Rainy Penton Street

To judge by the look of the sky, we were promised rain for the whole day but, undaunted, we set off along Penton Street, trying to ignore the water being blown onto our faces.

Chapel Market

I needed to buy curtain hooks, so we walked along Chapel Market to the hardware shop that resides there.

Caffè Nero, Islington Green

After purchasing the hooks, we continued on to Islington Green and the branch of Caffè Nero there. We stayed there for quite a while before plucking up our courage to go on.

The bus stop

We crossed the road to the bus stop and…

Aboard the 63

…boarded a number 63 bus.

London Bridge Bus Station

The 63 brought us to the bus terminus at London Bridge Station. We left the bus and stepped out into the rain once more.

Southwark Cathedral

We returned on foot to the main road, passing by the impressive mass of Southwark Cathedral.

Alley to Borough Market

We walked along this alley decorated with street art. It leads to what I think I am justified in calling the world famous Borough Market.

Greengrocer’s stall

Certainly, there is an amazing range of food items on display from the everyday to the exotic. Top chefs and well-heeled amateurs shop here and the place was, for my taste, unpleasantly crowded. I was glad to emerge from it on the other sside.

A barren parklet

We walked through a rather uninteresting housing estate which included this rather barren open space or “parklet”.

Tree in blossom

We did, though, pause to admire this tree in blossom.

The Tate Modern in view

I suddenly realised that we were near the Tate Modern art gallery. Tigger knew, of course, but I usually just follow her, waiting to be surprised when we arrive somewhere I wasn’t expecting!

Leon

First, though, we thought of having an early lunch as there happened to be a branch of Leon nearby.

Negotiating with the terminal

In a Leon restaurant you don’t go to the counter and tell a human what you want. Instead, you have to use a terminal rather like a giant iPad. You choose your items, give a name and pay, using a contactless payment terminal.

The counter

Your meal is then assembled and when it is ready, they call out the name you gave them and you collect your items from the counter.

Meal on a tray

Needless to say, there are no plates or cups: everything comes in cardboard boxes or plastic containers. Cutlery is plastic and disposed of after use.

Approaching the Tate Modern
Photo by Tigger

After our lunch, we crossed to the Tate Modern. The new building rears up above you, making me think of a mountain to be climbed. Fortunately, our ambitions were more lowly and we entered via a door.

The museum shop

We had a look around the large museum shop before continuing.

The Turbine Hall
Photo by Tigger

The Tate has taken over what was once the Bankside Power Station and contains some very large galleries. The largest is the old Turbine Hall whose size allows unbelievably huge works of art to be displayed. Currently, it is holding Brain Forest Quipu by Cecilia Vicuña.

I have made no secret of my scepticism regarding modern “art” and I am not going to pretend an understanding of it that I don’t possess. I will therefore show you just a few of the items we saw with their titles and names of artists and a minimum of comment.

Palm Sign (2010)
Yto Barrada

Alpine Ibex (2017)
Jimmie Durham

This one amused me somewhat as it is made of an ibex skull and bits of furniture, reminding me rather of Picasso’s bull’s heads made with parts of a bicycle.

Los Moscos (2004)
Mark Bradford

Who owns what? (2012)
Barbara Kruger

Babel (2001)
Cildo Meireles

This work, Babel, is described as “a tower of radios playing at once” and that is exactly what it is.

Pelting with rain

When we came to leave, we found the skies had opened and it was pelting with rain. There were already huge puddles everywhere. We waited a while, hoping it would ease off, but that seemed unlikely to happen. Fortunately, I had a folding umbrella in my bag and under the scanty shelter that this provided, we made a dash for the bus.

Aboard the 63

We had quite some way to go, doing our best to hide behind what was a rather small umbrella. As we reached Blackfriars Bridge, we saw our 63 bus approaching. We were still some way from the bus stop but we waved desperately at the driver and he was kind enough to stop and let us board.

Aboard the 19

At Mount Pleasant we left the 63 and walked to the bus stop in Rosebery Avenue where we caught a number 19 to complete our journey home.

Sun masked by clouds

It’s an all-sorts day, as far as weather is concerned. From time to time the sun breaks through but is then masked by clouds which ever and anon sprinkle us with rain. Sometimes there is sunshine and rain at the same time.

Myddelton’s deli

As usual, we started with fuel (aka coffee) at Myddelton’s in Amwell Street.

Bus stop, Rosebery Avenue

We then walked down to a bus stop in Rosebery Avenue where…

Aboard the 19

…we boarded a number 19 bus and found seats at the rear.

