cool London walks

STN

STN

sou'wester
I have 12 days off looming on the horizon and plan to spend some of them tramping round the capital dressed as a wizard and taking photographs and notes, which I will spare you all the publication of.

Anyone got any suggestions for routes?

I know this is all a bit daft and to assuage my guilt for being a bit of a prat about this I promise I'll play knock down ginger on Iain Sinclair to make up for it.
 
B

bassnation

the abyss
STN said:
knock down ginger on Iain Sinclair to make up for it.
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lol, we used to call it cherry knocking in wales, something i could still easily be persuaded to indulge in, if drunk enough. most people found it irritating but harmless, however now and again you'd always get a nutter who'd chase you for an hour round various streets "i'll kill you little bastards" etc etc. cf. also several variations one of which consisted of garden hopping - leaping over the fence and running through five gardens in a row for no apparent reason.

childish i know, but it beats stabbing people as a hobby.
 
STN

STN

sou'wester
I was a very proficient garden hopper in my time.

Last time I indulged in knock down ginger I was very drunk indeed and forgot one of the key aspects; namely, that you are supposed to run away. An elderly woman opened the door and I felt very guilty and had to pretend I'd got the wrong house by mistake ('does McTavish live here? No? Well good day madam, sorry to have bothered you').

When you're a kid it's best if there's loads of you to cause that kind of domino effect as you all try to get out the front gate.
 
mos dan

mos dan

fact music
STN said:
I have 12 days off looming on the horizon and plan to spend some of them tramping round the capital dressed as a wizard and taking photographs and notes, which I will spare you all the publication of.

Anyone got any suggestions for routes?

I know this is all a bit daft and to assuage my guilt for being a bit of a prat about this I promise I'll play knock down ginger on Iain Sinclair to make up for it.
Click to expand...

lol. someone needs to make him a t-shirt saying

"I'm PSYCHO for GEOGRAPHY"
 
mos dan

mos dan

fact music
back on topic, there is now an official london orbital walk isn't there? well, maybe not orbital, but it goes all the way around it, sort of circularly.. i know this because my mum and her friend have been doing it on sunday afternoons. not sure you'd want to do a walk along a route prescribed by ken livingstone tho..?
 
Mr. Tea

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
STN said:
Last time I indulged in knock down ginger I was very drunk indeed and forgot one of the key aspects; namely, that you are supposed to run away. An elderly woman opened the door and I felt very guilty and had to pretend I'd got the wrong house by mistake ('does McTavish live here? No? Well good day madam, sorry to have bothered you').
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Hahaha, that's priceless. Maybe she thought she was being set up by some third-rate Beadle/Joly type?
 
P

Pestario

tell your friends
If you're around north London you can try Parkland Walk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkland_Walk) which follows the path of an old disused railway. It runs from Finsbury Park up through Highgate, Muswell Hill and ends near Alexandra Palace. I did this a couple weeks ago and it's pretty nice. On Muswell Hill you get a great view of NE London.
 
M

mms

sometimes
Pestario said:
If you're around north London you can try Parkland Walk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkland_Walk) which follows the path of an old disused railway. It runs from Finsbury Park up through Highgate, Muswell Hill and ends near Alexandra Palace. I did this a couple weeks ago and it's pretty nice. On Muswell Hill you get a great view of NE London.
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i walked up there this morning from fins to highgate, then down past the cemetry to work.
 
IdleRich

IdleRich

IdleRich
"lol, we used to call it cherry knocking in wales"
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And in Oxfordshire.
I like walking round East London along the canal, maybe start at the bottom of Broadway Market and go east to Victoria Park and all around or go west past Angel (you have to leave the canal for a bit here) and up to Kings Cross and Camden. Once it's a bit nicer weather I'll be up for that - I also want to walk around the Lea Valley before it gets totally olympicked (if it hasn't been already).
 
STN

STN

sou'wester
john eden said:
There is a book, I think?

I will ask 'er indoors. We might even have it.
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cheers. I will have a copy of Nairn's London at hand at all times.

My mate is from Abingdon, Oxfordshire and he has always referred to the practice as 'knock and run' which is unimaginative and pathetic.
 
IdleRich

IdleRich

IdleRich
"My mate is from Abingdon, Oxfordshire and he has always referred to the practice as 'knock and run' which is unimaginative and pathetic."
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I agree. I am familiar with the Knock Down Ginger expression as my cousin was from Watford and that was the expression that he used. Wonder if there are any other such terms and how they get spread around.
 
john eden

john eden

male pale and stale
That greenchain site looks good - interesting places to wander through there - Oxleas Wood and Chislehurst both have good things going for them historically.

There is some stuff in North London as well tho, I think?!
 
STN

STN

sou'wester
In Bristol it is referred to as 'knock out ginger' which implies you have to hammer on the door until a vengeful householder materialises and then (and only then) can you run.

Southampton: Knock and Run

In parts of America it's referred to by a decidedly un-PC anagram of 'ginger' knocking.
 
N

noel emits

a wonderful wooden reason
Growing up in North London I'm pretty sure it most commonly known as 'granny knocking', which in retrospect sounds like a euphemism for something else, not sure what though.
 
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