iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I call this one “A woman in West Harrow contemplates the fundamental futility of existence while a small dog doesn’t.” #WestHarrow #NorthHarrow #Harrow #RaynersLane

A woman stares at the towering stump of a dead tree while a small dog wanders off.

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

News reaches us that Disney’s much-anticipated live-action cat-only remake of Stand by Me has been abandoned in the wake of Mr Snuggles’ announcement last week that, though hugely excited to be taking on the role of Gordie, he would be exploring the themes of friendship and camaraderie by himself.

A cat walking along a section of miniature-railway track.

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

There are more cows living in London than you think. I bet you’d not counted these three we met just north of RAF Northolt, for instance. #Northolt

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

When you’re halfway to Harrow and haven’t eaten since Hanwell, nothing hits the spot like a hearty helping of hash browns and halloumi… and baked beans and bananas… and some strawberries… and mushrooms… and maple syrup. (“Pancake Lovers Breakfast” at Press in #Hillingdon; I just eat what I’m given.)

A café table with a plate containing (deep breath) hash browns, vegetarian sausage, halloumi, mushrooms, baked beans, avocado and fried egg plus pancakes topped with bananas, strawberries and grapes dripping with maple syrup. Enjoy.

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Although not overwhelmed by features, the Yeading Brook does have some unexpected footbridges; this, for instance, is the inappropriately named Golden Bridge, with @lucycmunro.bsky.social demonstrating how wide it is. Or something. To be honest, I haven’t got a clue what she’s doing. I rarely do.

A gracefully arcing concrete bridge surrounded by much greenery and occupied by a woman with outstretched arms.

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Like most born-and-bred Londoners, I like to spend the last Saturday of September walking from Southall to North Harrow along the Yeading Brook. Sadly, the early signs were not encouraging. #Southall #YeadingBrook #Yeading #HillingdonWay

A three-armed signpost in woods for the Hillingdon Way, with an additional arm affixed to the pole saying “Hillingdon Trail Diversion”.

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

I call this one “Goodbye to Canvey”. You’ll be pleased to hear. #CanveyIsland

The Thames Estuary in the late afternoon. A wooden jetty extends across the mud and disappears into the sparkling water of a creek. On it are five figures, some fishing. In the middle of the creek a small boat is tethered to a buoy. In the distance, in the river proper, is a long jetty raised high on stilts, with an array of cranes beyond.

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Reaching Holehaven Point for that Dr. Feelgood photoshoot meant walking along the sea wall, ducking past the sewage works, then dipping under these pipelines connecting the Calor Gas depot to the jetty. Increasingly, I can see why my parents always favoured Chalkwell for family days out. [1/2]

A narrow path between metal fences leads past metal gates and under a metal structure supporting various metal pipes.

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Speaking of Dr. Feelgood, the photo on Down By The Jetty, an LP without which I might not be where I am now (and I don’t mean on Canvey Island), was taken at Holehaven Point on Canvey’s southern shore. And here’s @lucycmunro.bsky.social last Saturday, doing her best Lee Brilleaux impression. [1/2]

Someone who looks like a cross between an English professor and Dr. Feelgood’s Lee Brilleaux stands in front of a muddy beach. In the distance, across an expanse of grey water, is a long shadowy jetty. The image is very similar to the photo on the front of the first Dr. Feelgood LP, the main difference being that Dr. Feelgood aren’t in it.

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

There are kids growing up on Canvey who’ve never seen the sea, you know; since the floods of ‘53, it’s been hidden behind a wall. On the plus side, a long concrete wall can become an outdoor gallery. Best local band in the world? I’m not going to argue with that. [1/2]

An empty, shell-strewn promenade beside the sea overshadowed by a tall concrete wall. There are benches on the promenade and, on the wall, a black and white mural of two couples ballroom-dancing in front of the Hotel Monico alongside the words “dance in the old-fashioned way”.

