Thanks for the memories
Tuesday, May 12, 2009 Yesterday I spent the morning in a meeting yards from the Central Criminal Court (aka the Old Bailey). For those unfamiliar with London, Old Bailey is off Ludgate Hill; St Paul's Cathedral is two hundred yards up the hill, and Fleet Street is a minute's walk in the other direction.
The area brings back a lot of memories. My first job after university was with a PR company in Fleet Lane, a prestigious-sounding address but in reality a narrow, nondescript backstreet a short distance from Ludgate Hill. On my first day it took a while to find.
Fleet Street however was like a magnet. It drew me in. In 1980 almost every national newspaper operated from Fleet Street, or close by. I loved having lunch in one of the many pubs and wine bars, surrounded by journalists, picking up all manner of gossip. After dark the area would be heaving with newspaper delivery trucks parked up or setting off with the early editions.
On 29 July 1981 Charles and Diana got married at St Paul's Cathedral. People from all over the world began to arrive at least two days in advance, bringing with them folding chairs and sleeping bags. Ludgate Hill became a sea of humanity waiting patiently for the big day. I remember walking around, soaking up the extraordinary atmosphere as the sun shone down. I had never known anything like it.
Later that year I moved with my boss Michael Forsyth (now Lord Forsyth of Drumlean) when he set up his own company in a small office the other side of Ludgate Hill. Our new address was in St Andrew's Hill, above a sandwich shop and a few yards from the Observer.
St Andrew's Hill was part of a warren of narrow streets that was almost Dickensian in nature. I didn't have time to look yesterday, but I'm sure that it's been redeveloped like much of the Ludgate Hill area.
Buildings have been demolished and shiny new shops and offices have taken their place. The old independent sandwich shops and newsagents have disappeared and high street names like WH Smith and Starbucks have moved in. (To be fair, much of it is an improvement.)
Fleet Lane (as I knew it) no longer exists. Curiously, the little stretch of road that remains has been renamed Old Fleet Lane but after 200 yards you (literally) hit a brick wall (the back of a new office block).
Gone too is the Old King Lud, the pub that used to be on the corner of Ludgate Hill and Farringdon Street. It sat almost directly beneath the old railway bridge (which has now been removed) and every time a train passed by our drinks would shake, rattle and roll.
I met my first London Marathon runner in the Old King Lud. It was three days after the event and he was still wearing his medal around his neck, like a returning war hero.
Talking of which, I was in the Old King Lud the day that Mrs Thatcher announced that we were at war with Argentina and British warships were being sent to recapture the Falklands from Argentinian hands.
We sat there, after work, devouring our pints and our pies, catching up with the latest news in the Evening Standard. The place was packed and everyone was talking about it. I don't mean to sound glib, but I can't tell you how excited we were. At last, Britain had something to be proud of. (That may sound silly now but it's how many people felt at the time.)
Part of the building is still there but the Old King Lud is now part of a Mediterranean-style restaurant chain called Leon. Apparently, like many of the changes around here, it's rather good. But I liked it back then, too.
Reader Comments (2)
And The Albion (Ludgate Circus), The Bell, The Cogers, Mooneys,The Harrow (off Tudor Street), 'Aunties' (forget the real name), 'The Stab in the Back' (in Fetter Lane, I think,I forget the real name). the Old Cheshire Cheese and nearby, the tiny old fashioned tobacconists (Radford's?) with a gas flame permanently burning, and a step down from the alleway into its shady interior, The Two Brewers (Shoe Lane) The Devereux, The Seven Stars (Carey Street). Mick's Cafe, The King and Keys, the Poppinjay, The Bunch of Grapes ...
Those of us who live out of the City also mourn the loss of places of character that have been laid on the alter of modernisation. Some people call the development of historic Lincoln "vandalism". Others wonder how many of our new plastic pubs will be boarded up in the recession and how ugly they will look.
Change for change sake has never been a good thing and we've had too much of that from this rotten govt in all areas of our lives.