Stratford (not On Avon)

An interesting journey to Leyton in Waltham Forest to a meeting of people involved in the resettlement of young offenders. There were several permutations of routes to get there; drive to Woolwich and take the Docklands Light Railway, get the train from Maidstone West to Strood then to Stratford International and finally tube or train from Bearsted to Victoria then Victoria line to Oxford Circus and Central line to Leyton.

I chose the first option only to be thwarted by traffic reports while on the M2  saying that Woolwich and South East London were solid owing to a road closure. A quick change of plan meant I could park in Strood and complete my journey from there by train.

I've never been to Leyton and I don't suppose that I'll be going there again soon. I'd been to Stratford and the Westfield Centre before on our way to the Olympic Stadium in 2012. What I didn't realise was that the International Station and the Regional Station are at the opposite ends of the shopping centre, which meant a long walk between the two as well as walks either end of the journey.

All went well and I arrived at the meeting on time, delivered my stuff and set off for home which was a much more relaxing journey. It was on the return journey that I took this shot at the entrance to Westfield.

No rest for the wicked though as after about an hour at home I went to a Governors event to "meet the teachers" at the start of the new term. And after dinner Susan needed to get out for a walk so around Bearsted we went in the dark. A late night ensued as we had to call the 111 service for Doreen which turned out to be a false alarm but meant we didn't get to bed until gone 1.00pm.