I know I nominally ended the story on the train home (see previous post) but…

Don’t you find that the return journey always feels longer than the outward journey? As the miles scrolled past the windows I found myself becoming impatient and started following our progress on the map on my phone.

As we reached the outer boroughs of London I began to feel excited.

London Bridge Station lies south of the river but it’s already London and nearly home.

On the move again, we see Southwark Cathedral sail past. We approach the Thames…

Crossing the Thames is like breasting the tape at the end of a marathon. We stopped at Blackfriars Station and started rolling again. That is when I took the above photo of the Thames glinting beyond the glass windows.

We reached St Pancras at last and left the train to pursue its fortunes further north. Tigger proposed stopping for coffee and why not? A restful pause for refreshment before the final few steps to home.

We went to the stop for the 214 and a bus came with a minute or so.

Time now to rest and reflect on the day’s outing in comfortable familiar surroundings.

Yes, now that is the end of the story!

Today’s jaunt is to the south coast city of Brighton, known in Regency times as “London by the sea” because the London “society” crowd would descend here, perhaps for the sea bathing, but more likely to bask in the reflected glory of the Prince Regent. That gives some idea of it popularity then, a popularity which it has never lost. It is also the city (just a town in those days) where I spent my childhood.

We made an early start, reaching St Pancras Station at 7:50. We boarded a train within just a few minutes.

The train stops briefly at Blackfriars Station, “the station on a bridge”.

Here we are, arriving at Brighton’s familiar railway station.

I love these streets of brightly painted houses and day-dream of living here.

This is the famous Gardner Street, lined with unusual shops selling exotic and “alternative” merchandise.

Among them is Vegetarian Shoes where I buy my footwear either by visiting or online.

We stopped for refreshments at a cafe opposite the shoe shop. (Photo by Tigger)

Pleasant odours are wafting across to us from the spice shop which has opened its door.

The Duke Cinema’s legs.

This is Kensington Gardens which is even more interesting than Gardner Street in some ways, especially as it is pedestrian-only.

We went into the gardens of the beautiful Royal Pavilion. It’s partly obscured by scaffolding at the moment.

We spread a blanket and lay on the grass as they have removed all the benches.

This is the North Gate which conforms to the oriental style of the whole.

We broke for lunch at s fast pasta cafe called Grazie Mille (yes, really). (Photo by Tigger)

Lunch! (Photo by Tigger)

The street temperature is currently 31°C. Slow walking in the shade indicated!

We plucked up courage to walk through hot streets to the seafront. The pier is very long and therefore hard to capture in a single frame. I therefore took a panorama shot of it.

This is a view of the beach from the pier, looking east. It is quite busy but that’s only to be expected in this weather.

We found seats in the shade and settled there.

The gulls were very active and this one kept returning to his observation post on the lamps, looking for dropped food, no doubt.

Here is another view of the beach, looking west this time.

We decided to leave early in the hope of avoiding the crowds that would be likely later on.

This is my last view of the pier, taken through the gates at the exit.

When I lived in Brighton I came onto the pier often, both this one – then called the Palace Pier – and West Pier, of which only parts of its metal supports, fire blackened, still remain.

The pier has of course changed with the times but still provides entertainment of various kinds for locals and visitors alike.

We boarded the 15:25 Bedford train which stops at our station, St Pancras. (Photo by Tigger)

To all intents and purposes the story ends there for today. As usual, I enjoyed our day out and will enjoy returning home again!

(Post written “on the hoof”: excuse the rough edges!)

This afternoon I had a little errand to run in Amwell Street and took a few photos on the way. I hope this makes up for the lack of pictures in this morning’s post 🙂

St Mark’s and my curly tree

Though I have photographed Myddelton Square and St Mark’s Church many times already, I photographed the church and my “curly tree” again because they shone so becomingly in the sunlight. Having “discovered” the curvaceous tree on the corner, I have become very fond of it and always look for it when I pass this way.

Georgian-style door with fanlight

I have photographed and written about Georgian houses and their features, including their doors and fanlights but this one seemed such a good example of the genre that I photographed it too. The fanlight is a particularly fine one, simple, delicately elegant with the house number in the centre.

Notice too, the boot scraper to the left of the doorstep. All the houses once had one or even two of these but many have become broken or have been removed. The streets are no longer as muddy – or strewn with horse dung – as they were in Victorian times, so the boot scrapers have lost their function. Those that remain are souvenirs of a past age.

Looking south along Amwell Street

Amwell Street is our “village high street”, though it is not like any village high street you have ever seen. For one thing, half the shops never open because their occupants now do their business online. Others are specialist shops or designer clothes shops. Yet we still have a vet’s surgery, a dry cleaner’s, a coffee shop, a delicatessen, a chemist’s and three – yes, three – barbers. We also have a pillar box which is a reminder of the post office that was so rudely snatched away from us.

If you visually follow the line of parked cars on the right, you may just about make out the red awning. That is the famous Myddelton’s delicatessen where we often buy our coffee.

Looking north along Amwell Street

Oh yes, and of course, we have the pub, called The George & Monkey. The publican is the one called George but I have yet to meet the monkey.

King’s Chemist’s

And finally, this is the chemist’s shop – or pharmacy, if you prefer – the object of my errand. I don’t know how old the pharmacy is but would guess it is Victorian. Inside, among other period features, it has the typical set of wooden drawers marked with the abbreviated Latin names of their chemical contents.

If you thought I also popped into Myddelton’s for takeaway coffee, then you would would be right! If and when some kind of normality resumes and life picks up its interrupted rhythm, we shall have fewer opportunities to call in to the deli and we shall miss it. We have become so used to our present way of life that it is “normal” life that will seem anomalous to us then.

Today was the day to collect our laundry which was being given a service wash at the local launderette, as explained yesterday.

