Streets of London – Page 4

Driving The Buggy

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This morning I spent wrestling with BT over Broadband. Just before this I received a scam call purporting to come from BT Accounts. I gave the caller short shrift. I can’t be bothered to write about the Broadband – any more than anyone would like to read about it.

Later, I made more progress on weeding the Back Drive.

A new tulip has emerged in the front garden.

We brunched with Becky and Ian in the Beachcomber Café at Barton on Sea. Today’s weather was not conducive to customers eating in the garden. Had it been warmer and brighter, myriads of marauding starlings would have been swarming around the tables. As it was, they foraged in the grass and made do with worms.

This afternoon I scanned the next dozen colour slides in the Streets of London series, from September 2004.

I would have taken this shot of Milner Square, N1 on one of my visits to Parents for Children in Islington. Note the drink can and the graffito. Perhaps the lace curtain adds a little gentility.

Graffito also adorns the Islington Park Street sign on a building whose residents hang their washing in the windows.

I don’t think the Lush Cocktail Bar on Upper Street at the corner of Laycock Street is still there. The young lady passing by preferred her beverage from MacDonald’s.

The Phoenix is an award-winning hostel at the corner of Harrow and Highworth Streets, NW1. It surely must have started life as a public house.

Devonshire Villas, N. has me at a loss for identification. It does not appear in the London A-Z. Could this location be Devonia Street which was once called Devonshire Street?

The Barnsbury Gallery stands on Thornhill Road near the corner with Albion Mews, on which a young lady settled a toddler on the buggy footplate, presumably so he could take over the driving. The gentleman following was well ahead by the the time the little boy took charge.

This attractive mural in Brayfield Terrace N1 is perforce cheek by jowl with ugly graffiti.

Gray’s Inn Road, WC1 is always clogged up with traffic.

Here a cyclist leads the race for a dash into Albany Terrace, close to Regent’s Park, NW1.

Not far away, Spiderman still perched on the dome of the planetarium in Marylebone Road.

Hampton’s, who claimed a sale agreed for the house on the corner of Hemingford Road and Ripplevale Grove, N1, are rather an upmarket estate agent.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s piri-piri chicken with savoury rice topped by an omelette, followed by profiteroles. I finished the Corbieres, Jackie drank Hoegaarden, Ian, peroni, and Becky sparkling water.

Up The Cally

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After yesterday’s violent deaths on Westminster Bridge, over which I have walked many a time, it has been difficult to take my mind off London. I’ve always found a productive routine task to be therapeutic. It seemed therefore appropriate to continue yesterday’s North London perambulations through the medium of scanning the next dozen of my Streets of London images made in August and September 2004.

I begin with this corner of King’s Cross station on Euston Road, N1. Purely by coincidence the picture contains a reminder of another disaster experienced on 18th November 1987. An accidental fire in the Underground cost thirty one people their lives. The following month I began daily trips through King’s Cross when I would use those underground lines. The walled commemorative area in the foreground was filled with floral tributes over the following days.

Alongside the station, Caledonian Road runs up towards Holloway. During the late ’80s and ’90s, when, in sports gear, carrying my working clothes in a back pack, I commuted from Newark, I would run up The Cally, as it was known to the locals, for a few hundred yards, turn into a pocket park on the left, and continue along the Regent’s Canal towpath, past Camden Lock to my counselling room in Little Venice.

The first turning on the right is Omega Place N1. Tony’s Organics, at 10 Caledonian Road, in 2009, was considered one of the best raw food cafés in London. It is now reported to be closed.

The next turning is the one-time picturesque Keystone Crescent. At that time, a plastered wall with bricked up windows unwittingly invited graffiti.

Beyond the above-mentioned pocket park lies Twyford Street. Cally Pool has its entrance further up Caledonian Road. I hope the gentleman in the foreground didn’t have a cold.

On this particular day I must have been walking up to Parents for Children in Islington, for I continued on along Richmond Avenue on the right. Tarmon Free House is at 270, Caledonian Road. Perhaps the same florists decorated the establishment as did The Exmouth Arms featured yesterday.

