Amy and David

The good weather is having a final fling as I head on a 59 bus to Euston and north to Camden Town. This was the home of Amy Winehouse---with her best looking-for-trouble face here---who died in 2011. To me she was the best singer of her time and although she cut only two studio albums, she lives on in memory as do those of others in the infamous 27 Club---Hendrix, Joplin and Morrison.

Someone who has survived to the age of 90 is David Gentleman, whose book "My Town" was a present from one of my sisters and inspired me to visit the stately terraces dating from the 1840s. Gloucester Crescent. where he lives, featured in the film "The Lady in the Van" with Maggie Smith in the eccentric title role. Chalcot Crescent, pictured here, is a rare example of a double crescent. Oakley Square, a near-namesake of Oakley Gardens in Chelsea, could just as easily be sited there.

Due to social distancing I give a wide berth to Camden Market, but the canal above Camden Lock has a dreamy appearance at odds with the bustle downstream. The final two images complete the theme of London greenery: St. Martin's Gardens with some dilapidated tombstones leaning this way and that.Read more