The “window” for collection was between 1 and 3 pm and as Tigger had an online team meeting for her work at that time, I volunteered to go alone, brave little soldier that I am.

The temperature now being in the mid-20s (°C), I decided to take the bus both ways. On the way down, I miscalculated and went a stop too far. Ho, hum, never mind, a short walk corrected the error. The real problem, unbeknownst to me at this point, would be the return journey…

At the launderette, they had not managed to pack the laundry as well as Tigger had done (Tigger has a real talent for packing) so, in addition to the trolley, there was a large and heavy plastic bag. This was too big too carry with one hand. Happily, I managed to attach it to the trolley with elastic bungee straps. The result was heavy and a little unwieldy but I could manage it.

Carefully crossing the road, I confidently made for the bus stop… only to find it closed! (The excuse was “Emergency works” of which there was no sign.) So I set out resolutely on foot for the next stop… only to see the bus sail past me when I was just a few yards away from it!

As there was only one more stop to go, it didn’t seem worth wasting time waiting for the next bus. I set out on foot once more…

St John Street slopes gently upward, a fact that you probably don’t notice unless you are dragging a heavy trolley in hot sunlight. At least no more buses overtook me, justifying my decision not to wait.

I arrived at home at last, heaving the trolley up the three steps to the front door.

Tigger made me tea and lunch which I am consuming while enjoying a cooling breeze from my desk fan.

All we have to do now is sort out the laundry and put it away…

Yes, the laundry has been piling up and the time has come when it cannot wait any longer. We usually do it ourselves, carting it to the launderette in Marchmont Street, but lockdown tempted us to pay for it to be done for us at a serviced launderette not far from home. As they made a very good job of it last time, we thought we would treat ourselves to the luxury of a service wash again today.

The Launderette

Should we take the bus or walk? In the end we decided to walk even though the shopping trolley, packed tight and bulging, was pretty heavy. Happily, the day, which started cool, brightened and became sunny and warm. Having deposited our laundry at the launderette and received a recipt in return, we set off on a ramble.

The Old Ingersoll Factory

To prove that factories don’t need to be ugly, we can cite the old Ingersoll Factory in St John Street. You probably know the history of the Ingersoll watch company (set up by the American Ingersoll brothers to market cheap but seviceable wrist watches) but if not there are plenty of sources of information online, including this Wikipedia article.

Corner building with turret

Lomdon’s haphazard growth leads to narrow streets often meeting at capricious angles. Architects have to make do and design buildings to fit these awkwardly shaped sites. The result is often poetically whimsical like this triangular building with a church-like turret. The symbol at the top suggests it was built as a commercial premises of some sort but for whom and when, I have no idea.

Building incorporating a lane

I stopped to photograph this building because I admired its compact but well-proportioned design. The general appearance seems to nod at Georgian style buildings but whether it dates from that period or not I cannot say. What surprised me was what I at first sight took to be an ordinary carriage entrance on the left. However, when we went across to take a look, we found something quite different.

The entrance

Perhaps this did once lead to a yard with stables but I suspect not. The entrance tunnel leads straight to the open air again in a pleasant little street called Hayward’s Place which, according to the name plate, dates from 1834.

View of Hayward’s \place

It was named after James Hayward (1701-1851) an ironmonger, who owned ten of the houses. Though you would not know to look at it, the street was virtually destroyed by bombing in WWII and was rebuilt in 1951.

Another plaque tells us that before the houses were ever built, this was the site of the Red Bull Theatre. This was an inn-yard threatre operating during the 17th century and known for rowdiness. Under the Commonwealth government, theatres were closed in 1642 but the Red Bull put on intermittent illegal performances. A popular myth has it that the Red Bull met its end in the Great Fire of London but although it did indeed burn down in 1665 or 1666, the exact causes of this demise are not known. More information will be found in this Wikipedia article.

Beautiful old forked tree

We passed through the old churchyard, now a garden, of St James’ Church but did not tarry there. I photographed this beautiful old tree with a forked trunk. I enjoyed the play of sunlight and shadow on the trunk and branches.

Modern Georgian-style houses

In Clearkenwell Close I noticed this pair of houses. The style is an imitation of the Georgian look favoured by 19th-century architects but these houses are clearly much more recent than that, modern, in fact. Note how one front door is flush with the façade and the other set back slightly. This alternation is also often seen in genuine Georgian-style houses.

The Horseshoe

Also in Clerkenwell Close is the Horseshoe pub. Looking at the buildings which it adjoins, you might think it had been added to the corner at some point but this perception would be mistaken. There are records of the existence of this pub from 1789 at the latest. The present building is obviously newer than that and looks Victorian or Edwardian to me.

Spa Green War Memorial

This walk was longer than most we have taken recently and I will admit that I was glad when we reached Spa Green and we could sit on a bench to rest! A notable feature of the park is the war memorial, which I have mentioned before. (More information here.) It is often quite difficult to photograph because the trees shade it from direct light but today the sunshine caught it well, giving the opportunity to photograph Thomas Rudge’s sculpture of Winged Victory.

Spa Green garden

It was very peaceful in the park and even the resident population of pigeons were mostly sitting quietly in the grass enjoying the sunshine.

Grape Vine

The time came to move on and we crossed the road into Arlington Way and thence into Myddelton Passage. (You can guess where we were going?) We had noticed on previous occasions that a grape vine from the garden to the Shakespeare’s Head was lolling over the wall. It is doing quite well and bears several well defined bunches of grapes though I doubt whether these will ever be edible. Nonetheless, there is something appropriate about a pub growing grape vines in its garden!

And yes, we were heading for Myddelton’s deli for our daily coffee. As it was coming up to lunchtime, there were several customers ahead of us but our turn came eventually, bringing our outing to a successful conclusion!