A public house of some sort has existed on this site since the 1500s, back when the surrounding area was part of the medieval Blackfriars district, and William Shakespeare lived in nearby Ireland Yard. The name “Cockpit” comes from the old-fashioned sport of cockfighting, a popular but brutal entertainment in earlier centuries. Patrons would bet on fights between cockerels inside a small pit or cockpit, with spectators often watching from galleries. Although cockfighting was

When the long January nights stretch on and much of London feels grey, Canary Wharf Winter Lights swoops in to brighten up the season with colour, creativity and playful light art. Now in its 10th year, this free outdoor art festival transforms the Canary Wharf estate into a glowing trail of installations by acclaimed light artists from around the world. Canary Wharf is famous as London’s skyscraper-lined financial hub, but for these winter nights it becomes one of the capita

One of the great Christmas traditions in the UK is the pantomime. This consists of musical numbers, cross-dressing actors, jokes (including topical ones) and tends to be based on folk tales. These include Cinderella, Aladdin, Peter Pan and Puss in Boots. One is based on a real person and that is Dick Whittington along with his cat.   The basic story is that Dick is a poor orphan boy who travels to London believing that the streets are paved with gold. They are not, but Whitti

The Hand & Shears is traditional side/back street pub. There has been a pub selling beer on this site for 500 years with the date above the door dating it to 1532. This building dates from the mid 1800s though. The décor inside of the pub looks as though it has not been updated since this building was built. It even has a private are which would have once been frequented by wealthier patrons, as well as women during a time when it was frowned upon for ladies to be seen visiti

Within the Guildhall are the statues of Gog & Magog, but who are they? The names appear twice in the Bible. Firstly, in the Book of Ezekiel where Gog was a landowner & Magog was the land he owned. They appear again Book of Revelations representing the ultimate enemies of God’s kingdom. However, the Gog & Magog associated with City of London have nothing to do with those mentioned in the Bible. In one story, they were in fact one person called Gogmagog. According to one legend

St Olave’s, Hart Street is dedicated to King Olaf of Norway who is not only the patron saint of that country, but he is said to have fought alongside Ethelred the Unready at the Battle of London Bridge in 1014. At that time, London was under the control of Danish forces. Ethelred looked to take it back, but the Danes were lined up on London Bridge ready to repel the attack. Olaf’s forces attached cables to the bridge & as they rowed away, they were able to destabilise the bri