Tracing Charles Dickens' London Footsteps

LONDON WALKS Tracing Charles Dickens’ London Footsteps e g n a h c x E l a y o R The tower of London e weather has changed and we are liked angling, a method of fishing, and comfy in our winter coats and scarves. Scottish country music. Later he began to Stores are exploding with Christmas gift develop a more philanthropic side, creating ideas. ‘Tis the season’, so let’s go on a homes where the common man could live. Dickens walk. After all, it’s Charles His legacy lives on in many charity Dickens who gave us the warm, fuzzy, organisations including the Peabody magical Christmas we seem to yearn Estates that bear his name. What changed for each December. Had it not been his ways? Who knows, maybe he was for his book, A Christmas Carol , we visited by three ghosts. might not have some of the traditions we Walk across the back of Royal Exchange have today. and cross over Cornhill. Turn left onto Let me take you on a walk that starts at Cornhill, then right onto St. Michael’s Bank Junction where the majestic Bank of Alleyway, then left again to Castle Court. England and Royal Exchange dominate You are at the George & Vulture pub, this busy intersection. e Royal Exchange which dates back to 1748. It’s only open was opened by Queen Victoria in 1844. during the week for lunch, so time your Dickens and the principal character of A visit if you want to peak inside. You are Christmas Carol , Ebenezer Scrooge, would looking for a bill of five pounds and 11 have also known this building and shillings. It’s framed on the wall, and the intersection. debt belongs to Charles Dickens. He drank Walk on the north side of Royal Exchange in this pub and still owes his bill. Dickens towards the back and come to a statue. mentioned the pub in e Pickwick Papers is is George Peabody, an American multiple times, and Scrooge had his office businessman who made his home in near here too. Fly down Castle Court (just George Peabody London. Some might say he was similar to as the Ghost of Christmas Past might Scrooge in his own life – a miser who only have) and turn left onto Birchin Lane, 22 FOCUS The Magazine November/December 2016 www.focus-info.org LONDON WALKS n i w r a D s e l r a h t C e k r a M h g u o r o then straight on Nicholas Lane and turn B left onto King William Street. You’ll see e Monument to the Great Fire ahead l a r of you, but we are heading to London d e h Bridge, where we cross over into t a C Southwark. k r a e London Bridge that Dickens would w h t u have known now sits in Lake Havasu, o Arizona. Foundation stone laid, work S began in 1824, the same year that John Dickens was sent to Marshalsea Debtor’s came to drink and converse. He e Prison, along with his wife and younger r mentioned this place in Little Dorrit. u t l children. Charles lived with Elizabeth u V Continue down Borough High Street to & Roylance, and he and his sister Frances e Little Dorrit Street. You might spot e g r would visit Marshalsea on Sundays. ey o Haemophilia Society on the corner. is e G would have crossed over the bridge. is also 150 Borough High Street, which e h Imagine their conversations! If you can was the location of the second Marshalsea T spy Southwark Cathedral, they would Prison where Dicken’s father and family have known it as St Saviour’s Church, as it served time. e park located just here is wasn’t a cathedral until 1905. St Saviour’s called Little Dorrit after Charles Dicken’s e bird would have been roasted along is mentioned in Dickens’ Oliver Twist . book. Further down is the large with many others by a local baker, Nancy’s Steps, a prime location in that intersection with St George the Martyr. collected and warmed in their small fire. A book, are located on the southwest side of ere is a wall adjacent to the church goose, at least their goose, was a meager the bridge, just before e Barrowboy & from the original Marshalsea Prison. e Banker pub. feast for such a large family. Scrooge even east window of the church has Little comments on this, and later buys them Crossing the bridge, you’ll head straight Dorrit represented in stained glass. the largest turkey in the window (“e on as the street becomes Borough High Ahead is Lant Street, our final destination one as big as me!”). Today, a goose will Street under the shadows of e Shard on the walk. It is named after omas run you anywhere between £50-£75 at today. e hustle and bustle of London Lant and his family from the 18th this famous food market, but they are still Bridge station began on 14 December century. Charles Dickens lived on this not renowned for an abundance of meat. 1836 when it became the first and the oldest railway terminal, so Dickens would street in 1824, in a house owned by the London is chock-full of Charles Dickens have known this place too. Keep clear of vicar of St George’s church, just before locations, places where his characters the crowds at Borough Market, we are moving in with Ms Roylance. frolicked, and hidden corners where his headed over St omas Street and the Perhaps you need to return to Borough real Victorian world and the fictitious road will make a split. We head left Market for a prize bird? Remember how worlds he created are still vibrant and alive towards the George Inn, down an alley on Mrs Cratchit was so proud of their small today. If ever a man or woman want to the left with a shiny arch that bears the roast goose! In Victorian times, she would connect with a Dickensian being, they pub’s name. Pop inside and head to the have paid a few small pennies all year long need only seek the streets of this Middle Bar, where Charles Dickens often for that bird, similar to a layaway scheme. fantastic city. Amber Raney-Kincad e is the American Tour Guide in London, offering walking tours and private hire to those looking to explore on foot. Find out more at www.AmericanTourGuideInLondon.com or follow her on Twitter@AmericanLDN. www.focus-info.org FOCUS The Magazine 23.

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