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Esigodini
Esigodini
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Aldwych to St. Pauls - Up Ludgate Hill

  • January 23, 2006
  • Rated 4 of 5 by Esigodini from London, United Kingdom
Aldwych to St. Pauls - Up Ludgate Hill

Leading from the fringes of the West End up to St Paul’s Cathedral, the Strand and then Ludgate Hill is one of my favourite London streets. There is a real sense of London’s history in the closely packed buildings, the interesting street names, and the variety of architectural styles. Early in the morning, business is already picking up and this is definitely the most “awake” of my morning commutes.

Starting at the Aldwych, I head up the Strand and am soon opposite the turrets and towers of the Royal Courts of Justice. At this hour, there is not much legal activity going on, and no camera crews waiting outside the gates. Opposite the courts, Queen Victoria stands above a statue of a griffin – indicating the boundary of the financial City of London. I pass a couple of beautiful old bank buildings – with interesting signs (a beehive outside Lloyds and squirrels outside Goslings – now Barclays) encouraging people to do some saving.

The Strand merges into Fleet Street, the former home of London’s newspapers. The “Dundee Courier” and “Peoples Friend” are inscribed on one building, and I like the art-deco metal of the Daily Express building. Passing several small streets – including Bride Lane and Pageantmaster Court – I head up Ludgate Hill towards St Paul’s Cathedral. The cathedral is coming to the end of an extensive refurbishment, and the statue of Queen Victoria in front is looking particularly pleased with herself. She is standing above a group of figures representing her dominions – impressively including a suitably unhappy France.

Heading around St. Paul’s I enter the recently refurbished Paternoster Square. Several of the shop spaces here are still empty, and the area still feels a bit clean and aseptic. It has been designed to give glimpses of the cathedral through the buildings, and I like the feeling of being in a commercial area in the shadow of the cathedral dome.

As I head east from St Pauls, I enter the fringes of the “proper” city – where the big banks are. I pass several construction sites. One of these is decorated with a helpful dictionary of cockney rhyming slang – with “Jack Horner’s lollipop” being the corner shop. I pass through the courtyard of the Guildhall (where the lord-mayor’s gold coach is sometimes on display to passersby), head down a couple of alleys, and end my walk at my office near the Moorgate tube station.

From journal Meat Porters & Howler Monkeys--The London Commute

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