A fountain without water..

..is like a pub with no beer. This is a Victorian fountain erected in 1899 at Finsbury Square by Thomas and Walter Smith in memory of their mother. There used to be around 1,000 such fountains in London providing fresh water for Londoners at a time when many would be in properties that were not connected to water mains. Nowadays only around 200 are still standing and very few of them are working. This at a time when bottled water is such a big seller. How much better for the environment, and the pocket, it would be to be able to refill your bottle at one of these grand fountains. To my great surprise also, Finsbury Square has a bowling green (extra photo) - not what one expects to see by a busy street in the middle of the city.