Barnsbury is the district immediately to the north of where we live but still “local” enough to include in our exercise outings. The name comes from the Berners family, who held the manor there in medieval times.

The weather today was mild (12°C) and our walk quite long. Here are just a few of the scenes that caught my attention along the way.

Cautious squirrel
Photo by Tigger

Our first encounter was with this small neighbour. Some of the houses in Pentonville Road have front gardens in which are large mature trees which provide ideal homes for squirrels. Not only that but the dustbins act as takeaway food outlets for them, thanks to the wasteful habits of humans. This squirrel was raiding a bin when we arrived and, to be on the safe side, took to the tree as we approached. When we stopped to watch, he too adopted a wait-and-see attitude, hanging upside down on the tree trunk. We continued on our way and left him to his food shopping.

Penton Street

We turned into Penton Street, which takes its name from Henry Penton who developed the area later called Pentonville from open country in the 18th century. Older black cab drivers will remember attending the office here where they were tested on “The Knowledge”.

We see our shadows…

In the religious calendar, today is the Feast of Candelmas which is known in the US as Groundhog Day. Both in Europe and the US, a popular tradition has it that fine weather today indicates several more weeks of winter weather whereas cloudy weather indicates an early arrival of spring. If Punxutawney Phil, the groundhog, can see his shadow as clearly as we can then both we and the US can expect more winter weather before spring returns!

Young Actor’s Theatre

We passed the Young Actors’ Theatre, which was locked up tight though I did spot some notices affixed to the railings.

“Drop off Here”

These notices, entitled “Drop off Here”, also read “Please line up against the railings behind you”. Ignoring the fact that the railings would be in front of anyone reading the notice, not behind them, I assume this dates from sometime before lockdown when auditions were being held and crowds of aspiring young stars were expected. Did they come; and were some selected? I do not know.

“Front Garden”

I was amused by this “front garden”. Why the inverted commas? Well, because behind the railings is the “area” or open space of the basement. So how does the tree manage to hang in mid-air so as to appear at street level?

Mystery solved

As the above photo shows, the tree is planted in a tub down in the basement and has a long, branchless trunk stretching up to street level. The poor thing is perhaps weakened by this abnormal development and a cord has been attached to support it.

Abandoned office chair

It seems that it is not only in our neighbourhood that people put out unwanted items in the street. Here is an office chair, apparently still robust if somewhat grubby. Let’s hope it finds a new owner before the weather causes further damage.

Thornhill Gardens

We stepped into Thornhill Gardens to take a look and enjoy the pleasant surroundings.

Fine old trees

The garden contains some fine old trees, such as these. (You know how fond of trees I am 🙂 )

There were promising signs of spring…

…such as these flowers and …

…these, shyly lurking in the background.

Bird feeder

I was glad to see this bird feeder and another one that I haven’t photographed. The park seems to be run be a group called Friends of Thornhill Gardens and they obviously care for wild life. The reward is the active bird population in and around the garden.

One of the parakeets
Photo by Tigger

Along with the more traditional local birds were a flock of parakeets, active and vociferous as they usually are. Parakeets are now so numerous that we might as well regard them as “native” British birds. I, for one, are fond of them.

Stately villa

We both admired this rather stately villa with a substantial tree in front of it.

The Albion

During lockdown pubs are closed, of course, but this one seems more than simply closed for the duration: it is boarded up, which suggests a change of fortune. Called The Albion, it has existed from at least the early Victorian era but may not do so for much longer, if appearances are anything to go by. What has fate in store for it?

The Draper’s Arms

In contrast, this mid-Victorian pub, called The Draper’s Arms, seems merely to be “resting” and awaiting the end of lockdown to reopen.

In recent decades, even before the downturn in trade caused by the pandemic, many pubs, which hitherto had no difficulty making a living, found themselves struggling, and quite a few have closed, either to be demolished or to continue in a new form, perhaps as restaurants or residential buildings.

The Rainbow

Barnsbury Road came to a sudden end and, with a shock of surprise, I realised where we were: the appearance of The Rainbow meant that we had arrived at Liverpool Road. Tigger knew exactly where we were, of course, but then, I don’t enjoy the navigational skills of her “Inner pigeon”! All we had to do was follow Liverpool Road down to “our” branch of Sainsbury’s and thence to home, albeit making a certain important call on the way.

Mysterious alleyway

There were still a few intriguing sights to take in on our way, such as this mysterious alleyway (probably not at all mysterious if you live here!) and…

Giant spiky plant

…this gigantic spiky plant in a front garden. (I’m sure it has a name but I do not know what it is – mea culpa.)

One of the neighbours

We met one of the neighbours but he made it clear that he was far too busy to waste time talking to us.

The Angelic

When we came to the Angelic (yes, another pub 🙂 ), on the corner opposite Sainsbury’s, we were once more on our home turf.

White Conduit Street

A few more steps took us through Sainsbury’s car park and into White Conduit Street. And what is on the corner of White Conduit Street? Why, yes, of course, Mercer’s coffee shop, destination of that important call I mentioned.

I remembered both to put on my face mask and to present our loyalty card (who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? 🙂 ). Then, coffee in hand, we hurried home, thus completing our Barnsbury ramble for today.