A stretch of concrete wall with a mural depicting four bands from Canvey: the Bullet Blues Band, the Force Five, Dr. Feelgood and Eddie & The Hot Rods. Above the image of Dr. Feelgood it says “the best local band in the world”. A wooden seat in front of the band has inscribe on it “Dr. Feelgood. Friends of Concord Beach.”

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

When I asked Scott from #SecretShine if they were happy to be on yet another Cherry Red shoegaze best-of (this is the THIRD…), he commented that CR were very much “milking the shoegaze”. And I think we can all agree that that would’ve been a much better title. Maybe they can use it for the next one?

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

On Saturday, our last free Saturday in August, we finally made it to the coast. It’s funny: day trips to Southend in the family Cortina were part of the summer ritual when I was young, but we never went to Canvey Island. I think my parents just thought Canvey was a bit weird. I don’t know why. [1/2]

Flat scrubby grass beside a muddy creek at low tide, with what seem to be abandoned small boats scattered amongst broken wooden structures.

Channels of wet mud, presumably filled by water at high tide, between flat expanses of marshy grass.

An English professor stands on a flat expanse of mud and marshy grass, wearing a hat.

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Possibly trying a little bit too hard with the old boat-naming, there… [Our walk up the Colne concludes at the General Eliott in Uxbridge.] #Uxbridge #RiverColne

A canal boat with the name – and I can’t believe I’m going to write this – Canality J’Aime.

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Some of you – especially any of you who are Donald Trump – might like to know that the bit of water entering the Colne beneath this rickety bridge is the Bigley Ditch. Not sure I’d fancy crossing in a strong gale. [Sorry, still catching up on our walk up the Colne from #Harmondsworth.] #WestDrayton

A footbridge composed of four slightly rotten-looking wooden planks laid side-by-side with bolted-together metal poles serving as handrails crosses a narrow stream flowing from the left into a wider river on the right.

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

#Harmondsworth also has this, the Great Barn, built in the early 1400’s and England’s largest timber-framed building. And all just half a mile from Heathrow; food for thought, maybe, should you ever have a half-hour flight delay? Or wait till the third runway’s finished, when it will be even closer.

The interior of a large wooden barn, with a flat sandy floor and roof held up by ancient timbers and beams.

A long barn with wooden sides and a tiled roof, built on a stone base.

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

There’s no better place to spend a scorching hot Saturday afternoon, I always think, than a former gravel works and landfill site half a mile outside Heathrow’s northern perimeter fence. So here we are on Harmondsworth Moor a couple of weeks ago. [1/2]

A path across a desolate expanse of sun-scorched grass with two rows of granite blocks arranged as low retaining walls in the foreground.

A dry, grassy hillock in front of which a wall of granite blocks has inscribed on it “Words, like Nature, half reveal and half conceal the Soul within.”

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Ooo are yer? Ooo are yer? What? No, no, I know that lot are Sheffield Wednesday – I’m not an idiot. I was just wondering who all the blokes in red were. [Orient kicking off with only one player who was with us at the end of last season…] #lofc #leytonorient

Leyton Orient warming up at Brisbane Road.

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

First game of the season, Sheffield Wednesday at home, and the anticipation, the build-up, is all part of it. That’s why we set out at 9 and are now having breakfast at Chapter 72 in Bermondsey. I can literally taste the excitement. It tastes… almondy. Unless… ah, sorry, that’s the almond croissant.

A cup of coffee and an almond croissant on a café table.

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Oi, Chislehurst! You’ve forgotten to put any water in yer pond… #Chislehurst

A view across a dried-up pond with a post in the foreground showing the height of the non-existent water.

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

We spent Saturday in the woods around Chislehurst and, in a small clearing, found this memorial to William Willett, the man without whom it would now be an hour ago. The memorial has a [BST] sundial on the back, which is nice, but makes no mention of the fact that – according to Wikipedia –[1/2]

A tall stone pillar in a forest clearing. On it are the following words: This wood was purchased by public subscription as a tribute to the memory of William Willett, the untiring advocate of Summer Time.

