It is a cold (9°C), damp and grey day but we have come out for a wander nonetheless. After a bus ride we found ourselves in Waterloo.

The White Hart, Cornwall Road, Waterloo

I liked the look of this pub, the White Hart, with its dark green tiles. They were manufactured locally by the Royal Doulton factory which enjoyed its heyday in the Victoria era and this gives a general date for the pub.

St John’s at Waterloo

I was too close to this church, St John’s at Waterloo, to take a good photo and had to use the panorama function to cover it all. This has caused the slight bending of the verticals. It was designed by Francis Octavius Bedford and built between 1822 and 1824.

St John’s, interior

This view shows the interior of the church, looking towards the altar. It is unusual in being a clear space without columns or side aisles. The chairs have all been moved away to the periphery, emphasising this feature and the somewhat austere design.

The organ and clock

This shows a view of the organ and clock. Below is the font decorated with humanoid sculpted figures.

We thought we would take a look at the Leake Street Graffiti Tunnel to see whether there any good pieces of street art there. On the way, we saw this intriguing sight.

Pigeons perching on bird boxes

As the site is in shadow, it’s a little difficult to see what is going on here. Someone has affixed a set of bird boxes on the side of a building. They are intended for small birds and the pigeons are too big to access them but they are happy to use them as conveniently placed perches. Each box has its attendant pigeon, keeping watch for any chance of food!

Leake Street Graffiti Tunnel

The Tunnel used to be a good place to see street art and well known artists at work. The turnover of works was rapid so that every visit revealed new paintings. In recent years it has become less lively and today tourists and sight-seers easily outnumbered the artists.

We walked the whole length without seeing anything that impressed me. So I collected a couple of examples for the sake of completeness.

Abstract or illegible calligraphy?

A plague of “abstract” art has gone round the world several times since the beginning of the 20th century and it has naturally infected some street artists with its dire bacillus. Another popular strand of street art is calligraphy. This has become more and more complex to the point where it has descended into complete illegibility. Whether this piece is intended to be abstract or is illegible calligraphy is hard to tell.

Cartoon figure

This piece is happily neither abstract nor calligraphy. The cheerful little cartoon figure is perhaps familiar to readers of comics (or “graphic novels”) but is unknown to me.

We rambled a little further until we caught a bus near Victoria Station to return home with seeing anything further that I felt was worth recording photographically.

We went out this afternoon for a bus ride and ramble. As usual, I took a few photos along the way though the light was wintery-dull and not very suitable for this.

We saw some sculptures at Marble Arch.

Still Water

The first sculpture has been in place long enough now to be a familiar landmark. It is a massive horse’s head by Nic Fiddian-Green, entitled, somewhat counterintuitively, Still Water.

Orphans

The second is the group of life-size elephants by Gillie & Marc entitled Orphans.

The intention is to publicise the damage being done to wild elephant population by ivory poachers and conflict with humans. The display focuses on the orphans, young elephants left helpless and unable to survive as a result of the killing of their mothers. A fuller explanation will be found on the Marble Arch website.

Happily, there is a charity that cares for some of the orphans, the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. Like all charities, this one needs, and deserves, donations.

Malkia

This is just one of the individual sculptures of juvenile elephants, a female named Malkia.

The mother

In the centre of the group and focal point of the design is a larger figure, representing the mother whose death has left the orphans in their precarious state.

Mercato Mayfair

This building in Mayfair, now crowded with people and market-style stalls, was obviously once a church. When it was such, it was called St Mark’s. Today it describes itself as “a cultural hub and sustainable community market“. It rejoices in the somewhat pretentious (but, then, this is Mayfair) name of Mercato Marfair. More information will be found on this website.

I missed the opportunity to photograph the striking pillared entrance of the building but you will find a picture of it and information about the old church in this Wikipedia entry.

This beautiful building used to be the Post Office. Many times I have posted items here, renewed my transport pass and performed sundry other transactions that fall within the purview of the Royal Mail.

The old Islington Post Office

Behind the public access area was the sorting and parcels offices. A couple of years ago, the site was sold off for redevelopment and the public office replaced by a modern shop front further along the road. Waiting for a bus to take us home, we spotted that the building is now open in its new incarnation, with the somewhat pretentious name of “Islington Square”. Having 12 minutes to wait for our bus, we crossed the road to take a look.

Here are a few views of what we saw.

Hall with glass ceiling

All traces of the post office have been swept away (except for a plaque recording the building’s original role) and it appears to have become a shopping mall. The need for such seems highly doubtful in an area already well supplied with every kind of retail outlet but, then again, when did developers ever consider social need as a factor in their designs?

Dark passage illuminated with Christmas lights

Quite a few – probably the majority – of premises were boarded up, perhaps still awaiting tenants. The Christmas lights help to make the place look cheerful and it remains to see what it is like when they have gone.

Open area with more shops

Behind the old Post Office is this open area with shops and, presumably, residential accommodation.

We did not explore thoroughly, firstly because the site was clearly not in its final state and, secondly, because it was cold and we didn’t want to miss our bus.

As it stands, I am not sure how useful a contribution this new development will make to the area. That will depend on the businesses that are established here. If they meet people’s needs, it will flourish; if not, it will wither on the vine like so many other ill-conceived projects.

Welcome to the brave new world of 2020.

St John Street, Angel, Islington

I took this photo from the bus stop in St John Street as we waited for a number 19 to take us up the road to Islington Green where we hoped to find breakfast.

It’s mid-morning already but the streets are very quiet. Many shops and cafes are closed but the buses are running and I have even seen a refuse lorry collecting rubbish from business premises.

Gallipoli, Turkish Restaurant

This is where we came for breakfast. They served us a Turkish breakfast with Turkish tea. Next to Russian Caravan, Turkish is my favourite tea.

Caffé Nero, Islington Green

After breakfast we strolled down to the Islington Green branch of Caffè Nero. Tigger has some crochet work with her and I have books to read on my phone and so I expect we shall be here for a while.

Happy New Decade!