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This
walk covers a part of the City of London which is less visited by many people.
It starts at the church of St Botolph Aldgate, where once there was a Gate and
an important entrance into the City at the time of Geoffrey Chaucer,
15th century writer. Chaucer lived in the area very near the church, and it is possible that he obtained his ideas of the pilgrims for his book the Canterbury Tales from seeing the people coming in and out through the Aldgate.
From here we look at an unusual school in the City of London and its connections with the church of St Botolph. The walk takes the route of one of London’s important monasteries and looks at what remains of it, as well as the medieval lanes and the oldest Jewish Synagogue in London.
There
are some very old original churches on this walk, such as St Andrew’s Undershaft
and St Helen’s Bishopsgate. Near these beautiful churches stand one of the most
important financial institutions in the City, Lloyd’s of London. The building might be very modern and attracts considerable debate, but
Lloyd’s roots go back far in time. It is an interesting building that needs to
be understood. The walk will also pass the new Swiss Re building which has
become known as “The Gherkin”.
Half-way
through the walk we come into the heart of the world’s financial centre and see
some of those institutions that have made a contribution to the nation
throughout the centuries, such as The Bank of England, The Stock Exchange and
the old Royal Exchange. Nearby we see where one of the ghosts described by
Charles Dickens in his book “Scrooge” came to life, and after this we have a
well-deserved rest and lunch at a very comfortable Weatherspoon Pub, near
Leadenhall Market.
After lunch we look at Leadenhall Market and its hidden secret. We make our way from here to Minster Court, part of the Lond Underwriting Centre. A building that most people consider to be graceful and elegant, and then we continue to Monument where the walk will finish with refreshments.
Easy route home from here by bus or underground.