London Pub of the Week No.11: The Red Lion

EVERY THURSDAY! Our round-up of our favourite London pubs on or near the routes of our London Walks. We’ll be posting reviews, giving recommendations and directions and from time-to-time delving into the stories behind the pubs and pub names. As always, we want to hear your suggestions, too. Send your Best Pub In London suggestions to the usual address or leave a comment below.

 

The Red Lion

Traditionally the emblem of Scotland, but unlike the Irish or the Aussies, the Scots have few Scottish-themed boozers in London. The Red Lion was also the emblem of English heroic figure John of Gaunt (1340–99) who was the protector of the young King Richard II. The old dog was married three times, once to the daughter of the marvellously named Don Pedro the cruel of Castille. (As a footnote it is Don Pedro’s ruby, taken from the Moors and later worn by Henry V at Agincourt, that adorns the Maltese Cross of the Queen Elizabeth II’s Imperial State Crown: the Crown Jewels.) A statue of John of Gaunt can be seen atop the entrance of the Savoy Hotel, as Gaunt once was owner of the Savoy Palace on this.

(Try the Red Lion 2 Duke of York Street SW1)

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A London Walk costs £9 – £7 concession. To join a London Walk, simply meet your guide at the designated tube station at the appointed time. Details of all London Walks can be found at www.walks.com.

 

The London Nightly Photoblog 19:06:13

Last orders! The Nightly London Photoblog at The Daily Constitutional takes just one last look at London before lights out.

Maybe you saw tonight’s pictured location on one of today’s London Walks. Perhaps it’s your shot, sent to us at the usual email address.

Of course some London Walks guides will still be out there, Londoning away into the small hours. For them, we borrow a famous London phrase… Goodnight, and good luck.

There's ALWAYS a parade

A London Walk costs £9 – £7 concession. To join a London Walk, simply meet your guide at the designated tube station at the appointed time. Details of all London Walks can be found at www.walks.com.

The London Reading List No.3: London by Edward Rutherfurd

The Great London Reading List! Essential London books that Londoners should take away on holiday to remind them of home… books visitors should read before arriving in London… fact, fiction, poetry, all genres welcome. If you’re in the mood to recommend a great London bookshop, too, we’d love to hear it!  All suggestions to the usual address, please, or leave a comment below or get in touch via Twitter @londonwalks.

Here's Kim…

Books - I could go on all day and night so if I have to restrict myself to one and if I put myself in the position of someone who wants a good story and to discover the history of the city then head for Edward Rutherfurd's "London".  

An epic novel that begins with the birth of the Thames, takes us through Roman era and to the medieval, jumps to the Tudor and Puritan 17th century and then we are jumping through the centuries to come right up to date.  There are wonderful characters who are skilfully woven together so that families overlap through generations and we know, but they don't, exactly where they've come from.  

It was such a good read when I first encountered this that I bought the one for New York and read that before I made my first visit there.  It was perfect.  I  had a great overview of the development of Manhattan, Brooklyn and further afield and I knew what I was looking at.  For someone trying to get to grips with London this is a great start with a story.

In fact, it's the perfect complement to The London History Course run by London Walks.  This series of walks led by different guides run on Saturday afternoons in the 2.30pm Repertory slot. Take every walk or pick and choose but they start at the beginning of September.   If you want to catch me I turn up to show you Tudor London on 21 September and Georgian London on 5 October, both at Chancery Lane but heading out in completely different directions.

Kim

Kim, who has worked in the House of Commons and the European Parliament, is another 24-carat Blue Badge Guide: she won the London Tourist Board's Guide of the Year award in 2001.

A London Walk costs £9 – £7 concession. To join a London Walk, simply meet your guide at the designated tube station at the appointed time. Details of all London Walks can be found at www.walks.com.

The London Nightly Photoblog 18:06:13

Last orders! The Nightly London Photoblog at The Daily Constitutional takes just one last look at London before lights out.

