Drawn to the water

Yesterday we officially made the move South of the river. Despite my protestations and love for the North, a new job calls for a new location.

The last two days have been spent ferrying a surprising number of boxes back and forth between Seven Sisters and Southfields and today I found myself in a pre-pay day lull so decided to do some exploring of the local area.

When I met Steven, Southfields was his stomping ground, and his family are still here, so the area's (especially the dog friendly parts) not all that unfamiliar but I don't need an excuse for a wander, and I wanted to familiarise myself as a local!

Productivity consisted of a drop-in at the gym to enquire about membership, and cashing a couple of cheques that have been knocking about in my purse since my birthday (yippee for summer holidays and my bank a mere 13 minute walk away) then I deviated when I saw signs for 'Riverside Walk'..

Before I knew it, the River Wandle met The Thames and I was wandering along the Thames Path. I'm so excited to be so close to water and birdlife, and a small escape from the hustle and bustle that London can otherwise bring. Once on the path, my headphones were off and I appreciated the peace and quiet, and occasional honk from a Canada Goose. Despite persistent cloud cover and fairly strong winds, I followed the path all the way up (or maybe down?) to Putney, resting occasionally along the way to look over the water.

Back home, I popped into the yoga studio that I'd spotted earlier from my bedroom window (so much excitement!) to grab a class schedule, then made my way back to the sofa with a cup of tea where I sit now to write.

There are many things to do and places to see that have been on my South London list for a while. I can't wait to get ticking them off!

2000 Trees

'You headed to 12 trees?', asks our cab driver who's picking us up from Cheltenham Station. 'Apparently there are 2000. But I don't think we'll count.', we reply. Yesterday was our first time at 2000 Trees, and we loved every minute of it!

Jess and I last attended a festival together in 2013 when we went with Olive to Latitude. So this summer, we decided it was about time we did another festival, and when a few of our favourite bands and artists appeared on the lineup for 2000 Trees, we decided it was the one for us.

Next to no queue as we arrived, we were armed with our wristbands and straight through. The festival site was fairly small, which was nice as it meant that we easily found our way around, and headed straight to see The Xcerts who were performing a forest session.

If we do go back (which I hope we will), we'll definitely go better prepared. Although one benefit of going to a festival for just a day is that you can pack light, we did agree that we could have done with something to sit on. Sitting on the forest floor, we did suffer from numb bums, and camping chair envy, but the set from Murray and Jordan got us off to a good start. It all felt particularly forest-camping-esque when Murray unplugged his guitar and came out to the centre of the crowd to play the last song.

Lunch excites me at the best of times, but having seen what was on offer as we'd entered, we were especially excited for this lunch. I opted for a 'hot and crispy' scotch egg on sweet potato fries, and Jess found some gluten free pasta with a smoky cheese sauce. We sat by the Neu Stage to eat, where Asylums were playing a set. Enjoyed our food, and a spot of people watching (always good value at a music festival) before moving on to the Main Stage for Beans on Toast (the artist, not more food.)

His music was great, messages powerful, and he had the crowd laughing which is always fun. After the set, we made our way to The Axiom tent for Bloody Knees. A first for both of us, we loved their energy and found ourselves singing along despite having only discovered them the night before on a Spotify playlist.

Another forest session from Enter Shikari followed, but with The Xcerts playing the main stage only 5 minutes after the forest set ended, we had to dash. After what felt like endless tuning in the forest, we only managed to catch a couple of songs from Rou before heading back to the main stage. It's been really interesting to see The Xcerts play so many different venues. For me, a stage at a festival was the biggest, and their set did not disappoint. I think Murray's dance moves may have just tipped it for my favourite moment of the day.

Our first clash of the day struck, as back in the forest, Séan McGowan was playing. Not wanting to miss his only set of the day, we didn't stay for all of The Xcerts, and headed back to the trees.