At the far end of Richmond Avenue we find Cloudesley Road N1. As with a number of our 19th century buildings, this one bears the freshened up slogans of a shop that once operated on its site.

In nearby Dowrey Street, shadows of leaves do their best to take our minds of an uninviting stairwell.

Lonsdale Square in Barnsbury needs no such distraction,

although, just around the corner, Liverpool Road, one of the main routes from Holloway Road through to Islington, could have done with a facelift at this point.

allinlondon.co.uk’s page on Alan Cocks’s shop demonstrates that it has received one. London’s central area telephone numbers are now prefixed by 020 7, so if you need a quotation don’t forget the addition to the prominent number in my photograph, which remains otherwise unchanged.

This evening we dined on pork chops marinaded in mustard sauce and coated with flaked almonds, piquant cauliflower cheese; sauteed potatoes, carrots and cabbage. Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I drank Collin-Borisset Beaujolais Villages 2015.

Off Marylebone Road/Euston Road

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Today I scanned the next dozen colour slides from my Streets of London series, produced in August 2004. These locations are all off Marylebone Road which becomes Euston Road at the junction with Great Portland Street.

Given its proximity to the Royal Academy of Music, of which he was elected principal in 1875, I have assumed that MacFarren Place, NW1, is named after the composer George Alexander MacFarren (1818-1887). I have been unable to confirm this. The doorway and the brickwork are what attracted me to this wall. It had nothing to do with Douglas Adams’s ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy’.

The Park in question in Park Square Mews is Regents Park, one of the Royal parks. This mews still contains attractive cobblestones. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regent%27s_Park has a wealth of information on the park, which includes an outer ring road, known as the Outer Circle, measuring 4.45 km. During my marathon training in the 1980s I regularly ran round this route, up to seven times in succession.

Park Square West runs between Marylebone road and Outer Circle.

Longford Street is home to the Regent’s Park Centre of Westminster Kingsway College. Has someone made an effort to have the modern building in the background blend with the older red brick on which the street name is fixed.

There are at least 32 flats (or apartments) in 9, Laxton Place, NW1. They cost a lot of money, but they do have small balconies and it is just a short walk to Regent’s Park.

Drummond Street/North Gower Street NW1 8.04

Drummond Street runs into Hampstead Road, where our friend Jessie once worked, just north of Euston Road. Chutneys is a very popular and well reviewed North Indian vegetarian restaurant with vegan options. I enjoyed my one visit sometime in the 1990s. Here is their menu.

Crossing Hampstead Road from Drummond Street you will reach Charles Place. The wisteria festoons a house in Drummond Street.

The Exmouth Arms in Starcross Street NW1, just behind Charles Place, could possibly be visible from there. Regular readers will know that The Head Gardener fully approves of the multitude of hanging baskets obscuring the name.

Euston Street is parallel with Drummond Street.

There was much building going on in Pancras Road at the time these pictures were produced. Now St Pancras is a fully functioning international railway station.

This evening we dined on cheese-centred haddock fishcakes served on a bed of leeks, Jackie’s piquant cauliflower cheese, and crisp carrots and cabbage. Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I finished the Malbec.

A Far Cry From Fitzrovia

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This morning I scanned another dozen colour slides from the Streets of London series. These were produced in July 2004.

On this corner of Riding House Street W1 stands the landmark Arts & Crafts home of T.J. Boulting & Sons, manufacturers of heating equipment. Adopting the name in 2011, a contemporary art gallery, T.J. Boulting, was established in the building.

The address of the Crown & Sceptre pub, seen here in Foley Street W1, is actually 88 Great Titchfield Street. They currently advertise watching the Six Nations rugby with specially chosen beers. Like many of our historic public lavatories, the one outside the building has been chained shut.

Zoopla currently quotes the average price of a property in Mansfield Mews W1 as £1,703,118. Note the tall chimneys and television aerials reflected in the upper window. What a pity that a splendid stained glass window has made way for an extractor fan.

A similar value is place on properties in Molyneux Street W1.

I was only beginning my photography of public places at this time. I do wish I had had the confidence to ask this group alongside Ossington Buildings W1 what they were up to. But, I didn’t. Now I have learned that most people are only to willing to talk, and often to pose.