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Few people know that when the last ice sheet retreated from Leytonstone it left these “glacial erratics” scattered along Church Lane. [@lucycmunro.bsky.social (on left) provides sense of scale; Poundland (in distance) provides sense of perspective – it used to be a British Home Stores.] #Leytonstone

A pavement-level view up a main road towards a branch of Poundland. Large lumps of rocks are positioned at regular intervals along the kerb.

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

More Epping Forest: the Rodney “Gipsy” Smith memorial near Waterworks Corner, and a hollow tree and a bit of a tree graveyard somewhere towards Loughton; it’s very easy to lose track of where you are, despite the Central Line being just… over there… somewhere. #EppingForest #Walthamstow #Loughton

A stone with an old horse-drawn caravan carved into it and a plaque reading: Gipsy Rodney Smith MBE who preached the gospel of Christ to thousands on five continents for seventy years was born here on 31 March 1860 and called home journeying to America on 4 August 1947. What hath God wrought.

A dead, hollowed-out tree surrounded by ferns.

A fallen tree in a forest clearing with the stumps of other dead trees nearby.

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

The other thing about growing up in East London was that my Grandad was Father Christmas. He worked in Carpets at Bearmans department store and, every December, when the real Father Christmas was on lunch, he had to take over. And he absolutely hated it. I’m not sure the kids enjoyed it much [1/2]

An old advertisement for Bearmans department store protected by clear plastic on a tiled subway wall. The wording says: “RECOMMENDATIONS. We like them – of course we do, but more important, we realise that recommendation over the past 50 years has played a large part in building our store up to the reputable shopping centre it is today. We hope our many customers regard us more as friends – so if we please you, tell others, or tell us. At any rate, tell someone. BEARMANS. The store with the personal touch.”

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

If you don’t believe the cow thing, check out the top-left image in this poster. THERE WERE COWS. On the right is Whipps Cross Lido, scene – allegedly – of at least one bit of bovine blundering. The last image is more of a puzzle, as that’s not Brisbane Road and Orient have never won anything. #LOFC

A poster attached to the gate of a church advertising a talk on “The Leyton That Used To Be”. It contains three images: one of two cows walking down a suburban street, one of a lido, and one of a football team holding a cup aloft in a large stadium.

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

The thing about growing up in East London is that you start thinking it’s perfectly normal to have a chunk of ancient woodland at the end of the road and to occasionally find a cow in your front garden. It’s only later on in life – when you meet people from, say, Balham – that you realise it [1/2]

A steep-banked stream winding through trees.

A steep-banked stream winding through trees and under a wooden bridge.

A view across a tree-shrouded lake with sandy humps in the foreground and an empty log seat.

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

So, yeah… thing is, when we asked you to paint a mural illustrating the history of Palmers Green, we were thinking you’d probably start with, well, I guess Broomfield House, and then maybe the coming of the railway… we didn’t realise you were going to be so… thorough… #palmersgreen #broomfieldpark

Three panels from a mural on a hoarding in a park depicting a primordial forest, some dinosaurs being struck by a meteorite, and a woolly mammoth.

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

For some people, a scorching hot Saturday in July means strawberries at Wimbledon and a jug of Pimm’s. For those with more refined tastes, however, it means a fry-up in East Barnet and a walk along Pymmes Brook, from Jack’s Lake (pic. 2) to the North Circular at Silver Street (pic. 3). [1/2]

Deep in the woods, a wooden signpost for the Pymmes Brook Trail.

A large lake stretching serenely into the distance, with lily pads in the foreground.

A river hemmed in by concrete and railings with a road sign in the background.

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

There are many otherwise perfectly rational people out there utterly convinced that, for the past 22 years, a small bit of SW17 has been going about its oddly soulless business just off the M1 in Buckinghamshire. Be that as it may – and it definitely may not – MK Dons v Orient is NOT a local derby.

