Now you see her, now you don’t: that’s Ari’s motto!

Yesterday morning, Ari appeared in what I will for convenience call the NE (north-east) corner of the room but before we could photograph her, she descended rapidly behind the books on the top shelf nearby. She was invisible fir the rest of the day.

This morning she graced us with her presence, again in the NE corner.

Here’s a slightly enlarged version of the above:

I went for my walk, as described in my previous post, and, on my return looked for our peripatetic Ari. Not in the NE corner…

With my eyes, I followed the join between wall and ceiling, as this seems to constitute Ari’s running track. Yes! There she is, in the SE corner.

How long did it take her to come this far? Not long, probably, as she is a quick mover when she wants to be. I only regret I wasn’t there to see her moving.

She has remained perfectly still now for about four hours. When will she move again and where will she go?

See also Ari, the Spider

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As previously mentioned, Tigger is at work Wednesday to Friday each week at present, meaning that on those days I have to motivate myself to go out – if I do go out. Yesterday was wet and miserable and I felt no guilt about staying at home. Today was supposed to be cloudy in the morning with rain later (dixit the Met Office), so I thought I had better make an effort to go for a morning stroll. Imagine my surprise, on leaving the house, to find the sun shining!

Sunshine in Claremont Square

This is a familiar view, I know, but I took it to show you that the sun was definitely shining, pace the Met Office.

(Yes, I know that “proper photographers” don’t shoot directly into the sun like this but since I gave up using a DSLR in July 2019, I have abandoned all pretence of being a “proper photographer” 🙂 )

Looking down Pentonville Road

I had an idea of where I wanted to go and made my way along Pentonville Road to reach it. The photo is looking down the hill towards King’s Cross and on the right is Cynthia Street. I had picked out this street because, though we have crossed the end of it many times, I had never walked along it.

What’s interesting about Cynthia Street? Nothing much really, except perhaps for one intriguing detail.

Cynthia Street

As you can see, it’s now a rather nondescript sort of street, lined with rather anonymous-looking residential blocks.

Scooter: dumped or parked?

Beside one of the apartment blocks was this child’s scooter. This was no sign (or sound) of a possible owner so perhaps it has been abandoned for anyone to “own”, a traditional way in this neighbourhood of disposing of serviceable but unwanted items that others might find useful.

Private park

On the corner of Cynthia Street with Donegal Street, I found a small park or garden, complete with children’s playground. I naturally looked for an entrance, hoping to take a stroll in its greenery, but was disappointed: there are two gates but access is by electronic keypad only. The park, it seems, is private to the residents of the building.

How do Councils go about naming the streets within their jurisdiction? In some cases, it is obvious: streets that bear the names of the great and good who are thought to deserve such a memorial. Many others, though, have names whose origin is not obvious. Cynthia Street is a case in point.

This area, as I previously mentioned, was developed in the 18th century by Henry Penton. This street was then called Ann Street, after the third Henry’s first wife. (There were several Henry Pentons.) In 1890, it was renamed Cynthia Street.

There are many possible reasons for renaming the street but which is the one that applies in this case and who was Cynthia?

Once again, British History Online provided an answer – well, of a sort. On this page, we read that “Its [original] name no doubt honoured Henry Penton III’s first wife; the present name refers to the subject of the painted ceiling in Hermes Hill House.”

Hermes Hill is now indicated only by a the short Hermes Street and, as far as I know, Hermes Hill House no longer exists. Unless more information comes to light, we are left wondering who the Cynthia was that was represented on the famous painted ceiling and, later, in the name of this street.

Joseph Grimaldi Park

I walked down Donegal Street (originally called Henry Street after Henry Penton and renamed at a date and for reasons unknown to me) and came to Rodney Street and Joseph Grimaldi Park, both of which I described recently (see A grave, a garden and a canal.

Rodney Street

I took a photo looking along Rodney Street although it is not a very interesting street apart from bordering Joseph’s park and grave and leading to the relatively picturesque entrance/exit of the Islington Canal Tunnel (see the above mentioned post).

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School

I returned along Donegal Street where we find the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School. I noticed a certain amount of activity here, perhaps in anticipation of the imminent, if controversial, reopening of schools.

Penton Street

At the end of Donegal Street is the more familiar territory of Penton Street (no need to explain where its name comes from!).

The Lord Wolseley

In White Lion Street, I came upon the sad vision of what appears to be a dead pub. This Victorian establishment, originally called The Lord Wolseley and later rebadged the Craft Beer Co, seems in a parlous state, pending either demolition or redevelopment. We came here a couple of times for their Sunday vegetarian roast but will apparently not do so again. What fate awaits it?

Godson Street

Connecting White Lion Street with Chapel Market is this short street called Godson Street. It was created, I believe, in the later 1880s by clearing away buildings previously on the site and was named after forebears of the Penton family. Bollards along the centre are intended to make it pedestrian-only but as you can “drive” through it on Google Maps Street View, I conclude that one of Google’s vehicles must have traversed it.

Need the toilet?

The streets of London are not really paved with gold but in them you find practically everything else, often free, if only you know where to look! Even sanitary ware!

Stalls in Chapel Market

I took my last photo in Chapel Market where there were a few shops and stalls open. I think stallholders in particular must be hanging on grimly and hoping that with the Covid vaccination programme progressing well, we can look forward to an end to lockdown and a return to some sort of normality in the foreseeable future. That, I am sure, is a hope shared by all of us.