When my phone’s alarm clock woke me this morning, I remembered that when I came to bed, I had brought the central heating controller with me and put it on the bedside table. Good! I could turn on the heating and wait in bed for the flat to warm up.

In our tiny flat, the heating boiler resides on a wall in the bedroom and when it is active, a green light shines from a switch to one side. Today, the green light came on and that was that, as far as I was concerned.

After a while, however, I noticed the silence. When the boiler starts up, first you hear the thrum of the motor and then a steadily rising whine which eventually fades to silence. Today, I could hear none of those sounds.

I hopped out of bed and put my hand on the radiator. It should have been at least a little warm by now. It wasn’t. It was cold. I went to the bathroom and turned on the hot tap in the basin. Nothing. The water remained cold.

My next step was to open the boiler’s control panel. Two of the set of lights labelled A to D were flashing red. Not good. Then I checked the pressure. The needle was at the top of the green sector. So that was OK.

When they installed the heating, they explained to me that if the boiler failed to work, I should check the pressure. If it had fallen, I should twist open the two taps below the boiler and when the pressure reached the green, twist them shut. Over the years, I have done this many times but today there was surely no point as the needle was already in the green. Nonetheless, I gave it a short burst with the result that the needle bounced up and then resumed its position.

Still no response from the boiler…

I waited as patiently as I could for 8:30. This is the time at which the Council’s repair service opens for business. I called and obeyed the instruction to “Press One for gas boiler and heating problems”. I was rewarded with the sound of some awful music and, after a while, a recorded voice intoning “You are number… 2… in the queue.”

When a human answered at last, I recognised her voice. I have spoken to her many times in the past. She is unfailingly polite and pleasant; she listens to what you say; and does her best to help, usually with success.

I recounted my story of the malfunctioning boiler, explaining about the red lights and saying “I checked the pressure and the needle is in the green-“. Uncharacteristically, she interrupted me at this point.

“You need to increase the pressure,” she asserted. “Beneath the boiler there are two taps…”

It was my turn to interrupt. I felt she was not listening to me and so I politely reiterated that it can’t be the pressure because the needle was in the green.

“It has to be at one-point-five,” she stated.

“One-point-five?” I repeated mystified. “Not just in the green?”

“It has to be at one-point-five,” she repeated firmly, as to a child who is being obtuse.

Only half-convinced, I proposed doing as she bid me while we were still connected. She kindly agreed. At the boiler, I had to put the phone down while I twisted the taps. I left the taps open until the needle hit the top of the scale, then closed them. I picked up the phone and said:

“The red lights have gone out.”

“Yes,” she said. “They will, at one-point-five.”

I proposed going for the controller and trying the heating with her still on the phone. Polite as ever, she agreed.

I fetched the controller and set the temperature to 22°. I was rewarded with the thrumming sound of the motor and the rising wine.

“It’s working,” I said, relieved.

“Yes, it will at one-point-five,” said she.

I thanked her fulsomely and we parted amiably, as ever.

As I write this, the flat is warm, I have washed to dishes in lovely hot water and taken a bath. All’s well with my world.

Life is truly fine at one-point-five!

Although we had been out to do our shopping this morning, as we had not been out at all yesterday, we thought we could go for a walk this afternoon.

Tigger suggested that we could pay a visit to Duncan Terrace, as we had not been there for a while, and then loop back to the deli in Amwell Street. I think this turned out to be a longer stroll than we anticipated but it was good to stretch our legs and breathe some fresh air.

A sunny interval

Clouds had been predicted but instead, we found ourselves enjoying a sunny interval. It didn’t last but conditions remained bright and mild – even warm at 11°C!

Golden Horse, Torrens Street

This golden horse – well, half a horse, at least – in Torrens Street always intrigues me: where did it come from and what was its purpose originally? By a strange coincidence, Torrens Street was originally called Blackhorse Yard, though when it was renamed and which person called Torrens it memorialises, I do not know. If you look closely at the horse’s left leg, you can see that it has been broken and rather clumsily mended.

Duncan Terrace Gardens

On reaching Duncan Terrace, we decided to walk through the central gardens, rather than along the street. These gardens, as you perhaps remember, were laid out over the course of the New River which still runs but has been been culverted in many places, as here.

High rise apartments for birds

Many of the trees in the gardens have nesting boxes, though usually in ones and twos. Here, the installers of boxes have excelled themselves and constructed a veritable high rise apartment block for birds. Do the birds actually use them? I have never seen any activity around them but perhaps I have not been here at the right season.

Part of the pigeon colony

These gardens have their pigeon colony as all the parks and gardens have theirs. This seems to be their favourite tree or, at least, one of them. I stood under the tree to take the photo which was brave, not to say foolhardy, of me but I suffered no mishap!