Concrete cast sculpture

We arrived after a longish ride at Duke of York’s Square where this sculpture (by whom, I know not) was advertising the current exhibition in the Saatchi Gallery.

Towards the Saatchi

We had thoughts of visiting the Saatchi but then saw that, contrary to its previous policy of free entry, it was today charging £15 to go in. So we changed our plans.

The Black Penny
Photo by Tigger

Brunch
Photo by Tigger

Nearby was a cafe called the Black Penny and we went in for an early lunch. (As it was before noon, they were still serving the breakfast menu but, call it brunch, and that was good enough for us). We had a vegetarian dish called Ozdemir Pasha.

Sloane Square

We now started a long walk to an alternative destination, starting by crossing through Sloane Square.

Trees in bloom

We saw some trees, lacking leaves but prettily in bloom.

Bicameral (2019)
Conrad Shawcross

We next encountered something that was not a tree. I find the title Bicameral mystifying but, then, modern art often doesn’t make sense.

Water feature

This water feature at least had nothing pretentious about it.

We now undertook a longish walk through various districts to our alternative destination, the Tate Britain art gallery.

Caffé Foresta

We broke our journey in a cafe as much as to rest our legs as to take refreshment.

St Saviour’s Pimlico

Continuing on, we passed St Saviour’s Church Pimlico, an Anglo Catholic Church, whatever that is.

Cabmen’s Shelter, St George’s Square

In St George’s Square we passed by one of the 13 surviving Cabmen’s Shelters.

Arriving at the Tate Britain

We at last reached the Tate Britain and…

Basement entrance

…walked down the steps to its basement entrance at the rear of the building.

Crossing the Brook
J M W Turner

An art gallery of the standing of the Tate contains art of all styles and periods. Some of it – a growing amount because it is produced by modern artists – is art with which I have no sympathy whatever. I will not waste my time with it. Happily, there is plenty of art which I can enjoy and admire, the painting above by Turner being an example

Family Group (1949)
Henry Moore

I can of course show only a few of the works that I saw and liked. There is plenty more good art that I have to leave aside. Above is a piece by Henry Moore. I at first found Moore “difficult” but with time, I have come to like his sculptures more and more.

Industrial Landscape (1955)
L S Lowry

Who doesn’t like the paintings of L S Lowry? They have a deceptive simplicity but as you look at a painting, it draws you in. I feel the man himself is somehow present in the picture.

Bird (1952)
Elisabeth Frink

Elisabeth Frink is not as famous as some sculptors but you come across works of hers in many places, often in open locations.

The Visitation (1926)
Jacob Epstein

Jacob Epstein is one of my favourites. (I managed to cut off the top of her head – sorry).

Torso in Metal from ‘The Rock Drill’ (1913-5)
Jacob Epstein

This is an example of Epstein’s more “abstract” style, the sort of thing I usually don’t like but I have become familiar with this piece (I have photographed it before) and have come to feel its “presence”. Standing alone as it does, it lacks context that might make it more meaningful.

Doves 1914-5
Jacob Epstein

This one caught me by surprise as it was new to me but I immediately knew it was by Epstein and what it represented (a pair of doves). If I have favoured Epstein somewhat in this story I have at least given an idea of his versatility though I have barely scratched the surface of his work.

The Gallery Shop

We paid a quick visit to the shop, which contains a lot of interesting stock, souvenirs and luxury items as well as books and reproductions. We didn’t buy anything, though.

Tea!

Before leaving the Tate Britain, we went to the cafe and ordered tea. They serve it in small individual glass teapots where you can watch the tea as it brews. One of us had mint tea and the other, Darjeeling. Guessing who had what is left as puzzle for the reader! (Not a hard one!)

The Millbank Entrance

We left by the main portico door leading into Millbank. From there, we went round the corner and first caught a number 88 bus that deposited us in Regent’s Street,

<img src="https://tigergrowl2.files.wordpress.com/2023/03/img_0109.gif&quot; width="640" height="486" alt="Aboard the 19“>
Aboard the 19

From Regent’s Street, we cut through to Piccadilly where we caught a number 19 bus. Traffic was heavy and the journey slow, long and tedious but we eventually reached the Angel and home where we could make tea and relax!

I expect that you, my readers – at least, most of you, anyway – will know what is meant by the “copper switch-off”. If not, then, briefly, it refers to the fact that by the end of 2025, the UK’s national telecoms provider, British Telecom, will switch off the remaining copper telephone lines. If, by then you have not moved to optical fibre for your telephone and Internet connection, you will find yourself cut off.

Exactly what is being switched off, and what will remain. is nicely explained by this useful article by Recovar.

