I found myself once again on Camden Parkway. I always seem to end up here. It’s like a default setting, like if you lose something and it’s down the back of the couch, this is where you’ll find it, Camden Parkway is London’s back of the couch. It’s changed over the years as has everything, but it’s still itself and I went looking for the things I know. I didn’t draw (or go into) the Dublin Castle this time, although I did do a bigger drawing of it when I got home, along with a series of other London locations). Some of my old haunts have gone, some remain. I don’t think I ever set foot in the Parkway Delicatessen, I think I developed my taste for panettone in recent years (thanks Zia’s Deli in Davis!), but this was a sketch waiting to happen. So many old places seem to be kicked away these days, but I love sketching an old Italian deli. I stood outside an estate agents to draw this. There was a lot of traffic on narrow Parkway, isn’t there always. I thought to myself, what if I drew all of Parkway, as one big row of drawings? I could do it if I had the time. Sure I would be wistful about the places that are gone, but places there now still need recording. Camden Town is of significant cultural significance to London, and enjoy it while it’s there. I was glad to see the Odeon cinema is still there (it’s strange to think of a chain cinema being something you need to save but so many have been closing). The last film I watched there was The Force Awakens! I used to go there all the time though when I lived in London, often on the way home from university, in the evening I would get out at Camden, go and see a film, head home to bed. Across the street, the old sign for Palmers pet store is still there, though the petshop itself is long gone and now a cafe. I remember going in there as a kid with my dad. It might have been a different petshop actually but going in there in my 20s I seemed to remember that. My dad loves pets. I even have the word ‘pet’ in my name!

Another place I had to sketch was Jamon Jamon, a little Spanish tapas restaurant that has been on Parkway for ages. Although again, I never actually ate here. I don’t eat jamon, after all, so it probably felt like it wouldn’t be my thing, but I love tapas so I don’t know why not. I might give Spanish food a miss for a bit though, as I’m still sad from losing the Euros final, but I’ll get over it because I love Spanish food. Already I’m fighting the urge for a paella (how long did I wait in 2021 before eating Italian food? Two days, maybe?) I always wanted to sketch this place though. I stood just outside it rather than across the street, and the guy from the barber’s next door, Ossie’s, came out to have a look and said he liked it. I said I’d get around to drawing his shop as well at some point. I was worried it was going to start raining, he said if it did, just come inside! My hair was already very short though. I thought about going into Jamon Jamon for a bite to eat, but I knew I’d be meeting my wife for some dinner in Covent Garden before going to see Spirited Away later that evening. By the way, very important point here, even though this is really a 75%-finished sketch, with some colours and details missing (it’s enough for the general idea) I wanted to make sure I included the door on the right, because someone has written the words “I farted” on it, for some reason. Further down the street is Pizza Pilgrims, a newer chain you see around London that does some really nice pizza, I had some when  I was over last year. I do remember a place called Parkway Pizzeria years ago that I used to go to, they had very nice pizzas, that was back when a sit down meal was a really big deal, rather than just the bag of chips in the rain or the reduced-price sandwich was Tescos. Every little helps. One place I was on that side of the street was a pub called the Parkway, which was later the NW1. I used to go there a lot, it was my usual meeting place for my birthdays, or to watch the World Cup, and even for my leaving drinks back in 2005, when most people I knew came out and shared several beers with me a few days before I was moving to California, a memorable night I still look at the photos of, how young I was, at the end of my 20s, about to start this new American adventure. Of course my last night out as a Londoner was at Camden Parkway, it couldn’t be anywhere else.

This last one was drawn that same day, much further down towards the park that the Parkway is named after, Regents Park. The buildings change from being the rough and ready Camden brick to the right regal Regent’s Park stucco. I was just wandering at this point. I considered taking a long walk through the park, listening out for the roar of the lion at London Zoo, but I just drew this old 19th century fountain instead, looking like the entrance to an underground world. It’s called the Matilda Fountain, on Gloucester Gate, and dates back to 1878. Leaf and stone, and doorways to the unknown, that’s what England is all about.