It was cooler again today (17° C, 63° F) but the notable feature was a gusty wind. In fact, at one point I lost my hat and had to go and pick it up off the ground. Embarrassing. It was my fault, though, as I should have put my hat clip on.

Sunbathing cat

In Myddelton Square, one of the ginger and white cats was enjoying the sun and so I took a photo for the cat lovers among you 🙂 I think s/he is becoming used to us as we were favoured with a frank stare, unlike previous occasions.

Spa Green Park

For a change we crossed Rosebury Avenue and entered Spa Green Park. It is not a very big park but is quite pleasant and contains a number of mature trees. It is quite popular as a place where people take their dogs and popular also with pigeons of which there is a large resident population.

Spa Green Park and War Memorial
Photo by Tigger

The park is also home to one of Islington’s two war memorials. By Thomas Rudge and installed in 1921, it shows a bronze Angel of Victory holding a wreath in outstretched hand, standing on top of a globe. It is Grade II listed. One might also add that it is a favourite perch for the pigeons.

Spa Green Estate

Adjacent to the park is the Spa Green Estate. As housing estates go, this one is quite pleasant to look at. A post-war development, it was designed by Berthold Lubetkin and is sufficiently important historically to have attracted a Grade II* listing.

Spa Green Estate

It is certainly unusual in both its design and colour scheme which is bright but not garish. The architect was clearly not superstitious as openings for ventilation occur in groups of 13!

The Dame Alice Owen

We walked through the estate into Goswell Road where I photographed the Dame Alice Owen pub. You will find some information on Dame Alice in my previous post about this pub (see Plus ça change). Today, the pub is displaying a notice to the effect that it will be opening soon as a “bottle shop”, that is, for takeaway service. That makes it the second Islington pub that I have seen that is partially re-opening (see An extra treat).

We continued up Goswell Road to Jusaka for our takeaway coffee.

Smith & Sons Clock Tower

And here I am again photographing the Smith & Sons clock, also known as the Angel Clock Tower. Not that I really need an excuse but if I did I would say it is one of my favourite features of Islington. I expect I shall photograph it many times again in future!