Urban Wandering: King's Cross to Oxford Circus

My second urban wander of the week, my first being around Limehouse, took me from King's Cross to Oxford Circus. Admittedly the title does not sound that inspiring, but this was not a wander along the main roads, nor through the areas heaving with office workers, lunchtime shoppers and tourists. As soon as I had climbed the steps out of King's Cross tube station, I crossed the main road and made straight for the quieter streets, heading off in a south westerly direction. I had no real idea of where I was going today, but just decided to zig-zag my way towards somewhere I could catch a tube or bus back to the office. Initially this took me through quite a residential part of London, with a surprising number of green spaces. Pleasant though this was, it was not was I was really looking for, so I continued my diagonal wander until I found an intriguing series of mews and passageways. Being lunchtime however, and being in quite a busy area of London, many of these narrow passageways were filled with a constant stream of people so, feeling a little over conspicuous, I shied away from taking too many photos where there were people about. Those pictures I did take were of mews and passageways a little more off the beaten track, so unfortunately no pictures of Percy Passage this time. I opted instead to duck into Gower Mews, and after a few minutes waiting for the guy in the luminous jacket to get out of the shot, I eventually snapped this, unfortunately rather grey, picture.

Gower Mews, London WC1

Street sign, Gower Mews, London WC1

Marylebone Passage, London W1

For me Marylebone Passage was the highlight of today's Urban Wander, and in particular this ghost sign for a company called Pring and Rose, for Showcards, Ticket Writers and Printers.

Ghost sign for Pring and Rose, Showcards, Ticket Writers and Printers, Marylebone Passage, London W1

Street sign, Marylebone Passage, London W1

So, here ends the second consecutive week where I managed two urban wanders. I'm on leave next week and although not going away anywhere, am hoping to still have the opportunity to find some space - whether urban, rural or coastal will depend on the weather. Stay tuned.