*MORE DETAILS* So and So (note this is a TUESDAY eve. walk)
Tue 7th Jul 2015
Walk Details:
End by 9pm at Ealing Broadway, connecting two historic Soane houses via Lincolns Inn Fields, Hyde Park, and Pitzhanger
DETAILED DESCRIPTION:
Meet outside the main entrance to Holborn Tube (Central & Piccadilly) in Kingsway,
A very busy area so Rod, 079 0512 5820, will be wearing a bright yellow jacket. Aim to depart at 6pm and walk to the north side of Lincoln’s Inn Fields in front of Sir John Soane’s Museum; marvel at the façade and the queue for first Tuesday evening opening.
The walk will return to Kingsway, junction with Great Queen Street, before using side streets to Hyde Park; on to Lancaster Gate (toilets 20p) and Shepherds Bush. Then along the Uxbridge Road (at Acton, see where Waitrose started!) to Ealing Common, and Pitzhanger Manor (Walpole Park is open but the house is closed to 2018); it was Soane’s country home www.pitzhanger.org.uk
Sup at The Drapers Arms, and return to Central London from Ealing Broadway (Central & District). The route follows some roads used by Soane over 200 years ago. Consider - was Soane (1753-1857) one of England’s greatest architects? And resolve to visit the Museum, free Tues to Sats 10-5 – see www.soane.org
Entry Details:
Walk Report
So and So, Tuesday 7th July 201513 walkers, 9 miles - leader Roderick Smith
On a fine evening, a group of 13 met at Holborn Station and walked into Lincoln's Inn Fields to Sir John Soane's Museum. The usual queue of 100 or so visitors were waiting patiently for free admission on the first Tuesday of the month, but we walked away from the Museum to the side streets of Covent Garden and Soho. Crossing Drury Lane we noted Sainsburys opened their first shop, in the Lane in 1869, and a certain Dr Schweppe brought his drink from Geneva to the Lane in 1792. Via Denmark Street and the former home of Siebe (diving helmets), we passed the home of Christopher Smith, Handel's secretary.
Through Hanover Square and Grosvenor Square where a summer concert was in progress, and past the Animals in War Memorial, we reached Hyde Park. A brief stop by the Italian Gardens near Lancaster Gate tube station and on to Kensington Gardens and Notting Hill. Side streets were used where possible before reaching Shepherds Bush. Acton Park provided a brief respite from the busy Uxbridge Road before we passed the site of the first Waitrose store and reached the tranquillity of Ealing Common. Via The Grove, we arrived at Pitzhanger, Soane's country home 1800-1810. Most of the group continued to Ealing Broadway station to end the walk soon after 9pm, while three visited the Drapers' Arms where a sparsely attended quiz night was in progress.
Although Pitzhanger is closed until 2018 for restoration, the attractive Walpole Park, west of the house, is fully open. The 10-mile walk connected Soane's London home with his country home and followed, where possible, roads which Soane would have walked or ridden 200 years previously.
Photographs by Roderick Smith
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