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

With next season’s fixture list imminent, I’m reminded of something that occurred to me on our walk through Bromley the other week: that, following their recent promotion, it might be Bromley FC that the O’s get to visit in the traditional Christmas/New Year derby. This felt wrong. [1/3]

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

So, Principality Building Society… although you initially accepted that I was not a robot, you now think that, in the five minutes it’s taken me to compose my question to you, I might have BECOME a robot… is that correct? And does this happen much, in your experience? [1/2]

A screengrab of a Captcha pop-up saying: “Verification expired. Check the checkbox again.” The checkbox text says: “I’m not a robot.”

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

The railway arches south of the Elephant are home to many mysterious goings-on. Some we should probably draw a discreet veil over. Or possibly a galvanised-steel roller shutter. But some are the Orbit Brewery taproom where, as the sun went down, [1/2]

People drinking beer at tables in a sunlit yard beside railway arches with a large barbecue smoker in the foreground.

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

… and then, somewhere on the road from Twickenham to Teddington, everything suddenly faded to black and white, and we felt a strange chill in the air… [Still walking from Shepherd’s Bush to Sunbury…] #StrawberryHill #Twickenham #Teddington

A black-branched, leafless tree in front of Strawberry Hill House, a huge, white, Gothic Revival villa. All other trees are in leaf.

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

So, as you can see, this stone pillar on Brentford High Street commemorates three local events: Cassivellaunus’s confrontation with Julius Caesar in 54BC, the resolution of King Offa’s dispute with the Bishop of Worcester in 781, and Edmund Ironside’s victory over Cnut in 1016. [1/2]

A stone pillar on the pavement of a large road. On the side facing the camera is written: BC54. At this ancient fortified ford, the British tribesmen under Cassivellaunus bravely opposed Julius Caesar on his march to Verulamium.

A stone pillar on the pavement of a large road. On the side facing the camera is written: AD780-1. Nearby, Offa, King of Mercia, with his queen, the bishops and principal officers, held a council of the Church.

A stone pillar on the pavement of a large road. On the side facing the camera is written: AD1016. Here Edmund Ironside, King of England, drove Cnut and his defeated Danes across the Thames.

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

So, on Saturday we walked from Shepherd’s Bush to Sunbury-on-Thames through the urban hellholes of Chiswick, Brentford, Twickenham and Teddington. Sunbury itself isn’t an urban hellhole, of course, being just over the border in Surrey: Farage country. [1/2]

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Even people who loved Blueboy’s records back in Sarah days were often stunned by how the band sounded live; I mean, Popkiss on 7” is great, but onstage, with both guitars fully unleashed, it absolutely roared. And still does. That’s my excuse for reposting this, anyway... #Blueboy #SarahRecords

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

After Reform’s banning of the Pride flag from their council buildings because (to quote Zia Yusuf) “flags should represent everyone, not divide”, the new Reform council in Havering, where we were the other week, has cancelled the borough’s annual Pride celebration and will only fly flags that [1/2]

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Among Bromley’s many other attractions is this bit of rock from Lochinver in north-west Scotland. “One of the oldest rocks in the British Isles”, according to the plaque, it was presented to the people of Bromley in the year 2000. [1/3]

A lump of rock with a small metal plaque screwed into it saying: “Bromley Millennium Rock. This boulder of Lewisian Gneiss from Lochinver in North West Scotland was presented to the people of Bromley by the Highland Council to commemorate the Millennium year. It is a metamorphic rock over 2,000 million years old and is one of the oldest rocks in the British Isles.”

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

That bit of sturdy Victoriana on the plinth, by the way, is the town pump; amazingly, it still works, and is used by the mayor whenever Bromley needs reinflating. I’m not sure who the chap in the top left of the evolutionary tree is, though; I’m guessing it’s probably Adam. #Bromley #CharlesDarwin

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

On our walk to Keston we passed this tribute to local lad Charles Darwin in Bromley town centre. Sadly, someone’s chucked silver paint around Chuck’s legs and feet. Probably a Reform supporter made angry by the thought of evolving. And B&Q, presumably, were out of red-white-and-blue paint. #Bromley

A mural covering the whole of the side of a shop. It depicts Charles Darwin sitting by a tree in the branches of which are several images connected with the theory of evolution. There are splatters of silver paint on the lower parts of the mural.

