Myddelton Square

It was a beautiful sunny, warm day today as this picture shows.

A squirrel passes
Photo by Tigger

We met a squirrel but the human passers-by scared him and he ran and hid.

Sitting in Myddelton Square garden

We went to Myddelton’s deli and bought our usual coffee. Instead if drinking it there, though, we took it to Myddelton Square gardens and drank it there sitting on a bench.

Spider on my hat
Photo by Tigger

A spider decided to join us and took up position on my hat. He appeared to be planning to build a web and so I thought it best to put him in the garden where he would find more stable accommodations.

Beautiful and shady

The garden is beautiful and on a warm day pleasantly shady. It contains a number of fine, big, old trees.

St Peter and St Paul’s Church
Photo by Tigger

Afterwards, we set out for a walk, starting by following Amwell Street. When we reached the dubiously grammatically named “St Peter and St Paul’s Catholic Church”, we saw that the door was open and went in for a look.

Church interior

Dating to 1835 and originally built as a non-conformist chapel, this galleried church is Grade II listed. Less elaborate and decorated than some Catholic churches we have seen, this one has a plain and uncluttered look.

Stained glass window

I counted four stained glass windows of which the above is an example. Each carries a quotation. The above, in Italian, reads La carità di Cristo ci spinge (“The love of Christ constraineth us”, 2 Cor 5, 14) and the others are in Latin, French and English, respectively. A church for polyglots!

Stations of the Cross

Like most Catholic churches it has a set of icons representing the Stations of the Cross.

Figure of Jesus

It has a couple of figurines, including this one representing Jesus. (It always amuses me how we immediately recognise who is represented by these figures despite the fact the no one can possibly know what their subject actually looked like.)

Flowers

Everywhere we went, there were flowers, some filling the air with perfume. The above is just one example.

Woodbridge Chapel

We passed the Grade II listed Woodbridge independent chapel which incorporates the Clerkenwell and Islington Medical Mission (1833).

Art Deco Gates

I liked these rather Art Deco gates with their geometric but delicate design. They are protected by a modern-style descending bollard.

The old brewery

We passed through Brewhouse Yard which is now filled with disappointingly modern-style buildings except for the old brewery itself that gives the yard its name.

The brewery and its clock

The clock is dated 1875 though I suspect the brewery itself is older than that. Perhaps it was rebuilt in that year.

The spire of St Luke’s

As we approached Old Street, the unusually slender spire of the former Church of St Luke appears over other buildings.

Former Church of St Luke

Here is a fuller view of the church though screened by trees. Consecrated in 1733, the church eventually sank into a ruinous state but has been rescued and is no longer a church, serving instead as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra.

City Road

Here we are crossing City Road, today a busy thoroughfare carrying traffic to and from the City of London and anciently the road by which visitors, having been deposited by stage coach at the Angel, made the last, dangerous journey into London along a routed infested with highwaymen and footpads. Today, a 205 bus carries you safely along here to your destination!

The Shepherdess

Having negotiated the busy road, we made pause for refreshments at the Shepherdess. If the name seems unusual for a cafe, more suitable, perhaps, for a pub, it comes from the name of the street – Shepherdess Walk – on whose corner it stands.

We could have returned to the Angel by bus as several that serve our destination run along City Road but, for the sake of exercise, we decided to walk. Unfortunately, it is not a very interesting route to walk and I took few photos.

Cattle Trough now a planter

This is an original cattle trough by the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association. Many of their installations were financed by individuals, whether as a philanthropic gesture or a memorial and bear an inscription to that effect. This one is inscribed thus:

THE GIFT OF
MRS LEIGH
SUMMERVILLE
HALIFAX 1899

The Pixie House

Someone has made this whimsical addition to a front garden.

A fine snail
Photo by Tigger

My last photo is this one by Tigger of a snail climbing a window of an office block. I have no idea where it thought it was going or what it hoped to find. Such are the mysteries of the animal world.