Today we went out at 1 pm to avoid what was promising to be a very warm afternoon. As it was, the thermometer was already tipping the scale at 23° C (73° F).

Lion’s face plaque

Passing through Claremont Square, I photographed this member of Islington’s collection of lions. He resides above the basement door of one of the houses.

Claremont Square is named after Claremont House, an 18th-century Palladian mansion in Esher, Surrey. Perhaps the developers hoped to enhance the reputation of their houses by giving them a noble connection.

Convulvulus flowers

These pure white and perfect convulvulus flowers were dancing in the breeze on a branch poking through the railings of a garden.

Blind windows

I happened to notice this end-of-terrace façade and the fact that all six windows were bricked up. Or were they? Might they not have been deliberately built this way, using false windows to relieve the plainness of the blank wall?

All windows present

This façade, immediately opposite, has all of its windows glazed, suggesting that the first would have also had clear windows and that these have later been blocked deliberately.

Why might the occupants block the windows? There could be many reasons but one might be the window tax. This tax was levied during the 18th and 19th centuries, requiring householders to pay according to the number of windows in their property. Many chose to block up some of their windows to reduce the tax burden. Might this be the case here? There is no way of knowing, unless there are records somewhere that mention the fact.

Once you notice a thing like this, you start to notice examples everywhere.

Two blocked windows

This house had just two windows blanked off but I notice that they have been closed with partions (which could presumably be easily removed), not with bricks, and so I am guessing that this is a modern alteration for reasons best known to the occupants.

Another bricked set of windows

Here is a third and last example. As with the first, the whole façade has been blanked out and with bricks closely similar to those of the surrounding brickwork, suggesting that here too we see tax avoidance.

Could these windows be restored if the present owners wished to do so? In theory, yes, but there might be legal difficulties. Much of the Georgian style buildings in this area are listed by Historic England, meaning that they cannot be altered. It’s possible that altering the building by restoring the windows is disallowed or, if it is allowed, that the new windows, their frames and surrounds would have to be an exact replica of the originals – which might be a very expensive undertaking. The house owners might prefer to leave things as they are.

Blackbird
Photo by Tigger

Tigger snapped this blackbird singing a merry song before flying off about more pressing business.

Lloyd Square, leading to Lloyd Street

This view along Lloyd Square into Lloyd Street was taken from the last corner before Myddelton’s. Today, perhaps because we were early, there was a queue and we had to wait patiently outside until it was our turn.

There are each day more people in the streets, some wearing masks, some not. Some seem quite oblivious to the distancing rules while others follow them punctiliously. Mask wearers are often the least cautious as though they think the mask confers immunity, which, of course, it does not. Let’s hope they are not caught out by the virus because if they are, then they become a risk to all of us.

Today is again warm (21° C, 70° F) and cloudless.

The curvaceous tree

We started our ramble by walking round Myddelton Square. On the way I photographed the curvaceous tree. (I think “curvaceous” sounds kinder than “crooked” 🙂 ) We tried to work out what sort of tree it is, neither of us being expert at arboreal recognition. Tigger suggests it is a sycamore.

Myddelton Passage

We walked through Myddelton Passage which the above photo shows. You may remember that this is where Victorian police officers have carved their names and badge numbers in the bricks of the wall on the right.

The Shakespeare’s Head

William Shakespeare looks down benignly from the sign of the pub named in his honour. Unlike some of the other pubs in the area, this one shows no sign of partial re-opening as a takeaway outlet.

Chess board and seats

We took a turn through Spa Green Park. Here there is a permanent chess (or chequers) board with seats. Whether anyone ever uses the board, I do not know. For now it remains as a silent invitation to passers-by.

Sole blossom

This frail but beautiful flower was bouncing in the breeze. It was all by itself, well away from any other flowers, and so was probably seeded by the wind or birds.

Urban landscape

I took this view in the oddly named Wynyatt Street. Apparently, it is named after Compton Wynyates, a Grade I listed Tudor house in Warwickshire. I think the tall building in the centre may be the Peregrine House, that I mentioned in Two pubs no longer pubs.

Cat confined

In Earlstoke Street we spotted this cat surveying the street from an upper window. He seemed to take a great interest in us, perhaps because we were the only moving objects in view. He followed us with his gaze until we were no longer visible.

Midway House

We reached Goswell Road near this formidable-looking apartment block. It’s no doubt quite comfortable inside but the outside does seem (to me, at least) reminiscent of a fortress.

I seem to remember reading somewhere that the name of Goswell derives from “God’s well”, the name of a well once situated somewhere along the street. However, I have not managed to recover the reference (if it exists) and so the information remains subject to verification.

Student Living Heights

This boldly designed building rejoices (if that’s the right word for it) in the somewhat clumsy name of Student Living Heights. Recent years have seen the proliferation of apartment blocks for students so there must be money in developing them. In my student days, we had nothing so grand but lodged in houses with families or individuals who wanted to earn extra money from a spare bedroom. We would not have been able to pay the sort of rents charged in these places (£335 per week).

