An Interesting Day

Holiday what Holiday?  ha-ha seems ages ago already :))  It has been another varied but enjoyable day.

(prayer space outside of the Reception Classes)

I started my day at school by attending the assembly organized by Penguin Class - it was very apt as it was all about Noah and the ark..the children did so well :))  Then Coffee & Chat outside in the foyer of the Rivergate Centre - not many attended today but Janine (Church of England Pioneer Missioner) and I had an interesting conversations with the mums who were present. The other week it was all about contraception! this week it was about not being able to have children and the affect it has on women and their relationships.

I received an invitation from The Creekmouth Preservation Society to attend a presentation by The Frederick Handley-Page Association. It was certainly a very interesting talk, especially as Frederick Handley-Page, world-renowed aeronautical engineer, had his aircraft factory and hangars at Creekmouth.  I like to attend these events as I learn more about the area, the people who have lived, worked and raised their families - also it gives me a chance to network and meet new people as well as catching up with folk I have met over the eight years that I have been on the scene.

As the presentation had been organized by the members of The Creekmouth Preservation Society - it was a chance to meet up folk I have met over the years.  This is a photo of me with Iris and behind us the River Thames.  It was a beautiful day and I could have spent all afternoon sitting on the deck area outside the Barking Riverside Office looking out down the Thames; however, after the presentation I decided to go have my lunch by the Barking Flood Barrier before my next engagement at 2pm.

I love this area - it is where the Creekmouth Village once stood; however, the village was destroyed in the 1953 floods - now it is home to the Barking Flood Barrier and The Creekmouth Preservation Society have worked hard to have benches, information points, as well as planting many flowers and shrubs. I come and sit here, when I have time in between engagements, mainly because I am normally the only person and have the whole place to myself - just to sit and enjoy some quiet time in the middle of, what is now, an Industrial Estate.

Today, however, Charlie, Iris and Joyce joined me and, for a brief while, we enjoyed the sunshine, chatted about the presentation and Iris and I took photos of the wild flowers and enjoyed the view towards London. Charlie told me that as a young boy he used to sit on the wall and watch London being bombed during the war.

After I had made my arranged visit at 2pm to Thames View Lodge - I took Janine to Valence House to show her where Linda Rhodes work and, hopefully, find her there for a guide around the archive department.  We met Linda this morning, although I have met her before, a very interesting lady who has written three novels based on true crimes that have happened in Barking & Dagenham. Yep Linda was there and we had a very interesting time looking at old maps of Barking and Dagenham and being shown around the archives. Janine and I finished off our day together with an ice-cream in Valence Park..

To conclude my blog - some favourite photos of the day..

Charlie and Iris (they are cousins) who are members of The Creekmouth Preservation Society

A tug boat with his cargo coming down the Thames

and favourite sweet pea called everlasting pea, which grows wild on Creekmouth.