Shot Tower

I decided on an exploration of London today, but I wished to see green and trees. The bicycle adventure started at Strawberry Hill station and meandered through suburban roads until encountering the banks of the Crane River. This is where there were gunpowder mills for around 400 years, starting in Henry VIII's time and lasting until the 1920s. Some of the land is now a park and it's a really lovely area to explore. Of the gunpowder buildings, there's not much to see, but this magnificent tower is wonderful. It's open on Sundays so its door was shut today. Instead, I pottered around it looking for water voles (ever in hope, but they remained elusive).

In the evening, because there was still an adventurous spirit in the air, Fred and I hit the city with our bicycles. We cycled from home across Clapham Common towards Vauxhall Bridge, which was crowded with people. Puzzled, we rode closer and a strange sight met our eyes. The bridge was covered with classic cars, which in turn were in fancy Halloween dress - spiders coming out of engines and skeletons draped over seats. We'd come across the Chelsea Cruise.

Leaving the cars behind, we cycled past Buckingham Palace and Westminster, and over the Thames and down the back streets to London Bridge. It was fun to see all the Halloween costumes. I particularly liked passing Yoda at Buckingham Palace - it's not often that you see such a famous Jedi warrior waiting at a pedestrian crossing.