On Saturday 17th October a group of explorers
from the Rotary Club went on a guided tour of the City of London, led by our
own Pauline Hedges. Pauline had a long career in the finance sector, and for
much of the time she was based in the Square Mile, as a result of which she has
an encyclopaedic knowledge of the City and its’ institutions.
City of London
We started out at Shepperton Station, which is about a 50
minute journey from Waterloo. On it’s way to London the train passes through 17
stations – and stops at every one! If only a few of them could be missed out,
the journey would be so much more enjoyable, and of course quicker. I have always enjoyed train travel (apart from my commuting days) and I always get a thrill
when we go charging through a station without stopping. Unfortunately that wasn’t
going to happen today.
Shepperton Station
I thought it would be a good idea to take advantage of the
Group Discounts available for rail travel these days. Having done a deal of research, I came to the view that discounts could be significant, with the greater the number of travellers, the greater the discount. My plan turned out to be
more complicated than I expected. The thing about Group Travel Discounts is
that the whole group has to travel there and back together. With our group,
some planned to stay in London for lunch, and others would come straight home.
Some had other plans in London after our tour. To further complicate things,
some were in possession of Senior Rail cards, which entitled them to discounts
anyway. In the end, just 6 of us bought a Group Travel card, and the other 11
made their own arrangements. Does anyone
else find that organising the simplest
trip can be unexpectedly troublesome?
Our train arrived on time, and amazingly, so did our 17
travellers, and off we went to Waterloo. The IPDG and I were greeted there by the
very same man who assisted us on our last trip to Waterloo, about 6 months ago.
He was an extraordinarily helpful and cheerful Irishman called Rod, who reckons
that he is British Rail’s oldest employee, having worked at Waterloo for 59
years. It must be his job to help
wheelchair users with ramps. Incidentally, he directed the IPDG to an accessible toilet behind the station which was free, rather than the 30p charge elsewhere in the station.
Oldest employee? He's fitter than most and very helpful
From Waterloo, most of our party continued their journey on the
Waterloo-City line, but in the absence of lifts down to the Underground
station, 4 of us went by taxi. In doing this, I made an amazing discovery, many
London cabs have foldaway wheelchair
ramps. London is becoming increasingly wheelchair friendly, with nearly all
buses, and now also black cabs being accessible.
Black cab with ramp
It wasn’t long before we all met up again at the RoyalExchange, across the road from the Bank of England. The Royal Exchange was
founded as a Centre of Banking and Commerce in the 16th Century.
Outside it is a bronze statue of the Duke of Wellington, cast from enemy
cannons captured during Wellington's many foreign campaigns.
Outside the Royal Exchange (Pauline looking pretty in pink)
Pauline quickly got into her stride, explaining the history
of the various buildings around us, and interesting facts about them, including
something I had never noticed before, which was that the Bank of England has no
ground floor windows. I think she said it was a security feature. The tour
continued up Cornhill, so named because it was actually a hill, which once
comprised cornfields.
Risque statues adorn the Bank of England
From Cornhill we explored some remarkable alleyways where we
saw ancient buildings and churches, such as St Michaels in Cornhill, which was
rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren in the 17th Century after the
original was destroyed in the Great Fire of London. Before long, we arrived at the beautifully
preserved Leadenhall market. This is a beautifully preserved Victorian Market,
with high ornate glass ceilings. It has been tastefully transformed into a
modern retail centre. Within the Leadenhall arcade we passed a charity stall selling home made cakes very
cheaply, and I couldn’t resist some bread pudding. I have always been a great
lover of this particular tray-baked cake, although no-one makes it as well as my mum used to.
St Michaels in Cornhill
Leadenhall Market
We headed onwards along some very quiet and ancient
alleyways, found in abundance in the City, and passed many historical sites as
we headed towards the Monument. This building commemorates the Fire of London
in 1666, and was my favourite site in London as a small boy. I can
remember that on a couple of occasions I
came to London with 4 school friends. We were no more than 8 or 9 years old,
but we got ourselves Red Rover tickets (these cost 5 shillings and gave you
unlimited travel on red London buses for a day) and found our way from our
homes in Staines to the City where the highlight of our day was to climb the 345
stairs of the Monument and enjoy the view from the top. Somehow I don’t think
today’s kids would be allowed to have an adventure like that.
The Monument
Words of wisdom from Pauline
Pauline was a fount of information. Throughout our walk, she told us about the history of the area,
including many humorous stories and
anecdotes, many from her own experience, about the places we saw. I was
particularly fascinated by the George & Vulture, a 400 year old pub which featured in one of my
favourite Dickens books, The Pickwick
Papers . Continuing the Dickens theme, we also visited London’s only raised
churchyard (I can’t remember its name)
which featured in another Dickens novel (I can’t remember which).
Dickensian pub
Another City pub....
.....And another
We didn’t only admire ancient buildings. There were many
modern gems to admire, including the
Shard, the Cheese Grater, the Gherkin and the Walkie Talkie. It’s funny
how I know the nicknames to these buildings, but not their real purpose. The
juxtaposition of modern architecture alongside ancient buildings was
remarkable, one of the most striking examples was seeing the ultra modern
Lloyds building alongside the beautiful arcades of Leadenhall Market.
The Shard
As we neared the end of our tour we walked along Lombard Street, in the heart of the
Banking area. Once upon a time this street was home to the Head Offices of many
of our largest banks, (including my former employers Barclays at no. 54) although many of them have now moved
elsewhere. Pauline herself was based at No 10 Lombard Street for many years,
and as she modestly says there was more than one influential woman living at No
10 during the 1980s.
The Grasshopper - Symbol of Martins Bank in Lombard Street
The guided walk was an unqualified success, and we greatly
appreciated Pauline sharing some of her extensive knowledge of London with us
in such an entertaining way. I have visited the City of London many times over the years, but Pauline took us to places I had never seen before. A number of us thought we would stay in the City
for lunch, but discovered that at weekends nearly all cafes, restaurants and
pubs in the Square Mile are closed. So we made our way back to Waterloo, and
strolled down to the South Bank, where we rounded off an enjoyable visit with
some traditional London fare, in the
form of a pizza.
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