Sunday came round again as Sunday is wont to do, and we went out to do our shopping. There follow 5 gifs taken along the way.

The Farmers’ Market

Sainsbury’s was not very busy

At the checkout

Walking through Chapel Market

We called at Mercer’s for coffee

As we usually do on Sundays, we collected our shopping at Sainsbury’s and called in at Mercer’s for coffee on the way home. So far, so usual.

We have an idea of what to do this afternoon and, all being well, I will recount it here.

Today, as the weather, if not brilliant, seems reasonably warm and dry, we are making a trip to the Kentish seaside town of Margate.

Black Sheep Coffee

We walked down towards the railway station and stopped off, as we usually do, for coffee at Black Sheep.

St Pancras Station

The handsome St Pancras Station shone brightly in the sunshine. As it was a fine weekend day, the area was busy with people making a break for the seaside.

Eurostar departures

In St Pancras Station, we passed through the hall containing Eurostar departures. During the pandemic, it had been silent and empty but now, with the lifting of restrictions, life is returning to it.

Aboard the HS1

We bought tickets for the HS1, the high-speed train serving the south-east. The train soon became fairly full, as is only to be expected in the circumstances. This is the first trip of this kind that we have made for a long time and yet it all seemed very familiar and usual.

Random station view (Strood)

We stopped at several stations along the way, including this one which is Strood, chosen as a random example.

Green countryside

Here we are passing through green countryside as we approach Faversham.

Arriving at Margate

We arrived at Margate Station and exited the train among a crowd of people anxious to head for the beach.

Margate Station

Margate’s railway station is familiar to us and seeing it, it’s hard to remember how long ago was our last visit.

Margate beach

One of the attractions of Margate’s beach is the extensive spread of sand, much of which is brought by the tides from the Goodwin Sands.

The clock tower

The fine Victorian clock tower is one of my favourite features of the town.

Chips and mushy peas

We had chips for lunch (and I had a serving of mushy peas with mine), sitting on stone seats on the seafront near the Turner Contemporary art gallery.

The Turner

Tigger had booked us into the gallery for a visit at 1:30 pm.

The gallery cafe

We were a little early, so we went first to the gallery cafe for coffee and cake.

The gallery shop

We paid the obligatory visit to the gallery shop (and again before leaving) but without buying anything.

Sea view from the gallery

The gallery has lovely big windows looking over the bay. If you can see a small brown dot in the sea on the right, it is an iron man standing where it is alternately covered and uncovered by the sea. It is a sculpture called Another Time and is by Anthony Gormley.

One of the rooms

I’m sorry (but not surprised) to say that the exhibited artworks did nothing for me. Most were not anything I would care to call “art”. That possibly says more about me than it does about the “art” but that’s my honest opinion. People may disagree, if they wish.

The New Moon
J M W Turner

There were a few pieces of “proper art” on show, happily, such as this painting by Turner.

The pier and old custom house

After the gallery visit, we went for a stroll along the pier which also serves as the harbour arm. Margate also had a more conventional pier, confusingly called The Jetty, but it was destroyed by a storm. The white building on the right is the old Custom House, now the tourist information shop.

Walking along the pier

The pier has upper and lower levels. On the outward walk, we followed the upper level.

Better than art – a live gull

Here, I photographed a gull which I think is better than any art.

The lighthouse

At the end of the pier is a small but important lighthouse.

Artists at work

We walked back along the lower level and encountered a number of artists at work. Were they perhaps thinking of J M W Turner as they worked? Turned visited Margate often to paint the sea and sky, appreciating the quality of the light.

We now started to walk back along the seafront to the station. This is quite a long walk – or felt so in the muggy heat – and I was glad when the station finally hove into view.

Waiting on platform 4

Our next train for St Pancras would depart from platform 4 and thither we went. The only bench was in full sunlight but we were tired and it had to do, Happily, we did not have long to wait for our train.

Aboard the St Pancras train

Here we are aboard the HS1, ready to depart.

A view from the window

The countryside rushes past our window.

The train ride was uneventful and the high-speed train does reduce the journey time by an appreciable amount. At St Pancras, we worked our way through the jostling crowds and made for the bus stop where we could catch a 214 for home.

Aboard the 214

The 214 soon came and carried us up the road to home. For me, going away brings the pleasure of coming home again!