This church seen from Crawford Street W1, is St Mary’s Bryanston Square, an active element of the evangelical wing of the Church of England. Designed by Robert Smirke, it dates from 1824. A young lady on a bench made herself comfortable in the sunshine.

In Wyndham Place opposite, the Duke of Wellington, tankard in hand, possibly wondering how long he would be there, gazes from a side window of his eponymous pub. Built in 1812 in Crawford Street this establishment closed last year.

Warrington Gardens W9 is in Little Venice, close to Warwick Avenue tube station. Does the little girl here have a brother or sister in the buggy pushed by her mother, and does she have a doll in her own? I guess I’ll never know.

Wikipedia tells us that

‘St Augustine’s Church of England High School is a Voluntary Aided Church of England comprehensive school in the West London borough of Westminster, Kilburn. The school is also a Science College and has a sixth form. St Augustine of Canterbury is the patron saint of the school. It is located adjacent to its affiliated primary school and parish church St Augustine’s Church.’ It dates from 1870, when it was opened with 7 pupils.

Garfield the Movie was released in 2004. It is a spin-off from the famous cartoons featuring Garfield the cat created by America’s Jim Davis in 1978. This style of telephone box is a more recent version of the iconic red telephone boxes. I wonder if it is still in use, especially as I doubt that there is a single pupil without a mobile phone.

For many years I ran or walked from Little Venice to lunch with Norman at his home in Harlesden. Ridley Road NW10 was on one of my routes. This corner pillar had obvious got in the way of a stray vehicle. Or maybe the young lady gave it a passing kick.

Oldfield Road NW10 has brought us into graffiti land. A far cry from where we began in Fitzrovia. Norman lived in this road, which was around the corner from

Ashdon Road NW1, the walls of which also suffered desecration, and where robbers and Dumpers were also warned off.

This afternoon I watched a very keen Six Nations rugby contest between France and Scotland in Paris, screened by the BBC.

The evening we dined on second helpings of yesterday’s tasty casserole, with potatoes sauteed with garlic and herbs, and carrots vying with curly Kale for brightness of colour and flavour. Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I drank Cimarosa Limited Edition Shiraz 2014.

Memorable Fitzrovians

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Today I scanned another dozen colour slides from July 2004.

The first three are of Flo getting to grips with the swing suspended from a false acacia tree in the garden at Lindum House.

The others are the next nine in the Streets of London Series.

This wall in Judd Street WC1 is enlivened by a bright hanging basket.

Here is another view of the juxtaposition between The British Library and the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, this time from Euston Road NW1. The photograph also shows the effect that a lane closure can have on London traffic.

Seven years ago two separate estate agents advertised this house in Flaxman Terrace WC1 at £2,375,000 and at £4,250,000.

Upper Woburn Place/Tavistock Square WC1 7.04 1

Upper Woburn Place/Tavistock Square WC1 7.04 2

The headquarters of the British Medical Association straddle Upper Woburn Place and Tavistock Square WC1. The third view is from the corner of Endsleigh Street, the End of which has been chopped off.

University College London occupies a number of buildings in and around Gordon Square WC1. I imagine the two young men in this picture are university students.

There are three streets named Charlotte Mews in London. It wouldn’t be amusing to find yourself in either the one in W10 or in W14 if you were aiming for this one. Note that if you were driving a vehicle needing more than 11′ headroom that wouldn’t be funny either.

This fascinating mural in Goodge Place W1 was painted by Brian Barnes in the year 2000. The following details are taken from The website of the London Mural Preservation Society:

“Residents and workers in the Fitzrovia area are very aware of the mural off Tottenham court road – some because they walk past it every day, others because they were around when it was created. However, are those same people aware of the small mural located on the side of the Fitzrovia Neighbour Centre on Goodge place?

This painting covers the lower part of the side of the building. It was painted in 2000 by Brian Barnes. In the mural are famous people or buildings in the area. The gentleman in the red coat is Olaudah_Equiano who lived in the area during the later years of his life. He was a prominent African involved with the British movement to abolish slavery. Behind Olaudah is an image of a ship. This scene is taken from the painting by J M W Turner called The Slave Ship.

