Walk: The Great Fire of London

Today, back with Discover London - History Walks and Events for a walk about The Great Fire of London. I love these walks - it'd be nice to get back to one. Especially as it didn't start till afternoon!

Wow, today was hot and sunny - I spent much of the early part of the day summerising myself! (i.e. making myself presentable for summer clothing). Didn't fully manage it, but watch this space.. all I need is a spate of warm weather.. Anyway, I was close enough to walk to the walk, so I did. And soon regretted not bringing a hat - although we stopped in the shade, where possible. We had several no-shows.. not coming if it's too cold, too rainy, or too hot n sunny, I guess! Mind you, it'd be polite to give some kind of excuse..

En route, I passed the London Bridge Experience, where they were trying to entice people in with the strains of Monster Mash.. not my thing, I have to say. I tried to get a video, to include the audio, but the guy was too easily encouraged, so I figured it was easier not:

We gathered a bit away from the Monument, sensibly, to avoid the crowds. And then moved down there.. where we were regaled with the bells of St. Magnus the Martyr.. they never stopped all afternoon, you know. Someone suggested it might be for Pentecost, which is indeed today.. I cannot say, but they were kind of deafening!

Honestly, I've been to a few walks about the Fire - but never one so atmospheric. We heard how the baker, in whose bakery the fire started, rang the church bells to alert people, but the mayor thought it wasn't sufficiently important to get the King out of bed for, to approve the tearing down of houses as a firebreak. So things weren't taken in hand quickly enough. That church, BTW, didn't survive long after, consumed, like so many others, by the fire, which thrived in the dry conditions caused by a long, hot summer.

Wow, what a description, of the fire turning into a wildfire, and temperatures soaring to 1000C! fanned by a strong wind. When the fire hit the docks, with all the flammable material there.. well, the place was demolished. Must have been quite a sight:

London Bridge - the only bridge at the time - with all its wooden houses and shops, was seen as a potential fire hazard. Happily, a lesser fire had consumed some of the buildings some years before, and they hadn't been rebuilt - the gap acted as a firebreak:

As we walked on, we kind of followed the route of the fire - we stopped on one street to see a building similar to those of the time, and on a similarly narrow street:

Some lovely architectural features in this area:

On Lombard Street, we saw reproductions of the sort of street signs that would have been there at the time:

including one of the King himself!

Wow - what a story, as the strong wind eventually changed direction (the fire having destroyed the Royal Exchange and St. Paul's in its wake), and directed the fire towards the Tower - with its large store of gunpowder. Seriously, had something not been done at that stage, there might not have been much of London left to return to! As it was, the wind died down (after four days), and a firebreak created around the Tower held. And so London was saved - albeit with many homeless, many homes destroyed - there were refugee camps outside the city. Yep, truly an historic event - and I don't think I've come across so evocative a telling of the story.

Afterwards, we repaired to All Bar One, where I had my usual fish n chips, and good conversation - assisted by a few beverages - was had! A lovely day, all told - very glad I came. Fascinating talk, and lovely to see people! And yes, I could walk home again, on what was a lovely, balmy evening.

Tomorrow, last film of the week - I'm off to see Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger, closest showing in The Curzon Bloomsbury. As usual, much easier to book on the app - but even that isn't without its problems, constantly telling me there's a problem with my payment method right before sending me a purchase receipt! Freaky..

On Tuesday, back for the first time since St. Patrick's Day with Buddies on a Budget (BoB) in London - we're off to The Globe for Richard III. With a woman in the title role.. could be interesting. Ah, The Globe - must be summer! And I can walk there - I've booked a table in The Anchor for dinner beforehand.

On Wednesday, for once, I'm staying in - I have a Zoom talk given by the writers of a book called Seven Myths that Changed England. Turns out it's an LSE event.. and blast it, I saw it on cheap ticket sites, but it turns out to be completely free.. actually, I might head to the in-person event instead, I'll see how I feel.

On Thursday, I'm with London Social and Cultural Meetups, first time in months - we're going to a photo exhibition at Estorick. Then I'm back to Ireland for the next bank holiday.

On the 28th, another of those cheap ticket talks - this one is by Asne Seierstad, and is at The Conduit, on the subject of Afghanistan under Taliban rule.

On the 29th, back with London Literary Walks at last - my Wednesdays are just so busy! This is a walk about Island Records - U2's old label, so of course I have an interest.. We're meeting in The Elgin.

And on the 30th, back with London Hot 100 - we're at the New Wimbledon Theatre for Jimmy Carr Laughs Funny.