Down by the river (and the dock)
May. 31st, 2008 05:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
major_clangerToday featured what I believe is technically termed a 'constitutional', although seeing as it included a stop at a pub, I'm not sure if it actually did more for my constitution than a trip to the gym. It also included a baby Common Tern:
The walk actually had a purpose, in that I wanted to scout out some possible jogging routes. I knew you could follow the Thames Path some way down the edge of the Isle of Dogs, but not quite how far. It turns out that you can get about half way down, although for the foreseeable future there's a detour of a few hundred metres via Westferry Circus thanks to a massive building project. From then on though there's a good km or so of riverside path before it ends at a small park. Rather than double back, I crossed over to walk alongside Millwall Dock and up past Harbour Exchange Square, where I was working recently. Millwall Dock itself is one of the less scenic bits of Docklands, being bounded to the south by nondescript low-rise flats and the north by large printing works; it's also pretty devoid of wildlife, having no artificial nesting grounds (probably because it's a sail training centre). Millwall Inner Dock, by contrast, has several nesting areas, although I was disappointed to see that the Great Crested Grebe nest I saw the other week is now empty with no sign of any young. A little further up though I found a small platform shared by a pair of Coots and a pair of Common Terns. It soon became apparent that whilst the Terns were incubating two eggs, a third had recently hatched, as there was a very small chick poking out from underneath Mummy now and again.
The two pairs didn't, it has to be said, seem the best of neighbours. Not content with occupying opposite corners of the raft, the male Tern took considerable exception to his counterpart turning up to join the nesting Coot and executed several very low and noisy fly-pasts (which the Coots sniffily ignored).
On then to the eastern side of the Isle of Dogs, and The Gun, a pub I'd seen several positive references to and so thought I'd check out. Verdict: very nice, but you're paying for the view of the Thames and the O2 Dome, with no discount for dull days like today! Food was good but the portions weren't generous considering what I paid - possibly no bad thing with me on a diet, but prospective patrons should note that The Gun isn't in the 'hearty pub fare' class of hostelry. But the Adnams Broadside was well-kept, and the riverside terrace was a pleasant place to thumb through one of the rapid prototyping texts I borrowed from the IET library yesterday. Gosh, apparently the first concepts for automated 3D printing go back to the 1920s; you know, this sort of research sticks in the mind so much better when done from the terrace of a riverside pub...
The walk actually had a purpose, in that I wanted to scout out some possible jogging routes. I knew you could follow the Thames Path some way down the edge of the Isle of Dogs, but not quite how far. It turns out that you can get about half way down, although for the foreseeable future there's a detour of a few hundred metres via Westferry Circus thanks to a massive building project. From then on though there's a good km or so of riverside path before it ends at a small park. Rather than double back, I crossed over to walk alongside Millwall Dock and up past Harbour Exchange Square, where I was working recently. Millwall Dock itself is one of the less scenic bits of Docklands, being bounded to the south by nondescript low-rise flats and the north by large printing works; it's also pretty devoid of wildlife, having no artificial nesting grounds (probably because it's a sail training centre). Millwall Inner Dock, by contrast, has several nesting areas, although I was disappointed to see that the Great Crested Grebe nest I saw the other week is now empty with no sign of any young. A little further up though I found a small platform shared by a pair of Coots and a pair of Common Terns. It soon became apparent that whilst the Terns were incubating two eggs, a third had recently hatched, as there was a very small chick poking out from underneath Mummy now and again.
The two pairs didn't, it has to be said, seem the best of neighbours. Not content with occupying opposite corners of the raft, the male Tern took considerable exception to his counterpart turning up to join the nesting Coot and executed several very low and noisy fly-pasts (which the Coots sniffily ignored).
On then to the eastern side of the Isle of Dogs, and The Gun, a pub I'd seen several positive references to and so thought I'd check out. Verdict: very nice, but you're paying for the view of the Thames and the O2 Dome, with no discount for dull days like today! Food was good but the portions weren't generous considering what I paid - possibly no bad thing with me on a diet, but prospective patrons should note that The Gun isn't in the 'hearty pub fare' class of hostelry. But the Adnams Broadside was well-kept, and the riverside terrace was a pleasant place to thumb through one of the rapid prototyping texts I borrowed from the IET library yesterday. Gosh, apparently the first concepts for automated 3D printing go back to the 1920s; you know, this sort of research sticks in the mind so much better when done from the terrace of a riverside pub...
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Date: 2008-05-31 05:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-31 07:12 pm (UTC)When's the festival? Hopefully I can get along.
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Date: 2008-06-01 02:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-01 03:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-31 07:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-31 09:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-02 05:50 pm (UTC)Coots nests are always good for a giggle. This one looks like an amateur. There is currently a rather large construct sticking out of the moat at Wittington Castle, that just grows every year. It looks like the bird equivalent of the princess and the pea tale, with a precarious balancing act on the top. It is a bird with little brain but lots of talent!