Tigger is at work today and so I have to make my own entertainment. As our visit to Culpeper Community Garden last Thursday had been brief because of the rain, I decided to return today for a more leisurely exploration.

The weather was certainly favourable: the sun was shining and the temperature was nudging the mercury up to 17°C. I decided to wear my lighter coat but, even so, I was a little too warm.

Sunshine in Pentonville Road

This view along Pentonville Road will give you an idea of the conditions. Just look at that blue sky!

White Conduit Street

I crossed Chapel Market and entered White Conduit Street. Even though the market is closed on Mondays, there was a good deal of activity in and around Chapel Market.

The Culpeper pigeons

Crossing Toluddle Street, I of course stopped to visit “my friends”, the Culpeper pigeons.

Culpeper Park

Unsurprisingly, in view of the weather, the park was relatively crowded. There were quite a lot of young people of student age and some young enough to be using the children’s playground. This struck me as odd: aren’t they supposed to be in school?

Entrance to Culpeper Community Garden

The Community Garden was open. I went in and found that it too was crowded. People obviously find this amenable place to their taste.

The pond

The string barrier around the pond had been removed but the breeding season was still in progress to judge from the activity in the water. I spotted two denizens but whether they were frogs or toads I was unable to see. Their colours were too dark against that of the water for them to show up in a photo.

Another view of the pond

Though not huge, the pond is fairly extensive and well supplied with plants. A notice warns that the water is “deep”, so I imagine it must attract a lot of aquatic species.

Plots under cultivation

The garden has curvy paths for visitors to stroll along and open areas with benches and chairs where they can sit and enjoy the atmosphere. Much of the garden consists of plots under cultivation. These are all different and contain different combinations of plants and flowers.

“Burning bush”

My attention was caught by this bush. I don’t know its real name but in my imagination called it “burning bush” because that is what it looks like!

Denser vegetation

Some areas are more open and sunlit while others, as here, are denser, forming a welcome habitat for plants and wildlife that prefer shadier conditions.

Working on their plot

From this point on one of the paths, I could see a row of plots and people working in them. Later, I met and spoke to a lady who was a member of the community garden and she explained that they each have a plot of their own. She showed me hers which was well tended and she told me how much she enjoyed it. That, of course, explains why the plots are all different: each is designed and planted according to the choice of its owner.

Covered path or loggia

I photographed this covered path on Thursday but I photographed it again today because it is so pleasant and attractive. It is one of my favourite features of the garden.

Here are a couple more pictures of the garden, without captions, leaving them to speak for themselves.

Leaving the community garden, I decided to go for a little ramble round the neighbouring streets.

Denmark Grove

This short street is called Denmark Grove. It contains apartment blocks, each with its name.

Elsinore House

This one, for example, is called Elsinore House. Do you see a pattern forming? 🙂

Copenhagen Street

Denmark Grove leads out into Copenhagen Street, so I think we were right to detect a pattern forming!

Meeting a neighbour

In Denmark Grove, I met one of the neighbours who greeted me amiably enough but…

He has important business elswhere

…let me know he had important business elsewhere and departed.

Once an adventure playground

I went as far as the end of Copenhagen Street and found I had arrived at Barnard Park. I didn’t go in but contented myself with this photo of what was once an adventure playground. It has been closed off for years and stands like an abandoned village in a forgotten corner, quietly rotting away. (Update: according to an email received privately, the playground is still in use at certain times of day.)

Church on the Corner
once the King Edward VII

I photographed this old pre-Victorian pub, once called the King Edward VII and now repurposed as The Church on the Corner, and then made my way back along the way I had come.

Back through Culpeper Park

I crossed through Culpeper Park again – still crowded with people enjoying the warm sunshine – and thence into Chapel Market.

Mercer’s for coffee

Passing Mercer’s, I was tempted by the smell of coffee and gave in to temptation! Well, and why not? A pleasant end to a ramble on a sunny day.

We did go out for a third time today and, moreover, in the hours of darkness.

For a while now, the world has been enjoying a phenomenon commonly called a Supermoon when the our satellite is unusually close to the earth, affording spectacular views – weather conditions permitting, of course.

Tigger has been following lunar events with some interest, particularly from the point of view of photographing our celestial neighbour.

I mentioned that Tigger had recently acquired a new phone. On board, it has Apple’s best camera yet and Tigger was keen to try to obtain some photos of the supermoon with it. Unfortunately, as observational astronomers know only too well, the weather can always intervene to frustrate your best efforts. Today’s weather illustrates that point: the sky was obscured by fast-moving clouds that continually veiled the moon while allowing half-glimpses of it from time to time. However, as practised street photographers, we are long used to waiting patiently for a split second of visibility of our subject. So it was tonight with the moon in the cloudy sky.

St Mark’s Church from Claremont Square

I did make a couple of attempts at capturing the moon myself but soon desisted when it was obvious that, with my now relatively ancient camera phone, the results would be poor. Instead, I photographed a couple familiar scenes in unfamiliar lighting while keeping Tigger company. Above is a scene I have shown you many times but in an entirely new light – literally!

Myddelton Square at night

Photographing the moon in town presents the difficulty of obtaining a clear view of it. The moon tonight was relatively low in the sky (which is when it appears at its most spectacular, appearing large in comparison with earthly structures) and we had to find a position from which we had a clear view. Thus we walked around Myddelton Square in search of a gap between buildings. Having found one, we had to wait for moments when the clouds thinned which they never did entirely.

Here, then, are just four of the photos taken by Tigger. I have not edited them at all and so they are as they came from Tigger’s phone to mine via the wonders of wireless communications.

If you were to ask me which is my favourite, I think I would choose the last one because, although the moon is partially obscured by tree branches, that very fact somehow symbolises the our concept of the moon as intimately related to our lives on earth.