Walks: Dickens in the City & Discover London's Oldest Market and Original "High Street"

Yesterday, I was back (whee! at last!) with Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpy Old Londoners.. on his Dickens walk, a version of which I'd already done. Well, it'd been months since I was on one of his - and he now only does one Saturday a month, says there's no real demand! And since I can no longer go on the midweek ones, in general.. well.. it'd be great to be back with them anyway.

Handily enough, this version - Dickens seems to have popped up everywhere (much like me), so you can have a variety of walks about him - started within walking distance of me. So, I walked there. Ah, saw some people I haven't seen in an age.. but there was actually a good crowd on this walk, including several newcomers. We started, pretty much, at the church of St. George the Martyr.. which has a wall to its churchyard that used to comprise part of the structure of Marshalsea Prison, where Dickens' father resided for a period:

We strolled around Southwark for a bit - and heard how it was full of pubs - not much change there, then. Just different ones:

..before crossing the river:

North of the river, we stopped briefly by the Monument. Which I've seen, and heard about, many times before. My attention was caught, however, by a crow that found a handy resting place:

And so, to another Dickens-related church - apparently, this is the one referenced in A Christmas Carol, whose bells Scrooge hears before the ghosts appear:

And so on, past the Royal Exchange:

and the Guildhall:

In Paternoster Square, a rabbit and dog urge us all to accept one another, in all our diversity:

And I'd forgotten about the mini Monument, which commemorates both the Great Fire, and the Blitz, both of which devasted the area:

Well, after the walk, we repaired to Ye Olde Cock Tavern - ironically, the last place I was with this group:

..where we were very well fed. Interestingly, it was uncommonly busy yesterday - after we ate, we had to move to a smaller table, to make room for another group! Didn't phase us.. and it turned out to be one of those long days, lasting well into the evening:

Bus home - and wow, was I tired. Crashed immediately, slept deeply - and afterwards, there wasn't a hope of me managing the blog. Lovely to be back on these walks, though.. long may it last.

Today, back with Discover London - History Walks and Events: it was a while before I thought to check that website to see whether there was another walk, and there was, today! So we were off to Discover London's Oldest Market and Original "High Street"..

Mercifully, this was a later start. The day greatly cleared up by the time I headed off.. we met at Cannon Street Station:

Most of the walk centred on the trade-specifically named streets off Cheapside:

And we had great fun spotting Mercers' Maidens! (the symbols of the Mercers' Guild, which decorate buildings they own):

We also came across a couple of old boundary markers:

It's amazing how much history just crops up on walls:

Some streets have little sculptures relevant to the name:

Naturally, we stopped by the tree on Wood Street - I never before noticed, however, that the shop on the corner is called Wooderson's! We also learned how this was the location of one of the Eleanor crosses - demolished when Catholicism fell out of favour.

Moving on to St. Paul's.. and I never before noticed this giant nail, in New Change!

Not to mention the new reflecting pool, in a nearby park:

More famous names:

The Cordwainer (and onlookers):

Lovely to wander the sidestreets:

And answers on a postcard as to what this boy is doing with this bird!

So, as she said at the start - not a long walk, but a fabulously detailed one. Very interesting! And afterwards, to All Bar One on Cannon Street - which was emptier than you might expect, and where I ordered food. They didn't have steak, but the fish n chips did me nicely. Excellent service, too! And a few of us moseyed on to The Liberty Bounds after, which suited me ideally, being on my way home. A weekend of interesting walks, and convivial pub meets, then!

 

Tomorrow, I was headed to film - I was finally seeing The Zone of Interest, a recreation of the story of the Höss family, living a normal family life in the shadow of Auschwitz (Rudolf Höss was the commandant). Showing in my local cinema - not that the film listings tend to include the Curzons, generally.. but, as usual, I know to check separately.. Funnily enough, the same day, a couple of Meetup groups are going to a musical, in Southwark Playhouse, set around the same time - it's about the Cable Street Riots. I'd have loved to have gone, but it was completely sold out by the time I came to think about it! Until.. I got a message this morning that one of the groups - Buddies on Budget in London - had had two people drop out because of rail strikes. And the organiser had bought tickets.. so there were two tickets going a-begging! And I got the last one.. Still looking for a taker for that cinema ticket, of course..

On Tuesday and Wednesday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS). On Tuesday, we're at The Merchant of Venice 1936, in the Criterion Theatre. This production, in association with the RSC, is also based around the Cable Street riots. Got the very last ticket, as I recall.. with a Seatplan theatre voucher. My companion of Friday and I are headed to Brasserie Zédel afterwards.

On Wednesday, we're at Nachtland, at the Young Vic. Three days on roughly the same theme.. and it seems appropriate these days.. this is about a family who find a painting, stashed in the attic. It's by, as described, a failed Austrian artist who abandoned his original vocation for Nazism.. The thorny question here is, what exactly to do with it..

On Thursday, there's a concert at King's Place that sounds rather good. Worksongs is part of their Scotland Unwrapped series, and has the Maxwell Quartet playing a mixture of classical music and Scottish traditional. Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend.

On the 26th, I'm back with CT for Magic Monday at Americana! This is a magic show, which I can't even see advertised on their website - but anyway, the booking fee is discounted from dinner, so this sounds good!

On the 27th, back with UITCS for An Enemy of the People, at the Duke of York's Theatre - got the very last cheap ticket for this from London Box Office!

On the 28th, back with CT again - and back to Backyard Comedy at last! This is for Joke Thieves, where people tell each others' jokes.. Gee, it's weeks since I've been there, it'll be good to be back.

And on the 29th, I have a Crick Crack Club event.. this is online from the Oxford Story Museum, and is Dark Tales from the Wood. As told by the excellent Daniel Morden.