Wandering around the quiet streets in The City of London after visiting Leadenhall Market I ambled into Cornhill. I stopped to admire one of my favorite buildings which sports this gorgeous bit of hand-carved typography* and the shop next to it that retains its curved glass windows and mosaic threshold:
I crossed the road to take a wider view and as I looked down at the pavement I spotted something that amused me. Whether this was an accident or a clever bit of cement graffiti, it appeals to my puerile sense of humour! Further along the street I noticed the lettering within a brass strip on an access plate had worn away to become almost illegible. It actually reads: SMOKE OUTLET FROM BASEMENT:
I entered Finch Lane, a narrow street that evokes the era of Georgian coffee houses and as I passed The Cock and Woolpack pub. It occured to me that I don't think I have ever been inside. How very bizarre. A quick snap of the view to Threadneedle Street and then left into Bartholomew Lane where I pondered if the skinny space between two buildings was once an alleyway:
At my feet I noticed more eroded brass letters where a London Fire Brigade manhole offers access to inlets rather than an outlet:
Whoops, forgot to include this strange adjoinment (I think I might have just invented that word!) where two properties meet at an odd angle on Threadneedle Street, facing the Royal Exchange, creating a very unusual triangular inlet:
I couldn't find anything in there that might offer access to the Spinkler Tank Infill or a Dry Riser Inlet which I suspect is probably in the road, but there were workmen and their vans in the way. I bet this space is used as a hidey hole for a single smokers.
That'll do for now. See you soon, JPx
*find out more abut this building on my City Deco guided walk via janeslondonwalks.com