Walthamstow 22/07/11

Ode to the new Victoria Line trains

Feel like I’m in space

Every time I look at you

I think you’re really ace

There’s room inside for me and Roo

You take me to a place

In fact you go to quite a few

Save me from the race

I didn’t have to guess – I knew

Announcing stops with grace

You’re better than the Bakerloo

You put the smile back on my face

And I love that shade of blue

Walthamstow is a suprisingly frequent destination for us. My cousin and her son live up there and we’ve just made a new imaginary friend in the same area. It’s an easy hop up the Victoria Line from Vauxhall and – as you may have gleaned by the above poem – there have these great new trains that look space age, have level access, a buggy space and (gasp!) announce which side the doors are opening, so you can move the buggy if it does end up against the doors. Super-ness! Why they have such wheelchair-friendly trains when there are only three accessible stations, no-one knows. But little by little…!

So, it was a gloriously sunny day – the sun does always shine in E17. We first went to Roo’s friend Jake’s house (I’d recommend the blueberry muffins) and then out to Coppermill Playground  (More details here). Two slides, a toddler size maze and a tunnel made Roo happy indeed. Apparantly, it also served as a tube station on the Piccadilly Line but that might just be when Jake’s there… Definitely worth a visit if you happen to be in the area (near Blackhorse Rd). Co-incidentally, if you live in the Blackhorse Rd area and spotted a bright yellow envelope on the floor, that was Jake’s birthday card. Leave it on the roundabout and he’ll pick it up…

We had lunch at my cousin’s house (these recommendations are getting ever more useful) and then went out to Lloyd Park (More details here). It’s being quite heavily redeveloped at the moment, but there’s a nice natural play area where they can climb on frames fashioned out of tree stumps  .

Did the boys show much interest? Nooooo! Not when there are diggers doing the redevelopment! They stood by the fence, in their matching hardhats, enchanted and occasionally whispering “Bob!” in awed tones. So, that’s my official Walthamstow top tip – take them to a building site.