I got thinking the other day, Greenwich Park is now such a big part of my working week that it'll be interesting to watch it close up over the coming months. And so, my thinking led me to think sharing how the park changes with you would be a good thing too.
I'm hoping to capture how people use the park changes, as well as the more obvious changes in the trees and gardens. You'll remember last month I shared how I took a diversion through the Flower garden and I'm counting that as the start of this series as that coincided with my daily commute to Greenwich.
Each day I've been walking the same route, and it's often as busy as this:
Seriously though, the view above is now one of my favourite in the park. Before I'd really only thought of the park as a whole, and with the exception of the Flower Garden which is gated, not individual parts. I do see people on my way through the park and we'll come onto those in a moment, but first conkers.
Yes, on 1 September I found my first conker. That was quite a shock to the system as the weather was still very much warm, and the warmest two days were still to come. It's been fun to see children with their parents scour for the biggest ones, with only a few of the bigger kids encouraging the conkers out of the trees with sticks.
The park is still quiet in the mornings, but I've noticed that it's now quieter in the afternoons too. Where once there were impromptu picnics and gatherings as I walked home, the park is less busy. There's groups of schoolkids messing about, as you do, after school. But it's in the mornings that I notice people more.
People walking their dogs. Like the old man with the Jack Russell and the man with the greyhounds, who hang back and then gracefully bound past me. The greyhounds that is, not their owner. It's got to the point where I judge if I'm running ahead or behind schedule on where I meet people along the way. Most often it's behind schedule, but occasionally I see the panic in their faces because they must be doing exactly the same thing!
The light has been great this month, it's that time of year when the sun is low and it's been great to capture how the sun shines through the trees. It's actually been quite captivating. And magical.
THE TREE WHERE I TURN RIGHT
I've watched the sweet chestnuts turn from green to brown, but that photo is technically next month so you'll have to wait for that. The grass in front of the tree where I turn right, is usually a good indicator of how my day will go. I mean the day after the Autumn equinox, it was a lovely day and I risked sandals. Walking over the grass I soon realised this was a foolish decision and I arrived at work with wet feet. Lesson learnt and now it's trainers every day.
Ironically there's less cyclists in the park this September. Perhaps most were taking advantage of the lighter London traffic and can't quite fit a cycle commute into their "back to school" September routine, who knows. And I say ironically as September was supposed to be the month that I'd start cycling in - or rolling down the hill one way at least. It hasn't happened partly because I'm still enjoying my walks, even the uphill ones on the way home, and I'm not ready to give those up just yet. Maybe October will be the month, maybe...
There is one tree that I think is pretty special, and that's this one.
If I were to follow a tree here, it'd be this one. It's a fantastic shape and as you can see its leaves are starting to turn. It'll be interesting to see how it changes, along with the rest of the park over the coming year. And if you're wondering I haven't checked in on my first tree for quite a while, maybe I should.
While there's been less cyclists, there's definitely more people using the park to keep fit with runners jogging past every which way. My favourite fitness thing though has to be the girl that jogs backwards. It makes me smile inside every time I see her, it just looks so peculiar. A bit like these greeny-grey pinecones. I've got my eye on these, though they'd better hurry up if they want to be in contention for the bleached treatment.
I'm looking forward to seeing what the rest of October brings for the park and sharing that with you. Do you have a place - park or otherwise - that you visit regularly and note how it changes?