A wet Sunday adventure

Passed this charming wall along the way...

Set off with my trusty umbrella soon after 10 (at this point it was delightfully sunny) and started marching off towards Brockwell Park.

First stop was Ashby's Mill (the Brixton windmill). Apparently it's London's last working windmill - I had no idea we had one so nearby! A friendly woman called Jean told me they'd be opening for tours and things in April. There were millers working inside whilst I was there - I could hear the humming of the electric motor grinding the stones together.

Brockwell Park was really quite beautiful...

It offered lakes, large green open spaces, and I saw quite a few children flying kites!

On one lake there was this little moorhen desperately trying to swim a large twig over to its nest, and once it finally got there (after dropping it from its beak and having to dip to retrieve it again) it decided to spend a bit of time trying to bother the turtle who was resting in the sun.

Possibly one of my favourite pictures of the day. I love the ripples around the piece of bread that's just been thrown to the swan, as well as the gulls and pigeon in flight, a moorhen sneaking in from the left, and a plane in the background, reminding me I'm in London!

There was also a lovely walled garden. Though there were many plants only just beginning to sprout from the earth, so it'll definitely be worth returning at some later time when they're all in bloom!

Beautiful magnolia trees always make me think of mum and dad!

The park was on a hill meaning looking north you can see the London skyline, including the Shard and London Eye.

Exiting the park on the north east side I strolled through Herne Hill where they were having a weekly Sunday market! The smell of all the foods was just too tempting...

So I walked on towards Dulwich, passing some beautiful blooms along the way.

Passed an old school house, and then just as I was entering the village centre it began to lightly shower with rain.

Wandered through The College of God's Gift, including Christ's Chapel and the Dulwich Picture Gallery (which I may have to visit one day - I think they do £5 tickets for under 30s).

Then I headed into Dulwich Park, which I imagine would have been beautiful to explore for a while, except it very quickly clouded over and began to hail heavily!

It was a little too heavy even for my trusty umbrella!

It continuously chucked it down for over an hour, so after sheltering under a large tree I walked round bits of the park before leaving and making my way towards the woods (though I knew, of course, that they'd likely be very muddy...)

And so I arrived at the entrance to Sydenham Hill Wood. The paths were caked in slippery wet mud, and since one arm was still occupied holding my umbrella in defence against the still-constant rain, trying to keep balance was tricky! Luckily the boots were the only part of me that got very muddy...

Walking along the muddy paths seeing nothing but tall trees and the odd smaller winding paths darting off between narrow gaps and beneath low-hanging branches, I could easily have believed I was on Stanmer Hill, or the woods by Honeysuckle Lane in High Salvington.

This folly was made in the Victorian area as a 'talking point' for visitors apparently. I imagine it'd be a lovely spot for a picnic when it's warm and dry.

I considered catching the bus home, but the rain finally decided to ease off and I noticed a park on the other side of the road, so I headed over to Horniman Gardens.

There was a lovely Dye garden where a family with young children were playing hide and seek.

Looking east

And there was an area called the South Downs meadow - the highest point of the gardens which looked out to hills in the distance (and how wonderful it was to see hills lining the horizon, even if they were so very far away!)

Can't wait until your "walk with Alpacas", mum!

I finished off my Sunday adventure by visiting West Norwood Cemetery. Perhaps not the happiest ending to the day, but it was rather beautiful, particularly the Greek Orthodox necropolis.

Six hours after I set off I arrived home, but with aching feet and muddy boots (and a wet umbrella).