It’s a chilly, wet day today but as it is the last of Tigger’s Christmas holidays we must make the most of it.

Rain in Pentonville Road

We decided to treat today as a Sunday which means that we started with a shopping run to Sainsbury’s. As well as cold and rain, it is windy and I had (literally) to hang on to my hat.

Sainsbury’s – not very busy

Sainsbury’s was not very busy and we knew what we wanted so we had soon finished.

Chapel Market – not many stalls

Afterwards, we walked through Chapel Market where I was struck by how few stalls there were. The brave few were not managing to attract many customers, either.

Coffee at Costa

Instead of taking coffee home with us, we chose to go to Costa and sit in.

Walking down Pentonville Road

After lunch, we set out down Pentonville Road on foot, despite the rain and the wind. We had heard some news that we wished to check out for ourselves.

Passing through King’s Cross Station

We cut through King’s Cross Station to have a little time away from the unpleasant weather.

The station was crowded

The departure hall was more crowded than I have ever seen it. This is probably because many people are travelling back after the Christmas break combined with the disruption of services caused by the rail strikes. I wouldn’t want to be travelling by train today!

Crossing to St Pancras Station

We crossed from King’s Cross Station to St Pancras Station.

St Pancras – busy too

St Pancras was also very busy though not quite so much as King’s Cross. Many of the travellers here were going to the Eurostar departures and that service seemed to be running normally.

E L & N

Our first port of call was to E L & N for coffee. It too was busy and I had to queue for service.

Coffee at E L & N
Photo by Tigger

The small indoor seating area was full and so, for once, we sat outside. (Outside the cafe but still inside the station.)

Arriving at St Pancras Old Church

After our coffee break, we set out into the rain and wind again. We were heading to St Pancras Old Church. We climbed the steps to the gate.

The church clock tower

The church is a handsome building with a fine clock tower (and the clock is in working order!) but we had not come to visit it today.

The Hardy Tree – fallen

The news we had heard was the the celebrated Hardy Tree has fallen, perhaps pushed over by the weather and we wanted to see it for ourselves. The tree is indeed down. As it is fenced off, we couldn’t obtain a closer view than this. You can perhaps make out the gravestones piled around the base of the tree. For an explanation of the name “Hardy Tree” and its historical role, see my post St Pancras Old Church.

Will the fallen tree be left in place or sawn up and carted away? Time will tell.

The Burdett-Coutts Memorial Sundial

We had a quick look round the churchyard but not for long in view of the weather. (See the above mentioned post for details of the syndial.)

We left the 214

From the church we caught a 214 bus back to the Angel and left it at its Angel Station stop.

The “Cutting Bar”

We walked round to White Lion Street where resides the “Cutting Bar” and went in for haircuts.

Quick, no-frills service

The service is quick and efficient and cheap compared with the, I think exorbitant, prices charged these days by “proper” barbers. We have come here so often that they know us and we don’t even have to say how we want our hair styled.

I have enjoyed our 5-day “weekend” and am not looking forward to Tigger going back to work tomorrow. I console myself with the thought that this is only a 2-day “week” before the weekend comes round again. In the meantime we have this evening to ourselves.