I glanced at my watch as I strode out of the Tube station and through the drizzle into the emerging daylight. The time was one minute before sunrise – but would the clouds cooperate? I was heading once again for Primrose Hill, a popular site for viewing the sun rise over London’s cityscape, which I’d first visited on the winter solstice. This was my fifth visit in four weeks, and I was determined to capture a particular scene, a particular moment, that I’d forecasted one month ago. To get the shot, the sun would need to actually show up, and in rainy London that’s never certain. At home in the pre-dawn darkness, it was raining hard and the forecast was gloomy. I need to make a go/no-go decision 45 minutes before sunrise to reach to Primrose Hill on time. It’s always a gamble. Today I gambled and won.
There’s one important feature about an unbroken streak: one is loathe to break it. So, despite my aching back (and bruised ego) left over from last week’s hike, I was determined to get out this weekend for my 16th consecutive weekend hike. The weather was promising for sunrise – cloudy, with periods of sun – so I headed back to Primrose Hill to see what I might find.
When I arrived, a bit after sunrise, the sun was hidden behind thick clouds – just as it had when I was last standing on this spot, on solstice. Today, unlike then, patience paid off… and the sun emerged, spilling “god rays” among London landmarks like The Shard.
Sunrise view from Primrose Hill, London, with views of London landmarks.
I walked down the hill and past London Zoo into Regent Park – with a brief glance at Regent Canal as I crossed over the path of one of my December hikes. Along the pathway I joined a crowd of parents and children heading for the football pitches. Although the ground was frosted and the sun was struggling to eke its way through the clouds, the children were buzzing with excitement as they warmed up for Saturday matches.
Children preparing for football matches – Regents Park.
At the heart of Regent’s Park is Queen Mary’s garden, enclosed by a perfectly circular roadway. A quite street with almost no traffic on this Saturday morning, the “inner circle” road was spinning with lycra-clad bicyclists. As I walked round this circle, I recognized the same group of speedy cyclists zipping past me every few minutes, as they lapped the circle again and again. I took the opportunity to practice panning shots, that is, panning my camera sideways to photograph a fast-moving subject so the subject is clear and sharp and the background is blurred. Much harder than it looks! I need more practice.
Panning shot of cyclists riding the “inner circle” at Regents Park, London.
I walked a few more miles through the streets of London until I reached a favorite café, where I joined some computer-science colleagues over a chai and a croissant.
Regents Park. I still find it astonishing to see flowers blooming in January.
Hike stats: Distance: about 7.5 miles total
I didn’t track the whole hike with GaiaGPS, so the map is incomplete. The distance estimate is from the Health app on my iPhone.
Sunrise view from Primrose Hill, London, with views of London landmarks.
Today is the winter solstice. (Technically, it is the December solstice, which in the northern hemisphere is the winter solstice.) I thought surely there would be many photographic opportunities for the solstice, in and around London. (Solstice is a big deal at Stonehenge, of course, but I envisioned massive crowds today and decided to wait.) So I asked ChatGPT for advice. It provided a remarkable response, listing a half-dozen locations suitable for sunrise, another half-dozen for sunset, and more; it listed specific times, provided information about transport to and from each site; it suggested camera settings; and it even built a busy day-long itinerary for a sequence of sites to visit. Although impressive, I decided to keep it simple and went to Primrose Hill for sunrise.
An extended walk along Regent Canal and through Kensington Gardens.
It isn’t always necessary to leave London to enjoy a lengthy hike that offers plenty of interesting things to see, along with some natural spaces. Today, for my thirteenth consecutive weekend hike, I walked over Primrose Hill, along the towpath of Regent Canal, and across the west end of Hyde Park known as Kensington Gardens. Along the way I enjoyed broad views of the London skyline, intimate views of a narrow canal, backside views of London Zoo, and a distant view of the London Eye. I capped it all off with chai and a croissant at Guillam in Gloucester.
Scene along the Regent Canal, including a Chinese-style double-decker boat (now a restaurant) and three houseboats.Continue reading “Regent Canal”
David Kotz 