iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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

No, seriously – this really is NOT good advice. As anyone who’s ever been in any of my dreams can testify – you know who you are. So just put your clothes back on and let it go, eh? It’s not like you were ever going to make it to that exam in time…

A large stencilled artwork on the blank end of a brick building saying: “If you can dream it you must do it”.

010 0

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

might work. What? Sorry, I don’t know what your point is – why shouldn’t it have a small railway in its garden? Don’t lots of pubs? I feel like they’re missing a trick by stopping rides at 4pm, though. I’d have thought that Saturday night would be peak hours. #ForestGate

A pub garden with a miniature railway track running behind a fence between the tables.

000 0

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

In case you’ve been wondering, that “Stand by Me” photo was taken on the Roxbourne Railway in Eastcote. Larger cats wishing to recreate Rob Reiner’s masterpiece for themselves but needing a wider gauge could try the Holly Tree pub in Forest Gate, as that has a small railway in its garden which

100 0

Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

And then the Engineer (see previous post) for a post-match pint of Five Points XPA to drown our sorrows or whatever that other thing we used to do is. [2/2] #LeytonOrient #LOFC

010 0

Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

While we wait for the O’s 1-2 defeat by Man City in the 24-25 FA Cup to be overturned and all subsequent rounds/seasons replayed, a little reminder of what really matters. Deeney’s is our go-to for a fry-up on early kick-off days; for 3pm games, it’s a bap and a pastel de nata at Palmeira. [1/2]

110 0

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.

000 0

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.

000 0

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

010 0

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.

011 0

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.

020 0

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”.

010 0

Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Yes, I think it was the foot and mouth that put a stop to them grazing wherever they wanted. We lived a couple of roads back from Whipps Cross Road, and we'd often find a cow in the front garden that had wandered down from Hollow Ponds.

000 0

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.

000 0

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

Anyone who’s ever walked through “the cage” from South Bermondsey station to the away end at Millwall might also be getting flashbacks at this point; it’s not dissimilar. [2/2] #CanveyIsland #Millwall #DrFeelgood

000 0

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.

100 0

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

I think she’s pretty much nailed it, don’t you? Even though the wind was clearly blowing the other way. “I’ve been searching all through the city, see you in the morning, down by the jetty…” Sleeve of the original LP below, in case you’ve not got your copy to hand. [2/2] #CanveyIsland #DrFeelgood

A copy of Down by the Jetty by Dr. Feelgood.

000 0

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.

100 0

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

And it’s good to find out that the Feelgoods were friends of Concord Beach. You may want to argue with that. For more on the 1953 floods, see Canvey Island by [British] Sea Power. [2/2] #CanveyIsland #DrFeelgood #ConcordBeach #SeaPower #BritishSeaPower

A mural of Dr. Feelgood on a concrete wall. Above the image it says “the best local band in the world”, and a wooden seat in front has inscribed on it “Dr. Feelgood. Friends of Concord Beach.”

010 0

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.”

130 0

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?

030 0

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

Or maybe they were worried about accidentally drowning a horse. [2/2] #CanveyIsland

Marshy grass leading out to mud and the distant Thames Estuary. A sign in the foreground says: Public Footpath Only. WARNING. This path can become submerged at high tide. Strictly no horses. Castle Point Borough Council.

010 0

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.

120 0

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.

020 0

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.

000 0

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.

000 0

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

Enjoy the game??? It's never occurred to me we're supposed to enjoy any of this...

110 0

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

Rather surprised you've got even one Cockney Rejects compilation, Jon, let alone four, but... I guess no more surprised than I was when Slowdive briefly rebranded as Oi!dive for their little-remembered album of terrace anthems...

210 0

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

The lumps of granite are from old Waterloo Bridge. I’ve no idea why some have lines from Tennyson’s In Memoriam inscribed on them. There’s never an English professor around when you need one. Oh, hang on... [2/2] #Harmondsworth #Heathrow #WaterlooBridge

A parched hillside on which granite blocks have been arranged in a ring with three squiggly blue lines on a tarmac circle in the centre. An English professor wearing a sunhat stands on one of the blocks, unaware that she is being photographed or being mentioned in this post.

010 0

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.”

120 0

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.

010 0

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.

130 0

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.

000 0

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

Willett was the great-great-grandfather of Chris Martin. I have no idea what do with this information, but if it means I can tag this #Coldplay and maybe get some more followers… who cares? I believe he also played the saxophone solo on Baker Street. By #GerryRafferty. [2/2] #Chislehurst #PettsWood

020 0

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.

100 0

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.

020 0

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.

001 0

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

either, to be honest: I think a bald man with a tattoo of a boxer on his forearm smoking roll-ups while asking them if they’d been good came across more as some kind of threat than as a bit of perfunctory pre-gift box-ticking. (The advert is in the subway at Leytonstone station.) [2/2] #Leytonstone

020 0

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.”

120 0

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.

120 0

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

I know. Especially when you tell them that one of them once broke into Whipps Cross Lido...

000 0

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

was actually all a bit weird. Anyway; you can’t beat a bit of Epping Forest on a hot day, so here’s the River Ching near Highams Park and, beside the old North Circular in Leytonstone – six stops on the tube from Bank – Hollow Ponds. #Leytonstone #HighamsPark #EppingForest #HollowPonds #Chingford

030 0

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.

221 0

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.

010 0

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

(With thanks to Caffeine Culture in Barnet, Café No. 41 in East Barnet and The Yard in Palmers Green for en route sustenance; support your local cafes or muffin-weaponising Capitalist attack bakery Gail’s will win.) [2/2] #PymmesBrook #Barnet #EastBarnet #PalmersGreen

100 0

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.

110 0

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.

000 0

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

I think most of us are still getting over the trauma of our first season down in the National League (2017-18), when the fourth game was a 6-1 defeat at Bromley. Suddenly, a return to the EFL didn't look that imminent. You're right about the High Street, though. Found a very nice pub and restaurant.

000 0