Today is cloudy and damp though not cold. Although it was threatening rain, we accepted the risk of taking a good walk. If the worst happened and the rain fell, we have our folding umbrellas tucked away in our handbags.

Laying fibre

In Cruikshank Street, the roadway has been closed and channels have been cut into the surface. A notice affixed to the barrier informs us that this is for the purpose of laying fibre for broadband.

I can’t help thinking that this is a scheme that will prove to be obsolete by the time the work of wiring the city is halfway complete. I say this because, with the advent of 5G, many suppliers are already offering wireless broadband at rates that are much cheaper than fibre connections. Who will want a clunky fibre router when they can have a take-anywhere wireless router for half the rental price?

Cruikshank Street, incidentally, is named after George Cruikshank (1792-1878), artist, caricaturist and engraver, who lived for some years in the area.

Rainbows to cheer us up

It has been a while since I have mentioned the rainbows and other paintings done by children and posted on windows and railings to cheer us up and to express gratitude to the NHS but they have continued to appear and they gladden our hearts as we pass by.

Thank you rainbow

These two appeared in the windows of neighbouring houses.

(If the windows look slightly asymmetrical, it is because I took them at an angle from the side – so as not to seem to peer indiscreetly into the rooms – and straightened them in the iPhone’s image editor. The software works well and the faults are mine,)

Remodelled windows

I was intrigued by the disposition of the windows on these rear façades. In several cases, the original brick window arches are much larger than the windows within them. It looks as though there had been some remodelling of the wall and windows. To what end, I wonder? Another mystery that cannot be solved by just looking.

Abandoned picture

We found this picture sitting forlornly on the pavement, apparently abandoned by its erstwhile owner who no doubt hopes that it will disappear, “recycled” by someone who takes a fancy to it. This seems to be a time-honoured way of disposing of serviceable but no longer wanted items in this neighbourhood.

Picture with wise saying

By means of the same magic mentioned above in connection with the windows, I have straightened the picture so that you can see how it might look on your wall. It shows a runner passing through mountainous terrain and beneath it is this motto: “The race is not always to the swift… but to those who keep on running.” A message for our times?

Intricate fanlight design

We passed through Granville Square (named after anti-slavery campaigner Granville Sharpe, 1735-1813) where several houses had this rather intricate design of fanlight. They are quite delicate and very many of them were broken with parts missing. Some had been “repaired”, often clumsily, and it was hard to find one that was seemingly entire.

House number in floor tiles

In Lloyd Baker Street, we spied a couple of houses that had their their house numbers both as metal numbers on the door and as numbers worked in tiles just in front if the doorstep. The two houses were side by side. Just as well this isn’t one if the streets whose houses have been renumbered!

Forbidden garden

We passed Lloyd Square which is one of those whose central garden is still private and accessible only by key-holders living in the square. Hence my concept of it as a “forbidden garden” – forbidden to us, at any rate.

In sight of Myddelton’s

And here were are finally approaching the corner premises of Myddelton’s. As usual we bought our coffee and then hot-footed it for home.

If nothing else, Covid-19 has given me an altogether more intimate knowledge of the district in which I live than I had before and for that I am grateful.