Today I had an appointment and I was not looking forward to it.

It started with an intermittent toothache. At first it was nothing very serious, just a little annoying but by Thursday was painful enough to make me think I should do something about it.

My usual dentist didn’t have an appointment in the near future so I called another dentist further along the road. I had been to them once before in similar circumstances. They gave me an appointment at 2pm today.

Tigger came with me and, anxious not to be late, we arrived before 2pm and needed to fill in a little time because I had been told not to come early.

Garden of St Mary’s Church
Photo by Tigger

The dentist’s surgery is almost opposite St Mary’s Church whose burial ground, like so many in London, has been turned into a public garden. We went there and sat on a bench for a few minutes until it was time for me to present myself at the surgery.

Reaching the door, I found that I was one member of a small crowd of patients waiting to be admitted. Every few minutes, the door opened and two of us were admitted. There was no order to this: if you were bold enough you thrust yourself forward and went in.

Inside, we were asked to treat our hands with sanitiser gel and then answer some questions as to whether we were, or had been, infectious or in recent contact with an infected person. My temperature was taken by scanning my forehead. Having completed these formalities and paying the standard NHS fee of £22.70[*], I was led upstairs to a consulting room.

The young dentist was pleasant and reasonably thorough. He took an X-ray, poked and prodded around the area from which the pain seemed to emanate and found… absolutely nothing. He thought that an adjacent tooth possibly needed some attention and that I should bring this to the attention of my usual dentist. Otherwise…

I did what was obviously expected of me: I thanked him and departed. Not that I was allowed to see myself out, of course. I had to be escorted to the door and seen safely off the premises. We can’t have patients wandering around loose on the premises, can we?

Outside, as arranged, I sent Tigger a text: “I’m out”. Tigger joined me and together we started for home.

Camden Passage

We went back by way of Camden Passage, once a paradise for antiques buffs and now a place of miscellaneous shops and eateries. It was eerily empty. Perhaps the antiques market that operates on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays had been suspended during lockdown and the closed shops left people with less incentive to come here.

A few shops were open
Photo by Tigger

There were a few shops open, all of a kind that could reasonably claim to be purveyors of food.

Pierrepont Arcade

This is called Pierrepont Arcade. It’s not obvious from the photo but you can walk right around the central building. This contains small lock-up shops selling antiques, vintage items and collectibles. The open space accommodates stalls on market days. It was sadly silent today.

Islington High Street

Camden Passage leads you here to what I am tempted to call “the other High Street”. In the distant past, both parts of the High Street, the section that today forms part of the busy main road, and this quieter side street, were simply and obviously “the” High Street. Time and road planners have led to this section becoming something of a backwater. I suspect that many people are not even aware that it is part of the High Street.

Here is the screen…

We came out into Upper Street where this now famous small cinema stands. Its name, Screen on the Green, reflects the fact that it is just opposite Islington Green, a pleasant small park.

…and here is the Green

Islington Green, as I think I have mentioned, is all that is left of what was once common land upon which all could freely graze their cattle. Now they can walk their dogs instead. There is also a hint that beneath it lies one of London’s plague pits, a circumstance which, for all I know, might have contributed to its survival as open land. Puzzled by the sign reading “Giddy Up”? See next picture.

Coffee in the park

There are a number of small roadside coffee stalls in Islington. While the coffee shops are closed during lockdown, meaning that you cannot sit inside to drink you coffee, an alternative is a stall in the park with its convenient benches!

Islington Green War Memorial

We stopped to have a look at Islington Green War Memorial. Its design has raised some controversy and the ground underneath it needed work to stop it sinking but it is here to stay and has become an accepted part of the scenery.

We continued along Upper Street into the better known part of the High Street and thence to the Angel Crossroads and our friends at Jusaka. We bought our coffee and hurried home with it where it formed part of our late lunch.

My toothache has subsided for now and I hope it stays that way until whatever is causing it can be dealt with. I have had toothaches before that have melted away as mysteriously as they arrived. Perhaps this will prove to be another such. We can but hope.

Finally, here are some pretty flowers from Tigger.

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[*] Dentistry is the only NHS service for which the patient is required to pay part of the cost. The exact reasons for this, I do not know, but I consider it a blot on the otherwise splendid reputation of the NHS. I might add that even this payment is waived for certain low income categories.