When we had finished lunch, there was still time to reach the deli before they closed at 3 pm.

Cloudy but no rain

It was cloudy but the rain was still holding off so we thought we could take our coffee into Myddelton Square Gardens and perhaps feed the denizens thereof. We looked for the cats both in Claremont Square and Myddelton Square but drew a blank in both. (Cat fanatics us? Hm, well, maybe… 🙂 )

The pigeon colony on the grass

When we reached the garden with our coffee (and a jar of birdseed), we found the pigeon colony relaxing and socialising on the grass as they are wont to do when the park is quiet. We settled down and…

Pigeon mêlée

…threw some bird seed. Instantly, all the pigeons converged on the seed and the waft of their flight blew over me like a sudden gust of wind.

Squirrel appears…

Because we had chosen a bench close to trees, it wasn’t long before some squirrels showed up. The plan was to distract the pigeons by throwing quantities of seed and, while they were occupied, feed titbits to the squirrels. What could possibly go wrong?

…and disappears

Curiously, the squirrels seem nervous of the pigeons and if the pigeons go for the food you throw to the squirrel, the latter lets them have it. I suppose we can understand their point of view if we imagine competing with pigeons six feet tall!

“Have you something for me?”

The trick is to select larger items, such as slices of dried banana, that the pigeons can’t manage, and therefore ignore. When the coast is clear, the squirrels may see them and pick them up.

“Is it here somewhere?”

Surprisingly quickly, the food was all used up. The squirrels waited around for a while, hoping more food might appear.

“I’ll bid you adieu, then”

Finally, convinced that no more goodies were forthcoming, the squirrels faded into the foliage.

Discreetly withdrawing

The pigeons too began to drift back onto the grass to pick up where they left off when we came. So we also, having finished our coffee, stole quietly away.

We had not seen the last of the square’s indigenes, however…

Electra doing the rounds

Yes, it was Electra, doing her daily circles round the square. I managed to catch her passing by.

A last look on the way home

We, however, turned for home with a last look back down Mylne Street to Myddelton Square. Tomorrow is another day and will bring its own activities.

Today is Fathers’ Day, a fact that I became aware of yesterday when a card from my son dropped through the letterbox. That was pretty good shooting, given that we do not yet have Sunday deliveries of post. I also received a text from him this morning.

Though Fathers’ Day was celebrated by the Catholic Church in medieval times, its modern incarnation apparently originated in 1910 in the US, from whence it was subsequently imported into the UK, along with much else, both good and bad. More on this will be found here.

I’m not sure that I particularly deserve to be celebrated for my role of pater familias but I’m grateful nonetheless, and admiring of my son whose achievements in life far exceed mine.

Forecourt of the DoubleTree Hotel

As the above photo shows, today is cloudy, damp and cool. At about 11 am we as usual made our way to the local emporium of food and domestic supplies known as Sainsbury’s. This is a weekly chore but, strangely, one that I quite enjoy, though I have never worked out why.

The Farmers’ Market

Though it was not actually raining, the weather seemed to have a slightly inhibiting effect on activity in the market. The Farmers’ Market was less crowded than usual, I noticed.

The cafe has tables outside

The Millennium Cafe had, a little optimistically perhaps, put chairs and tables outside but there were no takers, apart from the group gathered under the canopy.

Closed to traffic, White Conduit Street

Signage around the market tends to be sporadic at best. Today there was a “Road Closed” sign banning vehicles from White Conduit Street, a sensible enough precaution but the first time I had ever seen one. The potted plant stall was present as usual but with a much reduced display. The gentleman in motor-cycle gear is probably a food delivery man awaiting a call because there is usually a gaggle of them waiting here in White Conduit Street.

Sainsbury’s was fairly busy

Sainsbury’s was fairly busy, perhaps because we were a little later than usual or because people preferred to shop under cover rather than out in the open in the market.

Collect your daily bread here

Tigger has the shopping run down to a fine art and knows exactly what to buy and where to find it. This includes playing the points game. We soon had everything we needed and headed for the checkout.

Queueing at the checkout

Perhaps for the reasons mentioned above, the queue at the checkout was longer than usual but we waited patiently for our turn and this came commendably quickly despite the loaded trolleys ahead of us.

Hurrying down Liverpool Road

Leaving Tigger with the shopping (I always feel a little mean about that despite my role as coffee-fetcher), I hurried off down Liverpool Road and…

Making my way through the market

…into Chapel Market, which seemed a little busier now, perhaps because the rain was holding off.

Looking through the window in Mercer’s

There was no one ahead of me in Mercer’s and I was served straightaway. Then coffee in hand, we made for home.