Looking back along Goswell Road

Here, I am taking a last look back down Goswell Road before the final stretch to Jusaka for our daily ration of coffee.

Our daily walks may not take us far from home or to new and exciting destinations but they at least provide some exercise and a chance to blow away the proverbial cobwebs.

New rules regarding social distancing have been promulgated by the government and although they do not make a huge difference to our lives, they are an indication that the situation is slowly changing. More shops and businesses will be opening and some people currently on furlough or laid off will start returning to work.

The process of a return to something resembling normal is not without its dangers but it has to be undertaken. We can but hope for the best.

Update re Goswell Road, May 30th.

According to Streets with a story, The book of Islington (PDF) by A Willats, Goswell Road “Takes its name from an ancient spring called Godewell (Goodwell) afterwards Godeswell, Gosewell and Goswell”.

However, according to another source, the Wikipedia Street names of Clerkenwell and Finsbury, the origin is disputed, some agreeing with Willat’s etymology and others claiming that the road “was named after a nearby garden called ‘Goswelle’ or ‘Goderell’ which belonged to Robert de Ufford, 1st Earl of Suffolk”.

See both these sources for further details.

Another very warm day. The weather forecast was for a temperature of 20° C (68° F) but it felt warmer than that. We kept to the shade and enjoyed the occasional breezy gusts. The air was quite hazy, as you will be able to see in the photos.

Old River Head buildings

Our walk took us past the New River Head, the terminus of Hugh Myddelton’s New River. The site is fenced off, of course, and one can see the old buildings only from a distance. The site is being considered by the Council for planning permission and so its future is uncertain though, in my view, it is worth preserving as a site of important historical interest.

Charles Rowan House

This building is called Charles Rowan House and it is currently owned and run by the Council as a residential block. What do you think of it, stylistically? I am in two minds myself by incline to finding it “interesting” though not beautiful. It might surprise you to learn that Historic England has given it a Grade II listing.

Gateway, Charles Rowan House

Designed in Expressionist style by G. Mackenzie Trench, architect and surveyor for the Metropolitan Police Authority, it was built in 1928-30 as accommodation for married police officers and named after Sir Charles Rowan, one of the first Commissioners of the force when it was formed in the 1820s.

Passage between gardens

This pleasant passage between gardens seems not to have a name – at least, no name is shown on my maps. It links Lloyd Square with St Helena Street. It forms a convenient short cut and without it one would have a long walk round.

Georgian style with Classical overtones

I photographed this pair of houses because I liked their solid but elegant form, topped with a Greek style triangular pediment. They are wider than some of the more typical Georgian style houses in the area, suggesting larger rooms and a more commodious layout.

Roses, Cumberland Gardens

We passed through Cumberland Gardens, some of whose roses I photographed the other day (see White roses and white lions). Today they were putting on a fine show, glowing with pristine whiteness in the sunlight.

Multiplicity of chimneys

This time I noticed this impressive line of chimneys silhouetted against the sun. How many do you make it? The reason for this multiplicity is because when these houses were built, the coal fire was the only form of domestic heating available and there would have been a fireplace in most rooms, including the kitchen where a coal-fired kitchen range would have been used for cooking. The housed were built in mirror-image pairs with the chimneys of both aligned along the top of their common wall. So we can see here the chimneys of two houses.

Signs of subsidence

These two houses are are more in the typical Georgian style but they are not the usual mirror-image pair: both are oriented the sane way round. Houses in this row show minor differences between them, perhaps different patterns of ironwork or windows that are rectangular or arched. I did notice one little detail: look at the shape of the partly open window above the right-hand front door. Here is a close-up.

Window showing signs if subsidence

If you look at the top of the window, you will see that the top of the frame is not square but tapered. The top of the window frame and the window sill are also out of kilter in sympathy with it: they all slope down towards the right.

London is notorious for subsidence and in modern times building regulations require deep foundations to guard against this. Builders in times past were not always so careful with the result that many buildings have over time suffered subsidence. This has sometimes been treated by underpinning the building but this would not necessarily set the building straight again. In that case, a reshaping of doors and windows might be necessary to make them fit their respective frames! I wonder whether the floors also slope in this house as that was sometimes a result of subsidence.

As usual, our last port of call was Myddelton’s where we collected our coffee before hurrying home to enjoy it.

As it is another warm day and promising to be even warmer later on, we decided to go out earlier than usual today. We also went somewhat further than usual, “to get used to it”, as one might say, ahead of the intended general return to work, so far set for June 15th.

If you are keeping tabs on the temperature, it was around 20° C (68° F) when we went out and expected to rise at least another 5 degrees by mid-afternoon.

Islington High Street

This was the scene as it appeared from beside the tube station in Islington High Street, with plenty of traffic and pedestrians. In fact, it was almost like a normal weekday before the pandemic.

Arcade

We walked under the arcade in front of this row of banks and offices as there were fewer people here to dodge.

Caffè Mobile

The little motorized coffee stall was ready for business though the barista didn’t seem very busy.

