After a rest and a late lunch, we went out for a walk. By now, the sun had put in an appearance but the temperature had not risen and, in addition, there was an icy breeze. It didn’t take me long to decide that I needed to wear my gloves!

Islington High Street

We set off along Islington High Street where it runs beside the tram shed. (Yes, that’s my shadow.)

Cats and rabbit tea party

In Camden Passage is a Japanese tea shop in whose window are a number of unusual ornaments, including this collection of miniature figures representing cats and a rabbit having a tea party.

Frederick’s

Nearby is what looks like an old pub, now called Frederick’s and advertising itself as a restaurant.

Is this Frederick?

Prominent on the façade is a portrait of a gentleman in Regency dress. Is this Frederick? I have no information about the history of this presumed old pub, unfortunately.

Butterfly

We progressed downhill to the canal where, in a tree, we spotted a butterfly. Not a real one, obviously, but perhaps intended as an artistic creation.

Tree absorbing railings

This tree, finding itself uncomfortably limited by the railings, has adopted the solution of growing around it and absorbing it.

Activity on the canal

There was a lot of activity on and around the the canal, on the water and the tow path. I was glad to remain in the street where it was quieter.

Strange fruit

This tree has produced strange fruit that looks very much like a pair of shoes to me!

Landscape with chimney

This landscape appealed to me because of its mixture of old an new buildings. The chimney belongs to Diespecker & Co. They were founded here in 1881 and are still going. How many of the modern buildings in the view will still be here 140 years from now?

City Road Lock

This is a view if the canal near the City Road Lock. It seems to provide a place where barges pause a while – and also people. Why there were so many people there, I did not care to enquire!

Absurdly tall building

We crossed City Road near this absurdly tall building, more a testimony to someone’s overweening lust for money than to utility, let alone beauty. When I see such a monstrosity, I wonder who would want to be living at the top when fire breaks out. No fire service in the world could rescue you from up there. I live on the ground floor and am grateful for it.

Church of St Clement with St Barnabas

We went to take a look at the Church of St Clement with St Barnabas. The name probably means that there was once a separate Church of St Barnabas that closed owing to reduced attendance and its parish was combined with that of St Clement.

Mosaic, probably of St Clement

Next to the church is the priest’s house which sports this mosaic of a saint. The fact that there is only one face – probably meant to be St Clement – supports my theory. The church, incidentally, dates from the 1820s and is Grade II listed.

Squirrel

The above picture of the church was taken from King Square Garden (which we visited yesterday) and we continued through to the main road. On the way, we met a squirrel who watched us carefully for a while. I was sorry to disappoint him!

We continued up Goswell Road towards the Angel and I was looking forward to reaching home, and enjoying a cup of tea in the warm. My last photo was of this “redacted” plaque.

“Redacted”

The plaque resides, with three others, on the façade of a building whose occupants were once a company engaged in overseas trade, of which the plaques represented aspects. This plaque, now painted uniformly blue, represented a black field worker picking cotton, presumably a slave. I remember seeing it in its pristine state. The current occupants, responding to today’s greater sensitivity to such matters as the role of black people and slavery, have felt it better to veil the picture though I am sure that one can make out the details if one wants to do so.

And, finally, here are some flowers from Tigger:

Flowers from Tigger

Just as we thought that spring was here, the temperature has slipped down a few points (9°C) and the sun has yet to put in an appearance. Then again, the path of British meteorology was never smooth and our weather can change from one minute to the next.

Crossing lights out of action
Photo by Tigger

It’s usually not too hard to cross the main road at 10:45 on a Sunday morning but it wasn’t helped today by the crossing lights being out of action. At least repairs are in hand.

A touch of mist

There was even a touch of mist in the air as I tried to show with this photo of White Lion Street, but the mist is so slight that you probably can’t see it.

We found a queue at Sainsbury’s

We had intended to reach Sainsbury’s somewhat after 11 am in order to avoid queueing but, guess what, we arrived earlier than we meant to and found ourselves in a queue.

Queueing outside shops used to be thought of as a quaint memory of wartime but, under the influence of Covid, it has returned. It is noticeable how calmly people queue, showing that it is now considered a normal everyday activity. There is no impatience, no pushing and shoving, just a kind of dull acceptance.

Happily, the queue began moving shortly after we reached it and we were soon inside the store.

I think we went round the shelves in record time today and found a checkout with no one waiting. So fast we went that, as we left, I almost expected to meet ourselves arriving!

Not many stalls but still busy

There were fewer stalls open in Chapel Market than is usual for a Sunday but it was quite busy even so.

Queueing for Marks & Spencer’s

As usual, I went in ahead of Tigger to buy the coffee but I stopped to take a photo of another queue, this one for Marks & Spencer’s.

