{"id":19364,"date":"2026-09-05T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/re-photo.co.uk\/?p=19364"},"modified":"2026-09-02T10:10:01","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T09:10:01","slug":"bikes-canals-walthamstow-2004","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/re-photo.co.uk\/?p=19364","title":{"rendered":"Bikes, Canals &#038; Walthamstow &#8211; 2004"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Bikes, Canals &amp; Walthamstow:<\/strong> On Sunday 5th September 2004 my work began with cycle racing in Whitehall, after which I went to Islington for a canal festival, finally making my way to High Street Walthamstow for another festival there. As usual I&#8217;ll reproduce what I wrote back then and link to more pictures from the three events still on <a href=\"http:\/\/mylondondiary.co.uk\/2004\/09\/sep.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">My London Diary.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Cycle racing in Whitehall<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/mylondondiary.co.uk\/2004\/09\/05\/040905_n041.jpg\" alt=\"Bikes, Canals &amp; Walthamstow - 2004\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>The first lap of the club race and one cyclist has already broken from the pack on Embankment.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Tour Of Britain has so far lacked the public interest of the Tour De France, but a last day involving a road race around a mile course through Whitehall should have given it a boost. I only stayed for the warm-up event with club cyclists competing on the same course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/mylondondiary.co.uk\/2004\/09\/05\/040905_n052.jpg\" alt=\"Bikes, Canals &amp; Walthamstow - 2004\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The crowding and the pace made for some excitement, but for an outsider I think there needed to be some way to make individuals more recognisable in the crowd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/mylondondiary.co.uk\/2004\/09\/05\/040905_n060.jpg\" alt=\"Bikes, Canals &amp; Walthamstow - 2004\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/mylondondiary.co.uk\/2004\/09\/sep05-01.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">More pictures on My London Diary<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Angel Canal Festival<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Islington<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/mylondondiary.co.uk\/2004\/09\/05\/040905_n182.jpg\" alt=\"Bikes, Canals &amp; Walthamstow - 2004\" style=\"width:600px;height:auto\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Morris Dancers entertain outside a pub in<\/em> <em>Islington<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Up at the Angel, it was the 19th annual Canal Festival, with singers and other performers, boat trips, decorated boats and various stalls along the towpath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/mylondondiary.co.uk\/2004\/09\/05\/040905_n116.jpg\" alt=\"Bikes, Canals &amp; Walthamstow - 2004\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Classical music at the City Road Lock<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It really did seem to be a very pleasant event for a sunny summer Sunday with everyone enjoying themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/mylondondiary.co.uk\/2004\/09\/05\/040905_n142.jpg\" alt=\"Bikes, Canals &amp; Walthamstow - 2004\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Boat trips were a popular attraction<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Up on the street people were sitting around the pub and being entertained, first by a three piece band, apparently of Cockney persuasion with a little Dixie thrown in, then by some Morris men<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/mylondondiary.co.uk\/2004\/09\/05\/040905_n129.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Boats dressed up for the Canal Festival<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/mylondondiary.co.uk\/2004\/09\/sep05-03.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">More pictures<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Walthamstow Festival 2004<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/mylondondiary.co.uk\/2004\/09\/05\/040905_n192.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>A women&#8217;s morris dancing in High Street , Walthamstow<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The attraction that dragged me away [from the canal and the pub] was the promise of belly-dancing in Walthamstow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/mylondondiary.co.uk\/2004\/09\/05\/040905_n190.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>The musicians sensibly stayed in the shade<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Walthamstow has of course a William Morris connection (and an occasionally open museum [reopening by 1 October 2026 after significant renewal]) but there were no discernible signs of this. [Though I&#8217;m sure there were but I missed them.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/mylondondiary.co.uk\/2004\/09\/05\/040905_n195.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first event that drew my interest was however a women&#8217;s Morris performing in the high street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/mylondondiary.co.uk\/2004\/09\/05\/040905_n236.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Belly-dancing is one of those things I always wonder if there is more too it than the obvious attraction. And I was obviously attracted, though it&#8217;s hard to think of any way to photograph it other than the obvious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/mylondondiary.co.uk\/2004\/09\/05\/040905_n244.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The display involved two solo performers of very different frame. If you don&#8217;t have much to wobble, the movements can be much more controlled, but to this male eye are considerably less provocative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/mylondondiary.co.uk\/2004\/09\/sep05-05.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">More pictures<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" id=\"block-21592268-6698-4884-b8d2-0c04276c63b5\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"block-1347990f-e0e8-4f40-a8b0-aa6582de51ac\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/69163004@N00\/albums\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Flickr<\/a> &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/peter.marshall.712\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Facebook<\/a> &#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/mylondondiary.co.uk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">My London Diary<\/a> &#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hullphotos.co.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Hull Photos<\/a> &#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/river-lea.co.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Lea Valley<\/a> &#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/peter-marshall.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Paris<\/a><br><a href=\"http:\/\/www.petermarshallphotos.co.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">London&#8217;s Industrial Heritage<\/a> &#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.buildingsoflondon.co.uk\/\">London Photos<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"block-8dc66be1-c5ae-47e2-b405-4b303d7ef4e1\">All photographs on this page are copyright \u00a9 Peter Marshall. <br>Contact me to buy prints or licence to reproduce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" id=\"block-1ffbd6e4-34ed-4464-9d11-8ce09bf8d01e\"\/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bikes, Canals &amp; Walthamstow: On Sunday 5th September 2004 my work began with cycle racing in Whitehall, after which I went to Islington for a canal festival, finally making my way to High Street Walthamstow for another festival there. As usual I&#8217;ll reproduce what I wrote back then and link to more pictures from the &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/re-photo.co.uk\/?p=19364\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Bikes, Canals &#038; Walthamstow &#8211; 2004<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,3],"tags":[5304,25364,21226,25366,25363,25365,25361,25367,6264,1738,17,1343,24211,25368,18107,83,943,25362,1622,25360,891,25369,303,25370],"class_list":["post-19364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-londonphotos","category-my-own-work","tag-5304","tag-angel-canal-festival","tag-belly-dancing","tag-boat-trips","tag-canal-festival","tag-club-cyclists","tag-cycle-race","tag-decorated-boats","tag-embankment","tag-islington","tag-london","tag-london-photos","tag-morris","tag-morris-men","tag-performers","tag-peter-marshall","tag-pub","tag-road-race","tag-singers","tag-tour-of-britain","tag-towpath","tag-walthamstow-festival","tag-whitehall","tag-womens-morris"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/re-photo.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/re-photo.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/re-photo.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/re-photo.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/re-photo.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19364"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/re-photo.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19366,"href":"http:\/\/re-photo.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19364\/revisions\/19366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/re-photo.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/re-photo.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/re-photo.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}