"And only footsteps in a lane,
and birdsong broke the silence sound
and chuffs of the Great Northern train
for Alexandra Palace bound"
Diary of a Nobody" - John Betjeman
Some of you might know, that I have once been a hardcore railway fanatic. So it should not come as a big surprise that already a couple of years ago, I discovered this lovely little walk in Northern London. And which I did again last Sunday to greet this nice little fellow. More about him/her/IT, later on.
The Parkland Walk is a 4.5 mile surprisingly green walk which follows the course of the railway which used to run between Finsbury Park to Alexandra Palace. This path was once part of the "London and North Eastern Railway's (LNER) network.
Plans were published by London Underground in the 1930s for its incorporation as part of the Northern Line but the outbreak of World War II stoped the work. So it's basically Adolf's fault...
Passenger trains continued to run on this line until 1954 and there is the myth that trains could still be heard rumbling along the route... I wonder what England would be without it's ghost stories (...i'm still waiting for any shadows appearing in my flat. It wouldn's surprise me...)
Now back to this nice little chap... " The most mercyful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents." (H.P. Lovecraft). The essence of the Cthulhu Mythos is that the human world and our role in it are an illusion. Humanity is simply living in a fragile bubble and now and then, individuals can, by accident or carelessness, catch a glimpse of, or even confront the ancient extraterrestrial entities, which the mythology centres around.
What the heck is Andres blurbing around. Simple! It is said that this nice little fellow (actually this piece of art created by a lady called Marilyn Collins) has inspired one of the Kings in Horror literature or, to be more precise, Stephen King to one of his short stories which are based on H.P. Lovecrafts Cthulhu Mythos. And this chap here might be well alive an kicking, showing you a glimpse what happens outside of the bubble we live in, if you pass IT in the dark. Btw: the story's called "Crouch End" - after the area, where you find the sculpture and where the story takes place. You find the short story in the book called "Nightmares and Dreamscapes".
Old platforms at Crouch End station.
But back to the railway line. Or not really. I managed to walk until the tunnels below Muswell Hill, when I got....not really tired....but kind of hungry and fancied a pint of London Pride. So off we go the railway line straight into a pub. And have a Sunday roast. There are not many traditional AND eatable dishes in the UK. But a Sunday roast in a local Pub between Crouch End and Finsbury Park together with a perfectly draft Ale... Yummy :-)
So here we go with the last picture. The tunnels. A fantastic place for a nice rendez-vous...
For today's lyrics:
Under the arc of a weather stain boards,
Ancient goblins, and warlords,
Come out of the ground, not making a sound,
The smell of death is all around,
And the night when the cold wind blows, No one cares, nobody knows.
I don't want to be buried in a Pet Sematary,
I don't want to live my life again.
I don't want to be buried in a Pet Sematary,
I don't want to live my life again.
The Ramones - "Pet Cemetery"
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