Today’s outing was the reverse of yesterday’s in that we took the bus out and walked back. It was Tigger’s plan and I waited to see where it led.

The weather was mainly cloudy with occasional sunny moments but it was cold, very cold.

Catching the bus

We went down to St John Street and caught a number 153 bus.

On the bus

The bus was not at all crowded and we easily found a seat.

“Help yourself”

Tigger followed the route on her phone and at the propitious moment, we left the bus. At the house by the bus stop was a box of books labelled “Help yourself”. That’s one way of disposing of unwanted but serviceable items, especially when secondhand bookshops are closed.

Not a crescent

Our way led into this street inappropriately named Crescent Street but which absolutely straight.

Entrance to Barnsbury Wood

In this street is an entrance to Barnsbury Wood, billed as “the smallest nature reserve in London”. From the entrance, it looks to be a pleasant, if small, woodland.

Unfortunately, there were a lot of people in the wood. There were children running about in the undergrowth, crashing about. We made a quick tour and then left. Here are some pictures of it.

To be honest, I was quite relieved to leave. People have every right to visit the wood as we did but there were too many for comfort.

St Andrew’s Barnsbury

We walked down into Thornhill Crescent where the Church of St Andrew Barnsbury resides.

Thornhill Crescent

Thornhill Crescent is curved, as its name suggests, and seems to be a fairly elegant residential area with handsome Georgian style houses.

The Cuckoo, once the Huntingdon Arms

We noticed the pub, now called the Cuckoo, because it has a plaque on the side which is probably original to the building though it has become illegible. The pub is Victorian and the plaque probably relates to its original name, the Huntingdon Arms.

Sphinxes

We walked up Richmond Avenue where several of the houses have pairs of Egyptian style sphinxes flanking their front doors.

Barnard Park

This road brought us to Barnard Park and we walked through it. It too was quite busy, mainly with children, including what looked like a school party supervised by a teacher. There was also this quieter area though we did not stop.

Portrait of a tree

I did, however, pause long enough to take this portrait of a tree. It has developed a very noble structure.

Barnsbury Road

After a short spell on Barnsbury Road, we arrived at Culpeper Park.

Culpeper Park

Despite the cold, there were quite a few people in this park as well. Tigger proposed paying a quick visit to the Culpeper Community Garden.

Community Garden pond

We hoped we might see frogs or toads in the pond but the water was disappointingly still.

Culpeper pigeons

On the way out of the park I of course took a picture of “my friends” the pigeons – but I’m sure you expected me to do so!

At Mercer’s for coffee

And here I am at our last port of call: Mercer’s, where I collected our takeaway coffee. From here, we were soon home while the coffee was still hot.

I had heard about Barnsbury Wood and so I am glad to have seen it but I don’t think we will be hurrying back to visit it again. In my opinion, overuse by the public is spoiling it and reducing its value as a “nature reserve”. I don’t know what the solution might be to that conundrum.

Robert Frost 1874-1963

Fire and Ice

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

As I explained yesterday, we put off our usual Sunday shopping run to enjoy the fine weather. Today, then, is this week’s shopping day.

The temperature has dropped to a measly 4°C and there was snow in the air. Yes, actual snowflakes floating down from the sky though there was little sign of this on the ground.

Invisible snow in Pentonville Road

This view of Pentonville Road shows the dull conditions though the snowflakes remain obstinately invisble . There was a cold breeze that made me glad I was wearing my winter coat and encouraged me to put my gloves on! Such a contrast with yesterday!

Chapel Market – closed

Here is the traditional shopping-day photo of Chapel Market. The market is closed on Mondays, whether they are bank holidays or not, and even those lockdown stalwarts, stalls run by shops, are missing. So is the usual bustle of customers.

Snow visible!

I stopped to take a photo here, not for the interest of the scene but because I thought the snowflakes would show up against the dark shutters. And they do – if you watch carefully!

Sky view
Video by Tigger

Tigger tried capturing the snow, literally, by turning the camera vertically. It has worked well before but today’s snow is of an unusually subtle kind! Anyway, it’s a nice video on its own account.

A few customers here…

Sainsbury’s also presented an unusual aspect, compared with Sundays. There were a few customers in some places and…

…and none here

…few or none in other places. It was altogether a more pleasant shopping experience than the usual Sunday scramble.

A quiet Chapel Market

As usual, I left Tigger with the shopping trolley and a bag (I always feel bad about that but she insists…) and hurried ahead. On Sundays, I have to dodge and weave among the crowds but not today. It’s amusing to notice that although the street reverts to a normal road on Mondays, people still walk on the carriageway – through force of habit, no doubt.

Mercer’s

My destination was Mercer’s, of course, to buy our coffee. Today, though, there was a touch of novelty awaiting me inside.

The chairs and stools reappear

The chairs and stools that had hitherto been absent have returned, ready for shops and cafes opening again in a week’s time. It made the place seem curiously cluttered! We have become so used to the lockdown conditions that it is a return to “normal” that will seem odd and need some readjustment.

