Tigger was on the early shift today so I met her off the bus at the stop near Safestore. We then put in the best part of an hour sorting through our bags and boxes.

As usual, we divided stuff into Dump, Recycle and Donate to Charity Shop. When we had done, the storage area looked like this:

See any difference?
Photo by Tigger

Do you notice any difference? Probably not but we managed to eliminate one whole plastic trunk like those you see bottom left!

As it happens, the trunk has a small hole in it and is somewhat battered but despite that, someone might be able to get some use out of it. We have left it by the dustbins in front of the house in the hope that the “Garden Fairies”, as Tigger calls them, will spirit it away. We have disposed of other items by this method and we hope the trunk will follow in their wake.

Note on “Garden Fairies”

Disposing of an unwanted item too big to fit in the dustbin is a problem in London. If you have a car – we don’t – you might be able to take it to the Council rubbish dump. Otherwise, you may have to ask the Council to take it away, which they will do, but this costs a fee (£30 for one or two items).

Happily, there are people, those to whom Tigger has applied the epithet “Garden Fairies”, who keep an eye on what householders put out as rubbish and take away items that they want or think they can sell. They will even take devices such as electric kettles and microwave ovens that are no longer working. They perform their labours stealthily but we are grateful to them as their activities have on many occasions saved us the Council removal fee.

The title refers to the nine photos below which I took around my home neighbourhood, the Angel at Islington, this morning. (I could equally well call it “Nine plus One” for reasons that you will discover by reading on!)

Sunny but chilly in Upper Street

We had a bag of DVDs which we decided to donate to Oxfam. I carried these to their shop in the High Street where I was told that they could not accept them there and that I must take them to the Oxfam Bookshop in Upper Street. Nothing daunted, thither I went. The day was pleasantly sunny but with a definite chill on the air.

Charlton Place

Having deposited the DVDs, I remembered that today, Wednesday, was supposedly a day when the antiques market takes place in Camden Passage. My last visit to the market had been disappointing as hardly any stalls had been present. Would it be any better today? Opposite the Oxfam Bookshop is Charlton Passage, a short street the leads into Camden passage.

Antiques stalls

At the end of Charlton Passage is an under-cover open space used by antiques stalls on market days. On my previous visit, it was occupied by tables belonging to the adjacent restaurant but today I was glad to see it full of antiques stalls.

Pierrepont Arcade

I walked back along Camden Passage to Pierrepont Arcade. This is where I had seen the only stalls present during my last visit. There were stalls here again today. The arcade also contains a number of small antiques shops and though I did not walk round there, I could see from the movement of people that at least some of those shops were open.

Jewellery under canvas

Further along, I found a row of tents, each protecting a jewellery store from the elements. (In Britain, the weather can switch from sunshine to rain in an instant or even, treacherously, rain while the sun is shining!)

Antiques shops

In the best cases, market stalls and fixed shops enjoy a symbiotic relationship, each attracting customers both for themselves and for one another. Thus, I noticed that the antiques shops of Camden Passage (often closed on other days) where open for business today.

Once the Three Sheaves

As I started for home, I found myself contemplating this old pub. I have photographed it before but something – I know not what- brought it to my attention today. It has had many different names in recent years but, as the moulding in the pediment shows, it used to be a pub called the Three Wheatsheaves. The ageing signage indicates that it was owned by the brewers Barclay Perkins, founded in the 17th century but merged with Courage in 1955.

I don’t know how long there has been a pub here but I can say with some certainty that the current building dates from 1863. I know that because of a sad event that produced a dramatic engraving. In 1863, the pub was being rebuilt when the builders’ scaffolding collapsed, injuring several people. A crowd gathered and was held back by top-hatted policemen while the injured were carried out. We know this from a detailed engraving published in the Illustrated Times. I don’t reproduce the picture here for copyright reasons but you can see a version of it on this Pubwiki page.

Chapel Market

I walked home via Chapel Market. I was not expecting to see many stalls and was therefore surprised to see that it looked even busier than it had done on Sunday: there were more stalls and more customers.

I hurried on, though, looking forward to lunch with a nice warming pot of tea!

Even though we are still moving and sorting boxes and bags of property, we also need to perform the usual Sunday shopping run.

Cloudy skies over Baron Street

Even though Storm Eunice has gone on its merry way, conditions are still windy. During the storm, I wore a close-fitting cap instead of my hat which would have risked being carried off by the wind. Today, I wore my hat but attached it to my coat collar with a hat retainer, though I very much doubt whether those little plastic clips would resist today’s stronger gusts (predicted to blow at 30+ mph). In addition to the wind, it was raining though not very heavily.

In Cafe Sizzles

Once again, we visited Cafe Sizzles in Chapel Market for brunch. I was surprised to find the cafe almost empty. By this time on a Sunday it’s usually quite busy. Not today, though: perhaps the weather was keeping people at home.

The Farmers’ Market

The Farmers’s Market was present but still with fewer stalls than in the halcyon summer days before the pandemic. Will it ever recover its former vivacity?

Taped down
Photo by Tigger

In Sainsbury’s car park, we saw this litter bin. It has been securely attached to a post with adhesive tape, presumably in preparation for the arrival of Storm Eunice.

In Sainsbury’s

In Sainsbury’s, we each had a list of products to collect. We cannot hang the new shopping trolley on the supermarket trolley as we used to do with the old one, so I took our trolley with a basket balanced on top of it while Tigger took the supermarket trolley. We then combined our respective harvests at the checkout.

