Today I had an appointment at a clinic in Holloway. Tigger came with me to the area and waited for me in a coffee shop.

Coffee shop

As I wasn’t sure how long it would take me to reach the clinic in Hornsey Road, we left in plenty of time. The clinic wasn’t open by the time we arrived so we looked for somewhere where we could sit and wait. We found a coffee shop on a corner, though really it was a coffee shop in a sort of small mall of shops selling various ethnic foods, all of which were closed.

Waiting Room

I left Tigger in the coffee shop and returned to the clinic. Though they were open, the door was locked and I had to knock on the window for attention. A receptionist opened a side door and enquired whether I had an appointment. When I confirmed this, she at first hesitated and then decided she could let me in. There was one other patient in the waiting room and I was placed as far as possible from her, behind a pillar. Needless to say, we were all wearing face masks.

I was eventually attended to and was allowed t leave by the side door, unlocked for me by the same recepionist. I rejoined Tigger at the coffee shop.

Who was “WM”?

We took a bus to Crouch End. This is a district in the London Borough of Harngey. It started in the Middle Ages as a collection of labourers’ cottages and a few richer houses but in the fullness of time expanded into a nodern Metropolitan district within Greater London.

The name is easily explained. “End” often occurs in place names to indicate a settlement that is somewhat remote or out of the way, while “Crouch” derives from the fact that a cross or crucifix once stood at the crossroads where the clocktower stands today. “Crouch”, then, comes from cruche, the Anglo-Norman for “cross” (croix in modern French). Compare this with the “crutched” in “Crutched Friars”, which is explained by the fact that these monks carried a staff with a cross on top.

I photographed the building in the above photo, not for the excruciating pun in the modern sign, but for the date 1850 and the mysterious initials “WM” in the pediment. Who was WM?

General view

This is a general view of what might be called the centre of Crouch End, looking towards the crossroads once occupied by the cross and now the clock tower.

The Clock Tower

If asked what the clock tower celebrates, you might be inclined to suggest Queen Victoria’s jubilee. In many towns, that would be thr right answer but not here. The clock tower was in fact built in 1895 to record the appreciation of the citizens for the and generosity of local benefactor, Henry Reader Williams (1822-97). I hope HM Queen Victoria was suitably amused.

Strking architecture

The streets around the centre resemble one another in being lined with fairly tall terraces of houses boasting a distinctive decoration of red and white. I am guessing that these are later Victorian thiough I stand to be corrected. Most of the ground floor premises have been converted into shops (or were possiby built as shops to start with).

Clock tower with tree

If I need an excuse for posting a second picture of the clock tower, it is that I like all clocks, big and small. What do you think of the design of this one? Some commentators express reservations about its architectural quality. Personally, I think it is quite a handsome piece of work of its kind. I don’t know what Henry Reader Williams thought of it. I hope he liked it.

Reliefs

This building is now a Barclay’s Bank but was obviously buikt for a different purpose. That is obvious from the Art Deco relief sculptures decorating both façades. What was it, though? My guess is that it was an electricity board showroom and offices, though I could of course be wrong.

The King’s Head

My last piece of Crouch Endiana is the King’s Head pub. Built in the mid-19th century it is (to my eyes, at least) a handsome building on which was lavished considerabke care and money. The prominence accorded it by its good corner position no doubt ensured a lucrative career.

We now caught a number 91 bus to King’s Cross and from there a 205 to the Angel clock tower.

Busy world outside

We finished our outing with a visit to Jusaka where we drank our coffee while contemplating a busy world passing outside the windows. As for ourselves, we plan not to be busy for the rest of the day!

It is another warm and dry day and so, feeling a little rested from our Hampshire rambles (see To Portsmouth and following posts), we set out on a gentle local tour.

Jusaka

You will not be surprised when I say that we started with coffee at Jusaka, where we left our reusable cups (a gift from them some time back) for collection later.

Then we went to the stop in St John Street and boarded a number 19 bus. This took us on a long ride (made to seem even longer by the weekday traffic and stops for red lights) to deepest Chelsea.

