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We both set out for our first visit to the newly constructed Battersea Power Station. The station itself has a preservation order on it but now instead of machinery to power London with electricity we had something that I did not dream of.   We took a fast train to Victoria and then a slow train to Battersea Park.  I was not aware at the time that the Northern Line had been extended from Kennington to its own station no doubt to serve the thousands of people that were living there in flats.

We entered first of all via the entry into the famous Battersea Dogs Home.  They deal with cats as well by the way. We had a coffee in the outside Cafe and  – Surprise Surprise – almost everyone else had their dog. One person transported their mutt in luxury in a wheelie carrier.  I did enter the shop and reception area just for curiosity and found a very welcoming atmosphere and I told the lady on duty this and again congratulated her. These things do not happen of their own accord, love and caring go into the brickwork. That is why some places have a so-called bad atmosphere. Thoughts are powerful and impinge on things.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words so here are some examples of what I saw.  For the price of 23 pounds per head, we could have gone up in a special lift and looked at London via the top of one of the Towers but I didn’t feel like spending 46 pounds.  A number of people were lining up but they seemed to be visitors from abroad for the most part.

Above – It seems that this has been funded by a Consortium of Malaysian businesses. This is reflected in the shops. I counted at least five Korean shops in the area. I have never seen bottles of popcorn before.
Below – overlooking the River Thames on the front of the development. The attention to detail as being quite exceptional and I felt everyone could relax without feeling they had to do anything or conform to anything.

Above – extraordinary shaped buildings. Such daring architecture but it works
Below – a map of the whole area which as you can see is considerable. When you pass in the train it is impossible to see most of it so the only way really is to visit

Above – almost every prestige and posh name you can think of is here and someone did a fantastic selling job. I noticed that most of the visitors were Nationals
Below – strange Korean architecture I’m sure it has a symbolic and maybe even a religious significance

This is the old gas storage container using copper etching which is to be found at the southern entrance to the power station area.

I had lots of lovely conversations with people, many nationalities, but there was one strange thing. We could not see where people parked their cars. They must have cars. There must be an enormous underground car park somewhere but this would have to wait until our next visit. This was literally a mind-blowing visit and I would urge anyone who thinks they know London and remembers the power station as it was to have a good look.

The Royal Academy and the National Gallery

We left a complex and took a bus to Hyde Park Corner and then one along Piccadilly and then to the Royal Academy. Most of it was out of permission due to repairs but there were some works that we enjoyed. I find that when I’m in roving mode I don’t have an enormous amount of energy to focus on each individual item so that was more for Francoise  really.

We emerged from the back of the Royal Academy and walked down Regent Street.  We saw a project  in a store devoted to hydroponic  plant growing in vertical containers.   The young man was explaining it with great enthusiasm and certainly there was a great variety of plants growing including some kale. The venture is called the Felix Project.

Next to the National Gallery. Since I have known it and that means the last 55 years it has always been crowded, even more so in recent times. They have abandoned the bags search method and now have a single scan which picks up most things. I think this will apply to airports as well. Check-in should be much easier what with facial recognition but of course there is a downside to everything.

Above is the immaculate sales shop in the National Gallery. My goodness it has been so well designed to be eye-catching.
Below – the hand of Jesus reaching out. They are celebrating 200 years of the National Gallery

I had pretty much run out of energy here so was not interested in looking at many of the images so I arranged to be present at the exit and I was joined after a little bit of confusion by Francoise.

By this time we’d had about enough so we took the number 24 bus to Victoria and then to East Croydon and home

Steps taken 12,155

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