Reliving TV memories on a Brompton G-Line

Hello there, dear reader. 

The recent blog post where I cycled to several of the locations where the film, 'About a boy' were filmed, was very much something I wanted to do. Recently, I discovered a location that was pretty much for my eldest Orangette. 

I got to it on on G-Line but there won't be the usual photos of it. The person that joined me does not care for photos of them and a condition of them coming was that I would only take the sort of photos you can see below. I kept to my word - despite the incredible temptations to sneak a few of the lovely orange number in!

The cycle ride was just over 21 miles. The start point was the Grand Union Canal at Paddington and the end at Stockers Farm in Rickmansworth. The entire journey from these two points was along the canal towpath and represented my longest off-road moment on the G-Line. 

My G-Line performed really well on the towpath and that was with the Continental Urban Contact tyres I recently changed to from the originals. The G-Line really does provide a much more comfy ride on anything approaching rough or ropey surface, just gliding along. My regular Brompton bikes can also easily cope with all this too, but not as comfortably or as quickly.

It really was a glorious morning. The sun was trying to make an appearance. White, fluffy clouds just seemed to hang as there was only the gentlest of breezes. We saw quite a few WWII pillboxes along the canal. They are a reminder of the 'Outer London Defence Ring' where - usually - soldiers from the Home Guard could fire on the enemy. 

As if it were meant, as we reached the target location, horses seemed to be everywhere. On the opposite side of the canal they ate, trotted and galloped. They all looked as if they were having a wonderful time of it. 

Once we reached Stockers House, we knew that we were close. Stockers House, build 1861-2 is a Grade II listed beauty, originally built as a residence for the collector of coal dues on the Grand Union Canal for the Corporation of London. With the railway becoming a more popular way of transporting goods the house was sold only a few years later in 1869.

Just up the road stands Stockers Farm and its house. The television series that eldest Orangette absolutely loved when she was little was, 'The Adventures of Black Beauty.' I pretty much cycled all this way to find it and get some photos for her. When she was little, I remember buying the series on DVD for her and she watched it avidly. It perhaps explains why she wanted to go horse riding and loves horses. 

This television series ran between 1927 and 1974, featuring 52 episodes. I know them well too from reruns when I was little myself but especially from watching them with both Orangettes. One of its stars was the actress, Judi Bowker who played the part of Vicky Gordan. She still looks as elegant as ever and can occasionally be seen in N6. 

The house and the surrounding area has featured in many films and television programmes. I was rather pleased to find out from a knowledgeable local who took a shine to my G-Line that a few episodes of 'Dick Turpin' starring Richard O'Sullivan were filmed there, but this did not impress eldest Orangette one bit.

It really is a lovely house and is set in stunning surroundings. It is also quite fitting that all things equestrian obviously feature in its current DNA. After all this, we decided to head to a not too far away tube station and get back into north London. As we did this, the famous theme tune by Denis King was constantly playing in my head on a loop. As I type this, it still is!

I must confess to not particularly liking cycling along the canal but doing so on the G-Line definitely made things rather pleasant. Of course, we did have to blow the dust off the DVDs and play a few episodes. (Didn't help removing that theme tune from my head)!

Until next time, stay safe out there people!