Autumnal walks - New River Path southbound

While I have often walked north up the New River, I had never ventured south along it, partly because the stretch close to me largely disappears underground.

Anyway, suffice to say that even the bits above ground but close to me are still not amazing walking, with quite short parts along the river before having to pop up to street level.

To my surprise though, there must be enough fish in the shallow waters to keep this cormorant satisfied.

Along the rather lengthy part where the River is in an underground tunnel, there is this odd memorial. You might normally think this would be a war memorial, but is a memorial to a devout christian woman, Catherine Smithies, who apparently established the Bands of Mercy Movement, big into animal welfare and temperance in the 19th century.

This impressive building is the Decorium. Although relatively close to where I live, I had never noticed it before. It is down a back street in Wood Green, an unattractive enough area to start with, but also right next to various dilapidated industrial works and car parks. It is now a venue (by which I think it really means wedding venue) but was originally built as public baths in what would have been  a relatively well to do Edwardian area, but which has slumped enormously over the twentieth century. So it looks a somewhat incongruous sight now. Just in the wrong location.

I needed the aid of the internet to reconnect with the New River itself. You need to know that the path is through a tunnel to the right which is not marked as the New River Path, but as different cycle path up to the railway. 

It comes up alongside a large development of modern flats. At least it offers a comfortable paved  walkway for a stretch, and decent views over the river for the residents.

The blocks themselves though are pretty ugly. From that period where grey was thought to be a classy hue, and when costs had to be cut on materials. So not only is it a combination of glass and grey slabs, but also the slabs wear badly and so collect streaky dirty layers. Dark grey stains on pale grey slabs. Lovely.

This is the Jehovah's witness centre. Nicer brick construction, with ubiquitous scrap metal sculpture out front.

And a mosque in Hornsey

When you get back down onto the riverside after an overground walk about the mosque and Hornsey station, you do go down onto a rather pleasant stretch.

There follows a rather lengthy part along streets before the path rejoins the River at Finsbury Park.

But coming out of Finsbury Park, past some more flats, is an appalling area, certainly one that would make me not even contemplate this walk until the summer. The surroundings are pretty enough...

..the problem is underfoot. And there is no warning of what it will be like, nor for how long. It just gets muddier and muddier. If I had any inkling I would have taken an alternative route. It just got worse and as I didn't know that, I ploughed on, knowing only how bad the stuff I had walked through was. It took me ages. 

It is not as if you could go round the muddy bits. It is the river on one side and it is grassless mud right up to the bramble strewn concrete wall on the other. Think the Somme, but with less mustard gas. And more mud. Basically the consistency of warm toffee with melted chocolate. But cold and slippery. And just when you thought it couldn't possibly get any worse, it did.

Trainers need a lot of cleaning!

But finally that stretch came to an end. The next part was so much nicer.

The path leads into this large modern development of apartments in Woodberry Down. They may not exactly be my idea of attractive, but certainly far classier than the apartments up in Hornsey. And with a beautiful landscaped winding path in front incorporating the New River Path and views beyond over two reservoirs.

A wind in the willows based artwork.

And to the left you can enter the Woodberry Wetlands with a circular walk around the reservoirs.

As you can see, built in the early 1830s.

There is even a little woodland trail just beyond the reservoirs, with the accent on "little". This is London woodland, which wouldn't pass for a copse anywhere else. A dozen reasonably old trees counts as woodland down here.

(I have a thing for lichen and fungi) 

I don't want you to think this was a nice day. It was grey, but dry. And that is the best the weather forecast looks for days ahead. But there was one temporary blue patch as I looped round the reservoirs, so had to capture it.

The end of this part of the walk is the Castle, the climbing centre that was once a pumping station.

Another few hundred metres at street level and you get to Clissold Park, definitely one of the nicer parks in North London, and on this grey Saturday very busy with people not being very socially distanced.

Tufted ducks

.

The park contains one beautiful grand but compact Georgian house, Clissold House.

.

(Yes the New River does flow through the park...)

Behind the house, and providing a striking landmark for the surrounding area, is the steeple of St Mary's Church.

But between the two is St Mary's Old Church, a more modest edifice but one with rather more Gothic charm, set in its crowded little graveyard.

And finally, Park Crescent is just next to the church. Basically an example of high density housing. A five storey terrace. But just a vastly more attractive one than all those more modern examples that I had seen along the walk. Not all progress is good!

The New River Path I believe continues up to New River Head, but I think the river itself is mostly out of sight. And by this point I had been walking for about 4 hours (with a disproportionate amount of that spent slowly ploughing through the quagmire near Finsbury Park) and lunch and toilet break were needed so I headed home. So no, I have still to walk to the southern end of the Path. Another day maybe. When much much drier underfoot.