A walk through Islington

Islington is of course now a very smart area with astronomically expensive houses. It is walking distance for those working in the City. But it also has the advantage of being one of London's many villages. It does have the feel of a place in itself rather than just a continuous ribbon of development through the Capital. I make no excuse for this section being heavily devoted to houses. It is a very built up area with limited green space. But the Georgian housing stock is very attractive and a lesson to modern architects on how to build high density accommodation that doesn't look Stalinist or built out of Lego.

So here we start with the back streets behind Angel tube station

 

 This little white house on Duncan Terrace was the home of the essayist Charles Lamb - hence the small round plaque

 A little further on one comes to the back of St Mary's Church, the local parish church, with its small shady gardens

A puppet theatre

 Running through North London is the New River, not a river but a channel only 4 feet deep built in the early 17th century to bring fresh water into the City from the Hertfordshire hills. At my end of North London this is mostly above ground and makes a pleasant "riverside" walk. However in Islington in the 19th century it was buried in pipes, allowing more development, but much of it has been converted into a sinuous and narrow stretch of park, as here at Astey's Row.

 Having by now not only wandered through the above, but taken in a bathroom store and the antique market at Camden Passage (a vastly overrated affair), I was rather tempted by the sight of a pub promising a beer garden. This was the Myddleton Arms. And what a nice way to spend an hour in the afternoon,. At the bar I just got talking to a bloke and we went back into the sunny garden where his other half was ensconced. So the three of just chatted happily over our beers, a Pension Lawyer, a Tree Surgeon and a Community Architect. You see why I just like wandering around in London? You meet people. Interesting, different people. And don't listen to all that crap about Londoners being unfriendly. Just stereotyping, largely because people are busy. And besides, most Londoners aren't from London anyway. Its a truly cosmopolitan city - just about everyone lives here. (The architect was Belgian.)

 To the left of the pub the New River pops back above ground along Canonbury Grove, a really lovely, if narrow, stretch of greenery. (I can't quite bring myself to describe it as a park,)

 As you can see, terraced houses line the Grove - not stunning but just pleasing

 At Alwynne Place, although surrounded by the standard terraces, the road is flanked by an odd pair of quirky cottages

 Then at the top of the slight hill one comes to a bit of a surprise, Canonbury Tower. This predates everythng in the area as it was built in the early 16th century as part of a manor house.

 Canonbury Square would be another good example for modern developers. Moderately high storey terraces all around, with attractive communal gardens in the middle. A desirable place to live (as both Evelyn Waugh and George Orwell must have thought as they were among former residents).

 Just round the corner is Compton Terrace, with the Union Chapel (a regular venue for gigs as well as a church) peeking out the middle in a slightly incongruous Victorian Gothic style amongst its severe classical neighbours. This terrace again has a thin stretch of public green space fronting it to make up for the lack of private gardens. Here I broke my journey again with friends who are residents

 Fortified by another beer I risked heading further on into the teeth of the crowd of Arsenal fans heading home from the late afternoon kick off and along Highbury Fields, this time quite a decent size of park, with a rather fine bronze war memorial at the bottom end.

 Facing the park are more nice but unflashy terraces.

 And on the other side, the long stretch of Highbury Terrace, built at the end of the 18th century.

That pretty much completed my walk - I thought I had better double back with the footie crowds coming out and join the throng at Highbury & Islington station.