When Covid is finally beaten (and I prefer to say “when” and not “if”, as some pessimists insist), will we look back on queues, masks, distancing and “bubbles” as a strange nightmare interval in our history, never to be repeated? I hope so but I also hope that what we have learned from this pandemic will enable us to meet any future repetition better organised, though I somehow doubt that the lessons have really been learned by those responsible for our safety and wellbeing.

Old market wagon

There are still a few of these old market wagons in use. They are no doubt as useful now as when they were first made though with passing time fewer and fewer of them remain outside of museums.

The world from inside Mercer’s

Yesterday, we heard the sad news that one of our favourite coffee places, Jusaka (mentioned often in my posts), will not open again. Like many businesses, it has fallen victim to the pandemic. Finding myself the only customer in Mercer’s today made me hope that that this is not a bad sign and that they will survive the crisis.

Life will be different after Covid, I think, perhaps in ways that we cannot quite see just yet. This, combined with the idiocy of Brexit, may mean that hard times lie ahead but what we cannot change we must perforce endure.

It was another warm and sunny day today and, best of all, Tigger was with me. We took a longer than usual walk and needed to take “special measures” to return home!

Repair work at last

Has Thames Water been reading my blog? How many times have I mentioned the water leak here? Now, at last, work is in hand to repair it. In typical fashion, they have dug a hole, put barriers round it and then left it, no doubt satisfied that they’ve done a day’s work. When will they finish it? I don’t know but don’t hold your breath…

Blossoms by the church

We decided again to take our coffee into the gardens in Myddelton Square and go for our walk afterwards. Beside the church, we found this bush covered with blossoms.

Hoverfly on a flower

There was even a hoverfly in one of the flowers. It was very still, unlike their usual behaviour in spring and summer. Perhaps it was not yet quite ready for the excitement to come.

A fine old tree

We had the same problem as I had yesterday: there were large numbers of people about everywhere. People in the park were spacing themselves out nicely, but this meant that all the benches were occupied… all except one, happily! I photographed this fine old tree, one of many here and in other Islington parks.

A random pattern? Or not?

Its pattern of twisting branches makes a fascinating study: it looks random but I’m sure it’s not.

My friends, the pigeons

“My friends, the pigeons”, as Tigger calls them, seemed to be having a fine time in the sun, running about, finding titbits to eat and engaging in courting displays. They made me smile.

Church and gardens

I took this video as a retrospective view of the church and the gardens where I had enjoyed my coffee and watching the pigeons.

Who’s that meditating in the telephone kiosk?

Starting our walk proper, we crossed St John Street to near the Dame Owen pub where we saw this figure apparently sitting in meditation in a telephone kiosque. Of course, it wasn’t a real person but a cleverly placed piece of cut-out art. In this age of mobile phones, public phones are used less and less and are not so regularly maintained as before. As a result, many strange things are being done to them. This artwork is a pretty benign intervention and does not prevent the kiosque being used, though the handset looked broken

Northampton Square Gardens

We arrived in Northampton Square and our second park. This is a small but neatly kept garden with “NO DOGS” painted in large letters on the ground at each entrance. And, true enough, there were no dogs in the garden. We did not stop here though we strolled through and took it all in.

The Bandstand

The square is the proud possessor of a fairly large bandstand. This is unusual in residential squares but I know two others in Islington that also have them. Another unusual feature is that this one was built fairly late, in 1930. It was used – at its inauguration – but probably not much since them. I was amused by the “NO BALL GAMES” notice posted inside.

King Square Garden

Having passed through a couple of not very interesting streets, we reached our third park, also the garden of a square, King Square Garden. This is larger than the previous one but doesn’t have a bandstand.

Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe

I use the caption with apologies to Édouard Manet who used it first! These two, making use of the warm weather to enjoy a picnic, were not the only ones we saw doing so.

An ancient tree though precariously placed

This park also had some venerable old trees worthy of my admiration, including this one which was easy to photograph because of its precarious position beside the railings. Still, it has been here for a long time so I hope it can continue to thrive.

Trees in bloom

We saw a lot of trees and shrubs in bloom. It is as though they were holding themselves ready and the sunshine yesterday and today has acted as the signal for them to burst into flower. So much beauty and perfume as well!

Palm tree

This was perhaps the most exotic of the trees we saw today. It is far from home but seems healthy enough.

By now I was feeling rather tired as we had walked a long way. Walking home from here would have been rather a trek, especially as there would be nowhere en route where we could stop for rest and refreshment. So when Tigger proposed a solution, I needed no persuasion.

Here comes the bus
Photo by Tigger

The solution was to take a bus back to the Angel. We did not have to wait long before one arrived.

