As Tigger’s week of holiday is passing apace, we decided to do something a little more adventurous today than a ramble in the neighbourhood.

Aboard the 73

We boarded a 73 bus, finding rear-facing seats at the back. These are our favourite seats on these buses because there is reasonable leg room and it’s near the rear exit.

Oxford Street

We left the bus in Oxford Street. As you can see, it is a damp grey day. It’s not cold, fortunately, as long as you keep moving.

Ramillies Place

From Oxford Street, Tigger led me through some backstreets which had the advantage of being virtually deserted. Needless to say, I had no idea where we were going but tagged along happily enough.

Ramillies Road

The Place led to Ramillies Road and this led, eventually, to…

Carnaby Street

…Carnaby Street. The street is still much visited and tries hard to seem as trendy and exciting as it was when it first sprang to prominence but the glitter of those days is long past. These days it’s a street of rather ordinary fashion boutiques.

Alley between builders’s screens

Then we scurried through more narrow ways, like this one hemmed in by screens put up for building works. These have at least been colourfully decorated by street artists.

More builders’ screens

Then it was a tunnel between more screens, not decorated, these.

Liberty’s

This at last brought us to Liberty’s store. The first door we tried was exit only while inside we found one if the staircases labelled “Up Only”. All because of Covid, of course. Happily, the store was not very busy. We took the lift (no one in it but us) up to the fourth floor.

Light-well from the fourth floor

I photographed the light-well, as I always do, partly because it’s impressive and partly because it makes me nervous. (Height phobia… 🙂 )

Post your wish-list to Santa here

A “feature” in the store is this facsimile posting box for children to post their wish-lists to Santa Claus, a “hook” to draw children, and therefore parents with money, into the store.

Reindeer

We came upon this patient creature in his corner. I’m not sure whether he is decor or is for sale. Either or both, perhaps.

So much to see

With four floors packed with stock, there is a lot to see, all of it good quality. We cane, we looked and we bought nothing.

Carnaby Street once more

We took the lift down (again as the only occupants) and exited into Carnaby Street once more. Then off we went through the by-ways again.

Name unknown

I don’t know the name if this passage though the banner at the end declares it to be part of something called the Newburgh Quarter.

Newburgh Street

This is definitely Newburgh Street which I suppose is the main axis of “Quarter” of the same name. It is pedestrian only which allows stalls to be set up in the roadway.

Group

In Ham Court, we paused to photograph this creation by Tony Cragg, entitled Group. I would describe this as “interesting” and leave it at that.

Arcade

We passed through another arcade, this one beside Shaftsbury Avenue, and after a few more twists and turns and risking life and limb crossing the busy roads, we arrived at Trafalgar Square.

The End

Whereas most of the statues and other objects in Trafalgar Square are permanent, the so called Fourth Plinth is used to show a series of artworks, each of which resides there for a period before giving way to a new one. The works have been known to cause controversy. This one, by Heather Phillipson, is called The End and represents a twist of cream, topped by a cherry. On it is a blowfly and, bizarrely, an object with four spinning propellors, looking rather like a drone. It is said to represent hubris and collapse. Make of that what you will.

Nelson on his column

The focus of Trafalgar Square is of course Nelson’s column. The victor of the Battle of Trafalgar has rested upon his pinnacle peacefully since 1843 but just recently there have been voices raised in criticism of his attitudes to other races and calls to have the stature removed. It is hard to imagine Trafalgar Square without Nelson. Could it possibly happen?

St Martin-in-the-Fields

A less controversial landmark is the nearby Church of St Martin-in-the-Fields. The surrounding fields have long since all been built on but the picturesque name survives. The church had a long history going back well to before the Normans though it has been altered and extended many times. You will find more details here.

Opposite Heal’s, Tottenham Court Road

We caught a bus at Trafalgar Square and changed in Tottenham Court Road. As it was a weekday, traffic was beginning to build up. Progress along Tottenham Court Road was very slow and we had a while to wait for our next bus. Part of the reason is that the creation of separate lanes foe cyclists has led to a narrowing of the road, sometimes reducing the width to single file for motor vehicles. Unsurprisingly, this has led to longer queues of vehicles and consequent delays and disgruntled motorists.

On the way home

When the bus arrived, the lower deck was full so we had to go upstairs. Fortunately, one of the front seats was free. These buses are very cramped on the upper deck but the front seats have a little more leg room.

This ride home ended today’s “adventure”.