Instead of following our oft trodden path down Amwell Street, today we took a stroll along Duncan Terrace and Colebrooke Row. This is a rather posh area, as one might judge from the size of the cars parked beside the houses, but its main interest, for me at any rate, is the central park or garden. This runs down the centre of the street between the two rows of houses.

The interest lies in the fact that the gardens mark the passage of Hugh Myddelton’s New River which is still there though culverted and no longer visible.

The garden path

The garden has been kept open and we walked through part of it. The park managers have painted symbols on the ground in an attempt to create a one-way system so that we can stroll along the narrow path without meeting people coming in the opposite direction.

Need I say that we did meet a couple who obviously didn’t think these sensible rules applied to them?

Taped bench

On our last visit here, we had been struck by the large numbers of people sitting in the sun on the garden benches in defiance of advice. Today, we found that all the benches had been taped to tell people not to sit on them.

A glimpse of the canal

From here we crossed the road to where the Regent’s Canal enters the Islington Tunnel. This runs for 960 yds (878 metres) under the Angel district.

These days, canal barges have motors and sail through the tunnel without difficulty. In the days of horse-drawn barges, the horses had to be detached and walked through the streets to meet their barges at the other end. Meanwhile, the bargees would have to “walk” their barges through the tunnel.

Spring blossom

We did not go down to the tow path but kept to the street. We saw that the trees and shrubs are in flower. One might think that spring is here!

Flowers and butterfly
(Photo by Tigger)

We spotted a butterfly and though it was too quick for me, Tigger caught it in the above photo.

Old Red Lion

On the way home we passed along the top end of St John Street where I photographed the Old Red Lion pub theatre lit by the afternoon sunshine. It is closed, of course, like all the other pubs.

Pleasant as it is to go out and enjoy a walk in the fresh air, continually dodging other people is somewhat unnerving and I reached home at last with a feeling of relief.