Busy squirrel

Perhaps because of the spring-like weather, the squirrels were out in force, hopping here and there, looking very busy. This one popped out of the underground, took a look at us and seemed to say “I can spare you a couple of minutes as long as you have something for me. You haven’t? OK, then, bye!”

The Regent’s Canal

While we were in the neighbourhood, we went to take a quick look at this stretch of the Regent’s Canal, visible from here only as long as the trees are bare from the winter. Under where we are standing, it enters the Islington Tunnel. The story is that there used to be a cottage hereabouts for the tunnel keeper, but if so, all traces of it have disappeared.

Sunshine on the forecourt of the York

Leading off Duncan Terrace is Duncan Street. This led us to the main road, Upper Street, when the pub called the York stands on the corner. I took this photo for the welcome sunshine which shone becomingly on the tiled floor of the forecourt.

Upper Street

Upper Street, with its often heavy traffic, is not my favourite place to be but we did not tarry there long. We crossed into Berners Road where the Design Centre, anciently the Royal Agricultural Hall, is situated. The street takes its name from Lord Berners who laid the Hall’s foundation stone. Here we had an unusual sighting.

Urban fox
Video by Tigger

We spotted this fox, out in broad daylight, and apparently confused sbout where to go. Tigger’s reactions are quicker than mine, enabling her to capture this video.

I was afraid the fox would run onto the busy road and be hit by vehicles but, fortunately, he seemed to take fright and turn back. He disappeared in a clump of plants. There seemed nothing to be done but hope that he returned home unscathed and so we continued in our way.

Culpeper Park

We eventually reached Culpeper Park and, for once, walked through it and from there through a maze of streets (I let Tigger’s “Inner Pigeon” guide us and just enjoyed the sights!) to Penton Street.

Culpeper Park, by the way, was probably named after Nicholas Culpeper who published a book on herbal remedies in 1670.

Familiar territory – Amwell Street

Penton Street led us back to familiar territory. Here we are looking across a busy Pentonville Road into Amwell Street wherein lay our next destination – whose identity you can no doubt guess.

Myddelton’s deli

When we reached Myddelton’s deli (the aforementioned destination), there were customers already in the shop and we had to wait. It was worth the wait, however, because, having made us our coffee, they told us it was free!

“When you walk in, you make us smile and feel happy,” they said.

I’m sure they meant Tigger, rather than your dour old SilverTiger, but it was a nice compliment and made us happy too! A pleasant end to our prolonged walk.

As noted in my previous post, today is the fiftieth anniversary of an important event in Britain’s domestic snd financial life. The Guardian reminds us in this article, how, 50 years ago, Britain switched from the ages-old system of pounds, shillings and pence to the new decimal currency.

This was arguably one of the smoothest and most successful operations any British government has ever accomplished. I remember on “D-Day” going to a small stationer’s shop in Hendon to buy some small article – I forget what – and handing the assistant a pound note. These days, if you crack a note, shop assistants are liable to toss the change nonchcalantly onto the counter and leave you to pick up the coins yourself. In those days, it was still common for assistants to count the change into your hand. On this occasion, the young shop assistant did so, counting the new pence with perfect aplomb as though he had never used anything else.

This was typical and I can’t remember a single case of a shopkeeper, waiter or barman having the least difficulty handling the new coinage.

This was largely due, I think, to the long period of preparation. Pamphlets were issued and there were training courses for people who handled money in their jobs. It also helped that the main unit – the pound – remained unchanged. There had been campaigns to change the pound for a new unit, possibly called the Britannia, which, so its proponents argued, would fit the new currency better. The government – wisely, I think – remained unmoved by these demands.

The Guardian article glosses over a couple of points. The first concerns the value of the new penny. Dividing the pound into one hundred new pence meant that the new penny (and the adjective “New” continued on coins for a number of years) was worth 2.4 old pence. At the time, that was a problem because the old penny still had value. Many aticles were still priced at a few pence. For this reason, the very undecimal halfpenny came in with the new coins. Of course, inflation, then as now, steadily eroded the value of the pound and within a few years, the halfpenny disappeared, unmourned by the public but no doubt to the satisfaction of bankers and all businesses with computerized accounts.

The second is that not all businesses changed to the new decimal currency on D-Day. There was a period of grace, during which the old coinage could still be used while the businesses concerned made preparations to change over. If my memory is correct, this period of grace was one year.

Government information announcements advised the public during the changeover to keep old and new coinage separate – in difference pockets or purses, for example. In my experience, hardly any of the businesses I dealt with availed themselves of this period of grace. The only case I remember was a butcher’s shop in Hendon. The owner had in any case planned to close his business and saw no point in spending money making the change for the last few months of the shop’s existence.