King’s Road, Chelsea

As we had made a latish start (we are still on holiday, after all), we felt it could be lunch time. It was then that I realised Tigger’s ulterior motive in bringing us here.

My Old Dutch Pancake House

It is the location of a branch of the My Old Dutch pancake restaurants. We have been to this one before and to others.

My Old Dutch, interior
Photo by Tigger

In these times of Covid, you have to wait outside until a staff member can attend to you. The stand that you see in the picture has a notice incorporating a QR code. Using this with your mobile takes you to a website where you leave your name and phone number for Covid tracing, should this be necessary. All responsible businesses have some such system in place but this one is particularly efficient and saves time if you do it while waiting,)

Milk shakes and more tulips

As these pancake houses are patterned on Dutch ones, it’s not surprising to see tulips used in the decor. (They are plastic, by the way 🙂 )

Pancakes
Photo by Tigger

If, when I say “pancakes”, you think of these titchy little things your mum made or that you are served in cafes, think again. These are huge. I might be inclined to call them “Dutch pizzas” but that would be an insult. They are much better than that. The pancake itself is very thin and flexible. The toppings are of course what makes the pancake what it is and there is an extensive menu of these, both savoury and sweet. Tigger chose “Eggs Florentine” (foreground above) and I had the “Four Cheeses”. Both were vegetarian.

Flying geese sculptures
Catherine Marr-Johnson, 1984

Afterwards, we went for a walk and made our way to Battersea Bridge, where this pair of bronze flying geese are located.

Battersea Bridge

Battersea Bridge (opened 1863) is not a particularly beautiful bridge but it does its job. The tide was out meaning that there were great expanses of mud which, if unsightly, provided rich pickings for the birds.

The Thames at Battersea

The Thames nevertheless presented pleasant views and we enjoyed these as we walked along the south bank.

Albert Bridge

In the distance we could see the prettier Albert Bridge, towards which we were heading, shining whitely in the sunshine.

Wharf

We reached one of the several docks or wharfs that lead off the Thames through lock gates. This one had an interesting visitor.

Heron

The heron was motionless on the mud below us. What claimed his rapt attention we could not see.

We were now approaching Albert Bridge.

Albert Bridge

The Albert Bridge was built in 1873 but its design proved to be unsound and it was modified in 1884-7 by Sir Joseph Bazalgette. More information will be found here.

Battersea Park

A little further on from the bridge, we entered Battersea Park and found a pleasant area near the water where we could sit for a while enjoying the tranquil atmosphere.

The Peace Pagoda

We passed by the Peace Pagoda. We did not go up to it this time, though the details are worth seeing, if you have the time and inclination. More about it will be found here.

The Thames and Chelsea Bridge

Leaving the park, we continued along the south bank of the Thames. Our next goal was the bridge you can see in the photo, Chelsea Bridge. This is a relatively young bridge, being built in 1934-7 but it is also a Grade II listed building.

Ducks in a puddle

We were amused, and perhaps intrigued, by these ducks – two couples – who, with the whole Thames to exploit, had chosen to spend time in this puddle. It must have offered benefits though what they were eluded us humans.

Chelsea Bridge

We reached Chelsea Bridge and found that there was a bus stop right at its beginning. We needed no further encouragement and boarded a number 44 to begin our journey home.

Aboard the number 44

We later changed to a 19 which carried us back to the Angel. And yes, we did remember to pick up our cups from Jusaka on the way home!

We first checked out, arranging to leave our bags for collection later, and then went for breakfast at the hotel, just for a change.

Breakfast room

We chose the “continental breakfast” which entitled us to any cold items (cereal, yogurt, cakes, etc) plus coffee or tea.

Breakfast
Photo by Tigger

Portsmouth Museum

After breakfast we walked to Portsmouth Museum which we had planned to visit at some point. It was open and there were no Covid-19 formalities other than that we follow the designated path through the exhibits.

Sherlock Holmes exhibits

Unsurprisingly, given that Arthur Conan Doyle lived and practised medicine for some years in Portsmouth, a large amount of space was dedicated to him and his works.

