Strand
"Do The Strand" sang Roxy Music on their album 'For Your Pleasure'. In the Edwardian era, the Strand was the most popular street in London for theatre, music-hall and restaurants. The Strand tube station at Aldwych which opened in 1907 is now one London's ghost stations though it is used as a filmset due to its well-preserved interior. Look out too for the Art Deco splendour of the renovated Savoy Hotel and make a detour through the entrance gates of Somerset House whose courtyard is transformed into an ice-skating rink in winter. The Strand also boasts two churches, St. Mary-le-strand and St Clement Danes both now isolated in the central reservation but worth dodging the traffic for a look inside.
Somerset House
St Mary le Strand
Fleet Street
Until quite recently Fleet Street was home to a large proportion of the British newspaper printing industry which has since moved out to Docklands and elsewhere. Today it is a major artery connecting the City with the West End. The highlights are probably the abundance of historical pubs such as Ye Old Cheshire Cheese, The Wig & Pen and The Punch Tavern. Britain's oldest bank, Child & Co. has been located at no.1 Fleet Street since 1673. On a more grotesque note, no.186 was the address of Sweeney Todd's barber shop. Todd reputedly murdered more than 150 customers in his shop in the 18th century which would make him one of Britain's biggest ever serial killers.
Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese
The Punch Tavern
Trafalgar Square
For tourists and pigeons alike Trafalgar Square has long been one of London's major gathering places. The square was initially laid out in the late 1820's by John Nash, though its centrepoint Nelson's column wasn't completed until 1843. The lions were added even later. The square is often used to host concerts and events such as the Chinese New Year celebrations and has also been the arena for many public meetings and demonstations through the years including the notorious poll-tax riot of 1990.
The recent pedestrianisation of the side facing the National Gallery and the partial displacement of the pigeons if not the tourists have been very welcome environmental improvements which have made the Square a much better place to spend time in.