Personally, I have become so used to the current conditions and am so comfortable with them (in some ways, I prefer the lockdown world to the “normal” one) that the ending of restrictions will seem awkward and counterintuitive, though I suppose I will eventually become used to it.

Coffee in hand, we made for home. Given the weather, will we go out again today? I think it unlikely but let’s wait and see.

I expect you guessed that we did go out again. If so, you were right. Tigger proposed walking along the New River, so that’s what we did. Well, we walked along a small part of it, as you will see.

Duncan Terrace Gardens

We started in Duncan Terrace Gardens, a location that will familiar to readers of this blog. The river, of course, runs underground in a culvert here, so you have to take my word for it that it does indeed exist.

A hoverfly on her finger

There were hoverflies in the gardens. We discovered long ago that these fascinating creatures, if you offer them a finger, can sometimes be persuaded to land on it. Here is a case in point. Why they are attracted to fingers, we do not know, but they are, though they don’t stay long. (Despite being striped like wasps, hoverflies don’t sting and are gentle creatures.)

Tree in blossom

Everywhere we looked there were flowers and trees in blossom. We walked through a landscape of beauty.

In the hollow of a tree

Nature is remarkable for the way organisms grow in apparently unsuitable environments. This dandelion, for example, is growing in a small hollow in a tree. I don’t know how it has managed to thrive but it has: it has a flower and so will produce seeds later. There is perhaps a lesson in that.

Squirrel

We came upon a couple of squirrels rooting about in the undergrowth. Though occupied with their own activities, they kept an eye on us just in case we had something to offer. While I took the above video, Tigger took these two photos with her better camera.

Squirrels
Photos by Tigger

Soft and fluffy in body they may be but squirrels are not so soft in character (they wouldn’t survive if they were) and these two, suddenly left off what they were doing to engage in a prolonged fight in a tree. We preferred to leave them to it and walk on…

Busy pigeons

Here is today’s pigeon picture. Well, you knew there would be one, didn’t you? 🙂

Admired but unknown

We admired these flowers but we don’t know their name.

Trees along the (invisible) river

The gardens end as an enclosed area and the covered river continues as a road-side verge but here too are some beautiful trees among which this mature yew is prominent.

Charles Lamb’s House

And, of course, we must always photograph the house of Charles Lamb!

Breaking for coffee

To continue our river walk, we had to take to walking along part of Essex Road. This is a less pleasant environment but did at least provide a chance for a coffee break!

Astey’s Row Rock Gardens

We could now enter the next part of the strip of gardens covering the New River, this part being called Astey’s Row Rock Gardens.

Rocks in the rock gardens

The garden is indeed full of rocks but they are artificial. What they are made of, though, I do not know.

Interlude for cat lovers

We spotted these two cats outside the house where they live. How do we know they live here? Because both evinced signs of wanting to be let in, especially the cat by the door who miaowed impatiently when anyone went by.

The river surfaces

Here at last, in case you were wondering whether I had made up a fictitious river, is proof that it actually exists. Here it runs on the surface for a certain distance before disappearing again. Notice how clean and transparent the water is.

Moorhen

The river is frequented by water fowl, some of whom have taken up residence, such as this moorhen.

We found an unoccupied bench and sat in the sun for a while, enjoying the sunshine and the scenery.

Pink blossom

I took this last photo of sunlit blossom as we left the gardens. From here, it was a short walk to rejoin Essex Road and find a bus stop.

Here comes the bus

We boarded a 73 bus, happily not too crowded, though we had to take a seat facing the rear. From that position, I took an over-the-shoulder photo.

Over my shoulder

The bus takes us to within a short walk from home where we made tea and Tigger produced a Simnel cake that she bought at Martyn’s in Muswell Hill yesterday. A good round-off for our outing!

It’s a sunny day today though still with a touch of chill on the air. As tomorrow’s forecast was less beguiling (though it seems to have improved in the meantime), we thought we would put off the shopping till then and enjoy the sunshine today.

Busy Chapel Market

We walked through to a busy Chapel Market, intending to buy a takeaway lunch (the only sort you can buy at present) and eat it in Culpeper Community Garden.

Many of the shops that are usually open on Sunday were closed, presumably because it is Easter Sunday.

Wenzel’s

Fortunately, we found Wenzel’s open and could buy some hot food items and coffee.

Impromptu self-portrait

On leaving the premises, I wanted to photograph the shop but this was a little difficult because I was carrying two cups of coffee in a cup holder and therefore hand only one hand free. My finger slipped, resulting in the above impromptu self-portrait!

We made our way to Culpeper Park, only to find that the Community Garden was closed. Looking around the park, we could see that the few benches were all occupied.

In view of this, Tigger proposed that we take our lunch home and eat it there, going out again later. It seemed the only reasonable solution, damp squib though it was, and that is what we did.

Will we go out again later? If will be sure to let you know!