Dodo (sculpture)

The museum has preserved animals and parts of animals. This fine dodo is a sculpture of that bird by Karen Fawcett. This was my favourite exhibit as I would have liked to have seen a live dodo.

Arctic Fox

This is the preserved form of an arctic fox. There were other similar exhibits but I chose these two as the most presentable.

Ancient four-poster bed

Dock worker’s home

This is a reproduction of the home of a dock worker in mid-Victorian times.

Watching TV

This room setting imagines how father and son might have watched television in a typical interior of the 1950s.

Organ of St Mary’s Workhouse

This organ belonged to St Mary’s Workhouse (built 1846). Those forced to enter the institution because of poverty and unemployment would have had to attend obligatory Sunday chapel services and sing along with the organ.

Funfair automaton

The notice on this exhibit invited us to insert 20p in the slot. I did so, all agog… but nothing happened 😦

Artworks ate exhibited too

The museum is also an art gallery with a wide range of works on view. Photography, without flash, is allowed generally in the museum but may be prohibited for certain art collections. Oh yes, and admission is free.

Hayling Ferry

We took a bus to Hayling Ferry which is right at the end of a narrow spit of land. Hayling Island is a short distance offshore, forming the entrance to Langstone Harbour.

Langstone Harbour and Hayling Island

It is a very pleasant spot on a sunny day. There are boats to watch as they go sailing by. People also bathe here.

Beach and sea

It was very quiet today, though whether it is always so, I do not know.

One more view

There was a marina and a cafe restaurant called Marina Bar where we went for lunch.

Veggie All Day Breakfast
Photo by Tigger

There wasn’t a huge selection for non-meat eaters so we chose the vegetarian all-day breakfast. (The specks on the egg, in case you are wondering, are black pepper which we always carry with us.)

Goodbye, hotel

We then returned to the hotel for the last time, to collect our bags. Then we took the bus (again for the last time) to the Hard and the railway station.

I took two quick photos for auld lang syn and then we went into the station.

We had a little while to wait for our train which arrived on time at 16:11 (or 11 minutes past 4 in old money).

We encountered the same lack of luggage storage space as we had on the journey here. We snagged 4 seats at a table. Covid-19 co-operates with us in this because no one would occupy the other two seats, anyway.

As I write these last few words, we are aboard the train which is hurrying us at a good pace towards Victoria Station, London, and home.

Is Portsmouth a good place to visit? Yes, I would say so. The historic naval town is worth exploring for its own sake but it also acts as a centre for trips further afield. We carry some very happy memories home with us.

In my post on Saturday (see To Portsmouth), I stated that this hotel is unusual in not providing a kettle in the room for residents’ use. Yesterday evening, curiosity prompted me to look in a cupboard. Guess what I found.

Hidden in a cupboard

They do provide these things but, for some reason, hide them away. Perhaps it’s an intelligence test.

As the title says, this is the day after; the day after my birthday, that is. Have you noticed how both the very young and the very old are apt to boast about their age while those in between are much more circumspect about the matter? In which category am I? Well, I will just say that I am nn years and 1 day old! 🙂

We caught a bus to the Hard and had breakfast at our “usual cafe” (see yesterday’s post). Then we set off on today’s expedition.

Passageway to ??

We started by walking down this passageway beside the station and buying a ticket at one of the machines. Where does it lead?

A clue

Yes, this is a clue and an obvious one: we are heading to the quay for the Gosport Ferry. We are going to cross the water to Tigger’s native land!

The ferry arriving

The ferry provides a regular service with crossings every few minutes. It docks with a slight bump and we start to board while arriving passengers leave by a different exit.

Setting off

Photo by Tigger – no comment!

Arriving at Gosport

The Spinnaker from across the water

For once we are seeing the Spinnaker from across the harbour with a good stretch of water between us. Even so, it still tends to loom and to appear in views of Gosport.

Cormorant

It is quite far away but you might be able to make out the cormorant perched on the furthest buoy. We saw several, some actively fishing.

A forest of masts – Gosport Marina

We went for a walk along the esplanade and on a jetty, passing the marina on the way.

