I wasn’t feeling at my best today and Tigger, being at work, was not there to inspire me and jolly me along. But the sun was shining and I had no real excuse for malingering, so I eventually managed to persuade myself to get up and go out.

An old friend – the Curvaceous Tree

To encourage myself, I started with a visit to an old friend, the Curvaceous Tree. Lit by sunshine, it seemed particularly benign with the wisdom of its great age.

One way to deliver them

I regularly see a pile of free newspapers here. They are still tied and I assume that the person charged with delivering them simply dumps them here. I wonder who removes them.

Something on the wall

Wandering through Myddelton Passage, I noticed a movement of something on the brick wall. Can you see what it is?

A squirrel

Squirrels receive mixed press, I know, but in towns people generally seem to like them. As a result, town squirrels are apt to be bolder than their country cousins, hoping passers-by will feed them, as indeed many do.

Watching me carefully

This one held his ground while I photographed him, no doubt hoping for a hand-out.

Spa Green

I passed through Spa Green but didn’t tarry there. I noticed that there were a few people sitting on benches in the sun but, to be honest, I felt it was a bit too chilly for that so I walked on.

Rawstorne Street

I crossed St John Street into Rawstorne Street. Its name comes from brickmaker Thomas Rawstorne who built the street in the late 18th century. Unlike the classic Georgian style houses, these, of fairly modest design, don’t have the open “area” giving access to a basement but instead have an opening in the pavement, covered with an iron grille, which provides some light to the basement windows.

Hermit Street

From Rawstorne, I entered Hermit Street, built in the early 19th century and also of rather modest style. It was originally called Buxton Street after Jedediah Buxton (1707-72) who was a rather curious character with a passion for numbers and mental calculation despite being relatively uneducated. The street was renamed in 1937 but why it was then called Hermit Street, I have not so far discovered.

Christmas decorations still

This window caught my eye because it is still apparently decorated as for Christmas. Perhaps they keep Christmas all year round in this house.

One of the neighbours

I spotted one of the neighbours, ensconced on a window sill perhaps hoping to be let in. Though he was aware of me, he evinced no interest and I respected his privacy.

Friend Street

Hermit Street leads into, or becomes, Friend Street. Originally called Brewer Street, it was renamed in 1936 in honour of George Friend, founder in 1780 of the Finsbury Dispensary.

Friend Street leads into St John Street and from there it is but a few steps to home where I rewarded myself with a pot of tea and a slice of toast with Marmite. Yes, in the Marmite stakes, I am definitely a fan.

Tigger sent me some of her photos taken on the way to work and here is a selection.

Once the Angel Hotel

Tigger photographed the dome of what is one of our favourite Angel buildings, once a hotel, now offices. If she needed an excuse (she didn’t!), it was because…

Perched on the mast

…she was intrigued by a bird that was perched right on the tip of the mast on top of the dome.

Here are some blossoms:

They say a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush but, personally, I prefer to see them at liberty in the bush, like this one:

A bird in the bush is where it should be

When I started this blog, SilverTiger at home and abroad, in July 2019, it at first received very few visits, as is usually the case with a new blog that has as yet to become known. In the early months, the blog might receive 2 or 3 visits a day. This did not worry me because, firstly, it was to be expected and, secondly, I was writing mainly for myself, treating the blog as a diary.

Some of the visitors came to the new blog from the old one, SilverTiger, and it is only fair to say that their visits and comments were most welcome and encouraged me to continue.

Gradually, though,over the one year and eight months of the life of this blog, visitor numbers have gradually increased and so has the spread of nations from which these visitors come.

To be honest, I am at a loss to explain why this is so. I cannot imagine what visitors, especially those whose first language is not English, can find of interest here, especially since the pandemic has, as it were, clipped my wings (can tigers have wings? 🙂 ), and I write about strictly local rambles. But there it is: people visit the blog and their visits are always welcome (especially if they click “like” or, better yet, leave a comment!).

What prompted me to put finger to keyboard today, however, is that yesterday was a bumper day for visits, both in the number of visits and the number of countries from which these visitors came. Please believe me that in posting these figures, I am not boasting. I am quite mystifed (though pleased, of course) as to how and why so many people have found their way here.

WordPress gives figures for the number of visitors and the number of “views” (the number of clicks on any prt of the blog). and provides a list of the countries from which they came. Figures for yesterday show:

210 views by 182 visitors

from these countries
(in order of number of views from each)

As I say, yesterday was a bumper day and I don’t expect to see another one like it. Then again, who knows? 🙂