For some years now, we have received our Internet connection from Zen. No Internet Service Provider (ISP) is perfect and we have had the occasional problems with our Zen account but, in general, they are pretty good. (When you telephone them, the recorded voice cheerfully reminds you that they are the only ISP recommmended by Which.)

Until a few days ago, we had a DSL Internet connection reaching us via BT’s copper wire telephone system. This cost us a Zen subscription of £20.40 a month but, in addition, we had to pay BT for a landline telephone connection.

As far as speed goes, Which’s broadband speed tester gave typical values of 15.1 Mbps for download and 0.8 Mbps for upload. This is quite slow by modern fibre standards but it was good enough for our modest needs and we would probably have kept it indefinitely.

Into this calm domestic scene, news of the copper switch-off erupted like the villain in the pantomime. I suddenly realised that if we sat back and did nothing, then by the end of 2025 at the latest, and probably sooner than that, our Internet connection would be cut off, never to return.

I picked up the phone (my mobile, that is, as we never use the landline to make calls and never answer it if it rings) and called Zen to ask whether they could offer a solution. They certainly could and, moreover, one that would not cost a fortune.

If you study the Recovar page mentioned above and, in particular, Figure 1 half-way down, you will observe an important fact: while the copper circuits from the telephone exchange to the “cabinet” (the green metal box in the street) are being disconnected, the copper line from the cabinet to the house will remain, at least for the time being. This meant that Zen could offer us a “fibre to cabinet” connection which will not be affected by the switch-off.

The connection from the cabinet to the house continues to run over the copper wire already in place. This means that no change is necessary at our end: we do not need a new router or even need to switch it off and on again to get it working.

Our new connection went live on March 17th. The first I knew about it was when I received an email from Zen informing me of the fact. I quickly went to the computer and started loading Web pages. Yep, we were up and running and it has run ever since without a hitch.

The copper wire connection from the cabinet means that we don’t get full fibre speed as we would with a “fibre to house” account. According to Which’s broadband speed checker, we are gettiing 30.8 Mbps download and 9.3 Mbps upload. While this is not blazingly fast, it is faster than our old connection which was already good enough for our needs.

What does our new connections cost us? It cost £30 per month. This is more expensive than our old account but, wait, there’s another advantage: we no longer need the BT phone line! We could have elected to include a Zen phone service with our contract for a few pounds more but, as I indicated above, we never used the darn thing, anyway. Paying for just the Internet connection, we are paying less than we paid before for Internet plus landline. That’s a win in anybody’s terms.

As indicated above, the changeover was seemless: I didn’t even notice it happen and the connection has gone on working as it always has but just a little bit faster.

This is where we spent an hour or two this morning:

It was laundry time once again and we loaded the shopping trolley and carted it round to the poetically named “Golden Launderette” in Marchmont Street. We commandeered two of the largest machines (at far right in the photo) and set them merrily spinning.

The wash cycle takes about 40 minutes and as the machines cannot be opened when they are running (a sensible safety precaution) we felt free to leave the launderette and stroll down the road to visit the local Costa Coffee.

Washing is easy because you just leave the machine to get on with it. But then comes the drying which is a different story as you have to keep feeding money into the dryers and checking their contents to see whether they are dry yet. At last everything was dry, folded and packed into the trolley. We could then walk through Cartwright Gardens down to the main road and catch a bus for home.

Our bus stop is opposite the pub called The Euston Flyer, no doubt named after a famous train but, if so, one that I have not so far managed to find out about.

We had to check the buses before going aboard to make sure there was room for us and our trolley. The second bus, a number 30, met the conditions.

We still had the weekly shopping to do, of course, and so, after a modest rest, we set out again. We decided we deserved lunch out and for this went to the Chapel Cafe in Chapel Market. This has now become our regular cafe because, unaccountably, our favourite, Cafe Sizzles, is closed on Sundays.

As we usually do after shopping, we called in at Mercer’s for takeaway coffees to drink at home.

In order to do the shopping, we had to discharge the trolley which left a large and unprepossessing heap on the bed. This needed to be sorted and put away but before we did that, another small matter had to be attended to: Tigger had not yet completed her daily walking schedule as recorded by the walk app on her phone. A further walk was required to “close the ring”.

We put on our shoes and coats and set out bravely. We headed for Myddelton Square which is a pleasant enough place for a quiet stroll.

The sky was cloudy but the sun seemed to be struggling to break through. It made a bright point of light. I tried to photograph it but the camera frustrated my efforts by evening out the light and suppressing the bright sunshine. There’s possibly a way round this but I have yet to discover it.