While some new coins were brought into use on D-Day – principally the new two-pence coin, the one-penny coin and the new halfpenny – both old and new coins had been in circulation before D-Day and some old coins continued being used for some time afterwards. They were those coins whose value fitted both the old and new monetary systems: the florin (2 shillings or 10 new pence), the shilling (12 old pence or 5 new pence) and – rather a curiosity – the sixpence, which was worth 6 old pence and 2½ new pence.

The old-pence coins gradually disappeared along with those that did not fit the new decimal scheme. For example, the half-crown (two shillings and six old pence or 12½ new pence), the old penny and the threepenny bit. Fortunately, the old halfpenny had been withdrawn some years before.

Once the old coins had finally disappeared from circulation, new coins bearing the legend “NEW PENCE” were redesigned and replaced. The old shilling/5 pence became a new small coin, even smaller that the old sixpence. The old two shilling/10 pence coin was also replaced by a smaller version.

Later, two entirely new coins came into existence. The first was the 20 pence coin (worth the equivalent

of 4 shillings), unusual in that most other currencies seem to possess a 25-cent coin, rather than a 20-cent coin.

The bigger novelty, though, was arguably the introduction of the 50 pence coin, replacing the then 10 shilling (half a pound) note. It’s hard to imagine now how controversial it was. You have to remember that at the time it appeared, the old two-shilling/ten-pence coin was still being used. The 50-pence coin was only a little larger and it was asserted by some (without any evidence) that people would confuse the two, despite the fact that the 50p was six-sided, not round. I remember a bank clerk mournfully warning me that there would be confusion “particularly among old folk and now that the evenings are drawing in.”

Did anybody ever confuse the two coins? I never met anyone who admitted to such a problem. Since then, of course, the old florin-sized 10 pence coin has been replaced and the 50p has also been reduced in size but they are very different with little chance of confusion.

Do old fogeys like me still remember pounds, shillings and pence and regret their disappearance? I certainly remember them. They accompanied me throughout childhood and the early years of my adulthood. As a student, I worked part-time in a petrol station and remember with fondness handling the old coinage and composing a customer’s change so as to contain plenty of small coins, as this was more likely to produce a tip!

At school we learned to do arithmetic with pounds, shillings and pence. I remember having difficulty learning to do long division with sums of money until I suddenly “got it” and realised how it works! I felt very proud of myself for having worked it out!

If I took a trip in a time machine back to the 1960s or earlier, could I still manage my shopping with pounds, shillings and pence? It might time a short while for me to overcome the reflexes acquired from using new money but after that, yes, I am sure I would manage perfectly well.

My confidence stems from a visit we paid to a living museum. For the cafes and shops, you had to use old money and so we tourists obediently went along to the bank in the High Street and changed our modern cash for pounds, shillings and pence. Thereafter, during our visit, I used the old money. I had no difficulties at all. As my mother might have said, it’s like riding a bicycle: you never forget how!

Though Sunday is our usual day for shopping, we had to put it off this week. Tigger awoke on Sunday morning with a bad headache which refused to shift despite an adequate dose of headache pills and the application of tiger balm. There was nothing for it but for her to return to bed and hope to sleep it off.

Happily, Tigger felt a lot better today and was quite her usual energetic self. The shopping run was on again!

The weather today shows a distinct improvement over its recent performances. Though it had rained overnight and was still cloudy, it wasn’t actually raining now and the temperature had risen to a pleasant 7°C.

Busy Pentonville Road

The habit of Sunday shopping is so ingrained in my reflexes that I had to keep reminding myself that today is Monday, not Sunday. Pentonville Road, that has been unusually busy recently, even on Sundays, was even more so today, given that it’s a weekday.

Usually on Sunday, we only have to wait a couple of minutes before being able to walk straight across the road. Today, we had to resign ourselves to pressing the button at the crossing and waiting for the lights to change.

On shopping trips, I usually show you a couple of pictures of Chapel Market, which is normally at its busiest on Sundays. Today, though, is not Sunday.

Chapel Market: vehicles but no stalls

Monday is the one day of the week when the market is closed. It’s easy to forget this and to saunter down the middle of the road to be jerked back to reality as a motor vehicle nearly runs you down.

Shops are open

Though the stalls are absent, the shops are open, at least, those allowed to open under the rules of lockdown.

Sainsbury’s opens much earlier in the week, at 7 am, in fact. Our zeal for shopping does not extend to that improbable hour, of course, and we in fact toddled along at our usual time of 11 am.