According to the forecast, the day will continue cloudy with the threat of rain. After a rest and lunch, we will see what we can make of the afternoon.

It’s another grey day but so far without rain. We set out about 9:30 for our usual matutinal coffee.

The kitten in the window

In Claremont Square, the kitten we always look out for was in his favoured place at the window.

The cat in the square
Photo by Tigger

The cat gods must have been smiling on us today because, as we took a turn round Myddelton Square, we saw one of the cats that live in a house there. Discretion was needed in taking the photo as there were also humans present in the room!

Myddelton Square Gardens

We visited the deli and then, coffee in hand, made for Myddelton Square Gardens. In this dull weather, it was easy to find an unoccupied bench.

Squirrels like dried banana
Photo by Tigger

Tigger had brought some bird seed with her. The “seed” in fact contains other goodies such as nuts and slices of dried banana. The squirrels seem to like the latter but are nervous of the pigeons so that feeding them requires organising: toss bird seed to one side to distract the pigeons, then throw a slice of banana to the squirrel.

A few pigeons at first

At first, there were relatively few pigeons and feeding proceeded fairly calmly. Gradually, though, more and more pigeons arrived and things became more chaotic.

More chaotic later

Later, we thought about catching the 153 down to Beech Street and walking back. We set off down St John Street and waited for some time at a bus stop without sny buses appearing. Fortunately, Tigger spotted a not very prominent notice advising that buses were being diverted because of road works and that no buses would be calling at this stop. We therefore abandoned that plan.

Walking through the housing estate

We decided to return home by taking a long way round. We started by entering the Finsbury Housing Estate through the arches of Patrick Coman House.

A cliff of apartments

The Finsbury Estate is quite large and consists of a mixture of high-rise dwellings, like this cliff of apartments, and relatively low-rise blocks like the one below.

Relatively low-rise block

There are even some single-storey or bungalow style dwellings, like these:

Bungalow-style apartments

I have never lived in high-density housing and, to be honest, the idea makes me nervous. What about the problem of noisy neighbours or other dangers such as fire? There have recently been a number of apartment-block fires with loss of life and fire services seem unable to deal with high-rise blocks effectively.

Meeting the friendly cat

In the Finsbury Estate we encountered the friendly cat. He greeted each of us in turn and accompanied us for a while before going off on his own mysterious business.

Small park

We left the estate via this small park or garden, apparently unnamed.

Crossing Rosebery Avenue

We crossed the pleasant Rosebery Avenue, lined with mature trees.

Something strange in Wilmington Square Gardens

As we approached Wilmington Square, we saw that there was something strange in the central gardens. It looked like a tent. Who would pitch a tent in the gardens and why?

The tent in Wilmington Square

We entered the gardens and saw that the object was indeed a tent.

Old and new, bandstand and tent

There was work being done related to the tent but what the intended result would be, we were unable to discover.

The old drinking fountain

Before leaving Wilmington Square Gardens, I photographed the drinking fountain. It looks to be Victorian but is in a very bad condition and its extensive inscriptions are virtually illegible. It desperately needs repair and refurbishment or it will be lost.

Fernsbury Street

We walked up Fernsbury Street to…

Lane between gardens

…the unnamed lane that runs between gardens and leads to Lloyd Square.

Great Percy Street

Via Cumberland Gardens we reached Great Percy Street, that strangely broad yet quiet residential street.

Cruikshank Street

From Great Percy Street we entered Holford Street that leads here, to Cruikshank Street, where we are nearly home.

We did not carry out the walk we had intended but we can try again another day. As it was, we had a good ramble and returned home looking forward to lunch!

Today was another rainy and cool day.

Puddles

We went out early to fetch coffee from the deli, for reasons I’ll explain shortly.

A rainy day in Claremont Square

Although Tigger was not scheduled to work today, her team was having a team lunch and so she of course went in for that. Hence our early start to fit in coffee before she had to set off.

Tigger let me know when the lunch finished and I went off to meet her. Our chosen rendezvous was again the Citizen M hotel.

Aboard the 153

Here I am, aboard the 153, heading towards the City.

Façade, Citizen M Hotel

The traffic was heavy and there were delays but I eventually arrived.

Inside the Citizen M

Tigger had ordered a coffee for me to be prepared when I arrived. They even brought it to our table.

Sculpture, Old Port of London Authority Building

After a coffee and catch-up, we decided to walk to Liverpool Street, as the rain was holding off. We of course photographed s few things along the way, such as this sculpture on the building that was once the offices of the Port of London Authority and is now a private club and hotel.

Every year, the City of London celebrates an event called Sculpture in the City. It takes a while for all the sculptures to be installed but some are already in place and we were able to see some of these.