Maybe you saw tonight’s pictured location on one of today’s London Walks. Perhaps it’s your shot, sent to us at the usual email address.

Of course some London Walks guides will still be out there, Londoning away into the small hours. For them, we borrow a famous London phrase… Goodnight, and good luck.

We shudder to think what the OLD American Burger  looks like

A London Walk costs £9 – £7 concession. To join a London Walk, simply meet your guide at the designated tube station at the appointed time. Details of all London Walks can be found at www.walks.com.

The Red Box League…

Thanks to London Walker Remy Hiramato for this shot, shared on Twitter, taken along the route of the Ghosts of the Old City walk last Saturday night…

And you get see one of these on @londonwalks pic.twitter.com/iFSzaKR3Pc
— Remy Hiramoto (@remyomar) June 15, 2013

Here's a pic of the same phone box a few days earlier, bedecked in notes and letters from Sherlock Holmes aficionados…

The phone box features in the last episode (so far!) of the BBC series Sherlock. Near this spot, in an echo of the Reichenbach Falls in the original Conan Doyle adventures, our hero falls to his certain death… or does he?

The game really IS afoot at this Smithfield call box. Sherlock fans paste their love letters… and the phone box people then take them down. The process seems to repeat every few weeks.

P.S. A note to the BBC: Hurry up and make a new series!




A London Walk costs £9 – £7 concession. To join a London Walk, simply meet your guide at the designated tube station at the appointed time. Details of all London Walks can be found at www.walks.com.

If You Do One OTHER Thing In London This Week…

Our Tuesday slot in which we point you in the direction of other great happenings and events in our great city. A new exhibition, a gig, a museum, a pop-up-shop – the best of London within a few minutes of a London Walks walking tour.

The second annual Charing Cross Road Festival is two days of events centred around Foyles and Blackwells bookshops. It celebrates literary and artistic life in one of London’s most famous thoroughfares in a series of talks and events held at the aforementioned bookshops and at various venues up and down the Charing Cross Road.

It takes place on the 22nd and 23rd of June and the full programme of events can be found here: www.foyles.co.uk

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A London Walk costs £9 – £7 concession. To join a London Walk, simply meet your guide at the designated tube station at the appointed time. Details of all London Walks can be found at www.walks.com.

The London Nightly Photoblog 17:06:13

Last orders! The Nightly London Photoblog at The Daily Constitutional takes just one last look at London before lights out.

Maybe you saw tonight’s pictured location on one of today’s London Walks. Perhaps it’s your shot, sent to us at the usual email address.

Of course some London Walks guides will still be out there, Londoning away into the small hours. For them, we borrow a famous London phrase… Goodnight, and good luck.

Through a Glass Darkly

A London Walk costs £9 – £7 concession. To join a London Walk, simply meet your guide at the designated tube station at the appointed time. Details of all London Walks can be found at www.walks.com.

Walk of the Week!

Every Monday we’ll pluck just one walk from the vast London Walks repertoire and put it centre stage.

You can check out the full schedule at www.walks.com.

But if you only take one walking tour this week, why not make it…

Publish & Be Damned – The Fleet Street Walk

Journalist-guided, this newspaper walk exposes the only past that the papers are keen to cover up: their own!

Saturday 22nd June 10:45am at Temple Station. Here's a preview film…

A London Walk costs £9 – £7 concession. To join a London Walk, simply meet your guide at the designated tube station at the appointed time. Details of all London Walks can be found at www.walks.com.

In and Around London... Tube Bits

Monday is mute on the London Walks Blog (well, almost mute) – because Monday is the day when we post five images captured in and around London by London Walks Guides, London Walkers and Facebook friends. Collated on a theme or an area, if you've got some great shots of our capital and want to join in send your pictures to the usual address.

A London Walk costs £9 – £7 concession. To join a London Walk, simply meet your guide at the designated tube station at the appointed time. Details of all London Walks can be found at www.walks.com.