Barnsbury

Over the weekend, took a walking tour of Barnsbury- a section of Islington. It was developed from about 1820 to 1900. It was originally for the upper middle class- very close to the City, but gradually declined into slums until about the 1960s. It also was spared in the Blitz so the houses and original squares are still as they were originally. Now of course, it is a pretty nice area to live in (Tony Blair used to live here, I saw his house) and popular with professionals and young families as it is still cheaper than many parts of London. (In relative terms, of course, a decent two bed flat will still set you back about 600,000 quid!)

A villa in Montfort square

This row of terraces was built in the 1830s where Egyptian things were all the rage. Every other house either has a sphinx or a small replica of Cleopatra's Needle on the front steps. Here you can see a couple of sphinxes


Here you can see both a sphinx and Cleopatra's Needle

This is Lonsdale Square which was developed by an architect known for his church buildings so you can see some of those elements here

The front doors to three terrace houses in the corner of Lonsdale Square- the middle house is very narrow

St. Andrew's Church- it looks old but was actually built in 1854.

Another street in Barnsbury

A cat outside the window

There are still a few flowers blooming