Hunting for Lakeland. 5th June

Homerton Road Bridge

Being so close to Westfield Stratford it would have been silly not to have made a visit. Combining it with a shop at Sainsburys to keep us going for the next few days made sense too. The bus stop at Kingsmead gave us a couple of options and the first one that came along took us the long way round. Past Josh’s school through Hackney Wick, past so much graffiti (it really is colourful here), across the canal several times, Bow Bus Garage, over several of the bow back river bits, then into the land of the high rises before the familiar canopy of Stratford Bus Station came into view. Here we hopped off and climbed up over the railway tracks to Westfield.

We’d avoided coming at the weekend to try to miss the masses, but to us there still seemed to be so many people. I’d made a short shopping list hoping that Lakeland would come up trumps on most things, if not then John Lewis might fill the gaps. Inside the curve of the building guided us round. Primark came into view, so we braved the jumble sale that it is. I was wanting some new t shirts, they are cheap and do okay for cruising in. The choice wasn’t great, but I persevered standing in line to make my purchase totalling £5. Mick had given up long before me!

The hunt for Lakeland then started. We walked round the full curve of the mall, no sign. Checked a map on my phone which suggested that it was on one of the streets to the side. Outside we headed, only to find an Ikea! Not a full blown Ikea, but a place where you can order and collect things, sadly no meatballs and chips though. On display they had the right hooks for our utensil rack, but delivery would be 7-10 days! We tried the next street for Lakeland, still no sign. Another check of a map and it should have been where we were heading. Mick checked what must have been a different map and Lakeland showed up next door to John Lewis. It hadn’t been there earlier, so why would it be now? Eventually we managed to find an interactive map. Lakeland was on the top floor tucked away beside John Lewis!

A good look round is always worth it at Lakeland, we don’t get out much! You just don’t know what you will find. On Oleanna the join between cooker top and the worktop has been collecting bits, these bits manage to avoid the usual clean up and a knife just seems to push them further down the non-existent gap. Lakeland has a special brush for this. Our bathroom towel rail and galley blinds need a dust, which is such a phaff. Lakeland has a special duster for them.  So with our new cleaning toys we left with only hooks still to find.

Tiger provided us with a box for Tilly’s toys and my feet to rest on whilst sitting at the dinette and some hooks. Brilliant. Our visit to Westfield had been a success.

The small Sainsburys had most of what we were wanting but I wish I’d remembered the Chinese supermarket earlier as we almost overdosed on sad gits Pak Choi this evening!

Sitting waiting for a different bus back I couldn’t help but notice all the masses of bollards that surround such places. Presumably to stop ram raiders. Will these now be placed along all our bridges keeping vehicles away from pedestrians?

0 locks, 0 miles, 2 scenic bus journeys, 2 nook and cranny brushes, 3 pronged blind cleaner, 2 marker pens, 15 hooks, 1 pair flip flops, 1 t-shirt, 1 small toy box, £2.45 for replacement glass, 2 Lidl cheese twists, 1 bag edamame beans, 5 red billed ducks, 1 bedroom to tidy up!