A glimpse into our shopping trolley
Photo by Tigger

Above is a view into our shopping trolley, showing the top level of our purchases. How exciting is that? 🙂

Fruit ‘n’ veg in Chapel Market

In the main market, where I took this photo on my way to Mercer’s for coffee, the usual stalwarts were present, including this fruit and vegetable stall. As with the Farmers’ Market, though, there were a lot of empty stall emplacements.

Entering via the shutter
Photo by Tigger

In the afternoon, we hauled a few more items to the store and spent some time in the familiar game of Dump-Recycle-Donate. We can enter the premises via the office or via an entrance closed by a shutter that rises and descends. We have an electronic fob to open this. It’s the best way to go if you have stuff to deliver.

Special edition stamps
Photo by Tigger

During sorting, a few treasures come to light. For example, we found a book of special edition postage stamps. These will go into the “donate” bag for the charity shop and will no doubt be gratefully bought by a philately buff.

1977 Crown
Photo by Tigger

Another treasure was this commemorative coin, a Crown (face value 25 pence) issued in 1977 for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee. (The name “crown” originally denoted a coin of face value five shillings, of which there were four to the pound sterling. Crowns were minted only to commemorate special occasions. Many people, though, will remember the pre-decimal “half-crowns”, worth 2 shillings and 6 pence which were in general circulation.) A crown exchanged at a bank will net you 25 pence but rarer crowns habitually circulate among enthusiasts for many times that amount.

As Safestore closes at 4 pm on Sundays, we could do only a small amount of work today. So here is the now traditional state of play photo for today:

State of play at day’s end
Photo by Tigger

Sun shining through clouds
Claremont Square

It’s another cloudy and cold day but the gale-force winds have abated, I’m glad to note.

Arriving at the third floor

Once again, we made our way through wind-littered streets to Safestore and took the lift to the third floor where our lock-up is situated.

As we did yesterday, we again hauled out the folding chair (which, fortunately, is a two-seater) and started work sorting through bags and boxes. Once again, we used the three categories Dump, Shred and Donate to Charity Shop. (There is, of course, a hidden fourth category, Keep, consisting of items that stay more or less where they are.)

Progress? Not obvious…
Photo by Tigger

At the end of this morning’s session, our storage space looked like the above, though we did take three bags (two of rubbish, one for the charity shop) with us. Progress of a sort.

Signs of storm damage

Afterwards, we made our way to Amwell Street for coffee. There were signs everywhere of the high winds. Rubbish left out for collection had been scattered and large quantities of tree branches lay about, the above being a particularly noteworthy example.

Fallen aerial

Someone has lost an aerial to the gale.

The Curvaceous Tree
Photo by Tigger

As I was carrying the two cups of coffee home, Tigger photographed the Curvaceous Tree for me. I was happy to see that it has survived the storm, seemingly undamaged.

The new shopping trolley

After lunch, we headed back to Safestore, taking our new shopping trolley on its maiden voyage. (You may recall that the old one broke under the strain of carrying boxes to the store.)

We spent some time in the store and collected some bags of rubbish to dump. Then we felt it was time to take another break.

Plus ça change…
Photo by Tigger

Can you see the difference? It’s beginning to feel like the French proverb “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose” (“The more things change, the more they remain the same”).

Storm damage in Penton Street

From Safestore, we walked into Penton Road where we photographed this example of storm damage, a demolished fence.

Chapel Market

We entered Chapel Market in search of somewhere to have coffee.

Costa in Chapel Market

We ended up at Costa Coffee, where we ordered…

Coffee and cake
Photo by Tigger

…coffee and cakes – surely a just reward for our labours!

From Chapel Market, we returned home. We spent a while sorting and gathering some more items to take to the store. Then we headed to Safestore for our third session of the day.

Tier hire bicycles
Photo by Tigger

On the way, we passed this group Tier hire bicycles. During the storm, they had fallen over. Today, representatives of Tier have restored them to the vertical, an indication that the storm is over.

Store at end of day
Photo by Tigger

The photo shows our storage area at the end of today. Can you see any signs of progress? No, neither can I, but I am persuaded that there has been progress. A fair amount has already been binned or put into the recycling and even larger amounts handed in at the charity shop. On the debit side, we have added some more items from home!

In fairness it should be said that most of the contents of the boxes and bags comprises items that are to be kept and so a substantial amount will remain and be transferred back home when the electrical inspection has taken place. My guess is that the difference will be barely noticeable though I would be happy to be proved wrong.

Stormy weather over Claremont Square
Photo by Tigger

London, like much of the rest of the country, is covered by a Red Weather Warning because of the high winds brought us by Storm Eunice. The streets in our neighbourhood are littered with twigs and branches blown down from the trees. The sky is overcast though the sun has broken through occasionally. The wind chill makes the air feel much colder than the forecast 7°C.

Hire bicycles blown over by Eunice
Photo by Tigger

We had planned to travel to Norwich today and to spend the night there but, in view of the weather, the likelihood of cancelled train services and the dire warnings issued by various official bodies, we have postponed the trip.

Stormy skies
Photo by Tigger

Instead, we spent the morning at Safestore, sorting through boxes and bags and dividing items into four categories: keep, dump, shred and donate to the charity shop. At midday, we broke for lunch, passing by the chip shop to buy chips to take home.

In the afternoon, I was expecting an important phone call so we stayed at home until it occurred. After that, the weather being what it was, as there wasn’t anything requiring our urgent attention, it seemed best to remain indoors and wait for the storm to abate.