Upper Street and Angel Central

In Upper Street, in front of the entrance to the Angel Central shopping centre, is an important bus stop where a number of routes meet. Buses, we noticed, still attract relatively few passengers. Will that change on June 15th.?

Monument to Sir Hugh Myddelton

Reaching Islington Green, we paid our respects to Sir Hugh Myddelton who brought water to London with his New River and also gave his name, unwittingly perhaps, to a number of streets and businesses around his New River Head. What would Sir Hugh make of today’s bustling Angel which, in his day, was a mainly rural area?

Dated 1902

This striking building bears a date of 1902 and is an example of the mixture of styles and dates that characterizes this district.

Islington War Memorial

In the park resides the Islington War Memorial, a controversial design known to the less pious as “the Doughnut”. Designed by John Maine, it was unveiled only in 2006, a temporary memorial by Charles Higham having been set up in 1918. Embarrassingly, work had to be done to shore it up in 2013 when the foundations proved to be inadequate and the monument began to sink. The wire outline of a soldeir with his rifle is not part of the monument but has been placed behind it for some reson.

Islington Green

Islington Green is a triangular-shaped park well placed in the centre of things. Apparently, it was never, as its name might suggest, a village green, but the remains of one time common land on which local farmmers had free grazing rights. Most of it was built on and the green remains as a small and pleasant memento of times past.

Camden Passage

We entered Camden Passage, a walkway beween pubs, shops and restaurants, once famous for its antiques shops. The era of antiques came to an end when the owners of the old Tram Shed, which until then had housed a number of antiques stalls, decided to evict the antiques vendors and turn the shed over to single occupancy. Since then a number of businesses have occupied it for a while and then left. Perhaps it’s not a good spot for a big store. Either way, the loss of the antiques emporium provoked the gradual disappearance of other antiques shops and their replacement mainly with restaurants and special goods shops. There are still some antiques businesses left and two open spaces where antiques markets are held on Wednesdays and Saturdays. (Outside of pandemics, of course.)

The Masked Blogger

In Camden Passage was a shop selling re-usable face masks and we bought one each. I am far from convinced as to the protection they afford the wearer or anyone else but when the shops start opening and people start going back to work it is likely that we shall all be expected to wear masks on pubklic transport and anywhere where people gather in close proximity. We later decided that we had put the masks on upside down and so reversed them. They weren’t much more confortable that way round, either.

Clamshell with face

In Charlton Place, one of the house doorways is decorated with this attractive clamshell plaque with a female face in the middle. The ribs of the shell do double service as the figure’s hair.

Duncan Terrace

This is a glimpse of Duncan Terrace, as exclusive a neighbourhood as it is picturesque. The New River runs along here but is now covered up. Duncan Terrace, incidentally, was named after Admiral Duncan who commanded the fleet against the Dutch at the battle of Camperdown in 1797.

More Duncan Terrace

We continued along Duncan Terrace towards City Road and… yes, Jusaka! The park on the left, which marks the course of the New River, is open but the managerment has instituted a one way system for walkers within it.

Squirrel

We met a squirrel who enaged in that run-stop-run-stop game that they play. I think it is because they are afraid of people but know that people sometimes feed them and so they like to keep a safe distance while watching in case we have something to give them.

Avian apartment block

Enough bird boxes have been installed in this tree to constitute a veritable avian apartment block.

Jay
Photo by Tigger

The Jays are perhaps our prettiest corvids with the Magpies following as a close second. They are also relatively scarce so it was good to see this one, especially as he came quite close to us as he hunted for food.

From here, we made our way out into City Road, crossed into Goswell Road and so to Jusaka where we had left our special Jusaka reusable takeaway cups, which they had kindly given us. Coffee in hand, we made the final dash to home.

Today’s cloudy sun has raised the ambient temperature by another degree to 27° C (79° F). Any time now, I am going to start feeling anxious about global warming 🙂

We made do with a stroll straight to Myddelton’s and back. I had time for just for the three photos below.

Claremont Square

In this photo we are looking along the lower side of Claremont Square (the upper end is bounded by the main road) with the reservoir on the right. We are looking directly towards the sun though this is momentarily veiled by clouds.

Being limited in our movements by the lockdown has made me concentrate on the neighbourhood and has enabled me to know it even better than before, a case of familiarity, far from breeding contempt, leading to a deeper understanding and appreciation.

Curvaceous tree

In line with the above, I noticed today for the first time how picturesquely curvaceous this tree is. It makes me think of a giant version of a Japanese bonsai tree. What, I wonder, caused it to grow into this crooked but decorative shape? Now that I have noticed it, I shall look out for it and enjoy it each time I pass by.

Notices in the pub window

I mentioned in An extra treat that the George and Monkey had reopened for takeaway service. These notices in the window spell out the terms of service. I expect you can read them (if you want to) so I won’t transcribe them.

We found our friends at Myddelton’s busy but as amiable as ever. Buying coffee has become a social event rather than merely a mundane shopping transaction!