Today is the first day when the government’s new and much criticized rules for easing the lockdown come into force. I am not going to comment on this (you’ll no doubt be glad to hear 🙂 ) as there is enough information about this in the media. “Social distancing” is still meant to be enforced and so, for us, it has made little difference so far. We are still keeping our distance from other people.

As the title indicates, it is not a very cheerful day with regard to weather. The sky is cloudy and the temperature stands at 11° C (52° F) but “feels like” 2 degrees colder. The damp atmosphere makes it feel chilly.

Squirrel finds a treat

We spotted this squirrel, sitting on the kerb, happily chomping on some titbit that he had found. Our presence didn’t disturb him in the least, perhaps because he was more concerned by the pigeons that were circling him, looking enviously at his snack.

Strategic withdrawal

The pigeons wouldn’t attack the squirrel but if he were to drop his prize they might well be able to grab it from him. He decided to move to a position beside the railings, probably because, here, they couldn’t surround him as they could on the open pavement.

Continuing our walk (and dodging other passers-by as we have become accustomed to doing) we made our way gradually towards – you know where – yes, the deli!

Original tiling

Many, perhaps most, of the houses in this area have plain concrete front door steps but I think this is only because in the nearly two hundred years since they were built, the steps have worn down and been repaired or replaced. Some, like this one, still have the original tiling or perhaps a facsimile replacement.

When the houses were built in the first half of the 19th century, the new owners would have been shown a catalogue in which they could choose alternative designs for such details as tiling and the pattern of ironwork in the railings and in front of the windows. Some of these differences from house to house can still be seen today.

We collected our coffee from our friends at Myddelton’s and then made for home. Despite wearing my winter coat, I was glad to be indoors again!

We set out around 4:15 today which is later than we usually go. Perhaps the excitement of dealing with two fraudsters where we expected only one slowed us down.

It’s a bit warmer today (13°F, 55° F) I’m glad to note, and sunny to boot. That helped raise my spirits.

Roses are blooming in Islington

Misquoting a famous song, “Roses are blooming in Islington”. In Chadwell Street, to be precise.

Where two roads divide to form City Road and Goswell Road, there is a stand of large Georgian houses. At the apex of the site stands what was once a very fine town house, now Grade II listed, together with some of its immediate neighbours.

Dalby House

I refer to Dalby House. I wrote about it on SilverTiger. Here is what I said there (see Brewers and beer engines):

The area where Goswell Road and City Road meet was anciently common land that was used for, among other things, prize fighting and executions. Housing development ended that use and in 1803, Dalby Terrace (or “Dalby Tarrace”, according to the original ceramic name plate, still in place) was built by a certain Mr Dalby (first name unknown), who retained the end house, suitably named Dalby House, for his own use. Mr Dalby was a manufacturer, who was credited with the invention of a successful beer pump.

Mr Dalby is long gone and I have no idea whether his beer pump is still used, but his house remains to recall his name to the curious passer-by.

This post follows on from yesterday’s Suspicious caller post.

8:00 a.m.

We got up bright and early to be ready for our fraudsters, should they put in an appearance. I reckoned that if they maintained their supposed Council employee pose, they would arrive some time after 8 a.m.

We do not have a good view of the doorstep area from our window, so I posted myself on lookout in order to spot anyone coming along the front path.There was a lot of traffic on the road as well as pedestrians, almost like a “normal” weekday. Every time someone passed the house, the movement caught my eye.

As I mentioned, I am expecting an important delivery which I do not want to miss. So I need to know who it is who comes to the door so I can prepare the appropriate response.

Tigger thinks the fraudsters will not come. This is because the woman who called yesterday looked surprised when Tigger joined us partway through the conversation, as if she had assumed I was on my own. If they know there are two of us, Tigger reasons, they may desist from whatever it is they intended.

When the Council says “morning”, it means any time from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., and if these people follow that pattern, I have a possible “window” of 5 hours to wait.

9 a.m.

No callers so far. I am tempted to call out “Nine a.m. and all’s well” like the watchmen of olden times, but I will not, lest it turn out premature.

For aught I know, they may be busy “fixing” other people’s doors before coming to us. A life of crime is a busy one.

9:05 p.m.

A young man in work clothes, carrying a small stepladder walks along the path and rrings our doorbell. He claims he has come on behalf of the Council to install smoke alarms in the communal areas of the house, following a letter we would have received from the Council. We have in fact received no such letter. His ID badge is not a Council badge and I refuse him entry, saying we have already had fraudulent callers and therefore don’t accept undocumented callers. He offers to show me his criminal record check but I still refuse admission pending delivery of the aforementioned Council letter. He remains polite and goes away quietly.

Should I call the police? No, because Tigger and I both think he was genuine. Perhaps the Council has forgotten to send the letter or this has gone astray. If we receive a letter, we will think again.

What a coincidence, though, that this person should turn up just when we are on tenter hooks expecting fraudsters.

