Hidden Gems of the City of London

On July 10th, a dull but dry summer's evening, a hardy group of AKS members and friends met at St. Paul's underground station. Our leader for the evening was Sue King, official City of London Guide and also an AKS member.

Sue King starts her tour with some architectural
details of St Paul's Cathedral

Sue's theme for the walk was 'Trading Places', recalling the long history of the City as a commercial centre. After a quick look at St Paul's we discovered Paternoster Square and the re-erected Temple Bar. Then on to some last remnants of Roman London, via a number of interesting churches. We learnt that a lot of small gardens in the City are in fact old churchyards, consecrated ground that cannot be built on. Through narrow passageways we were led to some modern architecture, which made us stop and look up, and we learned about curved buildings and protected trees.

Next stop the Guildhall, seat of the Lord Mayor of London and the ruling merchant classes since the 12th century, with lots more fascinating stories to be told about architects, builders and people who influenced the making of this area.

More twists and turns, statues and gardens, and we found ourselves at Bank and the old Royal Exchange building - no longer a bustling market place, now home to luxury shops, restaurants and wine bars.

Through more alleyways, past the site of the Lloyds Coffee House, and we reached our final destination, The Counting House pub on Cornhill. Here we quenched our thirst and tucked into home-made pies. All agreed we were keen to discover even more hidden gems of the City of London and hope that Sue will share her knowledge with us again on a future AKS event.

More pictures from the evening

Click on the images to view the gallery

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