Half our day came around all too quickly, and it was time again for some food. Back at the Main Stage via gluten free mini pancakes for Jess, we enjoyed most of Basement's set, some of it from the queue for Pad Thai (my first since Thailand, and it did not disappoint). Navigating crowds on our way then to The Cave stage where Skinny Lister were already in full swing was a little hairy, but we made it to a spot right outside the tent in the evening sun with all food in tact. Just enough time for digestion, we were back up and dancing again, trying to avoid the bare-chested man flailing around next to us in the stream of Coca Cola, beer, and goodness knows what else that his friends were spraying him with.. sticky.

Our final set of the day was quite the contrast to the madness of Skinny Lister. We were back in the forest where we'd begun our day for Ben Marwood's acoustic set. Another artist with an excellent sense of humour (it really does go a long way), we ended the day with plenty of laughs.

I didn't think I'd ever find a festival in the UK that suited me so well, but we really did have the most amazing day at 2000 Trees. The lineup was incredible, the sets were fantastic, the site is so convenient, the food was delicious, and everyone (and I really do mean everyone) was so so  friendly which made for the best atmosphere. It was a Saturday so well spent, and I definitely hope that we'll return!

A Concrete Beach

Almost 30ºC and the celebration of our four years; obviously we had to borrow a Pepper and head to the coast. Botany Bay at Broadstairs has been on my list for a while, but at this time of the year there are no dogs allowed on the beach, so I scoured the Internet for dog friendly beaches in Kent, and landed on Folkestone.

As we made our way out of London, we both laughed at the memory of our Dungeness experience. So driving into Folkestone itself, we were at least relieved to be met by civilisation, although we'd stopped at a services on the way for picnic supplies just in case. 

The main road leading down to the Harbour was reminiscent of Hunstanton seafront, with cars parked all the way along for beach-goers. Arriving in the afternoon meant that spaces were already taken, so we drove back on ourselves to find a quieter spot. Following signs for a footpath, we headed towards Warren Country Park and the beach that lay below the East Cliff.

We both agreed that in the heat, we could have been walking through Spanish hills and were glad of a bit of wall to sit on by the time we got down to the sea. I don't think either of us was quite expecting what we were greeted by. Where the footpath opened out onto the 'beach', there were families dotted between groynes on pebbles leading down to the sea to our right, and fishermen on concrete to the left. I'm not quite sure how I'd describe the concrete. It was like a promenade as the sea came right up and was immediately deep, but it was much wider and more vast. 

We opted for concrete as it was emptier. We wanted to eat, and weren't sure how Pepper would feel about sitting by us to wait if temptation was all around. Our spot on a wall gave optimum opportunities for people and seagull watching. We weren't keen on joining the masses back the way we'd come, so we resolved to venture further after eating to see if we could find a quieter patch of beach beyond the concrete.

I'm not sure if it was the heat combined with a fairly insistent sea breeze, or our not really knowing where we were going, but the walk seemed endless. There were pretty white cliffs to enjoy on one side, a surprisingly blue sea on the other, and Pepper was clearly in her element, so it wasn't all bad. After a while, we spied what we thought was more pebbles (it's amazing how much like sand concrete looks from afar. Disappointingly deceiving.), so we decided that we'd found where we were heading.

Passing signs to the 'nudist beach', Steven suddenly seemed to be flagging, but I valiantly strode on, convinced that because they were written in chalk, they could hardly be official. Eventually we passed what felt like a warning sign informing us that the 'clothed' or 'textile' beach was very much back the way we had come. By this point, though, I could definitely tell that we were in fact heading away from concrete and onto a natural beach, so I really wasn't keen to go back. Met, however, with fully bronzed bods, I reluctantly agreed to turn around. We then spent much of our return walk feeling sheepish as we passed people who we now realised would think that the nudist beach had been our plan all along.

We took a couple more sitting stops to rest a while in the heat, and by the time we reached the car were both completely zonked. Sea air really does take it out of you! The drive back to London was a sleepy one for Pepper and me in the back. I might be biased, but I still think Norfolk beaches trump Kent's offerings. We'll see if a different one can change my mind one day.