Sainbury’s – not all that busy

We go to Sainsbury’s on Sundays when they open, thinking that they will be less crowded then. Today, however, perhaps because they had already been open for 4 hours, they were less crowded even than Sundays – a definite win.

I am keeping a critical eye on those products that we buy that come from abroad, particularly from the EU. For example, lovely French unsalted butter and Dr Karg crispbread from Germany. Today, there was butter but less than the usual amount on the shelf, while Dr Karg was entirely missing. I rather think we will see more and more such absences as the shops run out of supplies. I know that many of them had been buying extra over the last months of our membership but these supplies must run out eventually.

Chapel Market – turned into a car park

As usual after shopping, we returned along Chapel Market – which was full of parked vehicles – so that I could call in at Mercer’s for our coffees. If they noticed that we were a day late, they didn’t mention it! (Though, to be fair, we have called there on days other than Sunday.)

Today is the half-century anniversary of an important event in Britain’s domestic and financial life. Do you remember which event? If not, I hope to remind you in a post later today.

According to the Met Office, even though the sun is peering out shyly between clouds, the air temperature stands at -3°C. My use of the word “freezing” is therefore justified.

Notwithstanding the balmy conditions, we must go out, be it only to make a dash to Amwell Street for the purposes of buying coffee and collecting the laundry which we deposited on Tuesday (see The laundry goes to Amwell Street).

When I awoke this morning, the central heating thermostat was indicating a temperature of 15°C in the living room. I turned on the heating and made sure the flat was good and warm by the time we were preparing to go out. You probably know this but it’s perhaps worth mentioning, that it’s a good idea to warm yourself well before going out in the cold. If you’re cold already, you will quickly become even colder out in the street. Whereas if you are warm to start with, this will last you quite a while.

New gloves

Despite the cold, the snow has disappeared, except in the odd sheltered corner, and so I will not be taking the walking stick with me but I will be road testing my new gloves (see yesterday’s post). Will they be as effective as I hope?

———-

Pentonville Road – busy, as ever

When we set out, the sun was shining brightly and, as a result, it the cold was less than I feared… until the wind blew! The wind had an icy edge to it.

Sunshine in Claremont Square

The sunshine made it feel warmer than it was. I was wearing my new gloves and found that I could handle the camera perfectly well with them. The non-slip palms and fingers served their purpose perfectly. The only problem with handling the iPhone while wearing gloves is that these obviously prevent fingerprint recognition and if you want to open the phone you have to revert to using the PIN. I can live with that as long as they keep my hands warm!

Water leak

We noticed this water leak some weeks ago and so far nothing has been done about it. It is not a trivial leak, either, as this close-up shows:

Not a trivial leak

In 2017, this Guardian article stated that 20% of the water supply was being lost through leakage. We are being told that Britain faces water shortages in the near future. In view of this, this loss of one fifth of water through leaks is scandalous. Perhaps the situation has improved since 2017 but long-term leaks such as this one suggest otherwise.

The Reservoir – green not white

On Tuesday, this slope of the reservoir was white with snow. Today, lit by the sun, it has reverted to its more usual green. I hope it stays that way and that we have seen the last of winter snow.

The George and Monkey

The George and Monkey pub was looking cheerful in the sunshine but the tables, upended against the wall, tell their own story. There is still no definite date for pubs to reopen and in the meantime they must struggle to survive as best they can – if they can.

Reaching the shops in Amwell Street, we put on our masks and Tigger took the coffee tray across the street to Myddelton’s deli while I entered the dry cleaners’. I paid with Apple Pay, using fingerprint recognition. I have found this this does not respond well if my fingers are cold. I may have to huff on my finger tips to warm them.

We met up at the deli and started our walk home. It was my turn to drag the trolley.

Trolley loaded with laundry

Here is the object of our attentions. We’ll have to sort the laundry when we return home. Since our misadventures with the previous launderette, Tigger keeps a list of what we give them. We have then to check the returned items against the list. Will everything be present and correct this time?

If you wonder what’s in the white plastic bag that Tigger is carrying, here is a partial answer!

Coffee and custard tart

To reward ourselves for braving the cold, we bought some extras with the coffee. Tigger again had a “cruffin” but I preferred a Portuguese custard tart. Because of the cold, we needed to pop the coffee in the microwave for a little boost but, with that, it was fine.

What about the new gloves? My finger were stinging a bit from cold when I reached home but not as painfully as they have on other occasions without gloves. I think they performed well and – most importantly – didn’t cramp my style when using the iPhone’s camera. They will see a lot if use until the warmer weather returns!

Update at 4 pm

We have now checked the returned laundry against Tigger’s list. We found it all present and correct. This means that we can continue using this service for the foreseeable future.