Skip to main content

A snoop around "Stokey"

I'm having a relaxing morning before heading off early this afternoon for a photo exhibition and a ballet (The Nutcracker!) tonight.  Yesterday I had planned a day in Birmingham to see the Christmas market and explore the city centre but alas...things sometimes don't go as planned.  I woke up during the night with an extremely sore throat, a headache and wonky stomach.  So yesterday my only outing was to Tesco to get some throat lozenges, soup and a sandwich.  I don't know if I will make it to Birmingham now as I am pretty booked up for the next couple of weeks and I definitely don't want to go on a weekend.  Oh well, you can't do it all.

On Sunday however I decided to cross a couple of things off my list of things to do in London this trip and visit Abney Park Cemetery and the area of Stoke Newington.  I have seen buses with the name on for years and have always wanted to visit the place with the "weird name".  When I learned that Abney Park Cemetery was there as well as the Hang Up gallery which has a permanent exhibition of Banksy art I knew I had to go.  

I took the tube to Angel and then the 73 bus to "Stokey".  I got off right at the cemetery but had a quick look around Church St. before heading back to the cemetery..



This is actually a pub!!!


Abney Park Cemetery is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries around London.   The cemetery was founded in 1840 and became a prime burial ground for Nonconformists who rejected the ways of the Church of England, Baptists, Methodists, etc.  So in this cemetery you won't find any of the huge memorials you will find in other cemeteries. 


The entrance off Church Street. 



The founders of the Salvation Army, William and Catherine Booth are buried here.


This cemetery is a park as well with wonderfully overgrown side paths as well as the major path shown here.



The grave of Frank Bostock who was a pioneer in the training of wild animals. As I read on a website the RSPCA would probably like to have a word with him nowadays!


A close up of the majestic lion which really is the highlight of the cemetery.




Celtic Cross with a dollar sign - can't find what the symbolism for that is...


Two out of three of this man's dogs only had three legs...good for him for giving them a home.  I think it's great to have a cemetery that is so full of life and where everyone (including dogs) is welcome! 


The Egyptian styled entrance to Abney Park - only I used it as an exit onto Stoke Newington High Street. 

Okay so Stoke Newington High Street is not the same as Stoke Newington Road...I walked and walked..and walked to get to the Hang Up gallery to see the Banksy exhibition which was tiny and had no postcards or anything I could buy as a momento.   I certainly couldn't afford one of the prints on display!!!  



I then got on a bus to the Geffrye Museum which is dedicated to exhibitions of home life. I have been here numerous times but wanted to see the display of Christmas decorations over the past 400 years.


The exterior of the building


1600's


1700's


1800's


late 1800's


Mid 1900's


1930's.

The exhibition was pretty packed being a Sunday but it was interesting.  There was also an exhibition of photos of a modern teenager's room.  I think it would have been more interesting to see a teenager's room over the last 50 decades or so!!!

Then I got a bus to New Street and then the tube to Balham.  I invaded the pound shop there to get some supplies.  I love the pound shop!

Back here to a delicious ready meal. (and I'm not being sarcastic - it was really good)  A great day avoiding the Christmas madness of central London!



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Peeing on fish or a fish out of water

Well this morning we headed off by boat to Siem Reap.  Due to the low water on the Tonie Sap Lake (more like a river until near the end of the trip when it widened considerably) the trip would be an 8 hour one... It was supposed to be boring but ended up as anything but...in no certain order...let's see.... We had a rest stop (turned out to be the only one) along the way and the loo was just a hole over the lake and there were fish circling around underneath.  Yes it was just a hole in the floor...you definitely had someone watch your stuff while you went in or one false move and your camera/purse or whatever would be in the lake.  The fish either like the warm pee coming in or they are pervs and like to see ladies parts.  We were just a few minutes out when all of a sudden there was something flying over me and jumping all over the floor - a little fish!  Guess he wanted to join the tour.  Roger reached down and scooped him up while I hooted and hollered.  Okay it wasn&#

A walk along the coffin trail (and a couple of lakes) in the Lake District

While in the Lake District I wanted to do some light walking but not heavy duty hiking where I could easily get lost and my body not found for days partially eaten by hungry...sheep?  Anyway, you get the drift...not too grueling and safe for a solo walker.  I get a bit nervous when I am too far from civilization. There are lots of books about walking in the Lake District but they seem to be all about walking the fells in remote places...neither Thelma nor I fancied that.  While browsing in the post office/shop in Ambleside one day (if you are ever in Ambleside you must go there - a treasure!) I found a stand of walk descriptions on post cards.  And there I found my walk.  After all who could resist a stroll on the "coffin trail" in William Wordsworth country... I took a look and thought hmm...cafe along the route...that works for me. (with at least the security of knowing there was an available "loo" along the way.)  Okay, I may not have totally followed the

The highlights of my Fall 2023 trip

I'm back home after a great six weeks away. This was a "short" trip for me.  So here we go with an overview of my trip.   London London for me is always a good idea.  I fell in love with it back in the mid 70's and it's been calling me back ever since. Some of the best things in my life have happened in London.  When I learned my two Oz friends Loraine and Linda were going to be in London in the fall I knew I had to be there.  And what fun we had!!  Of course, I did loads of other things as well.  I spent two weeks there from mid September until very early October and then back again for four nights at the end of October before flying home.   After over five years (delayed for two and a half years thanks to Covid) of walking, I finally finished the 126 km Capital Ring.  The picture above is taken at the end of my walk and where I started in May of 2018 at the main door of Streatham Common station just steps from my B and B.  What a walk!  I got to see so much more