Below Olaudah is Marie Stopes who was responsible for opening the first family planning clinic. This establishment set up it’s head quarters on Whitfield Street in Fitzrovia in 1925. To the right of Stopes is Simon Bolivar, a Venezuelan political leader who helped free Latin America from the Spanish. He was sent to London in 1810 to seek protection from the British Government. Whilst in London he met with Francisco de Miranda who is portrayed to the bottom right of Bolivar. He was also a Venezuelan revolutionary who had led a previous revolt in Latin America. De Miranda settled in Fitzrovia. Both men are remembered in the area; there is Bolivar Hall which is part of The Venezuelan Embassy and a statue of De Miranda on Fitzroy Square.

Above De Miranda and next to Bolivar is the writer George Bernard Shaw who had a home in Fitzroy Street. Moving to the top of the mural is an image of the Middlesex Hospital. The first hospital was built in the mid 17th century and functioned up until quite recently. The place was closed in 2005 and most of the buildings have been pulled down; the site is still waiting to be redeveloped.

To the left of the mural at the top is Totterhall Manor, an Elizabethan building whose land is now occupied by Fitzroy Square. Below the building ia a former resident of this place, the writer Virginia Woolf. Next to her is a stalwart for the Fitzrovia Play Association, Cynthia Williams, a local resident for more than 50 years who passed away during 2000 and was commemorated in the mural. Finally below her we have some Bengali dancers. The neighborhood centre does much work with local Bengali people. Next to this picture is an image of the BT tower,completed in 1962 and at one point the tallest building in London.

This mural offers an education about just a small number of the famous people associated with the area. Sadly it’s possible that the Fitzrovia Neighbour Centre will move out of the building after 36 years of service. It will be most likely that the mural will be destroyed after that so pop down and have a look at it before it goes.”

This evening we dined on Jackie’s newly created Post House pie. This was a layered savoury concoction. Minced beef was covered by onions, peppers, and leftover vegetables, Mashed potato topped by mature cheddar cheese came next. It was most moreish. Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I finished the rioja.

Would They Be Amused?

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In my ‘Farringdon and Paddington’ post of two days ago, I featured a view of the Paddington Basin Development from Praed Street. Here is one from Star Street W2. Several million pounds, even then, was required to purchase one of the top floor apartments. Perhaps the terra cotta arcs are an attempt to remain in keeping with the chimney pots of the older terraces. Central Wash laundrette is still in business at 17 Star Street.

This photograph is the first of a batch of a dozen Streets of London series colour slides from July 2004, that I scanned today. Star Street lies parallel and between the equally parallel Praed Street and Sussex Gardens, the latter of which form a rectangle with Edgware and Bayswater Roads. This contains a network of smaller streets

one of which is Porchester Place W2. This is of course part of the London Borough of Westminster, prepared to spend money on hanging baskets in honour of its visitors.

Another is Connaught Square W2, leading to Hyde Park Square where, 3 years on, I was to take out a nightmare rental, the story of which is told in AAARGH!

Seymour Street W2 crosses Edgware Road, and runs through Portman Square to Wigmore Street. What, I wondered, was this woman’s relationship with the child in the buggy.

Dunraven Street W1 lies parallel to Park Lane. North Row runs alongside Oxford Street. Marble Arch is very nearby, beyond the Big Bus Company‘s tour transport. The trees are in Hyde Park. I’m not sure who the uniformed gent represents.

A major refurbishment was underway in whichever this was of the streets crossed by Park Street W1, and leading directly into Park Lane.

Park Street leads us into the heart of Mayfair with its splendid buildings viewed here from Adam’s Row. Six months ago you could rent a 1 bedroom flat in Adam’s Row for £4,225 per calendar month. That was on the first floor of a period coach house., in other words not one of the grand apartments on view in this picture.

