London Notes
Pubs
Samuel Pepys referred to pubs as "the heart of England" and, truly, Britain without pubs is simply unimaginable. Taverns, introduced by the Romans, became the Anglo-Saxon alehouses which in turn evolved into the modern pub, so I guess it could be said that British history without the pub is unimaginable.
The famous pub signs, originally useful for attracting the mainly illiterate population of the time, were made mandatory by Richard II in 1393 so that inspectors could easily identify establishments for the purpose of grading the quality of the ale being sold. Shakespeare's father was a borough ale taster.
The pub in the photo at the top of this page serves the Borough Market, a very short walk from Southwark Cathedral. Although 'The Market Porter' is obviously modern (and obviously very popular), there have probably been similar establishments here for at least the thousand year history of the church and market.
left: Denise enjoying a meal at 'The Swan'.
right: 'The Swan', just around the corner from our hotel, became our 'local' while we were in London.
right: 'The Swan', just around the corner from our hotel, became our 'local' while we were in London.
Sir Alexander Fleming was a regular at The Fountains Abbey (est. 1824). Legend has it that mould spores from this house blew through Fleming's window leading him to the discovery of penicillin in 1928.
We thought we'd found a bookshop not far from St. Pauls's but... from the pub's website: "Never actually a bookshop, Shaws takes its name from the 1997 Merchant-Ivory adaption of 'The Wings of the Dove' where the pub was dressed as a booksellers!"