(For Part One click here)

Walking around the city of London on a weekday evening, it’s not all that surprising that I start feeling peckish. Even after a long day, I can’t entirely blame this on my propensity to think of my stomach, as in addition to the obvious cafés and fast food places on every corner, there are plenty of other foodie outlets that harkens back to the time when farmers and merchants and not office commuters had their business in these streets. For example, walking back from a Friday night meal in Brick Lane, after sashaying down Fashion Street, it wouldn’t be unheard of for me to start planning the next day’s breakfast after passing through Frying Pan Alley. There are of course many more, but before you wonder just what this post has to do with the man of the year, Mr Dickens, or my plan to blog about corners of Dickensian London, follow me down the narrow confines of Wine Office Court, just off Fleet Street, and into the subterranean labyrinth that is Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese Pub.

Mind your head (I always whack mine on the precarious journey into the vaults) and take a seat. Why have I brought you here? Well, apart from being a welcome cosy escape from the bitter wind whistling through the streets, this was one of Dickens’ haunts, close to his publishing offices and a background in a few of his novels. So, to ease us into our further perambulations around London, please raise your glass, perhaps order a tasty morsel or two, and toast Mr Dickens today, his birthday.  Cheers!

Lesley-Anne Crooks, Sales & Digital Manager