The Historic England website contains this listed building entry description of 2-8 Carlos Place, W1: “A quadrant block of houses 1891-93 by J E Trollope of Giles, Gough and Trollope. Red brick with lavish Portland stone dressings, slate roofs. Free English/Flemish Renaissance style. Four storeys, basement and attic storey with dormers and shaped and straight gables. Effective rhythm of canted bay windows through storeys, balustraded parapets and gables, enlivened on alternate houses by bands of carved brick Renaissance decorative ornament. The canted bays, with mullioned lights and glazing bars and leading, are in some cases capped with ogee copper roofs. Semicircular arched and recessed porches. No 8 has a polygonal bay window to corner and a 2 storey rear wing the upper part timber framed. Basement areas have ornamental cast iron railings. Panelled stone and brick chimney stacks prominent on ridge of roof. Part of the 1880s-90s rebuilding of Mount Street for the Grosvenor Estate. Prominent corner site.” Renting a three bedroomed apartment here would set you back upwards of £10,000 per calendar month.

On 22 September last year Stephanie Hirschmiller in The Daily Telegraph described Mount Street, Mayfair as “one of London’s most stylish destinations….home to a plethora of luxurious boutiques and restaurants with global acclaim.” One of these establishments is Delfino Pizzeria on the corner of number 1 and Mount Street Mews W1. Would Queen Victoria and her consort, Prince Albert, whose busts look down onto these streets, I wonder, be amused at all this?

All I know about nearby Jones Street W1, is that it is not in Greenwich Village.

Hay Hill, W1 is as steep as it looks. The gentleman in the first picture is striding into Dover Street, where can be seen both the elegantly restrained window display of the corner antique shop, and a reflection of another across the road. The Club for Business at 12 Hay Hill claims that:

“Hay Hill has a history of good fortune

Beau Brummell was an iconic figure in Regency London. On an early summer’s morning in 1813, Beau was lamenting a run of bad luck, which had led him close to destitution. Wandering around the corner of Berkeley Square towards Hay Hill, he saw something glistening on the floor. It was a crooked sixpence. He took the coin home, drilled a hole in it, and attached it to his watch chain. Almost overnight, his fortune changed and the penny became his good luck charm and he always looked fondly on Hay Hill.

“Whilst at 12 Hay Hill we believe you make your own fortune, we hope that a bit of good luck from the place where Beau found his sixpence won’t do our members any harm…””

This evening we dined on Jackie’s classic chicken jalfrezi, wild rice, onion bahjis, and parathas, with which I finished the Shiraz.

Farringdon And Paddington

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This morning I scanned another dozen colour slides from the Streets of London series, produced in July 2004.

Clerkenwell Road EC1 was featured on 15th January. These were probably pictured at the same time as the first ones. I swear I had no idea what was being advertised in the Jack posters. Intensive Internet research informs me that this was a magazine for gentlemen of a more intellectual bent than most. 2004 was its final year of publication.

The church in the second shot is that of St. James. From about 1100 to 1539, when it fell foul of King Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries, St. Mary’s nunnery stood on the site. Grafted onto the remains of the nunnery church in 1540, the place of worship, after several alterations, was rebuilt in the18th century, being dedicated in 1792. That is the building you see today. It is not, in fact, attempting to emulate the leaning tower of Pisa, but the width of this shot distorted the image so that I had to choose between the circular structure in the foreground and the more distant church to straighten.

This view is a little further down the road. Here is a link to Susannah Hall’s website: https://susannahhall.com

This young lady, pretty in pink, brightened up Clerkewell Close EC1

From its junction with Clerkenwell Road, Farringdon Road EC1 runs south to Blackfriars Bridge. It is Greville Street that climbs the hill up to Hatton Garden in the second picture.

A public house has existed on the site of The Castle in Cowcross Street EC1 from at least the 18th Century. According to Wikipedia “it was once frequented by King George IV, who issued the landlord with a pawnbroker’s licence and handed over his gold watch to obtain some cash after losing money on a cockfight.”

Both Cowcross Street and Benjamin Street EC1 lead to Farringdon Station. The BAR E S on the corner has lost a couple of letters. There is no truth in the rumour that Johnny Depp’s Sweeney Todd gave Alan Rickman a close shave in these premises.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omD3m-xwBWk&w=560&h=315]

The 19th century Grand Junction Arms, as refurbished in the 1930s in Praed Street, dwarfed in 2004 by the development of Paddington Basin, at the end of South Wharf Road W2 was, I understand, closed possibly as recently as last year.

