London is preparing, and therefore so are we, to enter a Tier 2 lockdown from midnight on Friday. Among the new rules is one that we should avoid “unnecessary” travel and not stray beyond our locality “unless absolutely necessary”. We reckon that if this restriction is necessary from Friday night then surely it is necessary now. In view if this, we made today’s little ramble strictly local.

We started at Jusaka

We started (as those who know us will have guessed) with coffee at Jusaka. Coffee bars are still allowed to open, fortunately, as this is one if our little pleasures.

We next crossed the road into Duncan Terrace. We came here often on our lockdown rambles but today I had a special reason. A corespondent recently asked me about a certain address in this row and, in researching it, I learned that these houses had been built in two waves, numbers 1 to 10 first and 11 onwards some time later. I wanted to see whether it was possible to spot the difference.

Numbers 10 and 11 Duncan Terrace

The above photo shows the putative “join”. It is to the right of the left-hand front door, visible between the two parked cars.

And yes, you can see the difference. Though the bricks are the same snd have weathered to the same colour, you can see a vertical line in the brickwork and differences in the styling of the building. For example, look at the first-floor windows: on the left (number 10), they have straight tops (picked out in red) but on the right (number 11), they have arches. If you are interested in this sort of thing, you may notice other differences.

The house in question, number 12

My correspondent had asked me specifically about number 12 (see above) and so I was interested to see whether we could make out any indications as to its history. I could see none. It’s as plain, neat and tidy as its companions on either side. It’s not giving anything away.

Duncan Terrace and St John the Evangelist

We walked on along Duncan Terrace to Duncan Street. Before turning up this, I took a photo of the next section of the terrace and the sunlit tower of the Catholic church of Saint John the Evangelist.

The —-don Factory
Photo by Tigger

We used sometimes to eat at a small Chinese restaurant in Duncan Street. We knew it had closed down but we were trying to remember exactly where it was. It was here, and has been replaced by this curious establishment that seems to have lost its “Lon”!

The Tram Shed

We reached Upper Street where I photographed the venerable old Tram Shed, basking in the late sunshine. Trams used to run through Islington (and other parts of London, of course) until 1952 when they, and the electric trolley buses, were replaced by diesel powered buses, themselves now being replaced by “hybrid” buses running on diesel and electric batteries.

The Tram Shed is a reminder of the old times. For some years it accommodated an interesting collection of antiques stalls until the owners thought they could make more money renting it out to a sole business. A number of businesses have taken it on but none has survived for very long. I see that it is again empty. This must offer some grim satisfaction to the evicted antiques stall holders…

The Angel Centre

We passed through the Angel Centre, a place of shops, restaurants and a cinema. It is built on two levels and there are open areas and covered areas.

The Angel Wings are still there

The main open area is fenced off and some sort of building works are in progress. I hope this doesn’t mean that it is being built on as that will turn a pleasant open space into a claustrophobic closed one. The Angel Wings are still in place. Whatever you may think of them as art, they have become a familiar Islington landmark.

An aisle in Waitrose

Opposite the Angel Centre, in Liverpool Road, is Sainsbury’s and, next to it, a branch of Waitrose. This is where Tigger was heading.

Sweet biscuits
Photo by Tigger

We passed the shelves of sweet biscuits but ignored their blandishments. Our attention – I mean Tigger’s – was fixed on other things.

The tea shelves
Photo by Togger

Specifically, it (Tigger’s attention, that is) was focussed on the tea shelves where she hoped to find additions to what I am tempted to call her “Tea Library”, a growing collection of different types and flavours of Britain’s favourite hot drink.

Packing up in Chapel Market

The last leg of our homeward journey was through Chapel Market. A few stalls were still serving the remaining customers but the rest had either packed up or were in the throes of doing so. That must be one of the challenges of running a market stall as opposed to a shop. With a shop, at the end of the day you just lock the door whereas if you are a stall-holder, you have to set it all up every day and pack it all away at day’s end. With that and with being out in the open in all weathers, these stall-holders are hardy folk. They have my admiration, anyway!