Having intended to set off in the morning to complete the H&C with my first proper trip into east London, I found my knee to be very sore and stiff in the morning. Instead, I spent the morning in college (working hard, of course) having resolved to do this part of the line another day, and rest my leg in preparation of tomorrow's marathon walk.
Instead, on leaving College at 6 I felt no pain in my knee, and decided.... stuff it. I'd do my best. I have a deadline after all.
So, setting off from Moorgate, I headed east to do the other half of the line. It starts by moving through the city, via Liverpool Street and Aldgate, before following Whitechapel Rd and Mile End, twisting towards West Ham and ending up in my destination, Barking.
I felt fairly good for most of the walk, and made quite good pace. All was going well until the tricky manner of the journey between Bromley By Bow and West Ham. Google Maps confidently told me I'd be able to wander through a sizeable industrial estate. Whilst in the end there was a way, it clearly was not that set out for me. After being led half way back the way I'd come before I finally managed to persuade my good-hearted (if confused) guide that I had to WALK to West Ham as oppose to going back the way I'd come and taking the bus, I found one security guard who confidently told me there was no way through, before luckily double checking this and finding another who pointed me in the right direction.
Still unsure, I asked an ambulance driver (the area acted as a depot) and she kindly told me exactly where to go, before stopping further down the road and offering me a lift "as it's quite some way". Having explained to her what I was doing, I watched with some pain as she drove off. It was starting to get dark as I kept my pace up into east london, and I was keen to finish as soon as possible. Passing Upton Park (the football ground of West Ham United for the unknowing), there was only one more complication, crossing the North Circular. The employees at East Ham station disagreed on the best way, but here Google Maps steared me right, crossing an overpass and making up the final distance to Barking Tube and heading home.
My knee is a bit sore, but doesnt seem too bad. Tomorrow is going to be a big day for many reasons. Good luck to all fellow LPCers, and feel free to join me for a celebratory/commiseratory walk along the Victoria Line.
Cheers
Alex
No comments:
Post a Comment