It’s another fine day today, sunny and warm. This suggested a slightly longer walk, taking in some “roads less travelled” – less travelled by me, that is.

The Chapel Pub

I started along Penton Street and took this photo of the Chapel pub to show you the pleasant conditions.

Landmark – Church on the Corner

When exploring less familiar regions, not possessing Tigger’s topological intuitions (which include her mysterious “Inner Pigeon”), I check the route beforehand on the map and remember various landmarks along the way. The ex-pub “Church on the Corner” was the first of today’s, reminding me to turn left along Copenhagen Street.

Adventure playground

This street borders Barnard Park where there is this, apparently abandoned, children’s adventure playground, reminding me somewhat of those ancient abandoned villages sometimes discovered deep in the jungle. Will it ever be put back in use, I wonder? (Update: according to an email received privately, the playground is still in use at certain times of day.)

Matilda Street

My next landmark was Matilda Street on the right. There were a couple of other turnings first but it was easy to find.

I don’t know who Matilda was, but this street was in existence by 1845, known first as Matilda Place and later becoming Matilda Street.

You can perhaps just make out in the distance the greenery of my destination.

Modest Georgian style houses

The houses are fairly modest three-storey dwellings (including basement) in the Georgian style. The roadway is quite wide and on the side opposite the houses there is first parkland and then a school. Quite a pleasant area in which to live, I imagine.

Thornhill Square Gardens in view

At the end of Matilda Street we reach the inviting greenness of Thornhill Square.

Larger houses in Thornhill Square

The houses in Thornhill Square are larger – three upper storeys plus the usual basement – and obviously designed for a more discerning (i.e. wealthier) clientele. They date from the 1840s and the square’s name comes from George Thornhill (1811-75), then MP for Huntingdon and a High Sheriff, who owned the land on which it was built.

Part of the gardens

The central garden of Thornhill Square is very large, as squares go, and I think it is the largest in Islington. It is shaped rather like a bullet see this map). It has several different areas, including a children’s playground, areas to sit and shady paths for strolling. Here are a few images.

The gardens and spire of St Andrew’s Church

This view includes the spire of St Andrew’s Church (consecrated 1854) at the far end of the square, built on land also provided by George Thornhill.

The tallest tree

I particularly admired this tree in the centre of the garden. I think it is the tallest but with so many fine old trees, it’s hard to be sure.

Caged lions

As I walked back along Matilda Street, I came upon this pair of heraldic lions, apparently caged behind basement railings.

Guarding the door

Then I found their companion, couchant this time, guarding the front door. Were they perhaps spoils from a demolished grand house?

The path with no name

Instead of following Matilda Street to the end, I decided to follow this path through to the next street up. It may have a name, as there are houses fronting on it but, if so, I have yet to discover it.

Hemingford Road and Barnard Park

The path brought me to Hemingford Road and Barnard Park. I thought of walking through the park but, thinking this might take me too far out of my way, left it for another time. (The road is possibly named after the village of Hemingford Abbots in Cambridgeshire.)

Going uphill in Copenhagen Street

I returned to Copenhagen Street which is a bit of an uphill trudge at this point. Happily, it levels out by the time we reach the corner.

Continuing in Copenhagen Street

I could have returned along Barnesbury Road that becomes Penton Street but I remembered a path between houses that would take me to Culpeper Park.

Here it is

It was as I remembered. I had met a friendly cat here but he was not visible today.

Arriving at Culpeper Park

Thus I came to Culpeper Park and from there crossed through Sainsbury’s carpark to Chapel Market.

And you know who is in Chapel Market, don’t you? 🙂

Mercer’s in Chapel Market

I allowed myself to be tempted and went in to buy coffee. (I thought I deserved a reward 🙂 ) It looks as though they have finally completed the new tiling round the door. It took them a while but they finished it in the end.

(I took that photo one-handed – I had a cup of hot coffee in the other hand – and so it’s not bad, considering.)

Coffee in hand I hurried home. This evening I will meet Tigger at the bus stop and we will go to the Banana Tree for a Thai takeaway supper. The weekend starts here!

I was not feeling very adventurous today and didn’t feel like going far. In the circumstances, it being a sunny day and fairly warm, sitting for a while in Percy Circus seemed appealing.

Crossing Amwell Street

I took this photo as I crossed Anwell Street, heading for Great Percy Street. You can see that the sun is on the opposite side of the street from this morning’s photo and also that the pub, the George and Monkey, is doing plenty of business.

Lost shoe

Did a baby Cinderella pass this way? We often see footwear – usually single shoes, never pairs – left on railings. Shoes must be the item of children’s clothing most often lost. Why is that, I wonder? The next most common item we spot is gloves, both children’s and adults’ and again, always singly.

Approaching Percy Circus

Built 1839-40 and named after Robert Percy Smith (1770-1845), a director of the New River Company, Great Percy Street is a broad but quiet residential road. It is also on a gentle but insistent slope which means that it is pleasant to walk down but then you have to confront the hill on the way back!

Percy Circus

The Circus is too broad to photograph so I videoed it to give you an idea of what a pleasant spot it is for a built-up area.

