Tag Archives: Samuel Johnson

Food and Drink, Pubs

City Pubs

Live Music is great but pubs with that modern evil – piped music – are unlikely to get a mention. Sadly this pestilence destroys the atmosphere of many otherwise delightful establishments. If anybody can explain the upside of ones conversation getting drowned out by somebody else’s choice of music then I shall be curious to hear their thoughts.

Crosse Keys, 9 Gracechurch St, EC3V 0DR
8am to 11pm, Monday-Friday; 8:30am to 11pm Saturday; 9:30am to 9pm Sunday.
Spacious atmospheric Wetherspoons pub in a cavernous former banking hall.
There was a coaching inn nearby dating back to the 1500s – also called the Crosse Keys – where some of Shakespeare’s plays were performed.
It is possible that the name derived from the nearby church of St Peter Cornhill – crossed keys being the symbol of St Peter.
Bank or Monument underground.
Like most City pubs, can get very busy from 4:30pm onward during the week.

Dirty Dick’s, Swedeland Court, 202 Bishopsgate, EC2M 4NR
11am to midnight, Monday-Saturday; noon to 11pm, Sunday
I will tolerate the mild piped music and admit this one. A quirky Young’s house with a curious history.
Liverpool Street underground or national rail.

‘Dirty Dick’ (the man himself) is mentioned on my Bishopsgate walk.

Rising Sun, 38 Cloth Fair, Barbican, EC1A 7JQ
Noon to 11pm every day.
A Sam Smiths house and a gem of a proper traditional pub overlooking the church of St Bartholomew the Great.
Barbican underground; Farringdon Elizabeth Line and national rail.
Like most City pubs, can get very busy from 4:30pm onward during the week.

Seven Stars, 53 Carey St, WC2A 3QS
Noon to 11pm every day – Sunday closes at 10pm
Just outside the City but warrants a mention. Dates to 1602 and looks the part.
Chancery Lane underground
Very busy during the week but an oasis of calm at weekends.

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, 145 Fleet St, EC4A 2BP
Noon to 11pm every day – Sunday closes at 10:30pm
A rambling Sam Smiths house dating to 1667. Past patrons include Charles Dickens, Christopher Wren, Samuel Johnson and Samuel Pepys.
Chancery Lane underground, City Thameslink national rail
Like most City pubs, can get very busy from 4:30pm onward during the week.

Also see Docklands Pubs

Art, Churches, Food and Drink, Free, Museums, Paganism, Public Toilets, Viewpoints

Venues to Visit (City)

When you’ve finished one of my tours there are several places to visit within which I am not normally able to guide. These are listed geographically from west to east. Entry is free unless a price is stated.

Although I try to keep things up to date, prices and opening times may vary from those shown here. Please leave a comment if anything is no longer accurate.

DOCTOR JOHNSON’S HOUSE
17 Gough Square, EC4A 3DE
Home of the compiler of the Great Dictionary Of The English Language
£4-£9. 11am-4pm Tuesday-Saturday. Booking not needed
www.drjohnsonshouse.org/visit.html
Chancery Lane underground

ST BRIDE’S
South side of Fleet Street at the eastern end behind the Old Bell pub, EC4Y 8AU
The Journalists’ Church with a museum in the crypt.
10am to 5pm daily (3.30pm on Saturday)
Blackfriars and St Paul’s underground. Blackfriars and City Thameslink national Rail

ST MARY ALDERMARY
Junction of Bow Lane and Cannon Street or Watling Street and Queen Victoria Street, EC4M 9BW
Best coffee venue in the City. A blitz survivor – check out the Wren ceiling.
7:30am to 4pm weekdays
Bank, Cannon Street, Mansion House underground. Cannon Street national rail.

GUILDHALL ART GALLERY
Basinghall St/Guildhall Yard EC2V 5AE
As well as the paintings you may visit the Roman Amphitheatre and also see the charter granted to the City by William the First.
10:30am to 4pm every day.
Bank underground

MITHRAEUM
12 Walbrook, London EC4N 8AA
The City’s only pagan temple.
10am-6pm Tuesday-Saturday; 12noon-5pm Sunday. Booking may be necessary but often not.
Bank, Cannon Street, Mansion House underground. Cannon Street national rail.