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

All I’m saying is, in the course of ten miles, this (pic. 1) will become this (pic. 2). And, on the way, it will experience Catford. [River Ravensbourne in Padmall Wood, Keston, and entering the Thames at Greenwich.] #Keston #Bromley #RiverRavensbourne #Deptford #Greenwich #Catford #PadmallWood

A narrow sparkling stream wiggling between trees and ferns through a shady wood.

A wide river flowing under a swing bridge into the Thames beside a shiny apartment block with Canary Wharf’s skyscrapers in the distance.

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Even those who didn’t get beyond the first paragraph of my book about Deptford (see attached) will know that Julius Caesar didn’t discover the source of Deptford Creek (aka the River Ravensbourne) while on a camping trip in the woods just south of Bromley; [1/2]

A page from the Unchartered Streets book about Deptford, with the following text:
From the south exit at Deptford Bridge station take a few steps west and be surprised to find yourself on a small bridge… or maybe not so surprised, as there was a clue in the station name. The frothing torrent below is the River Ravensbourne – aka Deptford Creek at its tidal end – which rises at Caesar’s Well, eleven miles to the south in Keston. According to legend, Julius Caesar was camped near Keston when a thirsty raven led him to a handy spring – hence Caesar’s Well and Raven’s Bourne. But if that strikes you as a bit twee, or you don’t reckon our Jules was the sort to go camping, being more of a boutique hotel kinda caesar, then consider also that a raven featured on the Danish flag when King Æthelred and his brother Ælfred battered the Danes hereabouts in 871, which hardly sounds like coincidence, does it? 18th‑century dictionary dude Samuel Johnson had zilch to say on the name, he just thought the Ravensbourne was ‘the vilest stream on earth’, which seems a little OTT; then again, Dr J. had previous with rivers, having famously dismissed the Mersey as ‘nothing but a long thin puddle, sir’ and produced a series of scurrilous drawings of the Great Ouse.

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

Farage’s mob say in London you can’t set foot outside your house without encountering a mugger; whereas I say in London you can’t set foot inside a clump of trees without encountering the moated remains of a medieval manor house. #ScadburyManor #Chislehurst

A reedy strip of still water in front of bits of old wall, steps and other brickwork, all overgrown with grass.

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

Right, I can see what you’ve done wrong here, Bexley – you’ve only gone and ordered the top of your spire in metric, and the bottom in imperial, haven’t you? #Bexley

A church with a spire that is a different shape at the top and bottom.

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

On her way through Hall Place Gardens that morning, Fiona suddenly realised that life on Earth would never be the same again. #Bexley #Crayford #Bexleyheath #HallPlace #RiverCray #QueensBeasts

A line of giant topiary animals beside a path. As if that explained anything.

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

So, on the right is the Darent, flowing down to the Thames. And on the left – trust me – is the Cray. In other words, this is where the Cray empties into the Darent and ceases to be. And we’ve just spent 35 minutes walking from Dartford station to not quite see it doing it. #Dartford #RiverCray

A river flows past mud banks and scrubby grass. Another river joins it from the left but, because it’s low-tide, only the mud banks are visible.

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

Kent has one of England’s most beautiful stretches of coastline. I think it’s somewhere round Broadstairs. #Dartford #RiverCray

A signpost for the England Coast Path in front of a wooden fence and some bits of rubbish. Beyond the fence is a flat expanse of nondescript grass and an electricity pylon. The sea is not obvious.

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

I call this one “Horses”. After the Patti Smith album. #Dartford #RiverCray

A scrubby bit of field marked off by temporary metal fences teetering at random angles. It contains a strip of water and two horses. To the right of the field, a concrete structure sports a graffito of the Manchester United crest.

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Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

We also watched Rye Lane, which is way better. And not just because it has more women and fewer sharks. Though that’s never a bad thing in my book.

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