Day 29 - Liquid History Walking Tour
July 20, 2023: Today was another transition day. We moved from Covent Garden to the Kings Cross area. After getting our luggage moved to our new hotel, we took the underground to our meeting location to start our Liquid History Walking Tour. These tours were started by John Warland who wrote the book, “Liquid History: An Illustrated Guide to London’s Greatest Pubs”. The tours are led by local Londoners to celebrate the quirkier side of London life & history. The groups are less than 14 (we were in a group of 8) and you visit 4 pubs along a route where you learn some of the history of London. We had a great time and met some more Aussies and some fellow Americans. Our guide was a musician who now does these tours. The four pubs we visited were: The Black Friar, The Punch, The Edgar Wallace and The Ship Tavern. There was colorful history of each. I didn’t think I liked gin, but at The Punch, they specialized in gin, so I tried Mermaid Pink Gin with strawberries and lemonade and I loved it! Here is a little history about these four unique establishments:
The Black Friar was built in 1875 on the site of a Dominican friary. The building was designed by architect H. Fuller-Clark and artist Henry Poole. This Nicholson's house is an art nouveau architectural curiosity; wedge-shaped and adorned with mosaics, ornamental balconies and a guardian black friar. Inside is decorated with copper reliefs showing monks doing “monkish things” as the tour guide put it. Great quotes are carved in the walls like “Silence is Golden,” “Contentment Surpasses Riches,” and “Seize Occasion.” There is also a beautiful stained glass window and a friar that looks like Yoda 😂!
The Punch (formerly known as Crown & Sugar Loaf) - This is a former 19th century Gin Palace, this historic site was named in the 1840s in homage to the regular drinkers from nearby Punch magazine.
The Edgar Wallace - This pub dates back to 1777, and was originally The Essex Head. It was renamed in 1975 to commemorate the crime writer Edgar Wallace's birth centenary. Wallace was a British writer of sensational detective, gangster, adventure and sci-fi novels, plays and stories. He only lived until he was 57, but during his lifetime he wrote screen plays, poetry, historical non-fiction, 18 stage plays, 957 short stories and over 170 novels, 12 in 1929 alone. More than 160 films have been made of Wallace's work. His most famous being King Kong.
The Ship Tavern - The area around The Ship used to be known for being full of notoriously seedy gambling establishments. During the short reign of King Edward the Sixth, the tavern was used by the English Catholic community as an underground church since being catholic was illegal at that time. Priests would perform mass at the tavern. There were spotters around the area that would use secret signals to warn the pub’s worshippers when the King’s officials were spotted. They would hide in the basement until they received the all clear. Unfortunately, two priests were shot in the pub when the signals failed and they were caught by the king’s guard.
We have both concluded after several of these kinds of tours that it is well worth the money to do food and wine/beers tours in the areas you are visiting. Not only do you get to try local fare, you get to know things about the location that you would not normally learn. We plan to do a Eat Walking Tour in Scotland early next week as well.
Jimm’s rating for the day: ****