I must say that I was underwhelmed by the artworks that I have seen so far. Apart from the remark, however, I will not obtrude my own opinions but simple show the works that we saw.

Latent Space
Jack Ekwes

Cosmos
Eva Rothschild

Harlequin Four
Mark Handforth

In Loving Memory
Oliver Bragg

It’s probably necessary to explain in this case that the work of art consists, not in the benches that exist already, but in the brass plaques affixed to them. This one reads:

In loving memory of
a loving memory

Silent Agitator
Ruth Ewan

Burial
Alice Channer

Perhaps we will manage to see some or all of the others in due course.

Arriving at the station

After that, I was quite relieved to reach Liverpool Station where we would catch our 153 bus back to the Angel.

Tigger is on holiday all of next week. How will we use the extra time to ourselves? I’m sure we’ll think of something! 🙂

The weather has finally broken and the tropical sunshine has given way to rain. The temperature has also abated somewhat. Tigger went in to the office today (Thursday) and sent me a text suggesting we meet in Motel One in the Minories for tea. I like that hotel and was happy to agree.

Aboard the number 153

Accordingly, I went to the stop in St John Street and caught a trusty 153 bus. Happily, few people choose this as their route into the City and the bus is usually not crowded.

All Hallows, London Wall

To complete my journey, I needed to change to a number 100 bus. A convenient place to do this is at All Hallows Church in London Wall as both buses call at that stop. This is not a very good photo of the church but it’s all I had time for before my bus arrived. As the name suggests, this street follows part of the old city walls, sections of which, dating back to the Romans, are still extant.

Tigger was first at the rendezvous and found the hotel closed. When I joined her there, we decided to go to another of our favourite locations, the Citizen M hotel opposite the Tower of London. This required a few minutes’ walk. Fortunately the rain held off.

Crutched Friars

On the way we passed this sculpture, incorporated into a building on the corner of two streets, Rangoon Street and Crutched Friars. In medieval times there was an important priory here that has left traces of itself in place names in the area. The monks were known as “Crutched Friars”, not because they hobbled about on crutches but because each carried a staff topped with a cross, the Norman word for which came to be mispronounced as “crutch” (croix in modern French).

Railway Bridge

We passed under this bridge that carries trains of the Docklands Light Railway, turning left into the smaller tunnel you can see near the end.

Savage Gardens

This leads to a small street with the curious name of Savage Gardens. Whether there were once wild gardens here or gardens named after someone called Savage, I do not know. Perhaps I can find out.

Trees in Savage Gardens

Though this is a narrow street, a line of trees has been planted down the middle, perhaps to harmonise with the name of Savage Gardens.

Sculpture on old PLA building

In Trinity Square stands a large columned building that was once the offices of the Port of London Authority but is today a private club and hotel. This sculpture hints at the seafaring interests of its old owners.

Lounge, Citizen M

We reached the hotel and found it open. The ground floor forms a large lobby or lounge, divided into sections by chain-mail curtains. These are transparent and so create an intimate feeling in each section while allowing a view of the whole. There were very few people and the staff were very welcoming. There is at one end a cafe-style counter where you can buy drinks and snacks. We bought coffee and settled down on one of the comfortable settees.

Walls with nicknacks

The decor is slightly old-fashioned but I like it. The walls are covered with shelves loaded with nicknacks, anything from books and toys to objets d’art and military uniforms. There are also TV-style screens showing imaginary scenes. Altogether a place that is both interesting but, for me at least, restful at the same time.

Luxurious toilets

I paid a visit to the toilets (down two flights of stairs, 24 steps, in the basement, but you can take the lift, if necessary). They are as luxurious as you would expect in such an establishment. (In case you think I have avoided showing the urinals out of coyness, I will say that I didn’t avoid them: they don’t exist. You must use the cubicles as is only civilised in my opinion.)

The Tower and a piece of London Wall

At last there was no help for it and we needs must go out into the rain. Owing to Covid, you enter the hotel at the front but exit at the rear. This exit is handy for the bus stop and provides views of the Tower of London and sections of the old (Roman) town wall.

Waiting for the bus

Fortunately (as it was now raining), our bus stop was under the railway bridge and we were sheltered while waiting.

Liverpool Street Station

The first bus took us to Liverpool Street Station where we would catch the 153 back to the Angel. We had a long wait for our bus but, again, we could at least wait under cover.

The Banana Tree

When we reached the Angel, we decided that as today is Tigger’s last workday this week, it would be appropriate to go to the Banana Tree for dinner rather than tomorrow. It was quite busy but they found us a quiet corner, so all was well. Bon appétit!

Bon appétit!
Photo by Tigger