Bank Holiday Break in London...Cloth Fair near Smithfield

We have rented a Landmark Trust  property in Cloth Fair which is across the road from Smithfield market and a short walk from St Paul's Cathedral.

It is the old home of John Betjeman and has been maintained in the style he might have left it.

Together with no TV, radio, music, wifi etc. But  plenty of books. So it is a truly peaceful haven in the City of London. The building was one of the only houses to remain after the Great Fire in 1665, but has of course been changed a bit since then.

St Bartholomew the Greats church is over the road and strikes the hour to rouse us now and then. Its churchyard contains two of the largest trees I have seen on such a small site. There don't appear to be any birds and we don't hear any birdsong but there are squirrels and the wisteria is beautiful.

This afternoon, wedding bells rang and we went out to watch the wedding parade and all the guests pour out of the church. The bride and groom were the last to leave in a wonderful RR with glasses of champagne in hand. We exchanged a wave. Others left in convertible Bentleys, Audis and beamers and the rest took up at least three vintage Routemaster buses. Good luck to them all. Being a nosey biddy I checked them out on the internet. They had a traditional Nigerian wedding in March and the traditional English one today.This is a link to the Nigerian one.
It was Friday when we arrived and after settling in we walked around for a couple of hours noting St.Pauls, Barts Hospital, lovely back streets, the Holborn Viaduct, The Old Bailey and the lovely old Routemaster buses which still operate on the routes 9 and 15.

At the end of the day it is customary for the city workers to hang around at a local pub, drinking with their mates. They don't all fit into the small corner pubs of the city and so this is a common sight.

More news soon.
Cheers Gillian