Tigger was working from home today, spending much of it in front of the company laptop, fielding phone calls. We did break for lunch, making a quick dash down the road to Jusaka for coffee.

At 5pm, Tigger left work and came home. In other words, she turned off the laptop!

The Angel crossroads

After spending most of the day staring at the computer screen, Tigger fancied going for a walk to stretch her legs. Now that the clocks have been put back an hour, it is already dark at 5pm. It was also cold, cold enough to make our fingers tingle when we were back home in the warm.

Shops in Chadwell Street

At the crossroads we turned along St John Street and then into Chadwell Street. The main roads were quite busy and it was relatively quieter in the smaller streets.

The houses look different in the dark

I have photographed the neighbourhood’s Georgian style houses many times on our walks but this is the first time I have done so at night. The scene looks very different.

St Mark’s Church

St Mark’s Church was illuminated by spotlights but that still left parts of the building in shadow.

The “Curvaceous Tree”

I didn’t forget my “Curvaceous Tree” next to the church. It is looking bare, dispossessed of its summer foliage, but is illuminated by the street lamp on the corner. You can see a greenish light to the left if the photo. It was actually moving about and quite fast. I assume it was someone, a child perhaps, waving a torch about in the children’s playground behind the tree.

Fanlight with decorations
Photo by Tigger

I have written about the fanlights of these Georgian style houses before. They are a characteristic feature with a limited number of patterns. This is the first time we spotted one with snowflake figures in the central panel. I’m not sure whether they were there all the time and we didn’t notice them or whether in this house they have added them as a decoration.

Clothes at the reservoir
Photo by Tigger

Tigger took this photo at the reservoir. Someone has hung a number of garments in the railings. Are these perhaps unwanted items put out in case someone can make use of them? There seems to be quite a tradition in this neighbourhood of putting furniture and other items in the street to be repossessed by anyone who takes a fancy to them.

The Castle

In passing, I snapped the Castle pub, dark outside but lit up within. (Compare it with the photo of it in Sunday’s post.)

With a new lockdown impending, this and other pubs will be making the most of their last couple of days of being able to receive customers on the premises. From Thursday, they will be allowed to provide takeaway only.

We have noticed that a number of shops that previously did not sell food have suddenly started stocking food and drink. This is a transparent ploy to beat the restriction that allows only food shops to open during lockdown. I don’t know whether this is legal but, in the confusion, they will no doubt get away with it.

It is quite cold today and felt colder than the nominal 11°C cited by the weather forecast. It was good to go out for a walk but good also to go back home to the warm!