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my sophisticated London night life
Mar. 4th, 2009 05:05 pmor: Namedropping makes SnB sound glamourous
Our shire has a small stitch 'n bitch gathering monthly, getting together in the pub for a drink and a chat while we sew, knit, or do other handwork. It's far more social than productive (at least the way we approach it!).
Of late we've decided that the shire pub (Ye Olde Watling, a pub that claims post-Great Fire origins, founded to water the rebuilders of St. Paul's) is too gloomy through the winter when the days are short and no daylight supplements the usual limited pub lighting.
So yesterday we tried a new location - Leon's, an upscale foodie location that offers healthy fast food (if such a thing is possible) - in hopes of better lighting and a range of food to try while we stitch.
The glamour comes from the location - or rather, the associations you draw with the street names. This Leon's is at Ludgate Circus (a circus being a circular intersection, rather than travelling entertainment). At this point, Blackfriars Road (that crosses Blackfriars Bridge), turns briefly into 'New Bridge' Road (any bridge built after London Bridge is presumeably new!) - and, after the intersection, into Farringdon Road.
This N/S road intersects w/ Fleet Street, which turns into Ludgate Hill on the other side of the intersection. Ludgate Hill is the slope leading up to St. Paul's Cathedral.
Blackfriars, has long since lost any real association with the church - it's mainly known as a train and Tube station, which has (inconveniently) closed its Tube side for the next two years.
So the travel choices were the following Tube stops:
- Chancery Lane: recommended by the journey planner, but seemed to overlook the 15+ min walk along Chancery Lane, the Strand, and Fleet Street (latter no longer home of English journalism, but now mainly traditional law firms, historic bank buildings and Twinings headquarters
- St. Paul's, more convoluted because you have to navigate around the cathedral, but shorter walking distance than Chancery Lane
- Bank, which drops you outside the Bank of England and the Royal Exchange but involves a longish walk again past St. Paul's.
So I opt for door no. 2.
As usual, I get turned around with multiple exits at St. Paul's, and it took me two tries of turning around in a circle above ground to orient myself. You can just see St. Paul's dome highlighted above some of the modern buildings, so I head towards it.
Over the last two years the south side of St. Paul's has been cleaned and is now shining bright white. While it was under scaffolding and tarps, the outside tarps were decorated with a reproduction of Wren's drawing of the Cathedral, a sort of trompe d'oeuil to tell you what was hiding underneath.
Now that the north side is under wraps, it's not similarly illustrated - perhaps because this is a pedestrian side only, and isn't passed by busloads of London tourists daily, whose coaches turn around in the tiny parking area on the south side.
Most of the wonderfully named streets (Ave Maria Lane, Amen court, Creed Lane, Pilgrim Street) are still there, but Paternoster Row, while it still exists, doesn't have its own street sign, and Paternoster Square, a square of offices and shops, has been plunked in the middle of it. (I spent an irritated half hour one day searching for the street sign for a photo, to no avail.)
I also end up detouring further down Blackfriars Road than I need to - walking right past the restaurant on its corner.
The lighting wasn't as bright as hoped, to allow us to stitch easily, so I settled for a glass of wine and a starter (as others had already ordered). It was a great chance to bitch though, of current SCA dramas, and coming plans for Crown tournament. As it happened, the feastcook, lunchcook, and the steward and the A&S coordinator were there, so we could compare notes and ask each other questions.
Going home, happily I can catch a bus that takes me very close to home - past the cathedral and the royal exchange, past Liverpool St station, into Shoreditch and Hackney Road - an easy connection.
I still like sitting at the front of the top deck when I can, to watch the streets go by from above the driver's seat, though I still jump when the top deck brushes against overhanging tree branches on a couple of routes. Looking at the plane trees, you can see where this happens a lot - there will be a bus-shaped gap 'edge' to the branches hanging over the street!
Our shire has a small stitch 'n bitch gathering monthly, getting together in the pub for a drink and a chat while we sew, knit, or do other handwork. It's far more social than productive (at least the way we approach it!).
Of late we've decided that the shire pub (Ye Olde Watling, a pub that claims post-Great Fire origins, founded to water the rebuilders of St. Paul's) is too gloomy through the winter when the days are short and no daylight supplements the usual limited pub lighting.
So yesterday we tried a new location - Leon's, an upscale foodie location that offers healthy fast food (if such a thing is possible) - in hopes of better lighting and a range of food to try while we stitch.
The glamour comes from the location - or rather, the associations you draw with the street names. This Leon's is at Ludgate Circus (a circus being a circular intersection, rather than travelling entertainment). At this point, Blackfriars Road (that crosses Blackfriars Bridge), turns briefly into 'New Bridge' Road (any bridge built after London Bridge is presumeably new!) - and, after the intersection, into Farringdon Road.
This N/S road intersects w/ Fleet Street, which turns into Ludgate Hill on the other side of the intersection. Ludgate Hill is the slope leading up to St. Paul's Cathedral.
Blackfriars, has long since lost any real association with the church - it's mainly known as a train and Tube station, which has (inconveniently) closed its Tube side for the next two years.
So the travel choices were the following Tube stops:
- Chancery Lane: recommended by the journey planner, but seemed to overlook the 15+ min walk along Chancery Lane, the Strand, and Fleet Street (latter no longer home of English journalism, but now mainly traditional law firms, historic bank buildings and Twinings headquarters
- St. Paul's, more convoluted because you have to navigate around the cathedral, but shorter walking distance than Chancery Lane
- Bank, which drops you outside the Bank of England and the Royal Exchange but involves a longish walk again past St. Paul's.
So I opt for door no. 2.
As usual, I get turned around with multiple exits at St. Paul's, and it took me two tries of turning around in a circle above ground to orient myself. You can just see St. Paul's dome highlighted above some of the modern buildings, so I head towards it.
Over the last two years the south side of St. Paul's has been cleaned and is now shining bright white. While it was under scaffolding and tarps, the outside tarps were decorated with a reproduction of Wren's drawing of the Cathedral, a sort of trompe d'oeuil to tell you what was hiding underneath.
Now that the north side is under wraps, it's not similarly illustrated - perhaps because this is a pedestrian side only, and isn't passed by busloads of London tourists daily, whose coaches turn around in the tiny parking area on the south side.
Most of the wonderfully named streets (Ave Maria Lane, Amen court, Creed Lane, Pilgrim Street) are still there, but Paternoster Row, while it still exists, doesn't have its own street sign, and Paternoster Square, a square of offices and shops, has been plunked in the middle of it. (I spent an irritated half hour one day searching for the street sign for a photo, to no avail.)
I also end up detouring further down Blackfriars Road than I need to - walking right past the restaurant on its corner.
The lighting wasn't as bright as hoped, to allow us to stitch easily, so I settled for a glass of wine and a starter (as others had already ordered). It was a great chance to bitch though, of current SCA dramas, and coming plans for Crown tournament. As it happened, the feastcook, lunchcook, and the steward and the A&S coordinator were there, so we could compare notes and ask each other questions.
Going home, happily I can catch a bus that takes me very close to home - past the cathedral and the royal exchange, past Liverpool St station, into Shoreditch and Hackney Road - an easy connection.
I still like sitting at the front of the top deck when I can, to watch the streets go by from above the driver's seat, though I still jump when the top deck brushes against overhanging tree branches on a couple of routes. Looking at the plane trees, you can see where this happens a lot - there will be a bus-shaped gap 'edge' to the branches hanging over the street!
