Tag: the great fire

Amen Court: discovering a secret garden between Newgate Prison & St Paul’s Cathedral

Newgate Prison and St Paul’s Cathderal dominated this part of London for centuries. Both took a few blows during that time; each of them was destroyed by the…

My 250th blog entry – The Old Curiosity Shop under siege

It’s not going to be a long post. I’m besotted with Charles Dickens at the moment, listening to his novels as audiobooks and seeking out places he describes…

Bluecoats in Hatton Garden

I love these old schools with their statues of children dressed in blue that are scattered around London and beyond. Blue is always the colour for the clothes…

A secret garden: the courtyard of St Vedast-alias-Foster Church, Foster Lane

Like its neighbour and contemporary, St Paul’s Cathedral, St Vedast-alias-Foster survived the blitz in the second world war when much of the local area was devastated amd destroyed….

Wig and Pen

There they are, huddled together for strength against the prevailing and uncaring winds of this modern world. Known to the postman as 229-230 Strand and home to the…

The Quad at Guy’s Hospital

It is surrounded by modern monoliths of the NHS; huge utilitarian buildings of glass and steel that may be efficient and fit for purpose but they are not…

St Dunstans In the East

St Dunstan’s survived the Great Fire but took a bomb during the Blitz and not much of it remains except for the tower that was designed by Christopher…

The Hoop and Grapes, Aldgate

The Hoop And Grapes, Aldgate is just about the last bit of Pre-Great Fire London left. Almost alone as a remnant of old London in a sea of…

In which I find myself in Queer Street

Carey Street runs from Portugal Street and the student quarter around the LSE across to Chancery Lane and London’s legal area. It is famous as the original “Queer…

The Barbican’s concrete jungle, “Looking From Cromwell Tower”

The Cripplegate area of the City of London was decimated during the Blitz. In the 1950’s it was decided to build the Barbican residential estate on the Cripplegate…