It was cooler again today (17° C, 63° F) but the notable feature was a gusty wind. In fact, at one point I lost my hat and had to go and pick it up off the ground. Embarrassing. It was my fault, though, as I should have put my hat clip on.

Sunbathing cat

In Myddelton Square, one of the ginger and white cats was enjoying the sun and so I took a photo for the cat lovers among you 🙂 I think s/he is becoming used to us as we were favoured with a frank stare, unlike previous occasions.

Spa Green Park

For a change we crossed Rosebury Avenue and entered Spa Green Park. It is not a very big park but is quite pleasant and contains a number of mature trees. It is quite popular as a place where people take their dogs and popular also with pigeons of which there is a large resident population.

Spa Green Park and War Memorial
Photo by Tigger

The park is also home to one of Islington’s two war memorials. By Thomas Rudge and installed in 1921, it shows a bronze Angel of Victory holding a wreath in outstretched hand, standing on top of a globe. It is Grade II listed. One might also add that it is a favourite perch for the pigeons.

Spa Green Estate

Adjacent to the park is the Spa Green Estate. As housing estates go, this one is quite pleasant to look at. A post-war development, it was designed by Berthold Lubetkin and is sufficiently important historically to have attracted a Grade II* listing.

Spa Green Estate

It is certainly unusual in both its design and colour scheme which is bright but not garish. The architect was clearly not superstitious as openings for ventilation occur in groups of 13!

The Dame Alice Owen

We walked through the estate into Goswell Road where I photographed the Dame Alice Owen pub. You will find some information on Dame Alice in my previous post about this pub (see Plus ça change). Today, the pub is displaying a notice to the effect that it will be opening soon as a “bottle shop”, that is, for takeaway service. That makes it the second Islington pub that I have seen that is partially re-opening (see An extra treat).

We continued up Goswell Road to Jusaka for our takeaway coffee.

Smith & Sons Clock Tower

And here I am again photographing the Smith & Sons clock, also known as the Angel Clock Tower. Not that I really need an excuse but if I did I would say it is one of my favourite features of Islington. I expect I shall photograph it many times again in future!

It’s a little cooler today but still quite warm at 21° C, 70° F. There was a pleasant gusty breeze which helped us keep cool.

We passed through Cumberland Gardens again (see White roses and white lions).

Cumberland Gardens

This photo shows Cumberland Gardens and the steps at its bottom end. Note the pole with a cctv camera on top.

Façade with flowers

Just opposite in Lloyd Square stands this house with a flowery façade. In fact, the flowers extend over the front door of the next house. I don’t know what flowers they are (my botanical knowlege is somewhat wanting) but they make a fine show.

The George and Monkey – open!
Photo by Tigger

On the way home we passed the George and Monkey in Amwell Street. There was a queue outside and an “OPEN” sign in the window. There appeared to be a makeshift bar or counter across the door and they were seemingly selling drinks to take away.

And here is the treat mentioned in the title :

Coffee and a samosa!

We bought coffee as usual at Myddelton’s but we also tempted by some of the other goods on display. Tigger chose a slice of carrot cake and I chose a vegetable samosa. Yum!

The best vegetable samosas I ever enjoyed were those sold in a takeaway Indian food stall in Euston Station. I bought some there on several occasions but one day the stall disappeared and with it, if course, the samosas. They are still sadly missed!

As the title says, the temperature is still rising. We waited until 5 pm. in the hope that it would be a little cooler by then but it was still standing at 27° C (81° F).

We therefore contented ourselves with a slow amble to Jusaka and back.

I managed only one photo. It shows an office block on one of the corners of the Angel crossroads. Depending on your taste in architecture, you will either like it or hate it. As modern buildings go, I think it’s not bad. At any rate, I have seen a lot worse.

Looking at the photo you might think that the streets were very quiet but that’s only because I took the photo while the traffic lights were momentarily on the red. The Angel is in fact an important junction where several bus routes intersect with one another and the Northern Line tube.

