FENCHURCH STREET STATION

 

     Given there’s not much else to say about Fenchurch Street Station, in typical scattergun fashion, I’ve covered an area between there and The Bank of England. It’s the oldest part of London, although not much predates 1666, the year of The Great Fire.

     The Bank of England, Threadneedle Street (2)

     There’s over £200 billion pounds worth of gold bars inside, enough to cover the entire United Kingdom in gold leaf six times over.

     One ounce of gold can be stretched into a thin wire measuring only five microns, 80 km long.

     No-one has ever attempted to steal gold from the Bank of England. However, in 1836, the directors received an anonymous letter. The writer claimed to have access to the vault and offered to meet them there at time of their choosing.  So the directors gathered in the vault one night to be greeted by a sewerman who popped up through the floor boards. He had discovered a discontinued drain that ran underneath. For his honesty the bank gifted the sewerman £800, equivalent to around £90,000 today.

     In July 2022, with some apprehension, I went to the Bank of England with a stack of long discontinued banknotes my cousin-in-law Raymond gave me on a recent trip to Malaysia. I noted from the website that there may be extra requirements for ‘large sums’. But they don’t specify what ‘large sums’ are. Given that the counters sit directly above £200 billion worth of gold bars, I figured correctly that Raymond’s £1610 is small potatoes. However, I did have to declare where I got the money from. So, with a bit of embellishment, I said I collected it from my Malaysian relatives and had reimbursed them. This was almost true - I still owe Raymond £1310. Anyhow, all passed inspection, including the Scottish and Irish notes and a mutilated £20. I was there early; but the queue was much longer by the time they’d finished with me.

     December 2024: After returning to the Bank of England for a third time to exchange another wad of old notes I was taken aside and told in the nicest possible way that in future I might be required to provide more detailed evidence of how I came to have them. So it looks like my money laundering days are over. This comes as no surprise, especially as on this occasion some of Raymond's notes had obviously been laundered - on a hot cycle. 

The Royal Exchange (3)

    What was once a trading centre now houses expensive shops and restaurants. Merchant Sir Thomas Gresham created the original Royal Exchange after visiting the Antwerp Bourse. It was opened in 1571 by Elizabeth I, destroyed by The Great Fire of London in 1666, and then again by a fire in 1838. The current building was opened by Queen Victoria in 1844. It ceased operating as a bourse in 1939 and has been a luxury shopping and dining destination since 2001 – the sort of place where they politely tell you using ‘a professional camera’ is not allowed.

     The statue on the right is of railway and tunnelling engineer James Henry Greathead. His plinth actually hides a ventilation shaft for the Underground. Amongst Greathead’s innovations was a cylindrical tunnelling shield after which “The Tube” is colloquially known.

      In front of the Royal Exchange is an imposing statue of the Duke of Wellington. It was cast from guns captured from the French. Wellington is the only person to have two equestrian statues in London. The other is at Hyde Park Corner (see Park Lane). The horse is most likely Copenhagen, a pub quiz favourite .... PS as is Marengo, Napoleon’s war horse.

       The Jamaica Wine House (6) in St Michael's Alley was London's first coffee house. It opened in 1652 and was visited by Samuel Pepys. Pasqua Rosee, a Turk  from Smyrna, was the first owner.

      In the basement, you'll find Todd's Wine Bar, which dates back to 1869 and retains its Victorian character with its wood-panelled bar and high ceilings. The pub even has the original 19th century cooker used to roast coffee beans.

      There’s a story that at one time a real vulture was tethered outside the pub. But another tale refers to a particularly aggressive parrot called The Vulture which lived inside.

     Leadenhall Market (8)

       Leadenhall Market was completed in 1881 on the site of a medieval market. It was the work of Sir Horace Jones, also the architect of Smithfield and Billingsgate markets and Tower Bridge. Before 1881, the original stone market had survived the Great Fire, acting as a firewall protecting the wooden buildings beyond it.

 

       The opticians in Bulls Head Passage was the Leaky Cauldron pub in Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. In Tomb Raider Laura Croft raced through on her motorbike. Angelina Jolie’s body double? I failed the audition.

     The Monument (9)

       The Monument  is now dwarfed by surrounding buildings. But it is still the tallest free-standing stone column in the world. It is 202 ft high and 202 ft from spot where, in 1666, the Great Fire of London started in Thomas Farriners Bakery in Pudding Lane.

   

    13 Philpot Lane (10)

  

    London's smallest public statue can be found on Philpot Lane. The Two Mice Eating Cheese is a memorial to two builders working on the Monument. They plunged to their deaths whilst fighting after one accused the other of nibbling his cheese sandwich.

    You can climb to the top of the Monument. But there’s a charge and no lift. Far better views are to be had from the Walkie-Talkie.

   Walkie-Talkie, 20 Fenchurch Street (11)

    

    Click here to book Sky Garden  To avoid disappointment, tickets are released online around three weeks in advance on Monday mornings between 10 and 11am.

    

    For a special treat, the Reuters sports desk (retired, mostly) would recommend lunch in the Darwin Brasserie on the 36^th floor of the Walkie-Talkie ….

    20 Fenchurch St was briefly known as the Walkie Scorchie and the Fryscraper when its concave windows focussed the sun on cars below, bubbling paint and melting rubber. Some people fried eggs. An awning had to be added to fix the problem. We once arrived early for the Sky Garden and went and sat in nearby St Margaret Patten’s Church. The vicar appeared for a chat, saying – “I bet you’ve got tickets for the Sky Garden so you can be nearer to God.”

     Just along the road, at 120 Fenchurch Street (11a), is another roof garden with great views - and you don't need to book. It also has a restaurant which is on my to-do list.

      Another viewing platform, Horizon 22 in Bishopsgate (11b), opened in November 2023. It claims to be the highest (free one) in Europe, dwarfs the Sky Garden, and is even higher than The Shard equivalent despite that building being taller .....

The Crosse Keys, Gracechurch Street (12) 

          There are a couple of small rooms which are good for gatherings of up to around 20 people. They can't be booked but you can grab one if you arrive early.

   Idol Lane (13)

         I can usually find a Beatles reference, but struggled this time around. This is all I could come up with .....

 

2021                                             1965