More sketches of the people I pass on my daily commute. If you’re interested, find out more about the Big Issue.
Crossing Paths – a daily commute (part 3)
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Tag Archives: walking
Crossing Paths – a daily commute (part 1)
I walk to and from work every day; a good 40 minute march. It’s a great way to wake up on a dark winter’s morning when getting out of bed is an effort and your bowl of porridge hasn’t quite started to kick in. I stick my earplugs in and listen to one of 4 Podcasts. BBC Radio 4’s Women’s Hour, BBC 4’s Saturday Live, BBC 4’s Mid-week or Helen and Olly’s Answermethispodcast.com. The latter tempers the former and is not for sensitive ears.
As you would expect, I pass the same people day after day and ponder their being: what are they like? Do they have a partner? Where do they work? Why are they wearing that? Gosh I love their dog, maybe I’ll stop them so I can stroke it….
I decided to draw a few of the characters to give you a flavour – I recently showed the drawings to a friend who walks the same route, albeit a little earlier than me. She recognised most of the people, so I’m satisfied that I’ve managed to capture them fairly accurately. She even shared one or two of her own commuter people. Now she texts me in the morning to say…hey, I passed ‘Greggs Man’, and I respond to say ‘I think I passed red-headed-duvet-jacket lady’!
So the next couple of posts are just sketches (no polishing) of some of the… <sings> “people that I meet when I’m walking down the street…they’re the people that I meet….each day!” (Sesame Street, People in your Neighbourhood)
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Holiday UK #9 – Aerial Crime
Excerpt from holiday diary 1st July:
“Parked at the National Trust Car Park at Frogmore (157516) and made our way down to the coast at Lantivet Bay. The sun was out and the sea was a beautiful turquoise, you could almost imagine you were in the Mediterranean. On arrival at Polruan, we hopped on a water taxi to Fowey to join the throngs of German tourists and to tuck into a delicious smoked Mackerel and Beetroot Bagel from the delightful Lifebuoy Cafe. We tried to take our usual “lunch with a view” photo (we have a series of these taken on various walks around the country) when a seagull swooped down from nowhere to grab my bagel.”
Excerpt from holiday diary 2nd July:
“Windy and drizzling today – what a contrast to yesterday. After a few false starts we end up on the way to the North Coast. First stop, Rock. Well, the Rock pier car park for a loo stop. Rock is a rather posh village on the other side of the estuary to Padstow (you can cross from Rock to Padstow on a foot ferry). The village is dotted with high end clothing stores, restaurants, bistros and cafes…
…I was unimpressed by the drive to Polzeath – we didn’t really have a destination in mind. The Bee Centre? Vineyards? Cider Farm? We finally decide on Lanhydrock where we’ve been before, but in the dark on an impromptu ghost hunt with mum and dad.”
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Holiday UK #8 – The Camel Trail
Excerpt from holiday diary 30th June:
“A leisurely breakfast on the first grey day we’ve had this holiday. We walked from the campsite and our cosy camping pod at Ruthern Valley to the Camel Trail at Grogley Halt. Onwards to Wadebridge, dodging cyclists and taking in the Cornish countryside. At Wadebridge, we hired bicycles and pedalled the remaining 5.5 miles of the trail to Padstow. A bit of a mooch around before being overwhelmed by the crowds jostling through the narrow streets, eating pasties, licking ice creams, nipping in and out of galleries and tat shops and generally taking in the atmosphere. Rick Stein has really popularised this little seaside town much to the locals’ chagrin.”
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Holiday UK #7 – Slow Worm
Excerpt from holiday diary 29th June:
“It was beautiful coastline. The sky was blue and the sun warm. We looked for basking adders but had to make do with a slow worm…”
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Holiday Uk 6# – Planning a Walk
Excerpt from holiday diary 28th June:
“We ummed and ahhed over which walk to do. L flatly refused the 5 miler that was described in the book as ‘some of the most treacherous bog on Dartmoor in bad weather’. It wasn’t bad weather but having experienced more bog than we cared to endure in a lifetime, we opted for a more gentle walk along the river Plym through old clay quarries up to Dewerstone“.
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Holiday UK #4 – The Ravens
Holiday diary excerpt 27th June:
“Yesterday we hauled our aching limbs to Dartmoor once again. Our chosen destination was Burrator Reservoir and a circular walk around Sheepstor. It was a steep climb up Sheepstor to experience 360 degree panoramic views of the moor and reservoir. Thankfully there were no bogs.
We happened upon a sheep carcass being devoured by Ravens and decided to stop so I could take some photos. The one day I decide not to take my telephoto lens, was the one day I wanted to use it!…”
Frustratingly I didn’t get any good pictures due the lens issue and I still question whether they actually were ravens. Perhaps you’d like to decide. They were huuuge!
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Holiday UK #3 – Pebble Beaches
Excerpt from L’s diary entry 25th June:
“Bright blue skies! Off to the seaside at Beesands, a very quaint and quiet village with a huge pebble beach. We followed yet more of the SW coastal path over to Torcross where we lowered the average age of the tourists by about 40 years. Torcross butts up to Slapton Ley, a freshwater lake separated from the sea by a pebble beach…”
Excerpt from my diary entry 25th June:
“Give me a pebble beach and like a child, I feel compelled to collect the most perfectly round pebbles I can find. I LOVE pebble beaches but by the end of our walk, my rucksack was laden and my shoulders groaned under the weight of my collection…”
Today I must mention that it’s my parents 40th Wedding Anniversary! How fabulous is that? Happy Anniversary Mum and Dad – in it for the long haul!!
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Holiday UK #2 – Dartmoor Bog
Except from L’s holiday diary entry, 24th June:
“Up on to Dartmoor today via several stops for Amy to gawp at horses and take photos. We a parked at the Postbridge information centre to start the rather boggy walk up to some standing stones with picturesque views of the moors. We ended up meandering around a peat bog for a bit before giving up and following a wall to the obligatory water feature challenge of the holiday…” NB. We often find ourselves traversing fast flowing water courses on our expeditions.
My response to L’s diary entry:
“I think L has underplayed The Bog. We were walking for 8.5 miles and for at least 5 of those miles we were ankle deep in bog. At one point we found ourselves lost in the middle of a vast expanse of moorland (as far as the eye could see) with no visible path in sight. I was secretly calculating our water rations in case we started to sink into the stinky, relentless bog and had to wait for rescue…”
I must mention that today is my mum’s birthday. Happy Birthday Mum!
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Evolution of my working week
Less than 24 hours to go and I will officially be on holiday – I’ve been desperate for time to unwind and have found in the lead up to my annual leave, there is a direct correlation between my mood and the day of the week.
Big Hair Metamorphosis 