I am fussy aboiut my tea, a fact that I may already have mentioned a couple of times in passing 🙂

At present, I buy my ta online from a company in North Berwick (Scotland) called Howdah. They are very good and deserve a plug. Their delivery is fast and I often receive my goods the day after I place my order online.

I placed an order last Thursday and on Friday we went out (see Pancakes and pagoda). We returned home to find a card from the Royal Mail saying that they had failed to deliver my parcel which, as a result was now languishing in a place known as the Islington Delivery Office. Today, I set out to reclaim it.

The only problem was that I wasn’t sure where this Office was or how to reach it. So, I did what I have done successfully before: I asked Apple Maps!

Apple Maps has been severely criticised in the past for its shortcomings but has been greatly improved. I have used it on several occasions to find out how to travel to some destination. On this occasion, Apple Maps produced this:

The route by Apple Maps

This is a live map that, when expanded, shows which bus to take, from which bus stop, the arrival bus stop and the path to walk to complete the journey. According to this, I should take the 394 bus from the Angel, leave it at New North Road and follow the dotted line to the Post Office.

Somewhere in Shoreditch

I followed the instructions and left the bus near Shoredtich Park in the London Borough of Hackney. Now to follow the dottrd line on foot.

It’s this way

The one small snag in this is that when you consult the map, you don’t necessarily know which way you are facing, leaving it uncertain which way to go. The simple way to solve this dilemma is to start walking: the blue blob which indicates your position will soon show whether you are following the dotted line or not.

Blocks of flats

I passed some blocks of flats. There was as yet no sign of the post office but the blue blob was moving reassuingly along the dotted line, so I kept on walking.

Something in the park

The park was on the other side of the road and though the traffic was heavy, I could see that there was a strange object over there. Was it a work of art, perhaps? I made a note to investugate it later and kept on walking

There it is!

And there it was – the Royal Mail’s delivery office. Apple Maps had led me to my destination.

Having collected my parcel from the amiable gents in the office, I had to think about returning home. When I left the bus, I had looked around for a bus stop for the 394 in the opposite direction but had not seen one. I didn’t worry about this, confident that Apple Maps would sort out the return journey.

First, however, was the strange object in the park. I wanted to find out what it was before leaving.

In Shoreditch Park

Shoreditch Park is one of those pleasant green areas open to the public of which London is rightly proud. As gardens go, it is not very elaborate but on a warm day like today it is a perfect place to stroll or sit on a bench and watch the world go by. I, however, wanted to find out about The Object! I approached…

Hitchcock’s Reel
John Edwards, 1996

I looked all around the object but there was no plate or engraving explaining what it was. It could have been something utilitarian, such as a reel for cable, left there pending colllection, but its careful and seemingly permanent mounting suggested that it was a work of art.

It was only when I arrived back home that I was able to track it down and find out that it was a sculpture by John Edwards, entitled Hitchcock’s Reel (a reference to the film director who had connections with the area) and that it was originally painted blue, not the tasteful rust brown in which it rejoices today.

I had now to think about the journey home. I fired up Apple Maps which gave me this:

The return jiourney

If I was expecting simply to reverse the route by which I had come, I was disappointed. As it happens, I am used to these asymmetrc journeys by which the return journey takes a different route, due to the vagaries of the road system in London. According to this, I had to walk to Essex Road Station and take a bus from there. The map shows bus number 56 but the text sopecifies bus number 476.

Regent’s Canal

It seemed – and felt like – a very long walk but that’s probably because I didn’t know the area and was contstantly on the lookout for the bus stop. The map suggests a 12-minute walk which is probably about right.

I arrive – the bus leaves!

I was almost within reach of the stop when I saw a bus departing. And yes, of course, it was the bus I was supposed to take. Always the way…

Actaully, I didn’t matter because the 476 is not the only bus to call at the stop.

Plenty of choice

As you can see, I had a choice of five buses (the blue plaques are the nighttime versions of the daytime buses of the same numbers, not different buses), most of which would take me where I wanted to go.

Back-seat pasenger

The next bus, a 73, came within one minute. I sat in the back seat. This is our favourite seat on these buses as it allows a quick getaway through the back door.

Incidentally, these buses with three doors were originally designed so that you could enter or exit through any door. In the photo you can see the yellow touch pad for electronic tickets for the use of passengers boarding at the rear. Since the pandemic, however, supposedly to aid social distancing and, I suspect, because Transport for London was losing money from passengers not paying, you can enter the bus only at the front, where the driver can check that you pay.

The number 73 delivered me speedily and safely at the Angel where I made lunch, accompanied, of course, by a nice cup of tea!