Angel Inn

For lunch today, we decided to pay a visit to the Angel Inn cafe in St John Street.

City Road bus stop

Afterwards, we walked down to the City Road bus stop opposite the clock tower.

Aboard the 205

We boarded a rather crowded number 205 bus and had to sit right at the back.

Shoreditch High Street

We left the bus in Shoreditch High Street.

Railway Tunnel

We set out on foot and a couple of turns later passed under the railway bridge in what I think is Braithwaite Street.

Shoreditch High Street Station

The aforementioned railway bridge carries the London Overground Railway and the Shoreditch High Street Station is nearby.

The platform

Unlike the Underground, where you usually have to descend to reach the platform, here we had to ascend.

Aboard the Overground
Photo by Tigger

The trains consist of five coaches which is quite long. In fact, the trains are longer than some station platforms and, as the train reaches such a station, you will hear an announcement warning passengers wishing to disembark to move to one of the first four coaches.

Arriving at Surrey Quays

Despite this railway being above ground, when leaving the station you may still have to climb a staircase if, as here, the exit is on the other side and you have to cross over the tracks to reach it.

Surrey Quays, as the name suggests, was once part of London’s docklands. As the docks closed long ago, new purposes have been found for the land they occupied.

Entering Surrey Quays Shopping Centre

Tigger had some shopping to do and so we went to the nearby Surrey Quays Shopping Centre.

The shopping centre

The shopping centre is quite large with several levels and corridors. We saw only a small part of it.

The gym

As well as shops and cafes, the centre has a gym. This one, along with the usual exercise equipment, has climbing walls and I sneaked a quick photo through the window.

Surrey Quays Station

We thought of having coffee but everywhere was crowded so we made our way back to the Overground Station.

The platform

We climbed the stairs once more and made our way to the platform. We didn’t have long to wait.

The train is walk-through

We had only two minutes to wait for our train. Even though the train consists of five coaches, there are no doors or partitions between them. You can walk the whole length of the train without obstruction. As it may not be obvious where you are in the train, a recorded voice tells you which coach you are in, in case you have to move to another to leave the train.

Ticket barriers, Whitechapel Station

On the return journey, we left the train at Whitechapel. We intended to go for coffee in a branch of Costa that we knew there.

Whitechapel Road

We had a longish walk along the busy Whitechapel Road to reach our goal.

Old Royal London Hospital

We passed the old Royal London Hospital, a grade II listed building dating from the 18th century which is now used as the Tower Hamlets Town Hall.

East London Mosque

Another landmark on this long road full of interesting sites is the East London Mosque.

Costa, Whitechapel

We at last arrived at Costa and enjoyed both a coffee and a warm.

Out into Whitchapel Road

We went back out into the busy road and crossed over to the bus stop.

Aboard the 205

We soon had a 205 and managed to find a seat near the front. It carried us back to the Angel and home, ending today’s little outing.