Lazing on a sunday afternoon.

Well, unusual as it is for a British summer, the sun was out.

The other day I blipped a derelict shed in Brentford and was going to mention that there was a plan to improve the area. This blip shows some of those improvements. This basin actually was the Charrington coal depot. As a boy, (yes, there were dinosaurs! Ha ha!), I remember horse drawn barges bringing coal down the Grand Union to here for loading onto trains and lorries for onward transmission. I guess that would be very early 1960s just as I started school and it was the end for the barges.

Now, as you can see, it has all been cleared up and smart new overpriced flats are available. I watch it all with a little incredulity as for me Brentford is Brentford and, to a degree, you can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear. Whilst virtually everything you see is new, to the left of the middle, on the waters edge, are two of the old docking sheds. I should think they have a preservation order on them otherwise I can't see why they haven't been got rid of.

But one bit I do like is the little cafe here. Nowadays I think it is Riverside or Riverview, (although in fact you can't see the river from here) but it used to be Grounds. Just a smoothie for me today but I can recommend their breakfasts. Big plates! It's one of the few places where sitting outside a cafe in the UK feels right. Perhaps because this area was built for that and not an afterthought.