City of London Walking Tour & Lunch 2024

Sheltered from the worst the skies could do – and they did try! - by the classical portico which fronts the magnificent Royal Exchange, an intrepid and suitably-clad group of about twenty Zoomers were greeted by Lance Whitehouse, our superb guide for the day, who instantly showed a deep grasp of the needs of a group such as ours: (He admitted, after all, that he was very used to guiding groups of unruly school children.) Immediately, he demonstrated his great skills at history, passion for the City and witty anecdote. We knew we were in excellent hands, as we headed off to the impenetrable alleys between the Bank and the Thames.

At one point we emerged into a main thoroughfare, just in time to see the Lord Mayor riding on horseback through the City with Alderman and Sheriff Bronek Masojada, accompanied by an entourage, in their quest to enlist financial support for the Lord Mayor’s Appeal and the Sheriffs’ and Recorder’s Fund. We greeted Michael Mainelli rapturously, and were delighted that he acknowledged and indeed recognised our Zoomers’ group. We walked through the amazing structures which constitute the unique Leadenhall Market, and then had a completely unexpected bonus in the form of a restorative prosecco – or alternative beverage – at the delightful Giorgio’s, which some of us have already vowed to revisit with more culinary intent: mille grazie!

Our guide deliciously linked our peripatetic adventures to the writings and deeds of Shakespeare and Dickens, all the while educating us in the more arcane byways (literally and metaphorically) of our journey. We crossed London Bridge, first having been disabused of the urban myth that the American purchaser of the old bridge had thought he was buying Tower Bridge! We went at quite a gallop, since we were overdue at the wonderful inn off Borough High Street, known as The George at Southwark, said to be the oldest coaching inn in the area, and still replete with wonderful balconies and corridors, as well as the heartiest steak and ale pie, fish and chips and vegetarian chilli imaginable.

Venturing across the river into the evidently somewhat dubious pleasures of the South Bank was a delight: this area was not subject to some of the prohibitions of the Square (or oblong, as we learnt) Mile. There was an added piquancy to learn that the business of the nocturnal ladies who frequented the area was in the hands of the Bishop of Winchester, the ruins of whose palace we also saw. As we passed the eponymous ‘Clink’, thanks to Lance’s graphic narrative, we felt the power of the past in many ways – and the accounts of the goings-on of the Globe groundlings did nothing to undermine the frisson of licensed impropriety.

It was a wonderful tour. Our leader, John Eaton, warmly thanked Lance for his superlative guidance, and he was in turn thanked warmly for the initiative which had brought us together. A delightful, social, educative and even healthful occasion! We loved it, such was the company we did not even notice the rain.