Publishers, Most Christmassy Pub in London and More

St Pauls to Borough and Beyond to the Most CHRISTMASSY PUB 

After a full English breakfast, we gather our selves up and made our way to the St Paul Underground station.

Here we find the statue of Rowland Hill, the founder of the modern Post Office. He was responsible for setting standard cost (Penny Post) of postage and the self-adhesive  stamp. 

We then walk through narrow streets to find Stationers’ Hall. This is the home of the Stationers’ Company, an ancient guild of the City of London, which held a monopoly on printing and the responsibility of checking and registering all books produced in England. 

Next we come to Paternoster Square. Prior to The Blitz this area was home to many bookshops and publishers. In this square one finds a monument which was erected in 2003 as a tribute to the bookshops lost during the bombings. 

Looking to the Southside of the square one finds Christopher Wren’s Temple Bar which marked the Western Boundary to the City of London.  It was common for the Monarchy to stop at these gates and ask the Lord Mayor for permission to enter the city. The Arch had been moved several times and was finally located here in 2004 .   

Passing through the Arch, we find ourselves at the entrance to St Paul’s Cathedral. If one has not been in the cathedral it is well worth a visit.

We make our way through the Edwardian Alleyways towards the Millennium Bridge. We made a slight diversion to the Firefighters Memorial near St Paul’s. This monument is dedicated to the firefights of The Blitz. Churchill viewed St Paul’s Cathedral as a symbol of London, because of that, during The Blitz he made sure there were extra fire fighting crews stationed nearby to protect the Cathedral. 

We then walk across Millennium Bridge to the South Bank, walking along the Thames till we reach Borough Market. The market is its usual busy self, with so many offerings it is had to list them all.  

From previous visits, I recalled a nice pub hidden away in an alleyway called the Kings Head. Here we find a warm pub and have some lunch.


We then make our way to London Bridge, past a makeshift memorial for the recent terrorist attack. 

Following the river, we find Christmas Along the River. There were several stalls set up along this stretch from London Bridge to Tower Bridge. The offerings here seem of a higher quality of merchandise and there were also several food stalls.

We crossed Tower Bridge and walked around the outside of the Tower and found a Costa Coffee shop for a tea and cocoa.  This as a nice break as we waited here for darkness to fall.

We then make our way via Underground to Notting Hill to find the Churchill Arms Pub. This is London’s most outrageously Christmassy Pub, 90 trees and 12,000 lights adorn the exterior and there are more lights inside. The pub was packed and we were lucky to find seats at the bar. We arrived there at about 5 pm and the lights were not being lit till 6pm. There was a lighting ceremony at 6pm followed by mulled wine and mince pies for all. It was rather festive. 

We then went to Bond Street, following Oxford Street to Regent Street to Carnaby Street, enjoying the lights along the way. 

We then went to Piccadilly Circus to catch the Underground and make our way back to the hotel. We did stop at a local pie shop for a steak pie and a chicken a sage pie.

It was a full day with over 21,000 steps, but interesting none the less.