This afternoon, I discovered that triskaidekaphobia (fear of the number 13) is alive and well, and living in a new housing estate near me. Jane and I were putting some leaflets for Hathern Baptist Church’s free summer BBQ (12 noon on 17 August) around the new Garendon Park Estate. As a new location, I was also making a note of how many houses on each street for future reference.

The task was tricky for two reasons. Firstly, only part of the estate is built and occupied. Whereas an established area can normally be reconnoitred using a service like Google Maps, this one is shown in even less than its current state of completion on the satellite view and the Street View car was there even longer ago (June 2023). Secondly, as I walked round, I realised that the developers had chosen to miss out the number 13. On each of the streets we got to, houses on the odd side of the road went from 11 to 15.

For completeness, I (Google) visited a couple of other housing estates – a slightly older but still recent one in Hathern and the patch I live on, which was completed in the late 1930s. It turns out the modern one also seems to be missing out the number between 11 and 15 while the pre-war effort calmly counts without missing items in the expected sequence.

Plenty of sources would like me to believe that our society is becoming more rational and less benighted with superstition; I’m not sure this is evidence that supports that point of view.