It snowed slightly more overnight, and as such, I was able to make a much more impressive snowball. Even though I had no one to throw it at. Oh well. More winter-y pictures later.

Wimbledon Fair

A couple weekends ago I attended a fair in Wimbledon Common park. It wasn't a themed fair (like the Victorian/Edwardian Fair I'll post about next), but just your common English Fair, complete with horse jumping and bouncy castles. Oh, and large beetles!

I saw this little fellow while walking down the street to catch the bus. He doesn't look that big on the picture, but he was easily the size of a toonie. Yikes! That's the largest beetle I've ever seen in person.... heh.
There was a man there selling those silly snakes on a stick, too. Very colorful, though.



I did enjoy the opportunity to photograph the horse jumpers.

There was a swampy lake in the middle of the park that the dogs seemed to enjoy.
I'm not sure what is 'Traditional' about this Wimbledon Traditional Fun Fair, but it was certainly fun.
Complete with fake Mickey Mouse bouncy castle. No, I didn't go in.


Lots of colorful rides, but really, the Stampede puts these little fairs to shame in terms of rides (and creepy carnies... but still).

So I gave up on the rides and went back to the horse jumping. The horses we absolutely lovely, and the people were generally crazy. You think hockey parents are bad for yelling at their children for random stuff? Man, some of these parents were rediculous. Good lord.

Either way, it was a very nice day out.

A mish-mash of things...

So, yes, it's been a while since I've seriously posted. However, with me not working again until next (that's right, next!) Friday, I have lots of time to wander around in London.

In the meantime, I'd like to offer some of the pictures I've taken over the last month that I never got around to posting:

This first bath are photos I've taken while walking in Wimbledon park. I like to spend my free time walking through here, and I also take the ends of my bread to feed the birds. It's a lovely park, and I'm sure it'll be packed on the weekends come summer.

Here's a tree that overhangs our little man-made (I think) lake where all the birds live.
And the dock. I'd like to sit on it and relax, but it's usually covered in bird crap...

A goose!

That's enough of the park. I've taken some videos, too, but I seem a have a huge amount of problems attempting to upload videos to YouTube, so you'll have to just imagine them.

Up next, Trafalgar Square!

Wandering in Wimbledon

Hi Hi everyone! I didn't have any concrete plans for the day since it was supposed to rain all day, but when it cleared up this afternoon about 1 a.m., I thought that I couldn't waste the day. Rather then spend the money and head into central London for a half-day, I grabbed my camera and figured I'd head into the park near my house to see what was happening!

Turns out it's a lovely, albeit muddy park!

These willowy things grow in lots of places around my neighborhood - I'm not entirely sure what they are, but I sure like the way they move in the wind.
The sky ended up being a lovely shade of blue. There was still a lot of water in the park from the wet weather we've been having during the past couple of days.
This is the lake in the middle of Wimbledon park. The spire you see on the left-hand side in the background is St. Mary's Church, where I end up later.
Yup... lots of puddles.
This is kind of neat, actually, this is a building that stood over the Artesian Well. According to the little plaque, the well was first dug in 1793, and it was only about 30 feet deep. An appliance powered by a horse walking around the ground floor of the building lifted water to a storage tank under the dome.

In 1798, needing a greater supply, Earl Spencer ordered the well to be deepened. After 15 months of excavation, at a depth of 563 feet, the workmen struck water which shot up over a hundred feet and nearly drowned them.

Of all the building constructed by the Spencers in Wimbledon only this well house survives. After the well silted up the doomed tower above it was extended to form a private residence.
Would be kind of a neat place to live in - I wonder what it looks like on the inside.
This is St. Mary's Church in the Parish of Wimbledon.
Apparently a church has stood on this site since the sixth century, duly registered in the Domesday Book in the reign of William the Conqueror. The first recorded rector was 'Master Phillip" in 1210. The oldest bell bears the shield of William Culverden, a London bell-founder who died in 1522.
In 1534 the Rector Thomas Mylling was made to swear acceptance of King Henry VIII as Head of the English Church. A bible written in English instead of Latin was required to be in every parish church, although few villagers could read.
The register of baptisms, marriages and burials for the parish began with the christening of Elizabeth Wight on 15th January 1539. By 1786 the mediaeval church was in need of repair and west end was rebuilt.
The present building was constructed by Sir George Gilbert Schott, preserving the Bothic chancel with some fifteenth century masonry. Around the walls and graveyard may be seen memorials to many famous people.

I didn't see any memorials to famous people, though... maybe just not famous people that I recognized?
This is the Wimbledon war memorial. I saw it was I was walking down this street, trying to figure out where the heck I was. I didn't get too close to it, as that would've involved crossing a reasonably busy road.

Eventually I found myself on Wimbledon High Street, where I caught the bus back home. It was nice to get out and see more the neighborhood. I will definitely have to head back to the park when it is dry and warm outside - and maybe I'll bring some seed to feed the birds!

Not sure what I'm going to do over the weekend. I thought about maybe heading to Greenwich, but they are doing major work on the DLR (Docklands Light Rail), and it might be very complicated trying to get there. We'll see, though. It's supposed to be sunny tomorrow, so I am definitely going out.