We didn’t go into the garden and so I made do with a photo taken over the railings. I have happy memories of our visits to the garden in warmer weather. I look forward to doing so again when the weather improves.

Our little stroll round this pleasant and peaceful neighbourhood was enough to satisfy the walk app on Tigger’s phone that she had met the daily target. Before turning for home, however, I photographed my beloved Curvaceous Tree, its twisting branches dramatically silhouetted against the sky.

I often wonder about other species, whether they are conscious and perhaps aware of themselves and of the other inhabitants of their environment. Is there any chance that trees are aware of our passing presence and even of our interest in them? Probably not – at least, not in any way that we can understand – but every day science makes new discoveries and perhaps some magical surprise awaits us in the future.

The day started, unpromisingly, with rain. By the time we set out, the rain had eased but a few drops were still falling. Would we be able to sit outside at the deli or would the weather be too wet?

Outside the deli

We decided it was dry enough for us to sit out. The sky looked rather gloomy but the rain had stopped.

Lloyd Square

Afterwards, we walked along Lloyd Baker Street into Lloyd Square.

Lloyd Square Garden

Lloyd Square is one of the few garden squares whose central garden is reserved for residents of the square. I often peer enviously over the railings as the garden looks well kept and peaceful.

Granville Square

By and by, we came to Granville Square, a quiet garden square immortalised as Riceyman Square in Arnold Benett’s famous novel.

Riceyman Steps

We crossed the top of the famous steps but did bot venture down them today. The steps are part of what is called Gwynne Place but they are now known by the name given them in the novel.

An onion tree

This house in Wharton Street stands out from the others, firstly, by a number of colourful objects in the front garden but, more particularly, because onions have been hung from the branches of the shrubs to create a (fictitious) “onion tree”.

Kings Cross Eyes

We walked down to Kings Cross Road where this optician’s shop always amuses me with its name – Kings Cross Eyes.

Frederick Street

We walked up Frederick Street into…

Gray’s Inn Road

…Gray’s Inn Road. The threat of rain had lifted and there were even intervals of pale sunshine which pleasantly lightened our mood.

Argyle Square

We passed through Argyle Square, another of the local garden squares though this one is rather bare.

St Pancras Station

We now found ourselves approaching George Gilbert Scott’s Gothic wonder, St Pancras Station, opened in 1868 and now deservedly Grade I listed.

Courtyard, British Library

We passed the British Library in whose courtyard Eduardo Paolozzi’s Newton (1988) still sits measuring out the universe.

Housing estate

We crossed through this housing estate, whose name escapes me, in search of a particular premises.

Kings Cafe

Our goal was Kings Cafe where we had lunched once before and thought to do so again today. I couldn’t have found it by myself but Tigger’s “inner pigeon” led us there unerringly.

Decorated window arch

Setting out again, we passed a building whose window arches were, unusually, decorated with pictures.

Gate, St Pancras Old Church

Through the gates with gilded decorations, we entered what is now called St Pancras Garden and was once the churchyard and burial ground of St Pancras Old Church.

St Pancras Old Church

The Grade II* listed church, founded in the 11th century but rebuilt in 1847, is still extant and remains in use but most of the gravestones have been removed and the churchyard turned into. public garden.

Gasholder Park

We now followed the path that leads to the area behind King’s Cross Station now called Gasholdet Park. You can perhaps see why.

Residences within a gasholder

This area used to be industrial but has been turned into a new residential, shopping, entertainments and arts neighbourhood. Several gasholders were built here during the Victorian era and although they no longer serve their original purpose, they, or at least their metal supports, have been preserved. Inside one is a garden and inside another pair, apartment blocks have been built.

Each leg bears the construction date

On each leg is a plate showing the construction date and modification date, a potted history of the structures.

St Pancras Lock

We crossed over the Regent’s Canal by the foot bridge which gives one a good view of the St Pancras Lock though no barges were passing through at the moment.

Gail’s

We felt it was time for a pit stop and so we made our way to a branch of Gail’s that we had visited before.

Order at the counter

Like most coffee places these days, you order at the counter. It helps if there are two of you as one can grab a table while the other negotiates the purchases.

Aboard the 390

We now took the first of two buses for the homeward run. We boarded a 390 which was actually running off-route but we didn’t care about that as long as it was going our way!

Gloomy sky, Midland Road

The first bus brought us to Midland Road behind St Pancras Station. The sky was looking rather ominous but as we were heading home we were not concerned.

Aboard the 214

At the bus stop in Midland Road we caught a 214 which was crowded but which carried us up the hill to the Angel and home.