Mary Mouse 2

We spied what appears to be a small lightship going by the fairytale name of Mary Mouse 2, though what its usual duties are, I do not know.

Holy Trinity Church

This is Holy Trinity Church, dating from 1696 and Grade II* listed.

Free-standing steeple

A curiosity of this church is its free-standing steeple. This includes a handsome clock which, unfortunately, is not working.

Narrow lane

We followed this narrow lane to the High Street.

High Street

The High Street is pedestrian only and quite busy. Banning traffic seems to be one way of revitalising high streets which have suffered a severe decline in recent years, partly owing to the spread of “shopping centres” (aka “malls”).

Poppins

We stopped here for coffee. Our drinks cost £5 but when I came to pay, the miserable so-and-so declined to accept card payment “for small amounts”. £5 is not a “small amount” and, in any case, his attitude is at variance with current norms where card payment is encouraged for all transactions to help avoid infection. Guess where we won’t be calling again.

Bus station

We next went to the bus station and there took a bus to Fareham. It is quite a long ride but there is scenery to watch streaming past the window.

The name of the town derives from its Anglo-Saxon original : ferne, meaning “fern(s)”, and ham, “village”.

West Street, Fareham

We went for a walk along West Street, which is also pedestrian only, and looked for somewhere to have lunch.

Slug & Lettuce

We chose the Slug & Lettuce because, having asked to see a menu, we found that they offered battered halloumi and chips (often known as “vegetarian fish & chips”), one of our favourites.

Old church
Photo by Tigger

Next to the modern building inhabited by the Slug & Lettuce is an old church. This has been incorporated into the restaurant.

Old church repurposed

Wotisit

On our way back down West Street, we passed this object. I don’t know what it is and so have called it a wotisit. Anyway, the pigeons seem to like it so therefore I approve of it!

A bus brought us back to Gosport where Tigger was hoping to see HMS Queen Elizabeth depart from the harbour. She was due to leave at 3pm on Monday but was delayed until 4pm today. However, departure has been delayed once more and so we will not be able to see it.

Coffee #1

So we retired to Coffee #1, a coffee bar we had visited on previous trips. (And, yes, they accepted card payments without turning a hair.)

Gambier Drinking Fountain

As we left and started for the ferry port, I photographed the drinking fountain that now stands at the crossroads. Dated to 1870, it was erected in honour of Admiral Robert Fitzgerald Gambier.

Goodbye to Gosport

Leaving the ferry

This is a quick snap of the ferry when we left it back in Portsmouth Harbour.

Black-headed gull

Tigger still had some pieces of pizza crust left so we sat for a while overlooking the water and shared these with whoever turned up. One if those was a black-headed gull who chased away any rivals.

Pigeon and juvenile herring gull

A pigeon and a juvenile herring gull joined the party. The herring gull was braver than the black-headed gull and came closer to pick up morsels. The pigeon was the bravest of all and seemed to have no fear of us humans, unlike the gulls.

The tide is in

Before leaving, I took this photo because the tide was in and the scene looks quite different from its aspect at low time when it is a stretch of mud.

This was our last full day in Portsmouth and tomorrow we return to London. For now, we returned to the hotel to make tea and sort our photos.

Leaving the hotel, we went to the bus stop. We have enjoyed two innovations with regard to the buses.

Electronic ticket

The first is that one can buy bus tickets on one’s phone with Apple Pay. This creates an easily identifiable electronic ticket that can be shown to the bus driver. The ticket includes a coloured band with a random word on it. This identifies the ticket as valid today.

Bus stop QR code

The second is that each bus stop has a QR code. You scan this and it gives you a display of the next few buses to arrive at that stop and how many minutes away they are. TfL, please take note!

Oasis

For breakfast we went to what seems to have become our “usual cafe”, Oasis. They were quite busy but as we were not in a hurry, it didn’t matter.

Bus station

Then we went across the road to the bus station and waited for the number 20 bus.

View from Portsdown Hill

This took us to Portsdown Hill from which Tigger wanted to show me the splendid views of which I include two photos. Above, we are looking towards Portsmouth. You might be able to make out the Spinnaker and in the distance, the Isle of Wight.

