Right, this is the last time I shall say this until the weather changes: “Today is another warm, sunny day”. From now on you can take it as read unless the weather changes and I tell a different tale.

Do you want a temperature check? You do? Oh, all right,then: it was 23° C (73° F) and because we went out early, there was relatvely little shade but a gentle breeze did help a little.

Looking down Amwell Street

We crossed Amwell Street at Claremont Square and this view is looking along that street roughly south. You can see how clear the sky is with just a few token cloudlets to relieve the monotony.

There are plenty of flowers blooming merrily in the gardens we passed and the insect population is taking advantage of the bonanza.

Bee at work
Photo by Tigger

We stopped to watch the bees collecting pollen on these flowers and Tigger photographed this one. It didn’t seem to mind. (Too busy to worry, probably.)

(And for the person who didn’t know bees from wasps, this is a bee and not a wasp.)

Once the Percy Arms

This ex-pub stands on the corner of Great Percy Street and Cumberland Gardens. Every time we come by, I have it in mind to photograph the building but we are usually here in the afternoon when the sun is behind the building, causing sun-dazzle. Today the light was better. It was called the Percy Arms and was built around 1855-60. Both it and the street were named after Robert Percy Smith (1770-1845), a director of the New River Company who owned the land when the pub was built. It is now a Grade II listed building. It has been converted into a residential block and the original window glass with lettering has been replaced. For a view of it when it was still a pub, see the photo at the bottom of the Historic England listing page.

Love to the NHS

This child’s painting of hearts and a rainbow bears the motto “NHS with Love”. It’s nice to see that people continue to appreciate the NHS and its unstinting efforts during the pandemic, and the lives of NHS personnel that were lost as a result. Let us never forget what they have done for us nor forgive successive governments who have run the service into the ground. Let’s hope this pandemic has convinced them that we need a robust and properly remunerated NHS.

Prideaux House

We found ourselves in Prideaux Place, named after Arthur R. Prideaux, Deputy Governor and then Governor (1920-32) of the New River Company. Apart from the fact that it was built around 1939, I have not found out anything about this residential block or, rather blocks, because there is one on either side of the road.

Gateway, Prideaux House

This gateway gives access to a passageway and then a tantalizing glimpse of a garden beyond.

Double door

Some of the larger Georgian style houses have front doors with two clearly defined panels. Tigger was of the opinion that these are double doors, that is, that both panels open on their own hinges on the door frame, while I was inclined to think that they were one-piece doors but with two well defined panels. I have now come around to Tigger’s view. I notice that on this door, the door knocker is not centred as it would be on a one-panel door. That would be because it has to avoid the central opening.

The postman calls

While out, we saw quite a few work people, including a painter carrying brushes and a pot of paint, and scaffolding builders at work. Not least, the posties have continued to deliver mail throughout the pandemic and deserve our thanks for their dedication.

A load of rubbish

Someone has left this impressive load of rubbish on the street corner. At least it is properly bagged. I have no doubt that it will be removed very soon as another group of essential workers has continued working throughout the crisis, namely the binmen and the collectors of recycling. If they had not continued working we would now be virtually buried in refuse. These, and so many people, have kept on doing their jobs and maintained our environment in a livable condition. Because we tend to take their services for granted, I fear they may never receive the recognition that they deserve.