After lunch, Tigger proposed a trip to Victoria and from there to St James’s Park.

Catching the 38

Accordingly, we masked up and caught a number 38 bus.

Victoria Station

We arrived at Victoria Station and went inside. The first purpose was to check the “facilities” and make sure they were open. They were, so we could come here if need be.

Inside the station

Stations are apt to be busy places but as it was still early afternoon it wasn’t too crowded.

Visiting a shop

The station has upper area with shops and food outlets. We went for a look and found that many were closed but one or two were open. One of these was Hema and we paid it a visit. This is the first time I have been inside a shop (apart from Sainsbury’s) since lockdown was imposed. Quite an event, in its way.

Near the station is a public garden. It is shaped like two triangles touching one another by one corner each and the parts are called Grosvenor Gardens and Lower Grosvenor Gardens, respectively. We had noticed something interesting in the gardens as our bus went by and now returned for a look.

Small, Medium, Large
Richard Woods

What we had seen was in fact a work of art, by Richard Woods, entitled Small, Medium, Large. This website provides an explanation of the work.

In the second photo above, you may notice that there is a rough sleeper asleep against the end of the artwork. Perhaps the art provides some shelter from the cold wind.

Little Ben

Near Victoria Station, at a crossroads, stands this pretty tower clock. First installed in 1892, it was refurbished and reinstalled in 1964 by Westminster Council with the help of Elf Aquitaine UK as (according to the plaque) “a gesture of Franco-British friendship”.

Presumably a work of art

Passing through a shopping mall, we spied this object of green glass. It’s presumably a work of art though I didn’t see a plaque.

Icon above a door

On a street corner, we saw this small tableau or icon above a door. I assume it has religious significant though I could be wrong. It reminded me of our visits to Flanders where there are religious sculptures on many street corners.

Beds of flowers

The sight of these vividly coloured beds of flowers indicated that we had reached St James’s Park.

Buckingham Palace

St James’s is a royal park and nearby is the royal residence of Buckingham Palace. All around the palace was still and quiet, the lack of traffic and tourists contrasting with “normal” times.

St James’s Park Lake

St James’s Park is quite large (23 hectares or 57 acres) and has different areas of flower beds, trees and a lake. It also has a sizeable cafe, currently closed. I was pleased (relieved even) to discover that the park’s toilets were open for an entry toll of 20p (electronic payments only!).

The park is big enough that you need to decide what to concentrate on, whether strolling or lounging, for example, or, more to our taste, watching the birds on and around the lake. There are dizzyingly many birds and different species, attracted no doubt by the abundance of food, some natural and some provided by human visitors.

Black swan

One of our first sightings was of this black swan, one of several on the lake.

People come to the park to feed the birds and the birds have become used to this and to putting aside their usual caution. Several people had birds perched on their hands feeding.

A pigeon muscles in

This lady has perfected the technique of holding bird food in both hands while providing fingers for parakeets to perch on while eating. All was going well and calmly until a pigeon tried to muscle in and knocked one of the parakeets off her hand.

Pigeon frenzy

Someone must like pigeons as much as I do! I have often shown you pigeon photos but none quite as animated as this scene!

Amazingly many coots

We sat on a bench beside the lake and watched the water fowl. Along with ducks, geese, moorhens and other species, coots are present in huge numbers. I have never seen such a concentration of coots anywhere else. Despite their small size, they are quite aggressive at defending what they consider their territory and we did see some scuffles but for the most part, they were willing to co-exist. I can only think this is because there is plenty of food for all.

A flotilla of pelicans

At a particular moment, a flotilla of pelicans went past. Fortunately, they did not approach but continued on their way. I say “fortunately” because these birds can cause trouble. It’s not unknown for one to scoop up and swallow a live pigeon, to the fright and disgust of onlookers. I was therefore glad that they moved on.

Paths for strolling

The park has pleasant paths for strolling (or jogging!) and provides an amenable place for exercise, if you live close by.

Well-kept flowerbeds

There are beautiful beds of flowers and all kinds of shrubs and trees, all well ordered and clean.

Fine old trees

On the way out, I admired this stand of mature trees, beautiful in the sunshine. The park, of course, is full of trees of all sizes, some of them young saplings and others ancient trees of great size. All quite admirable.

We now went to a bus stop close by and took a bus first to Victoria Station, then the 38 that had brought us here and now carried us back to the Angel.

We had a couple of errands to run this morning and thought to dispose of them before going out for a “proper” outing.

There is a very chilly wind again today and the sky was cloudy. We had discussed whether we might lunch out somewhere but, no, it’s really too cold for that.

Blossom in Pentonville Road

As we walked down Pentonville Road, I was struck by the beauty of these two trees covered in blossom. If only the sun had been shining to bring out their full colour.

The undertaker’s clock – right at last

Having completed the first errand, we headed for Amwell Street where we would perform the second errand and (of course!) pick up some coffee. In Chadwell Street, I checked in the undertaker’s clock. It has been working but showing the wrong time for months so I was happy to see that it has been set right at last.

(Obsessive, moi? Surely, not. Well, just a little maybe but I like clocks and feel sad when they are neglected and not working.)

Myddelton Square Gardens and St Mark’s Church

We walked round Myddelton Square and I took a quick photo of the gardens with their beautiful old trees, though the dull lighting does not show them to best advantage.

Parakeet
Photo by Tigger

We could hear parakeets chattering in the trees and Tigger managed to spot one. (The image is a little blurred because I have cropped it severely to pick out the parakeet.)

Only very slim people may pass here

There was an Openreach engineer working in the square. He had lifted a couple of covers to access the wiring underneath and had put barriers round the holes. We were amused by this screen whose message, if taken literally, would have had us squeezing past against the railings. You would need to be paper-thin to do that.

Nothing special, perhaps, but I love them

I took a photo of this range of Georgian style houses in the square. Yes, they are just like so many other houses in the neighbourhood, nothing special, you might say, but I have come to know them, appreciate them and, yes, to love them.

At the watering place
Photo by Tigger

On the way home, we spotted this little scene. I have so often commented on the water leaks in the streets, especially this one that they have tried twice to repair but today, we saw the other side of the story: to the pigeons and squirrels, the leak is a useful source of water. The squirrel, in particular, was taking a long drink. I won’t grumble about water leaks again!

We hurried home with our coffee and will have lunch at home. We have an outing planned for this afternoon. More about that anon.