John Keats 1795-1821

I had a very nice Sunday. It started early and yes I forgot my camera, I actually realized as I was crossing Elizabeth Way but decided not to turn back. It was gorgeous and sunny and though I had to endure a bit of a breeze, a breeze that was astonishingly in my teeth all day but that kept my cool as I peddled, well mostly peddled southwards through Shelford and Whittlesford, Elmdon and Duddenhoe End. Langley is remembered for the fact that the village green is bisected by the road, the fact that the cricket pitch is sited on that village green means that the boundary provides some rather idiosyncratic road markings. Then its down through the Pelhams being overtaken by the vintage Triumph bike club and then the Hadhams including a brief respite for water and a Mint Feast - and its a while since Ive seen a Mint Feast and then Widford and Hunsford. It was then that deterred by a veritable mountain on the road to Royden meant a left turn through Stansted Abbotts at which point I hit Hoddesdon. I have nothing against Hoddesdon but I was hoping for a bit more bucolic beauty so cut back through Nazeing and Waltham Cross. Not the nicest area and next time I think Ill try and find an alternative route but so far so good. This takes you to the very northernmost point of Enfield, the outermost outer London again though more traffic, more noise, more people and running out of time as Marie had texted to say that she was wandering around Camden Market and we were going to meet at the top of Primrose Hill at 2.30.
Id mapped out my route on the A-Z hoping to swing by Hodford Road but also stopping by a few more points of interest so it was that I neared Edmonton Green and Church Road where I was going to swing West through Edmonton and Tottenham and had just found it when I punctured. As I'd spent Saturday afternoon sitting in the pub with Wayne watching the Germany-Argentina game when I could have been buying a new inner tube. Hindsight i guess.
It could have been a lot worse as I found myself at the doors of Edmonton Green rail station. Just round the corner from the station is Keats Parade which marks the place where Keats underwent his apprenticeship to a surgeon/apothecary - God knows what the lad saw but with a traumatic childhood it was reckoned by by Charles Cowden Clarke a friend of Keats to be "the most placid time in [Keats'] life".
Next up why Cambridges Blue Plques are disappearing...