Friday 12 September 2014

London Walking Tours

London History
I think by now you know that I love London. I love the hustle and bustle of the people, the fact that London is steeped in history and of course it's hidden gems, that even after living here all my life I still haven't found them all.

So when Charlotte from best LDN Walks advertised a blogging event that mixed two of my other favourite loves, old London pubs and walking around London, I was there with bells and whistles on.


Charlotte has created a new breed of walking tours for the obsessively curious. I opted for the Secrets of London Pub Tour which priced at £10 is excellent value for money

Our meeting point was Blackfriars station, where I instantly saw some familiar blogging faces Little Miss KatyLulabelloves and Josies-Journal and some lovely new people that I hadn't met before. 

Have you ever sat in a pub and thought if only the walls could talk, what secrets would they share. Well London has some of the best and most historic pubs that I often wish could do just this.
London Pub

My hope was that Charlotte could share some of this history. 

All board and let's go!

Our first stop was The Black Friar pub. The pub itself is named after the friars who unsurprisingly and as the name would suggest used to wear Black. 

The Black Friar pub

The pub is situated in a grade ii listed building which means that the outside and inside will remain untouched. The inside is beautiful with gold ceiling,
wooden carvings and inscriptions.
Black Friar Pub

The pub is opposite Bridewell Palace which at one time was the residency of King Henry VIII. The Palace was built in 1523, at a cost of £30,000 which is the equivalent of £10 million pounds in today's money. 
Historic London

Our second pub was Punch Tavern serving over twenty varieties of gin.
Punch Tavern
Now I love my gin but even I found twenty varieties a little over whelming to pick from. 
Punch tavern

In the end I settled for Gordon's Gin with Elderflower. It arrived in a huge glass/punch bowl (Get it Punch and Judy).  


Gin with elderflower

As we ventured on Charlotte continued to share her wonderful knowledge of London. We passed what is fondly known as St Bride's Church which was built by Sir Christopher Wren. 
Sir Christopher Wren

The top of the church is shaped like a tiered wedding cake. 

Our next stop was a 17th Century pub Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese pub (what a wonderful name).
Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese

Hidden down a wee little alley just off Fleet Street, the aptly named Cheshire Court. 

Cheshire Court
Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese

The pub was restored in 1667 shortly after the great fire of London. Many famous literary figures have frequented this pub including Charles Dickens, Alfred Tennyson and Dr Samuel Johnson. 
Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese

One very famous resident was Polly, who lived in the pub for over forty years entertaining guests with her chatter. When she died her death made national and international news. 

Down some steep and spiral stairs the pub has wonderful vaults and cellars where you can relax with a nice glass of wine or a pint. 

London pubs

A stone's throw away from the pub on Gough Square is Dr Johnson's house and his very famous cat Hodge.
Hodge the cat

The statue was created by John Bickley which depicts Hodge sitting on a dictionary with oysters for his supper. In those days oyster was regarded as the food of the poor, so feeding them to a cat would have been a perfectly reasonable thing to do. 


I wonder whilst standing there what secrets and stories Hodge the cat would have shared if he could. Just when Little Miss Katy shows me, all is not lost, Hodge the cat can talk through Talking Statues
Talking Statues

My last and final stop on the tour, was Ely Place. 

Ely Place

This is one of London's best kept secrets, passing through the iron gates one side is classed as London and the other Cambridgeshire. Ironically the area is known for its strong hold in Law, but beyond these gates the Metropolitan police have no jurisdiction to enter unless granted permission. 

The street itself is like stepping back in history and houses one of the oldest Roman Catholic churches in England - St Etheldreda Chapel. 

Ely Place
Historic London

Down a little alley it also holds the last and final pub De Olde Mitre



The pub has featured in a few 'well known?' movies 'Snatch' and 'The Deep Blue Sea'. It has a wealth of real ales and was a wonderful way to finish of a great night. 

Charlotte is good fun, very lively and full of beans. What she doesn't know about London's history probably isn't worth knowing. 

I was a guest of Best LDN Walks but I cannot recommend Charlotte's tours enough. 

If your a visitor to London or a Londoner who wants to learn more about your City you should definitely check out her tours. 

www.bestldnwalks.com

 photo foodieforce_32.jpg

18 comments:

  1. Great post and photos, shame I missed it. It was lovely to meet you the other night though.

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    1. It was a really fun night Charlotte is great company, The HintHunt was really good fun I was on a high from it and looking forward now to trying these now in other countries Lucy x

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  2. I absolutely love the idea of this, it's so up my street .. such a reasonable price as well! I really need to make sure I book one of these when I return to London.


    Chloe x
    newgirlintoon.co.uk

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    1. The price for the quality of the tour really doesn't match up. You definitely should book one when you are down in London you will love it Lucy x

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  3. Great post Lucy! It was such a good night wasn't it? x

    Josie’s Journal

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    1. It was really lovely to meet you, I had lots of fun was just sad that I had to leave. Hope to see you again soon Lucy x

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  4. This sounds like really good fun, it must be so interesting hearing all the different facts :) xx

    http://bethht.blogspot.co.uk/

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    1. It was good fun and even as a Londoner I learnt lots. Lucy x

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  5. I would love to go on something like this! It's a pity they aren't more known about! Thanks for sharing your tour, it was great to read the history of the pub. The first one is stunning and it's great to see that Polly is still in that other pub.. kind of!

    Corinne x
    www.skinnedcartree.com

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    1. The pub are like hidden gems, stepping back into time, really enjoyed it. The irony of Polly is they have one live parrot in one room and one who is very much dead in the other Lucy x

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  6. Oh Lucy, I just love your London posts. I love London so much, and really enjoy reading about all the fabulous things you do! I love that the one pub had a resident parrot! There is nothing in the US like good 'ol English pubs!

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    1. Thank you the tour was really good fun and was lovely to enjoy it with other bloggers. Lucy x

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  7. It was solo nice to finally meet you Lucy!!! We will definitely have to meet up soon :) You are seriously good at taking photos - beat my crappy phone pictures haha :) See you soon xxx

    www.lulabelloves.com

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    1. It was lovely to meet you too Lucy, it would be nice to meet up again, was a fun night. These pictures were awful I found the dark environment really difficult to take pictures. I need to have a practice. Hope you enjoyed LFW Lucy x

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  8. I love walking tours, they are such s fab way to find out the history of a place, and one that involves pubs? Sounds fantastic! Excellent pictures as always Lucy, I especially like the top one of the beer taps and the one of St Brides! Have a fab week! x

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  9. To be where Tennyson and Dickens once walked! Wow, that would be a dream. I will have to visit London one day. We had a brief layover and explored only a little when I last traveled to India.

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  10. Some fabulous photos Lucy! I really enjoyed Charlotte's Sausage Rolls walking tour that I went on

    Suze | LuxuryColumnist

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  11. Learnt so much from reading this post! Charlotte knows so much about London; sounds like the perfect pub tour guide :-) Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese pub sounds very interesting in an almost 'secret' location, down a hidden alley way!

    x Roch & Tash x
    www.next-route-style.blogspot.co.uk

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