Back to window watch! Tigger has made me a pot of my Russian Caravan tea to fortify my spirits!

10 a.m.

“Ten a.m. and all’s…” Oops, no! I’m not doing that, am I? 🙂

At 10:29 a man wearing a hi vis vest passes the window but I think he is a Council employee, a member of the team coming to empty the recycling bins. Relax again!

12:00 p.m.

In theory, the morning has ended on a no-show for the fraudsters, as Tigger predicted. However, there is still one hour left if they follow the Council’s timing which regards “morning” as running from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

1:00 p.m.

The final hour has passed and no one further has called (not even the postman).They might still turn up on the second of the two suggested dates, next Friday, but I think that’s pretty unlikely. I shall, however, be remaining “semi-alert” for the time being.

Update

Just when you think it’s all over…

At 1:15 p.m. the doorbell rang. I went to the door and found a man standing on the doorstep wearing the sort of heavy duty mask that builders wear in dusty conditions. He pulled it slightly to one side and said:

“I’ve come to measure your front door.”

My reply was short and sweet and mentioned the police. Then I shut the door.

I thought I ought to update the police on the case, even though I had not followed their instructions to dial 999 (the man would have been long gone before they ever came near the place). They seemed quite glad that I had done so.

Then I called the Council’s customer service to report what was going on. They thanked me and suggested I talk to the Housing department as they would know what work was commissioned for each of their properties.

It turns out, of course, that no work has been commissioned for our front door, confirming our suspicions that this proposition was fraudulent.

While I had the man on the line I raised the question of the other caller, he of the little stepladder. It turns out that no such work has been commissioned, either, and so he too was a fraud. Even though we did find him convincing, we at least had the nous not to let him in.

What intrigues me is this: There are four flats in our building and yet these fraudsters always ring our doorbell and no one else’s. Why? Maybe because we are on the ground floor: you know, easy access and easy escape if there’s trouble. Could that be it?

The cold spell continues, or the warm spell has ended, depending on your meteorological philosophy. The sun was hiding demurely behind clouds and the temperature (for those of you that like numbers) was around 12° C (54° F) with a “feels like” value a couple of degrees cooler.

We did not feel inclined to tarry and so, just to show willing, took a turn around Myddelton Square (the name should be familiar to you by now!). As we went round we spied an open window where two cats were taking the air.

Cats at the window

I have the impression, though I could be wrong, of course, that these are indoor cats. Something about their demeanour and the cleanliness of their fur suggests it. Either way, they are a handsome pair of moggies and everybody likes cat pictures. Don’t they?

We carried on round the square to our usual destination, the deli. The conversation there was about the coolness of the weather but what really clinched it was the trousers.

One of the two chaps who run the shop always – as in always – wears shorts as he works behind the scenes and stocks the shelves. Not today, though: today he was wearing trousers. No further proof needed!

The doorbell rang this morning and as I was expecting a delivery, I buzzed the house door, expecting the delivery person to toss the package inside as they usually do. However, when I went out into the hall, I found a young woman with a clipboard. She flashed a badge at me and claimed to be from the local Council.

She said that they needed to do a security check on the front door of our flat and would call to do this tomorow and again on Friday. She was tidily dressed and polite and spoke with a slight accent, suggestive of East European. Not having my reading specs, I didn’t get a good look at her badge but did notice that it did not have the word “Islington” written in large letters on it as council badges do. On the spur of the moment, however, I agreed to the proposed visit.

Talking it over with Tigger afterwards, I began to feel suspicious. For one thing, she spoke only to us and did not contact any of the other three flats. Why check only our door? For another, it seemed odd that the council would carry out “checks” during lockdown when only necessary repairs and breakdowns are being attended to.

I decided to call the Council to see whether they had any knowledge of security checks being carried out. I had to wait a long time for someone to respond, listening in the meantime to information bulletins of no interest. When a customer servioce person replied, he said that he would put me on hold while he consulted a colleague. After another long wait, he told me that he had not been able to speak to his colleague and proposed to put me through to Housing. When the automatic voice at Housing replied, giving me s list of numbers to press, none of these produced any result. I kept coming back to the same automatic response.

In frustration, I called the Council number again and this time was answered fairly quickly and, happily, by the same person. He told me that in the meantime he had heard back from his colleague and that they had no knowledge of any “security checks” being carried out. He advised me to call the police on 101.

I called 101 and spoke to an officer who listened to my story and took down my details. He also put me on hold while consulting a colleague. When he returned, it was to say that tomorrow I must not admit the callers but should dial 999. The police, he said, would recognize my number and access today’s report.

So, here I am, wondering how, exactly, to respond to a caller or callers tomorrow. Should I simply not open the door but dial 999? The problem with that is tthat I am expecting an important delivery and I don’t want to miss it. I think I shall have to confront that the possibly criminal caller or callers and say that I cannot admit them and that we are calling 999 as instructed by the police. How will that turn out? I will let you know tomorrow!