The garden

It’s a fairly plain garden but pleasant all the same, with greenery and fine old trees and a central circular paved area with benches.

The tree in the centre

I sat on a bench and observed the tree in the centre of the garden and the paved area, a very fine tree.

The canopy

It has a well developed canopy with spreading branches. We sometimes see birds in the tree though there were none today. I’m surprised a squirrel hasn’t taken up residence in it but I couldn’t see anything resembling a drey.

Percy Circus houses

The houses of the Circus are separated from the garden by a broad roadway so there is no feeling of being overlooked or crowded by buildings.

Wind-blown seed

The breeze dropped a flying seed on my trousers. I don’t know what plant it comes from. I left it where it was: chance had brought it here and I would leave it to chance to look after it.

It was peaceful in the garden and I spent some time just sitting and absorbing the calm atmosphere. I had to make an effort to leave!

The path to Bevin Court

To return home, I took the path to Bevin Court. Despite the proximity of the “cliff of apartments”, it is pleasanter to follow the path than to walk in the street.

Flowers in he hedgerow

There are flowers in the hedge and on the verge along the path.

Tree in blossom

This tree was positively shining with white blossom.

Almost woodland

This part of the path is almost a woodland with grass and trees. In some of the trees there are boxes with openings at the bottom. This counterintuitive arrangement, we were told, indicates that they are bat boxes. We will come here one evening at dusk to see whether we can spot any bats.

Cruikshank Street

The path led me into Cruikshank Street, another pleasant residential street, where I sometimes meet the tortoiseshell cat. I was unlucky today.

From here, I was soon home where I made tea, relaxed and waited for Tigger to let me know she was on her way back from work.

Tigger went to work bright and early this morning and later sent me this photo of the sun rising over Pentonville Road.

Sun rising over Pentonville Road
Photo by Tigger

Later – much later! – I too went out though only as far as Amwell Street. Today was the day when the laundry was ready for collection and collecting it was my job.

Morning sunshine in Amwell Street

The laundry was ready and waiting and had been packed into the shopping trolley. I now proceeded to haul this uphill to home.

I was too busy with the loaded trolley to take any more photos but it is a fine day and I may well venture out again later.

I had for a while been meaning to revisit some of the squares with gardens that we visit less often and today was the day when I decided to do so.

Cafe tables in Chapel Market

I crossed through Chapel Market, noting that it was again closed to traffic so that the pub and the cafes could out out their tables. This arrangement will no doubt remain in force as long as the current rules do.

Cloudesley Road

Passing through Sainsbury’s car park, I entered Cloudesley Road (Culpeper Park is on the left, just visible in the photo) and thence to Batchelor Street.

Batchelor Street

This is the street, you may recall, along which you can see one if the towers of the old Royal Agricultural Hall. That building is in Liverpool Road and that is where I was heading.

(The origin of this street’s name is obscure. Up to 1815, it was known as Chapman Street and by 1845 had become Trinity Street. Around 1938, it finally became Batchelor Street, in memory of “a well-known businessman”.)

Pavement above street level

This end of Liverpool Road has the peculiarity that the pavement on one side is several feet above the level of the road surface. It has railings to stop you walking off the edge by accident.

Steps to the road

In case you want to cross the road or access a parked car. There are steps at intervals.

The cars that you see in the photo are parked in the designated parking lane. The lane nearest the pavement is reserved for cyclists. That seems to me a very clumsy arrangement but, then, I’m not an urban planner.

Old Royal Free Hospital

Opposite is the site of the old Royal Free Hospital, some of whose buildings still survive, albeit internally modified to turn them into residential blocks.

The Pig and Butcher
previously the White Horse

This pub served as a landmark to my destination. It stands on the corner of Theberton Street which leads to the first of today’s squares. (Theberton Street takes its name from Theberton Hall, Suffolk, the seat of Thomas Milner Gibson MP, 1806-84, whose name reappears below.)

Gibson Square

Branching off Theberton Street is the large and elegant Gibson Square with its central garden.

Gibson Square Gardens

Though not huge, the central gardens are well tended and provide a pleasant location in which to sit or stroll on a fine day. They also contain what might be described as a curiosity or a talking point. This is a building of rather fanciful design but of no obvious purpose.

What is it?

A strong clue to that purpose is provided by the “roof” which is not solid but made of wire mesh, obviously designed to allow something to pass in or out. This building is in fact a ventilation shaft for the Victoria Line, part of London Underground. This line was built in the 1960s and 1970s and needed ventilation. This curious design was arrived at as a way of pacifying local objections to the intrusion of the shaft into the gardens.

Milner Square

Walking along Milner Place from Gibson Square brought me to the second of today’s destinations, Milner Square. From the approach road, the gardens looked promising.

Milner Square Gardens

In the event, the gardens were somewhat disappointing, being taken up mainly with swings and other accoutrements of a children’s playground. I probably ought not to be disappointed as children need somewhere to play and it’s good to have an enclosed off-street area when they can play in safety.

Lonsdale Square

Following a couple of streets brought me to the third and final square, Lonsdale Square.

