Drifting in Islington

I am in danger of becoming old before my time. I’ve noticed recently that when anyone asks me if I still love London, I reply that I love it but that I also find it tiring. I don’t know where the habit crept in of adding the caveat. The truth is, I do still love London and still find its villages fascinating

We took Charlotte to a gig in Islington on Sunday.  The evening was too warm for mid-November so having enjoyed a meal at the Masala Zone, Baz and I wanted to walk it off. I used to spend a lot of time in the area and I lived a short walk from Upper Street, or ‘Supper Street’ as it is now nicknamed, during my twenties. There is a wealth of Georgian, Regency and Victorian buildings that remain, particularly noticeable at the top end of Upper Street and on the side-roads that run down towards Essex Road

Unfortunately we didn’t take our cameras (it was dark, to be fair), so we had to rely on Baz’s phone as mine had no charge. Hardly well-equipped, but we snapped the fabulous Madonna mural with the legend ‘Queen, Rebel, Icon’ as well as this charmingly observed mural

As I looked in the windows of an interiors shop near the corner of Essex Road when Baz called me to say, ‘P, you have to see this’

Predictably the shop is called ‘Get Stuffed’. Should I even call it a shop? I love animals so taxidermy is not my thing at all, but there is something so intimate and compelling here and it looks more like an animal sanctuary than a stuffers

 It was hard to do it justice with the phone through the metal shutters but I think Baz captured how the creatures actually seem to engage with you and with each other, are almost living, a community. It was very affecting

There is something special to see on most streets in London. All its villages still have their own personalities after hundreds of years and their commerce and architecture is diverse. Even on a dark night when the shops are shut, you can never be bored

Author: poshbirdy

Art deco/ art nouveau maniac enjoying a deep and meaningful relationship with alcohol View all posts by poshbirdy