I don’t want these trips to become a hassle or something for me to avoid. To make things slightly easier for myself I have planned today’s trip to be a short excursion, a meagre adventure to catch up on a couple of waypoints that I missed during an earlier sortie.

Missed is perhaps the wrong word. As I have continuously refined the project, I have also looked at many different sources of waypoints. My Jeppesen software lists an awful lot of points that are not included in the waypoints associated with either Heathrow, Gatwick, Stanted, Luton or City that I have obtained from other sources. To make matters worse, some points are not associated with any airport but are to be used only for ‘en-route’ navigation. Those are the waypoints guiding the aircraft across the London airspace that leave contrails behind them at 35000 feet and who have no desire to land here.

I am feeling quite good today and I am there quickly, down through Clapham Common, under the bridge at Clapham Junction and then towards my first waypoint. Well, it’s in the Thames to be exact so the best I can do without a canoe is to get as close as possible. Some guy with a kid sleeping in his car is throwing various objects (stones, plastic parts) into the water for no particular reason. Perhaps he is just practicing his throwing, a skill that should never be underestimated.

I continue, across the newly re-opened Battersea Bridge and into Chelsea. Planes destined for Heathrow are flying right over my head as I photograph the four waypoints on my journey, all located within a couple of a miles of each other. I am finally using my newly repaired Rolleiflex. It’s a lovely camera to work with, very unobtrusive and very, very quiet. The last waypoint I find just by the edge of the Thames, over looking the river. The sun is out and it’s beautiful.