We started with a ritual visit to Jusaka but found it closed. A notice on the window cited a water leak as the cause. Will they be open tomorrow? Time will tell.

Islington High Street

We set off on a ramble, intending to find coffee along the way. At midmorning on a weekday, the streets are busy. The main road starts as Islington High Street until it reaches Liverpool Street on the left on from then on is known as Upper Street. I suspect that many people are unaware of this and think the whole belongs to Upper Street.

HSBC Bank
previously the White Lion

On the corner of the High Street and White Lion Street stands this handsome building. Today, the ground floor is occupied by the HSBC Bank and I assume the upper floors are offices. This is the site of the White Lion inn from which the street takes its name. The original inn dates from 1714 but I don’t know whether this is the original building or (as I think more likely) a later rebuild. More work needed!

Antiques stalls, Camden Passage

Leading off to the right and running parallel with the main road is a lane lined with shops and restaurants called Camden Passage. It was once known as an important centre for antiques shops and stalls (there is an antiques market on Wednesdays and Saturdays) but since the antiques stalls were evicted from the Tram Shed, a decline in the antique business has set in. Today there were some stalls operating but very few compared with the antiques heyday.

Camden Passage itself continues to be a lively place with a mixture of shops and restaurants.

Kiperl, an Austrian-style coffee house

We happened upon this Austrian-styled coffee shop called Kipferl. We had to queue for a short while but, once inside, found plenty of tables free.

As is becoming common in restaurants, each table has a card bearing QR codes. These enable you to register your presence and present you with their menu.

Coffee and cake
Photo by Tigger

We had come in for coffee but allowed ourselves to be tempted by the display of cakes. (Note that they serve a glass of water with each cup of coffee.)

Islington Green

Camden Passage eventually merges into the main road near Islington Green but here, that main road is Essex Road that branches off Upper Street to the right.

Essex Road

Essex Road is, like Upper Street, lined with shops, cafes and other businesses. Though perhaps not as busy as Upper Street, it is just as interesting and had its own character.

Alfredo’s Snack Bar

Very noticeable (not least for the now improbable prices of its ice cream) is this Grade II listed cafe restaurant. Originally called Alfredo’s Snack Bar, it dates from the 1930s. Its chrome and Vitrolite decor suggests (to me, at any rate) the American diners of the period. We came here often at one point when it was a branch of Sausage & Mash. As well as the usual meaty sausages, they served very tasty veggie sausages and gravy. They are missed!

South Library

South Library is one of Islington’s five public libraries. On the drainpipe hoppers its completion date of 1916 is still proudly displayed. It is Grade Ii listed.

Elaborate doorway

In contrast to the relatively plain façade, is the elaborate doorway with its recessed window and deep pediment. It bears a motto in Latin: DEUS PER OMNIA (“God pervades all”), though why this is so I do not know. Islington’s motto is WE SERVE.

Street art portrait

On a side-street wall we spotted this large piece of street art. I don’t know who the artist is (if any of the scribbles are a signature, they are not legible). The included text, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world”, is often ascribed to Mahatma Ghandi and the portrait is therefore presumably meant to be his though, personally, I don’t find it a very good likeness.

Discount store window display

Tigger needed to make a purchase and went into this discount store while I waited outside. The window displays contains a mixture of face masks for Covid and fantasy Hallowe’en masks, making a curious contrast.

Old Carlton Cinema

This is the old Carlton Cinema, built in the 1930s and famous for its decor inspired by Ancient Egyptian motifs. Like many cinemas, this one became a bingo hall and was more recently occupied by a religious group. It looks rather abandoned at the moment but perhaps that is just a result of the pandemic.

How we live now – queueing at the Post Office

We noticed this scene on a street corner. I think the picture and the caption say all that needs to be said.

White building – unknown history

Our attention was caught by this large white building, prominent on its corner site. I think it is residential now but looks as though it was built for some other purpose, as a business company’s offices, perhaps. More than that I cannot say. Perhaps more information will turn up later.

Once a bank, now a betting shop

A painted-out inscription on the doorway pediment declares this building to be a bank though does not say which bank. In any case, it is no longer a bank but a betting shop. Neither with this building have I been able to discover its history. Islington still had plenty of secrets to elucidate!

At this point, we felt we had walked enough and so caught a bus back to our district, watching the path we had travelled but now in reverse as though running a film backwards.