London Group 10
This group is led by Peter Shaw & Brian Lewis. It will meet on the 4th Thursday monthly. All meetings will be at a London venue.
May Meeting
This month the London Group 10 had an enjoyable but very cold walk through Whitehall and across St James and Piccadilly.
We started from Great Tower Street by catching the number 15 bus and travelled to Trafalgar Square we then walked to St James Church in Jermyn Street, a lovely venue for morning coffee and cakes.
We then entered the church and admired the interior and stained windows, the exited onto Jermyn Street and wandered past the tailors and cheese shops along to Bennetts Street and set out to see many of the exclusive clubs that abound in this area.
Following into Waterloo Place we found statues to various people from history including Captain Scott who died having reached the South Pole and Sir John Franklin who also died following the discovery of the North West Passage.
Along Pall Mall we saw a number of private members clubs, here we entered St James Square, during its first two hundred years it was one of the most expensive and fashionable squares in London with many houses owned by Dukes and Earls. It is now mainly London Offices for some international companies and smaller embassy’s. At its north east corner is the Naval and Military Club, once the home of Nancy Astor the first female Member of Parliament.
Re-entering Jermyn Street we then followed along Babmaes Street to find charming old stables and coach house which is the rear entrance for the N&M club.
From here we entered and walked around one of the very old stable yards with many original buildings, Masons Yard, this also has a very modern gallery, the White Cube.
Passing Berry Bros and old Wine merchant which has extensive cellars hold approx. 20,000 bottles of wine, Dunhill’s Cigar emporium and down King Street to finish along Crown Passage, the Red Lion Inn still giving the feel of an old drinking bar.
At the end of the walk we passed St James Palace and the Friary Court before having a tasty lunch at Café in the Park before return via St James Park tube to Fenchurch Street.
Click on a picture below to see it full-size with more details.
