A lost letterbox in Upper Holloway, and some other post box conunundrums

Last month I posted about the reveal of the Brymay ad opposite Upper Holloway Station which happened after the new bridge was finished on Holloway Road and followed a year of upheaval including diversions and tail backs such that the Archway roundabout at the northern end of the road, which was also undergoing reconstruction at the same time, was spookily quiet. And, as it turned out, a perfect time to resurface Holloway Road revealing the old cobbles for about 30mins (I must dig out those pics).
Oops, I digress... back to Upper Holloway station...
The new bridge is now finished. But something is missing...
The cute little Victorian letterbox that used to be by the entrance to the station hasn't been reinstated.

Top row shows 2008 and 2014. Bottom row shows how the wall letter box was recorded at that site in 1909, and bottom right is how the bridge wall looks now.

So where is this wonderful old piece of Victorian metalwork?
Who has it? News please.

Whilst I am on the subject of Victorian letterboxes, I noticed last month that the Penfold acanthus pillar box in St Pancras Way, NW1, has moved to the other side of the road since the last time I took a snap of it which must have been approx 10 years ago. Why is that? But hey, at least it's still there.
This and more oddities in the pics below.

Top right – the Penfold box in St Pancras Way and below it a close up of its VA motif showing that the box used to be painted green.
Middle top – the box in the gate at Chelsea's Royal Hospital – accessible from both sides!
Top right – a wall letterbox, also in Chelsea – the same design as the lost Upper Holloway.
On the bottom row – a VR in London N6 is really thick with paint – compare it to the ones either side it and note also how the one bottom right, (EC4) has a different monogram design.

First Class postage goes up to 60p

Tomorrow the price of 1st Class postage goes up by 30%.
I still think it's cheap. For 60p you can send send a letter to Scotland and expect it to arrive the next morning. I think that's amazing value. Try getting a private company to that for the same money.
But "First Class"... what does it mean? I think it used to mean it would arrive in the morning post rather than in the later delivery. But these days it's a bit tenuous. Here in Holloway my post rarely arrives before 11.30am. The next day delivery we have come to expect doesn't seem to work either, as often I've sent something with a first class stamp on it to hear that it didn't arrive until two days later, even just across London.
But then what do I expect for 60p?!
I still have a have a lot of stamps that I bought last December, albeit with Christmas images on them, that I never used because I didn't find the time to make any 2011 Christmas cards, so it's a good job they don't have 'use by' dates on them.
Below are some interesting letter boxes on London doors. More here.

Hugenot houses and hidden gems

Spitalfields is a constantly-changing layer cake of London history. Over the centuries many different ethnic groups have lived in the area including Hugenots, Jews, Irish and Bangladeshis. Today the area is buzzing with markets and bars and is also known as Banglatown.

Back at the end of the 17th century the Hugenots fled from their native France, settled in Spitalfields where they built some wonderful houses in which they created and sold their much sought-after silk textiles.

Centuries passed and by the 1960s these marvellous houses had become very delapidated and were due for demolition but, thanks to a group of conservationists which included Dan Cruikshank, a few streets of these old terraces were saved and still remain today.

One particular house, 19 Princelet Street, is not just a Hugenot survivor, but also has a Jewish syangogue 'hidden' within it. The story goes that the synagogue, which occupies the garden area at the back of the house, was boarded up around 1960 and subsequent tenants didn't even know it was there. I find that hard to believe, but hey. The building is now a kind of time capsule and it is managed by a team of volunteers who open it up to the public for a few days every year. I went there last month and found it to be an amazing place. Future opening dates here.

The pics below show some of the wonderful details to be found on these Hugenot houses. Most are probably reproduction/replacements but they are still lovely. Note especially the lovely little window shutter fixings – I found many more similar ones in western France.

Snooping & sniffing at Open House Weekend

This weekend, 18+19th September, many usually closed doors will be opened to the public for a free snoop inside. And there are walks, tours and cycle rides too.

Lots of gems. Two days only.

Most of the big attractions such as Centre Point and Trellick Tower aren't even worth showing up to now as they were only available to see by booking in advance.

And please be aware that a huge chunk of the properties on the list are actually open all year round, so save those for another day and instead make use of the opportunity to go and sniff around other people's architectified* homes.

Check the official site for more details.

*my own word

Doors and windows

This collection of fixing and furniture for doors and windows is starting to look really lovely as a group of thumbnails. Hand-shape door knockers and lion door knobs. I particularly like the little window shutter devices, most of which I found around the Spitalfields area. Shown below are some that depict little people and another one that, to me, looks like a parrot!