Tigger has a day off work today (like last Tuesday) and so we are going out and about but in a fairly relaxed way.
King’s Cross and St Pancras
We started by walking down to King’s Cross Station. The temperature today has again risen a few degrees (to a majestic 11°C) making it quite pleasant out.
King’s Cross Departures
For our coffee, we went into King’s Cross Station Departures and…
The terrace
…took the escalator up to the terrace. We bought coffee from the Costa takeaway outlet and sat at a table neat the rail, watching the activity in the station.
Roof support
From our seats we had a good view of the unusual roof support that holds up the station roof while leaving the busy floor space completely free.
Aboard the 17
After our coffee, we went round into York Way and caught a number 17 bus.
Archway
Photo by Tigger
The bus brought us to Archway though we did not go near enough to the famous road bridge to take a photo.
The Little Garden Cafe
We walked down Junction Road, looking for somewhere for lunch. We noted a couple of “possibles” but then spotted the Little Garden Cafe.
Inside the cafe
It was not at all busy and we were soon served. We had a good cafe lunch of the sort we like.
Once the Friendly Society
Photo by Tigger
After lunch, we went back along Junction Road, passing this building still bearing an inscription identifying it as once the premises of the London Friendly Society. A history of this enterprise and its modern heir, see here.
Cut-price store
We visited this cut-price store in case there was something to interest us. There was: Tigger bought some wool for her crochet projects!
Archway Library
We then visited the first of today’s libraries – or rather, we failed to visit it because it closes on Tuesdays. Archway Library is situated in the basement of a residential tower and therefore looks rather dark and gloomy but once inside, that impression fades.
The bus stop
We then went to the bus stop to catch a bus for the next stage of the outing.
Once more the 17
We boarded a 17 again, though in the opposite direction this time.
Caledonian Road
We left the bus partway along Caledonian Road (or The Caledonian Road, as some call it).
West Library
Turning up Bridgeman Road, we came to the handsome West Library. Built in 1906-8, with a contribution from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, it is now a Grade II listed building.
The “lantern”
Note the strange metal snd glass “lantern” on the roof.
We asked if we might take photos inside but received a flat “No!” in response. Boroughs do vary in how willing they are to allow photography inside their buildings.
St Andrew’s enshrouded
On a nearby corner, we spied St Andrew’s Church, completely enshrouded in netting, to what purpose I do not know. I have not seen any other examples of this.
We paused at Costa
Coffee break!
Photo by Tigger
Back on the main road, we found a branch of Costa Coffee and went in for a welcome coffee break.
Old pub
Continuing on, we noticed this old pub, now obviously repurposed as a residential property but painted in a contrasting colour as though to draw attention to it and its past life.
From chapel to paint shop
Not far sway we discovered another example of changed usage: this old church or chapel has resounded to its last sermon and is now a shop selling paint.
Aboard the 153
We now caught a 153 single-deck bus which carried through the Angel down St John Street.
Finsbury Library
Thus we came to our third library, the Finsbury Library, the one that is nearest home.
Inside Finsbury Library
We went into the library and spent some time in there. Tigger was studying some books and I was writing this blog post!
London Metropolitan University
Leaving the library, we passed this handsome building with its clock tower which is currently one of the sites of the London Metropolitan University (it has buildings all over London). It was not far from here to home so we walked rather than taking the bus.
At home, we made tea and settled in for a relaxed evening. This was a welcome break from the workaday week.
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