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A lunchtime drink in the Black Friar with Abdul, Julian and Marie. Back in Fleet Street's heyday, this was the pub frequented by journalists from the Observer and the place where my job interview for the post of sports department secretary took place. It was nearly demolished in the Sixties, that era of architectural desecration, but was saved through a campaign spearheaded by Sir John Betjeman
It was back to old haunts for me on Saturday when I led a Fleet Street History walk, starting with Northcliffe House in Derry Street, Kensington (where the Daily Mail has ended up) and finishing at 1 Canada Square in Canary Wharf which now has the pleasure of housing the Daily Express and Daily Mirror. The filling in the sandwich was, of course, the Street of Shame itself. These being modern times, a few of the original 21 starters had to drop out because they'd been 'pinged' but 14 turned up to listen to me bang on nostalgically about the dear old days of hot metal and printer's ink.
The walk was put on under the auspices of the LDWA History Group, details of which are on LDWA's Facebook. I have to say I found it a bit of a faff to join - I had to put LDWA History Group into search, and had to join MeetUp to get the full details, but these walks give you the opportunity to meet people from other groups - on Saturday our party included BB&N, E & H, Thames Valley.
And bearing in mind Fleet Street's proud traditions, how appropriate that the lion's share of photos shown here feature pubs!
Here we are outside the White Swan in Fetter Lane, which back in the day was the pub frequented by hacks from the Daily Mirror. It was popularly known as The Mucky Duck
And this is us about to inspect the Punch Tavern, at the Ludgate Circus end of Fleet Street. We all know about Sir Christopher Wren's churches and cathedrals - this is a Christopher Wren pub. He designed it for the use of workers on nearby St. Bride's, the journalists' church
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Journey's end at One Canada Square, now headquarters of Reach Group, publisher of (among others) the Daily Mirror and the Daily Express
Events are back!
The Surrey Tops is a 50 mile challenge event and will be held on 18/19 September this year. Yes it is a real challenge event! It is part of the Kent, Surrey & Sussex triple challenge as well as being a qualifier for next year’s Hundred. It is a tough event and includes some night time navigation. The start and finish are at Witley - about half a mile from Witley station. The event runs from 1000 on the Saturday and all to finish by 0600 on the Sunday morning. Entries are now open and all the details about the event and how to enter are available at https://ldwa.org.uk/Surrey/W/6964/surrey-tops-2021.html.
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