Fresh air and fun, London style

I’m in London, doing a spot of childminding for two-year old William.  But after all that city living in Poland and Berlin, my inner Country Mouse needed some attention.

A city farm then.  This turned out to be a Good Idea.  It involved an exciting trip through the waterways and futuristic high-rise building sites on the route of the Docklands Light Railway.  It involved, in the smart business district of Canary Wharf, an exciting intermittent fountain that commanded William’s rapt attention for many minutes.

It involved a ferry crossing to get us from one side of the Thames to the other.  ‘Did you see the seal?’ said one of the crew.  No, we didn’t, but it turns out they’re rather common.

And it involved a saunter along the Thames views.  Then we arrived.  Surrey Docks City Farm.  Path, through parkland and with riverside.

It’s a farm, but not as we know farms here in North Yorkshire.  The animals are behind fences, and the crops are in beds rather than fields.  But it’s nicely ramshackle, in a good way, and a real piece of countryside among the high-rise.  William and I befriended sheep: monster woolly breeds from the South Downs and from Oxford, quite unlike their rangier northern cousins.  Donkeys requested loving pats on the back. Here was the biggest sow ever.  Ducks were a-dabbling, up tails all.  Goats played King of the Castle to increasingly complicated rules, jostling each other off the heights: and hens busied themselves policing the entire site.

William was, if anything, even more interested in the vegetables.  Those gourds!  They were long, thin, and taller than him.  Those pumpkins!  So big, so h-e-a-v-y. And the long leaves of the cavolo nero!  So tough, so leathery, and such an intense shade of dark green.

Everything in the cafe is home-made.  So we had lunch there – an enormous lunch – before retracing our steps.  The ferry was still as exciting, and there were workmen hanging off the gangway onto the boat, doing unimaginably interesting things.

The fountain as entrancing as first time round.  By the time our train journey was over, William was fast asleep.

Author: margaret21

I'm retired and living in North Yorkshire, where I walk as often as I can, write, volunteer, and travel as often as I can. View all posts by margaret21