As Tigger is still on “furlough”, we haven’t boarded a bus or a tube for several weeks now and there is as yet no indication as to when we might have to start doing so again. Will it be a relief or a disappointment when we have to pick up the old routine once more?

It’s another warm day. When we eventually dragged ourselves out into the sunshine, the temperature had reached 26° C (79° F). We can say that spring has definitely declared itself and is already turning into summer.

No more buttercups

You may remember that a few days ago, I photographed this front garden which was full of buttercups among the uncut grass (see A longer stroll). Today, the Council gardeners came along and mowed the lawns. Their activities unfortunately destroyed the buttercups and turned this garden into a desert. I hope it will bloom again.

Snagged curtain

Because of the heat, many dwellings had their windows open. There was not a very strong breeze but, somehow, it was strong enough to blow this curtain out of the window and up the wall where it was somwhow snagged by the brickwork. What were the chances of that?

By rights, we should have done the food shopping before this but because of the heat we kept putting it off. A few weeks ago, we received an email from Sainsbury’s recommending an online shopping app called Chop Chop and today we thought to try it out.

The Chop Chop app

There is a limit of 20 items per order and you may be limited to three repeats if any one item. The prices charged the same ad you would pay in Sainsbury’s store but there is a £4.99 delivery charge.

When we placed our order, a notice flashed up warning us that the service was rather busy and that that might delay delivery. In the event, the goods reached our door within the advertised 60-minute delivery time.

Two items were missing and there was no bill with the goods. However, an email was sent which did itemise our order with prices. This indicated that the missing items were “unavailable” and that their cost had been refunded. My credit card has been charged the full amount, however, and I will be watching to see whether a refund for the missing items turns up.

While the service was commendably fast, I am suspending final judgement on it until I receive a refund for the missing items. (Why was this not applied immediately? They were quick enough to take the money when I made the order.) If I receive it soon, I will give Chop Chop my guarded approval.

Update May 22nd 2020

The refund from Chop Chop finally appeared on my credit card account yesterday evening. Until that point, the payment, like all new payments, had been marked “Pending” but once it moved out of “Pending”, the correct, reduced, amount was shown.

So, in line with what I said above, yes, I do give my approval to the Chop Chop service. We may use it from time to time though the service charge of £4.99 and the limit of 20 items precludes using it for all of our shopping.

As usual, our stroll this afternoon took us to quieter streets, away from the main roads which are becoming busier every day. The sun was shining and the temperature reached a heady 25° C (77° F).

City and Islington College

This is the City and Islington College. I always thought of it as the local sixth-form college but these days it describes itself as a college of further education, offering vocational courses for all ages along with the usual A Levels. For now, of course, it is shut pending the end of the pandemic.

Brewers Buildings

This is the main entrance of Brewers Buildings in Rawstorne Street. The massive residential block bears the date of 1876, when it was built as a charitable enterprise by the Brewers Livery Company. The company owned a considerable estate in the area of which this is part.

Brewers Buildings

As you can see, it is huge, too big to photograph in its entirety in the narrow street in which it resides. Though fairly plain, it has enough decoration to render the effect pleasant. It is Grade II listed.

Quiet byway

We walked through this pleasant byway between houses with enough greenery to give pleasant shade on a hot day. We also spotted a blackbird and some busy sparrows.

On the corner of Hermit Street is the smallest park I have ever seen.

Hermit Street Open Space

Really, though, it’s not strictly a park, despite the trees and other greenery, because it has a rather uneven brick floor. The Council is consulting with neighbourhood residents over its future and refers to it as an Open Space, which, after all, it is.

Hermit Street Open Space

The presence of discarded bottles suggests that the non-park sees some use though possibly not the kind of use the Council would prefer. It will be interesting to see how it develops.

From here, it was a short walk along Goswell Street to Jusaka where we collected our coffee before making for home.

We saw quite a few people wearing masks but many of them were wearing them incorrectly – for example, covering the mouth but not the nose – thus negating their usefulness. The false confidence they feel is increasing their risk, not reducing it.