A hat trick

Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. This sentiment, first expressed by my rather authoritarian, ineffectual and dictatorial physics teacher is one I wish I had taken heed of before going on my first foray. I actually tried to reach the Aylesbury Close nearest to Stratford station on the first time I went into London. I thought that the map showed it being directly off the main road; hence I spent a long time traversing it to no avail. Actually it is a small cul-de-sac off a road called Atherton Road. I also missed the Neasden Aylesbury by taking the wrong dual carriageway. A tiring and time consuming mistake.
Enough reflection for now. Today was even better from the planning in having maps printed so I could more easily find the Aylesburys and have a better judgement of distance.
Before my travel I bought a paper, I had learnt before of the worries that happen to an unoccupied mind. As I was unlocking my bike from the news agents bike rack, a man asked me where the Civic Centre was. I pointed to the large archway dominating the bottom of the Market Square, from which hung a sizeable sign, readable from the top of the market square, saying CIVIC CENTRE and pointed him in that direction, as an educated guess. I thought he might be interested in helpful trivia, “they used to hang people from there” I said. I hope he got the message.
Because of this blind tourist, I got to the station late. Having missed the 1140 train, my day picked up straight away, as I met Mark and Henry on the barrier and after having a cup of coffee with them and Phil, I was back in a good frame of mind for the day ahead.
Engineering works, unlike diamonds, are not a girl’s best friend. I soon found myself helping a lady with her great granddaughter who had been staying with her daughter to give her granddaughter a rest for the Friday night. I found out her daughters were Aylesburians but her grand daughter wasn’t, neither was the great grand daughter, but that did not matter, we soon became friends. My original plan was to go to Neasden first, as the engineering works meant that I had to get the Metropolitan line to Moor Street anyway and Neasden is the next station along on the Jubilee line. I quickly abandoned those plans and got the tube with the lady, helping her with the push chair to Baker Street, where I left her waiting to be picked up and went on my way to Stratford.
Now with the handy map I had printed, finding Aylesbury close was easy as pie and I quickly saw that it had seen better days. The trees were in blossom, covering two wrecked cars and an al fresco mattress or two. There were 28 flats and two broken windows. Either a wild party of reckless abandon had happened, or a landlord was not fulfilling their obligations. As I left, three footballers eyed me with suspicion, I smiled, as fellow Aylesburians, they deserved some pleasantness, and then they looked at me with disdain, so I carried on a bit quicker in my step.

I decided that this success deserved something new, so I went to the new Aylesbury in London, near the Barbican Tube station, which was shut for engineering works. Obviously engineering works are like diamonds in another aspect, the result is beautiful, however gaining them is an inconvenient and expensive experience. Having a map of the area did not help one iota, when you are not within the boundaries of the map. This took me nearly an hour but eventually I spied a bus stop with a notable name and the street to go with it. Aylesbury Street is interesting for two reasons. It is the 1st Aylesbury I have visited with no one living on it, being mainly offices and factory floors. Also it is in two boroughs, Islington and Finsbury.

Being slightly damp and tired, I went into a Belgian pub, run by Australians, containing mostly Americans, where, as it claimed on the on the sign outside, the staff offered me a friendly welcome. Having lost moisture externally and gained some internally, I headed for my Hat trick, Neasden. On my way, Old Street Tube Station has a spiral staircase going down to the Northern line. I recommend going down it as a real reflection on how far down the tubes really are. One hundred steps is a long way down.
Aylesbury Street in Neasden is easy to find with the help of a map and is peculiar as it has two houses, repeated a lot, as if the people living there have two tastes, 19th Century terrace and 1990’s semi. Well what can I say, 78 houses and my Hat trick was complete, I suspect that that this is the end of the easy Aylesburys, like shooting fish in a barrel, when its a small barrel, when the fish are very large, when the gun you are using is a howitzer with 115mm shells and LASER sights. The rest wil be harder to reach and find.