Tigger is back at work today and for the rest of the week. Tempted as I might be to spend the day lolling around at home, I managed to find the energy, mental and physical, to go out.

Penton Street

Setting out, I had no idea where I was going and at each turning just followed the whim of the moment. I soon found myself strolling along Penton Street.

Chapel Market

I crossed the end of Chapel Market. This is the quiet end of that street. The other end is where the market stalls are to be found.

Day and Night

On the corner of Chapel Market with Penton Street stands a pub that I mentioned in a previous post. Latterly called The Joker and, before that, the Salmon and Compass, it had been empty and shut down for a while but during lockdown I noticed work in progress inside and it is now open and functioning as the Day and Night. There has been a pub here from no later than 1805 but I guess, from the smart brown tiling, that it was rebuilt at some point, perhaps in late Victorian times.

Houses with gardens

Penton Street mutates into Barnesbury Road, though continuing in a straight line. The buildings which, in Penton Street are largely commercial, give way to houses. These are in the Georgian style with front yards, converted in some instances into gardens.

As you can see, the cloudy, rainy weather of recent weeks has suddenly given way to blue skies and sunshine. From the low teens centigrade, the temperature has jumped into the 20s. It looks as though we are in for a late heatwave or Indian summer.

Adventure playground, Barnard Park

Barnesbury Road brought me to Barnard Park. To one side of it lies this abandoned adventure playground. I don’t know why it has been closed – perhaps because it’s too expensive to maintain? I haven’t so far found any reference to it online but it always catches my attention when I pass this way. (Update: according to an email received privately, the playground is still in use at certain times of day.)

Barnard Park was the name given to the new park resulting from the extension in 1975 of Barnesbury Park and was named after Councillor Geirge Barnard (d. 1974) who was Councillor from 1968-to 1968, Mayor 1963-4 and Deputy Mayor 1964-5.

Trees and shade

Barnard Park has open areas and areas with trees and also pitches for sports. On such a warm day, I instinctively followed a path that led under trees. Everything is beautifully green, thanks to the recent rains, no doubt.

Leaning trees

I was intrigued by this group of trees, all of which lean at the same angle. Why? They stand among other trees that are all perfectly upright. One leaning tree can be supposed to have suffered an accident but when there are several, it become harder to explain.

Thornhill Garden

Leaving Barnard Park and taking to the street once more, I arrived at another, smaller, green space. According to official signage, it is called Thornhill Road Gardens, but notices placed by the local community who look after it call it Thornhill Garden.

Welcome sign

Another friendly hand-painted sign bids all comers welcome – a nice touch.

Fenced off area

The garden comprises two main areas, this one with plenty of grass is fenced off with a dog-proof fence.

“The Patch”

According to a notice in the style of other hand-painted signs put up by the local community, this area is called “The Patch” and it is reserved for children to play in. Dogs are banned.

First World War Memorial

Slightly incongruously perhaps, this area also contains a memorial to the First World War which is a Grade II listed building.

Tree seat

I followed the path round the perimeter of the garden and discovered this seat, built round a tree. It looks fairly new and shows that the local community is taking an active interest in maintaining the garden and its amenities.

Dogs allowed here

The other main area is unfenced grass with a central bed of plants. Dogs are allowed in this part of the garden and I did see several. They were all well behaved and so were their owners!

A bench in the sun

I decided to sit for a while and enjoy the “calm beautiful garden” as the welcome sign invited me to do. I chose a bench in the sun which, in retrospect, may not have been the best choice on a hot day. Apart from becoming very warm, though, I suffered no ill effects.

Beautiful trees

After sitting for a while, I took a final stroll round the garden, admiring the beautiful trees, some of which are quite old and have grown to large size.

Cloudesley Road

So as not to go back by the way I had come, I set off down Cloudesley Road. This is a wide but fairly quiet residential street. The fact that it is a one-way street perhaps also helps reduce the amount of traffic passing along it.

Holy Trinity Church

I passed Cloudesley Square in the centre of which stands Holy Trinity Church which is undergoing refurbishment. We’ll take a look one day when it is finished.

Georgian-style houses

Here, too, the houses are in the Georgian style with a basement “area”. In addition, they also have a front yard, where some residents have placed benches or tables and chairs and perhaps plants, including small trees.

Culpeper Park

At the end of Cloudesley Road I passed Culpeper Park but did not go in on this trip.

Coffee in view

I crossed Tolpuddle Street and walked through Sainsbury’s car park into White Conduit Street. At the end, on the corner, is Mercer’s. Usually, I don’t buy coffee in my own but today I felt like having one.

Hot, hot coffee!

The coffee, when I picked up the cup was unusually hot. Maybe the hot weather had an effect but I have never known the cup to be so hot. I put a folded tissue round it to protect my fingers but, even so, the heat kept coming through, and as I walked, I kept adjusting the tissue. At a certain moment, I accidentally jerked the cup and scalding hot coffee shot out of the hole in the lid onto my hand. What happens when scalding liquid splashes on your hand? By reflex, you jerk it away. What happens when you jerk your hand away? Yes, you shake the cup and more scalding coffee splashes on your hand! This could have gone on until the cup was empty so I just had to grit my teeth and stop jerking my hand. Ouch!

By the time I reached home, the coffee had cooled sufficiently for me to drink it. A pleasant conclusion to my walk.