08:15.

My day’s begun here is leafy South London. I’ve stayed in Streatham, where an old friend has moved to from his former home in Clapham. Today’s plan is to spend the day exploring old haunts on the 3rd rail network before nipping North of the Thames, heading back into central London. It’s a beautiful day here, with wall to wall sunshine. – ideal for photography.

One of the train fleets I’ll be looking at is the old BR built Class 465-466s operated by South Eastern. These are gradually being withdrawn or stored, with the whole class due to be replaced in the next few years. Here’s one from yesterday, at St Johns.

I’ll be blogging throughout the day, so feel free to pop in and see what I get up to…

11:15.

I didn’t make it far, but that’s because I’d forgotten just how much fun pootling around on the South London suburban network actually is. Admittedly, I miss Southern’s old Class 455s, but as they’ve been replaced by more modern, air-conditioned stock with plug sockets – I doubt many other passengers do.

I moved two stops to Crystal Palace, a magnificent junction station with a rich Victorian history and home to one of the two TV towers that dominated the city.  The other being another palace (Alexandra), which I lived in the shadow of for many years.

19:30.

Apologies for the gap, but I’ve been having a wonderful day discovering new places across South London whilst also checking out some familiar territory. A warning to any right-wingers reading this. I love multicultural London in all its diversity. It’s a breath of fresh air after the staleness of some parts of the UK.

Having left Crystal Palace I checked into another Junction (Norwood) only to find what was once a good spot for taking pictures is now overgrown. Never mind, there’s other opportunities. Businesses around the junction have obviously suffered these past few years with many empty retail units, but there’s still a lot of life.

Heading on, I caught a train to West Croydon – another old haunt from when I fist started coming to London solo back in the 1970s. I used to stay with an ex-girlfriend in a shared house just down the road in Wallington. My, how things have changed! I came here to take a few spins on the Croydon tram network, a system I was well overdue for visiting. I ended up taking pictures at several locations, including Croydon East, before stopping off several times on my way through to Beckenham Junction.

Croydon, like many multicultural areas get a slating from the right-wing. Is it the land of milk and honey – obviously not, but I love the diversity and vibrancy of places like this. By West Croydon station I popped into the bus station cafe cafe staffed by two young women which offered a great range of food – including some delicious veggie Samosas. Sure, there’s lots of fast-food outlets, but there’s also lots of shops selling fresh ingredients, be it vegetable, meat or fish. Far more than back in staid old West Yorkshire. I noticed a number of shops selling wet fish – something that’s very difficult to buy at home nowadays.

Of course, dominating the whole area has been the TV tower. Wherever I went it was omnipresent (as you’ll see in the pictures later). It was only when I escaped into the city and Thameside that other structures took over. Like this view – which I never tire of…

Now, after baking in the sun for much of the day I’m taking time out at where I’m staying in order to recharge mine (and other) batteries whilst having helped out a couple of other friends who’re staying here tonight. The group (sans me) are off to a black tie dinner in central London, so I’ve been playing butler, ensuring that everyone is suitably attired. Now I’m taking a break to catch up with this blog and download some pictures.

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