for a long walk. I say long but these days 5k seems to be my limit. I find this very sad but carry on walking and taking breaks wherever I can.
My goal today was to find an art gallery, Victoria Miro, down at the fast developing area of City Road Basin which leads off of Regents Canal. I was also curious about a pub that claimed to serve authentic Creole and Cajun food. And from there make our way down to see the latest Wellcome Collection exhibit.
We managed all of it!
We started at Haggerston, by the canal. They’re really developing this area and it’s much prettier later in the year but it’s one of the more developed canal neighbourhoods. This side is a bit older.
Walking through the DeBeauvoir/Hoxton neighbourhood you come across Gainsborough Studios apartments on the south bank of the canal. The film studio was active between 1924 and 1951, best known for the Gainsborough Melodramas it produced in the 1940s, including the films of Alfred Hitchcock. The studios were demolished and flats were built in 2004.
The City Road basin area is developing quickly and looks to be yet another modern high rise neighbourhood. It’s shiny and clean but lacks the soul of the older streets. One day, I suppose all of London will look like this but I’m happy that I have the chance to see the old and the new coexist, each interesting in their own way. Today there was a lot of walking to do so there are no photos of the new basin flats – another time.
Continue reading “DeBeauvoir Town, Gainsborough Studios, Plaquemine Lock,The Wellcome Collection”