ST STEPHEN WALBROOK
39 Walbrook, London EC4N 8BN
A Wren masterpiece enhanced by Henry Moore.
10:30am to 3:30pm Monday-Friday
Bank, Cannon Street or Mansion House underground. Cannon Street national rail

ROYAL EXCHANGE
Cornhill/Threadneedle Street, EC3V 3LL
Sip a surprisingly reasonably priced coffee at Fortnum and Mason, enjoy the architecture, window shop for fabulous watches and jewellery at fabulous prices.
7:30am-10pm Monday-Friday
Bank or Cannon Street underground. Cannon Street national rail.

BANK OF ENGLAND MUSEUM
Bartholomew Lane, EC2R 8AH
10am-5pm Monday-Friday
Bank or Cannon Street underground. Cannon Street national rail

HORIZON 22
22 Bishopsgate, EC2N 4AJ
Viewing platform atop the tallest building in the City.
Free but booking essential: horizon22.co.uk
10am-6pm daily (5pm Saturday, 4pm Sunday)
Bank or Monument Underground; Cannon Street, Fenchurch Street or Liverpool Street national rail

LEADENHALL MARKET
Gracechurch St, EC3V 1LT
Horace Jones’ wonderful 1880s building.
Open 24 hours.
Bank or Monument Underground; Fenchurch or Liverpool Street national rail

MONUMENT
Fish St Hill, EC3R 8AH
Climb to the top of Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke’s memorial to the Great Fire
£6.  9:30am-6pm daily; closed 1pm-2pm.
There may a bit of a wait as only a few people are allowed up at once. Access to the top is via a narrow spiral staircase which may not suit everybody.

themonument.org.uk/plan/buy-tickets

Monument Underground; Cannon Street or Fenchurch Street national rail

THE GARDEN AT 120
120 Fenchurch Street, EC3M 5BA
Good view of the City from the roof terrace and usually no need to queue.
Monday-Friday 10am-6:30pm; Saturday-Sunday 10am-5pm.
Tower Hill or Bank underground; Fenchurch Street national rail

ALL HALLOWS BY THE TOWER
Byward St, EC3R 5BJ
Filled with history including a Grinling Gibbons carving and a Saxon stone arch. There’s also a museum in the crypt.
10am-5pm every day
Tower Hill underground; Fenchurch Street national rail

 Free PUBLIC TOILETS may be found at All Hallows, the Art Gallery (though you need to go through Security), Mithraeum, Royal Exchange and St Mary Aldermary. For the church facilities it would be a courtesy to make a purchase from the café or leave something in the collection box.

1600s, 1700s, Authors, Catholicism, Freemasonry, South Sea Bubble, Test Acts

Alexander Pope

1688-1744

Poet, translator and satirist of what is known as the English Augustan period.

Pope was physically handicapped. He had curvature of the spine believed to come from too much time studying. When young he is believed to have suffered from tuberculosis of the spine which hampered his growth and he stood only 4.6″ tall. He suffered a lot of pain but was pleased that he was still able to ride a horse.

He was a Catholic and lived his early years in London until anti-Catholic harassment forced his family to move to Berkshire.

Pope might well have gone to university but was constrained by the Test Acts of 1673 and 1678 which supported the Church of England and banned Catholics from teaching, attending a university, voting or holding public office on penalty of imprisonment.

His works included Pastorals, Messiah (from the Book of Isaiah, later translated into Latin by Samuel Johnson), The Rape of the Lock (a satire on privileged society). He also translated Homer’s Illiad into English and compiled and edited a six-volume publication of William Shakespeare’s works.

He introduced the word Bathos to the language – meaning a sudden change from the solemn to the amusing or ridiculous.

Pope introduced several aphorisms to the language including “To Err is human; to forgive divine”, “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread”, “Wit is the lowest form of humour” and “A little learning is a dangerous thing, [Drink deep or taste not the Perian Spring]” (the Perian Spring was a sacred spring near Mount Olympus).

He was a Freemason, something which may have caused a conflict in his later life when the pope, in 1738, forbade Catholics from being masons.

In terms of the City, Pope was born in Plough Court off Lombard Street.

He was reputed to have lost money in the so called South Sea Bubble. Did he? This will be discussed in a future article.