Lonsdale Square Gardens

Probably about the same size as Milner Square Gardens, though square rather than elongated, Lonsdale Square Gardens are “proper” gardens and well kept.

Houses in Lonsdale Square

Lonsdale Square is arguably the “poshest” of the three squares. The houses are larger and have more elaborate façades, as well as doors shaped in a rather “ecclesiastical” style.

Lonsdale Place and Square were possibly named after the Earl of Lonsdale.

Holy Trinity Church, Cloudesley Square

Looking at the map on my phone, I found a different way to return home. This took me first to Cloudesly Square, where Holy Trinity Church is still undergoing refurbishment.

Cloudesley Street

From the square, I entered Cloudesley Street, a long, straight road that brought me close to home.

Despite being a quiet backstreet and, moreover, closed to traffic at one end, this street is quite broad. I doubt whether this is because it was ever a busy thoroughfare and think that its width has more to do with the visual appeal of the street’s layout in what must have been an expensive, genteel neighbourhood.

Built in 1839, this street and all the others bearing the name, are named in honour of Richard Cloudesley (d. 1517), a local benefactor under whose will the still extant charity, called simply “Cloudesley“, was founded.

Dove’s Yard

In Cloudesley Place is found Dove’s Yard. The images of birds on the gates might lead you to think that the name is merely fanciful. In fact, it was the name of a firm of builders, called Dove Brothers Ltd, which continued in business from 1781 to 1993 on this site.

A view through the gate

The site seems to have been developed as an exclusive residential property with little remaining of the original builders’ yard but Historic England has a a photo of the premises taken in 1918.

Cloudesley Road

Cloudesley Place leads into Cloudesley Road, bringing me onto virtually home territory and concluding my ramble.

Were you expecting a pigeon photo? Probably not but, just in case you were, here are the Culpeper Park pigeons in all their dusty glory:

Upper Street

We needed to visit a shop in Upper Street, so we did that first. With that task out of the way, we could return to quieter areas.

Parkfield Street

This is Parkfield Street, which was first laid out in 1844. It is one of those quiet streets of Georgian style houses that I have come to appreciate so much, quieter even than most as one end is closed to traffic.

Stairs to the “area”

As is usual with houses of this type, they all have a basement “area”, originally with its own access, which would have allowed tradesmen etc to avoid the front door, reserved, as it was, for callers of standing. In modern times, when householders no longer have servants, the “areas” have suffered various fates. Some have been blocked off or even covered over, while others have found a new role as the entrance to the basement flat.

Window ironwork

The houses in this row are notable for their well preserved ironwork, both railings and decorative iron on the first-floor windows.

During World War 2, much ironwork was removed from houses, supposedly for the making on armaments. Some has been replaced with facsimiles but in some places – as seems to be the case here – the originals have survived.

The pigeon tree

We passed through Culpeper Park where, for some reason, many of the pigeons had congregated in one of the trees.

Cruikshank Street

Cruikshank Street, first called Bond Street after its original founder, is another pleasant and quiet road. Some of the houses were built in the Georgian pattern in the 1840s but others date to the early 20th century and lack the trademark basement of the earlier houses. I hoped I might introduce Tigger to the tortoiseshell cat (see A solo walk), but she was nowhere to be seen.

A different style of living

We passed in front of Bevin Court, which I previously described as “a cliff of apartments“. Built in 1946, it is considered historically important enough to merit a Grade II* listing.

“Private Mews”

Leading off Lloyd Street, is this intriguing lane. A notice describes it as a “private mews”. Originally, a mews was a narrow street running behind a residential street and containing stables for the horses belonging to those houses. Today, the stables have largely been converted into modest houses. Whether this mews ever provided stabling for the horses of the local gentry, I do not know but its cobbled surface suggests a fairly early origin.

Scarlet tulips

These brightly coloured and full-blown tulips in a front garden caught our eye (and cameras!).

Electric fan, anyone?

In a doorway an electric fan seems to be up for grabs. Might come in useful this summer, if last year’s heat is repeated.

Wharton Street and BT Tower

Looking down Wharton Street, we can see, in the distance, the BT Tower, making an interesting contrast with the street lamps.

From here, we were soon at Myddelton’s deli. Tigger found us a table on the pavement while I went inside and ordered coffee. We sat there for quite some time, drinking coffee, observing the scene around us and talking about this and that

Myddelton Square Garden

On the way home we passed Myddelton Square. The garden seemed unusually empty, perhaps partly because of the cloudy weather and partly because it was a weekday.

Flowers
Photo by Tigger

Beside the church was a bush in flower and Tigger took this photo of some of the blooms.

St Mark’s Church

In contrast to the living softness of the flowers is the hard stone of the church. Both possess their individual kind of beauty.

Squirrel in the branches

We spotted a squirrel but two children crashing about in the undergrowth scared him and he ran up the tree to become almost invisible among the branches.

The Curvaceous Tree

My last photo was this one of my favourite, the Curvacious Tree. After this we made for home, content with our walk and looking forward to a pleasant evening of relaxation.