Composed “on the hoof” during our trip to Margate.

On Friday, we often eat out in the evening. Recently, we have been in the habit of going to the Banana Tree which has the merit (among others) of being close to home. Today, though, we fancied a change and I arranged to meet Tigger at the cafe of the Barbican 2 cinema, next door to which is a branch of Côte Brasserie. As the name suggests, it is a French style restaurant though the prices might be described as moderate.

Busy St John Street

When Tigger left work at 6 pm, I left home and made my way to the bus stop in St John Street. The rush hour was in progress (always worse on Fridays) so there was plenty of slow-moving traffic.

Aboard the 153

I caught the trusty 153 bus. This bus is rarely crowded and, despite it being the rush hour, the bus was almost empty. That’s one reason why we use it whenever we can.

The Barbican Tunnel

I left the bus at the Beech Street stop which is under the Barbican road tunnel that I have photographed before.

Street art

Walking to the cinema, I stopped to photograph this piece of street art. It’s rather strange composition is probably explained by there being two or more works in the same space.

The cinema cafe

The cafe was not very busy and I didn’t have long to wait to be served. I found a table where Tigger would easily spot me when she came in.

In Côte

The restaurant was fairly busy but there were tables to spare. We offered to check in with the Track & Trace app but they informed us that they no longer displayed the restaurant’s QR code. I am not sure of the legality of that – I must try to find out.

Côte has an à la carte menu but also a prix fixe menu which is obviously cheaper though the choice is limited. It is available only until 7 pm and we arrived with just a few minutes to spare. They also have a number of vegetarian items and even offer a separate veggie/vegan menu if you ask for it.

Brutalist architecture, the Barbican

We were given a table at a window and the view was of this brutalist residential tower of the Barbican estate. I find brutalist architecture ugly, and in some cases hideous, but despite this, I am quite fond of the Barbican and its strange buildings.

The bus stop for home

After our meal, we strolled to the nearby bus stop to catch the 153 back to the Angel.

Aboard the153

Happily, we did not have long to wait for a bus and were soon on our way home.

Back at the Angel

A short journey later, we were back at the Angel and nearly home. We have made a good start to the weekend!

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.

When we had finished lunch, the sun was shining and so we made haste to go out.

The charity shop

Tigger has given me some “tops” that she no longer needs and of which I can make use. (Yes we are sufficiently similar in girth to be able to wear one another’s shirts and jackets. Handy, eh?) In our small flat, to receive something new means getting rid of something old in order to make room. We each had a large bag of various stuff to take to the charity shop. So that’s where we went first.

The High Street

We then crossed over to the High Street which nowadays lies to one side of the busy main road.

A strange room

We went to Redemption Roaster, a coffee shop situated in the High Street. We were given a number and carried it downstairs into the garden, on the way passing this strange room.

In the garden

We found a table in the garden and settled there with our number displayed (number 7, as it happens).

Shhh, you know who…!

Tigger took a photo of me and I thought you might like to see it.

The coffee

The coffee duly arrived. I leave you to guess which coffee is for which person.

Laying fibre in Duncan Street

Afterwards we walked down Duncan Street. They have dug the road up, as it many parts of the borough to lay fibre for the Internet. I can’t help thinking that Internet by cable will soon be obsolete because wireless Wifi is coming on apace. Will all this cable turn out to be a massive white elephant?

Colebrooke Row Gardens

We entered Colebrooke Row Gardens which, you may recall, is one of a chain of gardens covering the course of the New River. It is a very pleasant place when the sun is shining. We found a bench to sit on.

A handsome fellow
Photo by Tigger

Tigger was busy photographing birds and insects and found this handsome fellow. While she was doing that…

A hoverfly on her hat

…a hoverfly landed briefly on her hat and I photographed it!

Duncan Terrace Gardens

To return home, we walked through Duncan Terrace Gardens which is a continuation of Colebrooke Row Gardens. There we found a festivity in progress!

Pigeon feast

Someone had left the remains of a pizza on a bench and the pigeons were making the most of it. As pigeons do, the ones on the bench were tossing pieces of pizza in the air in the hope of breaking them. Many of these were falling on the ground where another cohort of pigeons was ready to deal with them. Accidental co-operation!

With this happy sight in mind, we cheerfully made our way home.