Junction Street W2 forms a corner with Praed St,

and St Michael’s Street runs parallel to it.

This evening we dined on aromatic lemon chicken; sautéed leeks, peppers, and mushrooms; boiled potatoes and carrots; and Jackie’s piquant cauliflower cheese. She drank Hoegaarden, and I drank Lion’s Lair Shiraz 2013.

Fitzrovia To Farringdon Via Holborn

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Although I am almost recovered from our family illness, and Becky is still unscathed, Jackie and Ian remain under par. I therefore took another virtual reality trip to London through the medium of scanning another dozen colour slides from the Streets of London series made during July 2004.

I forget which of these two shots featuring Welbeck Way W1 depicts buildings in the Wimpole Street. This area of Fitzrovia is rather grand. The cordoned off pavement is, as has been demonstrated before, a common sight in central London. If the young man has just left his bike against the railings, he will be lucky if it is still there when he returns. I also wonder how much longer our streets will be graced with Royal Mail delivery vans. Wikipedia tells that: “The notorious 18th-century highwayman James MacLaine was once a grocer on Welbeck Street.”

Like the above-mentioned Wimpole Street, Harley Street is noted for the large number of expensive private medical specialists who practice there. This photograph was taken from the junction with Wigmore Street.

https://wcclibraries.wordpress.com/2015/10/29/a-controversial-sculptor-jacob-epstein-in-westminster/ gives the story of this rather wonderful Jacob Epstein sculpture in Dean’s Mews W1. The slight straightening required by this image meant that the street name has been lost. It is fascinating to me that the photograph contained in the wcclibraries post was clearly taken at a different time of day to mine.

This post box in Newman Street W1 is clearly no stranger to advertising material.

Bury Place WC1 is around the corner from the British Museum; and is consequently a suitable street in which to find a dealer in antiquities.

I wonder who became the new occupiers of 166 Clerkenwell Road, and therefore next door neighbours of the New Seoul Korean restaurant.

The Duke of York in Vine Hill, EC1 was a favourite haunt of “Mad” Frankie Fraser (13.12.23 – 26.11.14) He was a S. London gangster and criminal who spent 42 years in prison for numerous violent offences.

His story is told in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankie_Fraser, and, more colourfully in the autobiography written with James Morton, available from Amazon.

The Duke of York is mentioned on page 147,

while the Coach and Horses in Back Hill features on the next page.

The Potemkin Russian restaurant on the bendy corner of Back Hill and White Bear Yard could be named after either Catherine the Great’s favourite or the battleship immortalised by Sergei Eisenstein’s 1925 silent film. Given that the ship must have been named after the statesman the exact answer is probably academic.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle features Saffron Hill EC1 in his Sherlock Holmes story ‘The Adventure of The Six Napoleons’, being the Italian Quarter where can be found the Venucci family. Repairs to gas mains are not particularly unusual.

Becky and Ian returned home to Emsworth later this afternoon. Jackie and I dined on the final helpings of her lovely sausage casserole, both mashed and boiled potatoes, and Brussels sprouts and broccoli. Neither of us imbibed.

Howard Brown

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Jackie is feeling much better than she was yesterday, but we are still an ailing household, except for Pauline’s ‘last woman standing’ in the form of Becky.

I scanned another dozen ‘Streets of London’ colour slides from July 2004.

For a number of years around the end of the last millennium, I performed a consultancy role at Portugal Prints, the Westminster Association of Mental Health project then situated in Portugal Street, WC2, but now in Arlington Street NW1. The building was then owned by the London School of Economics who eventually wanted it back.

The same must be true of that of the nursery across the road. This facility for student and staff parents has been established in order, ‘by offering flexible hours and half-day care, [to] help parents achieve a better work/life balance. And our central London location, in a quiet street between Covent Garden and Holborn stations and close to the LSE campus, means you can cut down on commuting time’. The quotation is taken from their website advertising the service now situated at Wild Street. Snow White, the Seven Dwarves, and cut-out teddy bears may or may not have moved with the children.

