🇬🇧 LONDON’S HISTORIC STREETS ~ Cock Lane, Hidden Pubs & Some VERY Strange History! – England

Ancient churches, hidden alleyways, historic pubs, Art Deco buildings and some VERY questionable old street names… wandering London is basically one enormous history lesson!

GENERAL LONDON INFO

📍 LOCATION: Central London, England
🚶 TYPE: Self-guided wandering / historic streets
🏛️ KNOWN FOR: Historic pubs, churches, alleyways & architecture
📸 HIGHLIGHTS: Cock Lane, Barbican, Florin Court, Holborn & Fleet Street
🍺 DON’T MISS: The Olde Mitre & The Old Bell
💰 COST: FREE… unless the pubs tempt you! 😂 they did me!
👟 BEST WAY TO EXPLORE: On foot
🇬🇧 VIBE: Centuries of history hiding around every corner! Take your time exploring…

There is ALWAYS something new or different in London!

I used to live here in 2008-2010 and my favourite thing was to just walk around London and explore different areas… I try to explore every nook and cranny and walk down as many alley ways as I can to see what else I can stumble upon … So much history so many ancient stories and buried pasts, to be a fly on the wall at some stage back then in history..

London City in the past

COCK LANE – did I get your attention?

If you are like me and love history, youre searching a gold mine here! If you go looking for it, you find out some very interesting things about the past … like the fact that Cock Lane, near the Holburn Viaduct, didn’t actually get its name from chickens but because it was the only street to be licensed for prostitution in medieval times!… Hmm, some other expired names for streets that have been changed are Pissing Alley, Shiteburn Lane and Gropecunt Lane… No joke! This is real 😱😂🤨

A really random, Art Gallery worthy painting hung from the corner of a street

I downloaded this awesome app called “tracemytrack” which tracks my walks and I add my photos to it to have an idea where I went

CLAPHAM COMMON

Love the old clock towers scattered around London

There were 116 churches in the city of London in the 16th century. 80 were destroyed in the great fire of 1666 and now there are 47 standing with all different styles of architecture… I love taking photos of churches as I know each one is different from the next and so much love and thought have been put into the design and build of each one

LONDON’S HISTORIC PUBS – if these walls could talk!

There are around 3,650 bars and pubs in London and it’s many boroughs, a huge fall in the number than what it used to be, mainly in London. People seem to be drinking less also switching from beer (which was the most popular alcohol for many centuries) to wine and spirits, also the increase on alcohol tax hasn’t helped.

Every building has its own history, own stamp in historical time, I wish I knew the story of this one and who lived there!

I love the old school lanterns they still have hanging around the place – adds such a charm to the modern city!

Hows this for a movie scene! lol loving the old school car in front of the pub

BARBICAN – Back to my old workplace

I used to work in this street! Brought back so many memories walking through, seeing that my old company is still there was nice 🙂 I used to lock my bike up outside the door after riding 45mins from my home to get to work… The best ride every day through the city of london!

The streets are awesome for riding a bike here… I LOVED riding my bike to work daily, even in winter

FLORIN COURT – Wait! What? Poirot Lived here!?

Agatha Christie’s “Hercule Poirot”
When I worked around Barbican, I used to sit on the steps outside this gorgeous Art Deco building in Charterhouse Square and eat my lunch — without having any idea that I was sitting outside Florin Court, used as the exterior of Hercule Poirot’s London home in the TV series!

I couldnt believe it, it was my local lunch time hangout place! and I loved imagining Poirot sitting upstairs in his office working

Such a beautiful art deco building

THE OLD MITRE – Hidden down a tiny alley

The Olde Mitre is an old ale pub tucked away in a small alleyway in Holburn – it’s just gorgeous!!! Inside and out

English Heritage documents indicate that the pub was built about 1773, and remodelled internally in the early 20th century.

The pub’s website reports the original build year as 1546 with building expansion occurring in 1782, and remodelled in the early 1930s.

The Olde Mitre – a grade II listed public pub and is off the main street so if you dont know where it is you will miss it!

There is always some sort of building and fixing going on in London it’s a 24hr city and I love the fact that they always make sure to cater to all needs, they are fixing the roads and making sure that there are bike lanes as well, always looking after the cyclists as it helps with the number of people using the tube to get to work

LONDON’S FIRST PUBLIC DRINKING FOUNTAIN – since 1859!

This fountain was built in 1859 and donated by Sam Gurney who was a philanthropist who set up the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association in this year to provide free and clean drinking water to the people

The engraving on the fountain reads:

“The first Metropolitan public drinking fountain erected on Holborn Hill in 1859 and removed when the viaduct was constructed in 1867”

First drinking fountain installed by the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association

LONDON BUSES

The first ever bus (horse drawn) was established in 1829, they are just as important to London as the Tube and carry $6m people PER DAY during the work week! Crazy…

There are night buses which run 24hrs so you are never stuck for transport options in London

THE OLD BELL PUB – 17th c. Fleet St Pub

Grade II listed pub on 95 Fleet Street (my favourite street!) Dates back to 17th c.

Such a cool facade that actually looks like you wouldnt want to go in there, but these type of pubs have such a story to them!!

I love the inside of the old dark pubs with their english draught beers

London Gin is very big whichever pub you go!

Summer time in London is just beautiful! Londoners take advantage and are seen out and about in any type of public garden or park they can find … I remember when I used to live here they would also be sunbathing in their bikinis in Margravine Cemetery! Yes, this is normal… It’s London 🤗 anything goes

AND THAT’S WHY I LOVE LONDON…

WOW! This is exactly why I could wander around London for HOURS! 😂 You can turn down what looks like a completely ordinary street and suddenly find a centuries-old pub, an Art Deco building you’ve seen on TV, an ancient church or a street name with a VERY questionable story behind it!

I’ve lived here, worked here and walked these streets more times than I can remember — and somehow London STILL manages to show me something I’ve never noticed before

2018