• Hills of Lwishsm
  • Ride 2. Cunning Cover-ups

Ride 1. Hills of Lewisham

Photos from Paula

Dave P. leading, 8 riders.

Notes from Dav P. : Weather held with light rain after our nice stop in Manor House Gardens.  Simon joined us at Greenwich but had to leave at our break.  Jamie was with us as well. A reasonable pace, including the hills.  After Telegraph Hill I was the last man standing as Clara and Jamie departed for Nunhead and the others had already headed off.  Sadly John had a gear problem and left us at Manor House Gardens. So in total 7 (unless I forgot someone), it was very pleasant and a good dynamic.

Comment from Paula on WhatsApp: Thank you David and Everyone for a great ride today ??????

Ride 2. Cunning Cover-ups

At rear of Leinster Gardens

Report from Ride Leader John S.

We left London Bridge on the dot of 10.05am, an intrepid group of eleven, all keenly aware of the threatened danger of heavy rain by midday. First to the Bank of England to see the lovely statue of James Henry Gatehead who designed the great boring machine that cut the tunnels for the Underground. We stared at its plinth, just making out the giveaway openings that reveal its role as the ventilation shaft for Bank Underground Station. Next to Finsbury Circus, and the obelisk commemorating the nineteetnh century designer of the Finsbury Estate, George Dance. It looks as if it has been there for a couple of centuries, but actually dates from 1999, when it was put in place to provide a ventilation shaft for a London Underground gas tank.

Racing against the rain, we moved on to Paternoster Square. Here, the central fluted column provides a ventilation shaft for an underground service road, while the dramatic construction by Thomas Heatherwick serves to cool an electricity station underneath. And now a long straight route from Fleet street via the Mall to Hyde Park Corner. Our only pause en-route was to nod at the pretty Victorian cast iron lamp standard across the road from the Law Courts … its deeper function being to provide ventilation for the public toilets below. At Hyde Park Corner, a short stop as we passed through the Wellington Arch, noting the blank windows of the north column, which was gutted in 1962-3 to provide a huge ventilation shaft for the pedestrian subway running under the newly constructed roundabout.

We saved the best for last: a quick run up to Leinster Gardens to view the unremarkable frontage of nos 23-24 before circling around to Porchester Gardens to view them from behind. There we paused. The frontage was left intact as the two houses were demolished to provide a gap for ventilation in the cover of the newly constructed Metropolitan line in 1863. A good time for our group photo, standing in front of the nondescript wall that shields this western end of the great gap. But this was not enough: some of our number nobly held fast to bicycles parked by the wall as others clambered onto them, intent on getting the ultimate photo of the rail lines down below.

At last we left, heading for coffee at the Serpentine café. A quiet twenty minutes, and we were on our way again, straight down to Parliament square to join the cycleway by the river, back to London Bridge. We arrived at 12.40 pm, twenty minutes ahead of schedule. By 1pm, the heavens opened, but we were safe and well.

Thank you, Michael, for back-riding, and for helping to keep us all moving briskly, staying ahead of the rain.

Comments on WhatsApp: Jamie Pedrick: Many thanks to  Dave for an excellent ride today in the hills of Lewisham. Two mechanical breakdowns so  worth checking your Gears. Eva Bigalke: Thank you John for a super interesting rides, looking at all these hidden/disguised ventilation systems.

Peter Goh has a short video of us at the start on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/groups/553896211918871/permalink/2114809799160830/

Group photo from John, others from Eva.

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