The Nursery windows are also evident on the side of it’s building in Sheffield Street. Much information on St Clement Danes parish is contained in https://www.londonlives.org/static/StClementDane.jsp

Clare Market WC2, where stands this LSE building, once provided many of the church’s parishioners. Naturally this particular Waterstone’s caters for those studying politics and economics.

Walking back to Little Venice from Portugal Prints I could have taken Marylebone Road, passing Ossulston Street NW1 giving another view of the refurbishment of the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel and the British Library.

Howard Brown was all the rage at this time. He was the star of the Halifax Bank advertisements that used the talents of their staff members to create a popular series. The following video is only just over two minutes long, but I defy you not to go on to the extracts in the next one. It is one of the many images of this charismatic gentleman that flies into Old Marylebone Road NW1.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oURFZPDj1A4&w=560&h=315]

(In answer to those who are curious about what has happened to Howard, here is an article from the The Daily Mail: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1389417/Face-Halifax-Howard-Brown-walks-dropped-ad-campaign.html

Cato Street W1 lies between Brendon Street featured two days ago and

Molyneux Street. The address of the Duke of York, built on this corner in 1889, is actually 45 Harrowby Street.

Bryanston Mews West W1

and Gloucester Place Mews W1 are others in this cluster of Marylebone streets. It is good to see the now old-fashioned sash windows in some of these Victorian terraces. These are designed to be opened at top and bottom so that cooler air can be attracted from the bottom and, when warmed up, exit from the top. So often they are replaced, resulting in ventilation and condensation problems.

The rebuilt Hinde Street Methodist Church (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinde_Street_Methodist_Church) dates from the 1880s.

This evening we dined on fish, chips, onion rings, and baked beans. Jackie and Ian shared a bottle of Amstel, while Becky and I drank Barcelino blanco 2015.

Mostly W1

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Generally when I delve into my archives that is because either the weather is foul, or I am feeling so. Whilst rather better than yesterday, it is for the latter reason that I scanned another dozen colour slides from the Streets of London Series of July 2004.

Berners Street W1 sports a fruit and vegetable stall useful to visitors, residents, and local workers alike. It is overlooked by the Post Office Tower in the left of the picture.

On the corner of Great Titchfield Street W1, football fans are the stallholders’ targets.

I have been unable to find any information about this chapel, on the steps of which, adjacent to Chapel Place W1, young people enjoy their lunch in the sunshine. (I am grateful to Paul Clarke who has done the research and provides a link to the story in his comment below)

The fire engine seen in the first of these photographs of Chiltern Street W1 suggests that the ornate building occupying the right hand side of the frame was then still a working fire station, but, like The Fire Station at Waterloo, is now a luxury hotel and restaurant named The Chiltern Firehouse.

If you ask me, the cyclist emerging from Montagu Mews North W1, is taking her life in her hands. But she is no doubt experienced at dodging London traffic.

Mind you, I do hope she steers clear of Saint Michael’s Street W1. Whether you look up or down, you couldn’t get much more into the shot.

Maybe she would fare better in Brendon Street, and at the same time get a view of a sun-tanned, shirtless, builder up a ladder.

Leaving Westminster and entering Camden, we see, in Longford Street NW1, some of that London Borough’s recycling bins. Recycling is a contentious issue here in UK, for every Local Authority has its own regulations as to what is and isn’t acceptable, and much of what is collected rots in warehouses anyway. It is admirable that efforts should be made in this direction but the systems are apparently far from perfect.

Longford Street leads us to Drummond Street NW1. The Mystic Maze appears to be where one can find Exodus Travels who will arrange your tours for you.

Alfie’s Antique Market, its proprietor clearly a fan of Gustav Klimt, is one of many such outlets that line Church Street NW8. ‘It houses over seventy-five dealers offering antiques; including silver, furniture, jewellery, paintings, ceramics, glass and vintage clothing.’ Wikipedia

Today’s evening meal, the first of the day for most of us, was an interesting affair. Becky, now being the only fit family member, knocked up various concoctions from available sources, according to what people thought they could manage. It is perhaps a measure of my improvement that I chose breaded mushrooms, vegetable samosa, and savoury rice; and drank half a glass of Costières de Nîmes.