On the bus

We were the only passengers at first and then one other person joined us briefly.

Chapel Market

Tigger needed a couple of items of shopping so we made our way to Chapel Market. There were just a few stalls open but it was the market’s closing time and some piles of rubbish showed that other stalls had been present but had been dismantled.

Still quite busy

While Tigger was in the shop I waited outside and observed the scene. Despite the departure of most of the stalls, it was still quite busy with shoppers and others.

Plants and flowers

Eventually, Tigger emerged from the shop and we made our way home. My last photo of the outing was of the plants and flowers stall, still doing plenty of trade.

Relaxing at home with a pot of tea, I was glad to rest. It had been a good, long walk and the warmth and sunshine had added to the pleasure.

Tigger sent me this photo from her journey home from the office yesterday evening.

The moon and the city
Photo by Tigger

This is the weather picture presented by the Met Office today:

Met Office forecast

I felt I should make the most of it, especially as there are rumours of an approaching cold snap.

Features detailed by the sunlight

On arriving at the Angel crossroads, I was struck by how the sunshine was at just the right angle to pick out the details in the design of this building.

Modern buildings, making a contrast

On the opposite corner, these modern buildings made a contrast with the above though the sunshine enhanced their appeal also.

Duncan Terrace Gardens

Crossing City Road, I went into Duncan Terrace Gardens. Here too the sunshine enlivened the scene.

Red flowers

As if to emphasise the feeling that spring almost here, these red flowers added an engaging splash of colour.

Natural chiaoscuro

The low sun cast long shadows, creating a scene of charming natural chiaroscuro. (And yes, I remembered to hide my shadow!)

Regent’s Canal, still visible through the trees

At the end of the gardens, I crossed the road to take a look at the Regent’s Canal, still visible through the trees, as yet bare from winter.

At this point, the notion entered my head to take a walk along the canal, following the left, sunny, tow path. Why wasn’t that a good idea?

A steep path

The path from the street down to the canal is quite steep. I can imagine that in wet weather and, worse still, icy conditions, it could be treacherous. Even today, I preferred to keep my hand on the rail as I went down.

On reaching the tow path, I had second thoughts: the path was crowded with people! I should have guessed it would be from the number of people in the gardens.

The Islington Tunnel

I contented myself with a quick photo of the entrance to the Islington Tunnel, albeit from a not very favourable angle, and made for the path again.

Some people were behaving circumspectly, leaving space between themselves and others, but quite a few were behaving as though they had never heard of Covid. I stood back and waited until the path was clear but, inevitably, I met people coming down.

Paddington Bear peers through the fanlight

Casting about to see where to go next, I happened to glance at this door in Vincent Terrace. Behind the fanlight I saw Paddington Bear looking out at me!

Colebrooke Row Gardens

I entered the second part of the gardens which changes its name here to Colebrooke Row Gardens. These gardens, perhaps you recall, follow the course of the New River that now runs below them. This part is characterised by its collection of rocks.

Wood pigeon

While these gardens are visited by feral pigeons, they also have their resident wood pigeons, like this plump individual. Wood pigeons are heavier and less quick on the wing than their streetwise cousins. Perhaps the pressures of living among people and traffic have made to latter more agile.

Walking the rabbit

A little further along, I saw this man carefully place something on the grass and then stand back to watch. I assumed it was a small dog but no, it was a rabbit!

He told me that he brought the rabbit to the park every few days for her to run about. He added that he had to time it carefully for when there were no people with dogs! The rabbit hopped about, nibbling a leaf here and there. I wondered whether she had come to expect these outings and to look forward to them.

People are contrary

Why is it that people can’t seem do as they are asked, even the things that are sensible and easy to do?

Old St Peter’s Church

This church with the unusually slender spire is or was St Peter’s, a Grade II listed church. Decommissioned as a place of worship, it is now an apartment block.

Old St Peter’s Church

Built immediately before the beginning of the Victotorian era, it is still an impressive sight. I wonder what the apartments are like.

The Duke of Cambridge

Where there’s a church, there’s usually a pub – at least one! – not far away. Near St Peter’s is the Duke of Cambridge, still closed, of course. What amused me, though, was that there were a couple of people sitting at he outside tables just as though the pub were open as usual.

Bell not working, please knock

Here is another case where modern technology has failed, causing a return to old-fashioned and more reliable methods. Unfortunately, the door knocker was removed at some time in the past, meaning that callers have to rap on te door with their knuckles.

Landscape with people

I took this photo to remind myself how crowded it was in some places and how irritable this made me though, of course, if there were too many people about, I was one of those people and others possibly found my presence as annoying as I found theirs!

Here is a happier note to end on: I spotted this squirrel busy among the branches apparently enjoying what he found there.