Go on! Enjoy yourself! - # 08/147

Relax and enjoy the sunshine along Kew Station Parade. (Trouble is, it's gone a bit dull and cloudy again......are well, that's England).

A nice touch of quality - # 08/145

The open-air bakery stall outside Kew Gardens Station is an asset to the area.

"Plainly" elegant - # 08/143

The elegance of the Parade around Kew Gardens Station is expressed by these magnificent apartments built at the turn of the 19th century around 1897. I admired the Chinese motif on the window frames. Most of all I admired the way that the dappled shadows echoed the dappled bark pattern of the plane trees.

The most elegant surveillance camera in the world - # 08/142

The Parade around the elegant Kew Gardens Station is kept in pristine condition as befits such an important asset serving the tourists and world renowned botanists who visit the Kew Botanical Gardens. Not long ago yet another surveillance camera was added (there is 1 camera for every 14 of our population). You can see the camera (observing a problem but not solving it) standing tall and housed in its elegant mock Edwardian "heritage" casing, dwarfing the neat plastic moulded "heritage replica" gas lantern with its modern halogen bulb neatly fitted in the lantern head. The camera needs the bright halogen light to help it see in the dark.

BTW.....my Australian blog visitors seem to have a concern about rivers in the UK smelling. They don't. I hope this information will encourage more Australians to visit the UK. For 10 years I visited Australia frequently on business and I absolutely love the place.

A clutter of cars - # 08/139

After the damp "countrified" walk along the Crane Valley we're back with a bump to the delights of urban civilisation. The elegant late Victorian/Edwardian parade around Kew Gardens railway station is a delightful urban spot. This photo of the parked cars and the general "techno-clutter" of modern urban life sums it up. It's not a nightmare........but some may have mixed feelings. It's a great gathering spot for locals and tourists enjoying the famous Kew Gardens, near by.