London Tower Hamlets to Temple Bar

After a yummy full English breakfast, we set out for Kew Garden Station and caught the train into Tower Station.  Our intention was to explore this main City area, with our first stop Leadenhall Markets.   Leadenhall used to be the poulterers market and our Vaughan family were poulterers at Leadenhall Market in the early 1800s.  The Market buildings were rebuilt in 1881, and today are still as they were then.  The tenants are a bit more posh though.  Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter movies was filmed here as it was perfect for the old style buildings.

Leadenhall Markets

We passed several churches on our perambulations around this area, and at St. Botolph without Aldgate, we met two ‘Church Watchers.’ They belong to an organisation of mostly retired workers who enable the old churches to be open to the public.  They usually have a bit of knowledge about the church they are ‘watching’ and can assist with questions.  We looked in St. Katherine Cree, and at St Stephen’s, we peeped in on an organ recital.  We stopped by Bow Church but their bells weren’t ringing.

Royal Exchange

St. Paul's

 

Looking down Fleet Street

We noticed several archaeological digs going on in the area, one an early roman site.  We had to walk past the ‘Old Lay of Threadneedle Street’, and the Royal Exchange, outside of which is a huge statue of Wellington on a horse.  We wended our way past St. Paul’s Cathedral but did not look in this time, and walked down to Temple Bar area.  The bodies were giving out so we headed for Temple Station on the Embankment (there are are several small well-looked after gardens in this area), and caught our train back to Kew.

Looking upstream along Thames from near Temple Station

Kew Archives

From Kew Station we walked to the National Archives for a look see.  There wasn’t time to do any research and I hadn’t planned to do any, but it was interesting to see the grounds and the building.  There is a small museum attached to the Archives which was interesting to see, and a café and a bookshop.  Oh dear!  The bookshop was filled with books on genealogy, family history, local history etc…  I was very tempted.  Only the thought of having to carry any heavy tomes restricted my actions.  However, I did take note of many titles for future reference and purchase.

National Archives, Kew

We walked along the tow path beside the Thames to get back to our hotel, a very pleasant walk.  We dined in the hotel – a most delicious beef pie with mash and beautifully cooked vegetables each.  We have been very comfortable in this hotel with its friendly staff and excellent service.  We are also quite taken with the Kew area.