...in the City of London

I don't often go into the City of London these days. I work (and grew up) in the City of Westminster and now live in south east London so there's not many reasons to head that way. But today I found myself winding my way along Holborn Viaduct, down onto Farringdon Lane, up Stonecutter Street and Shoe Lane before making my way on to Fetter Lane.

The names themselves tell you that there was once more to this area than financial and legal institutions. But what struck me today was the layers of building history. I walked between tall modern buildings to step out onto Fetter Lane to see this

Kings College University - Maughan Library

Which was opposite this

15 Fetter Lane, EC4

And near this

London News Agency building, Fleet Street

As I walked towards Fleet Street I glimpsed the past between the shiny new City of London.

New and old were cheek by jowl in the City. Layer upon Layer of office building from Victorian times until now. And it is changing all the time.

This once modern, state of the art, city office building looks set to be replaced or refurbished, probably into something made of glass and steel. And this layering of new and old wasn't restricted to the buildings, it was in the street art too:

Once I started looking, I could see the old and the new everywhere. But perhaps the biggest surprise of the day was seeing this office building on Farringdon Road.

When I was a child it was shiny and new with cutting edge modern art lining the walls. A building that stuck in my mind as we drove past on the way to Leather Lane or Chapel Market on a Sunday morning.  Now it is boarded up and quiet - perhaps awaiting it's fate?


So much has changed or is changing I'm going back sometime soon with my camera to really look at our architectural heritage and capture a bit of my past before it disappears. And I may, if it's open on a weekend, stop here for lunch again.