Looking SE towards Hayling Island

In this view we can see as far as Hayling Island and beyond.

Having admired the view, it remained only to take the bus back the way we had come.

Queen’s Hotel

We left the bus near this edifice, built in 1861 as a private dwelling called Southsea House and converted into a hotel in 1867.

Southsea Common

We crossed the common to the seafront.

Mozzarella Joe’s

As we felt it was time for lunch and Mozzarella Joe’s was nearby, we went in. There are tables inside but there is also a broad terrace right on the sea and that, of course, is where we chose to sit. In fact, we went on sitting there long after we had finished eating, with the kind permission of the management.

A view from the terrace

The dark line on the horizon is again the Isle of Wight and we watched the ferry and the hovercraft crossing back and forth.

Isle of Wight Hovercraft

The Isle of Wight hovercraft comes into its nearby dock.

Starling
Photo by Tigger

Where there is food there are hungry mouths. In particular, the terrace was patrolled by starlings like this one snapped by Tigger.

Looking for handouts
Photo by Tigger

People tend to feed the birds and the starlings are used to this and have become quite bold, like this one photographed by Tigger.

Gull gatecrashes

Other birds tried to gatecrash the feast like this gull.

A cormorant splashes down
Photo by Tigger

Tigger spotted this cormorant splashing down. A moment later it had already dived and disappeared.

We left Joe’s and went out onto the common. There were gulls resting in the grass but they suddenly became active…

Tigger had gifts to bestow

…on perceiving that Tigger had gifts to bestow. Some caught the morsels in mid-air in a fine display of flying skills.

From here we returned to the hotel for tea and a rest.

Portsmouth Grammar School

Later we went for the last outing of the day. Our lunch had been sufficiently filling for us not to need supper. We started with a stroll round the block where we encountered this impressive gateway. It is the entrance to one of the several buildings belonging to Portsmouth Grammar School, founded in 1732 and the city’s oldest school.

We then caught a bus to – guess where? Yes, you guessed it – to the Hard.

Evening over Portsmouth Harbour

It is not quite sunset but still a pretty view for all that. We had arrived at the magic hour when the flocks of starlings are murmurating. Clouds of starlings fly in apparently erratic patterns of flight until suddenly all plunging under the jetty on which we were standing to their night’s roost.

Crowd after crowd, large and small, flew their strange acrobatic flight before disappearing under the jetty as though sucked in by a giant aspirator.

A small murmuration
Photo by Tigger

I tried to photograph some of the larger murmurations but the birds are all but invisible against the dark clouds. Tigger succeeded in photographing this small group. How do the birds decide which of their number to follow? The rapid reflexes that enable them to follow the sudden twists and turns of their apparently random flight path are marvellous.

Starlings in the rigging

One group gathered in the rigging of HMS Warrior. At first, they were scattered along several lined but gradually moved in closer together. We kept watching, hoping to see them take off and complete their flight to the roost. Perhaps this was a particularly stubborn group that liked to wait until last because we eventually left before they made their move.

HMS Warrior at evening

Though I have photographed HMS Warrior before (several times), I have caught it again in my final picture of the day because it is always a fine and elegant sight.

We caught a bus back to the hotel and suffered a slight but amusing hitch. At the stop before ours, the driver, stopped the bus and explained to a passenger, an elderly possibly Chinese lady, that this was as close as the bus went to that passenger’s destination. The passenger did not understand and the driver explained it several times. She told the passenger which bus she needed and where to catch it. When the passenger did not understand the instructions, the driver said “I will show you” and thereupon, both passenger and driver left the bus and disappeared. If any of the remaining passengers (ourselves included) disapproved of this behaviour, none expressed their disapproval. We waited patiently for the driver to reappear, which she eventually did, climbing into the cab and continuing the journey.

We had only one stop to go and could have walked but I wanted to know the dénouement if the story and so we stayed to find out.

We walked from the bus stop to our hotel and took the lift to the third floor and our room where we of course made tea and ruminated on the day’s adventures. Thus ended my birthday in Portsmouth.