6/26 Partial Pepys Walk & Visit to Liberty Department Store

I got a very good night's sleep last night after my bout with food poisoning.  In fact, I felt good enough to do the two last things I really wanted to do in London:  Walk around some of the places that the famous diarist Samuel Pepys walked around and lived in and also to visit a store that had been strongly recommended to me. 

For those of you who have not heard of Samuel Pepys, the important thing to know is that he lived in London from 1633 to 1703 and wrote an extensive diary for 11 years covering his life from 1660to 1669.  It is one of the most important sources of information about life during the 17th Century.  Pepys was the son of a tailor, but was well-educated for those times, attending grammar school and attending Cambridge University.   He married a young wife, Elizabeth, when he was 22 and she was 14.  

He is known for having a large bladder stone removed in primitive surgery in 1657, without dying and for burying his Parmesan cheese in his backyard during the Fire of London!  As a very young man, he got a job as a clerk of the acts with the navy board, and eventually rose to the position of Secretary of the Admiralty and a Member of Parliament, among other honors.

He wrote his diary in a shorthand code, and it was not translated until 1893.  What makes it especially interesting is that Pepys lived through and wrote about the Restoration after the murder of Cromwell, the Great Plague, and the Great Fire of London.  He also devised a way to supplying the British Navy, enjoyed the company of friends over wine and food, attended plays, and did a substantial amount of philandering!    

Starting in January 2003, a Pepys fan named Phil Gyford posted one entry per day for each day of Pepys' Diary, and I spent the next 11 years reading this site and the numerous annotations various readers added.  One day at a time was a great way to read this diary because you felt as if you were really following his life, as it happened.  If you want a terrific experience, the third posting of the entire diary is set to begin on January 1, 2023.  I may just log in each day and read it again, as it is illuminating and often funny.  Check out this site to begin:  https://www.pepysdiary.com/   

I am in a part of London I am not familiar with, so I headed to the nearest tube station, Goodge Street.  As usual, there were stairs, so I headed down them expecting the usual couple of flights.  Instead, the stairs were in this sort of round tower arrangement, and when I finally got to the bottom, I found this sign.  Not easy on my knees, especially my right one. 

Apparently,  I missed the signs to take the lifts of elevators in this station!!  Here is a photo of the end part of the stairs. 

So what happens when you have just taken 136 steps??  You find another two flights of stairs.  The London Underground is obviously NOT known for being handicap friendly.

 

 

My first stop was All Hollows by the Tower, obviously near the Tower of London.   It is the oldest church in London, and a church has stood here since 675 AD, which makes it 200 years older than the Tower of London. It was a place that Samuel Pepys was familiar with, and he wrote about climbing its tower to view the extent of the Great Fire.  It was just closing as I got there, but I took a few photos of the outside.  I will be going back tomorrow to take photos of the interior and get a tour. 

My next stop was another church that Pepys attended, St Olave's.  It also had just closed, but will be open tomorrow, so I will visit it as well.

 

 

Pepys referred to this church as St. Ghastly Grim, but it was the church he and his wife most often attended.  Both Pepys and his wife are buried here in a vault beneath the nave, and over 350 plague victims were hastily buried in the church yard. 

 

Pepys lived here on Seething Lane, but the street is now modern and looks nothing like the original before the fire.

Don't remember this street from the diary, but it is an interesting name.  Will have to look it up.

 

 

The outside of St. Olave's Church. 

 

 

This tower was the offices of the Clothworkers union.  It is related to Pepys because he was a member of this association. 

 

 

Just an interesting building I could not resist including.  In London, you will often find very old buildings with interesting architecture right next to a row of more modern structure. 

 

It is a shame that the monument to the Great Fire is mostly hidden from a distance because of the tall, modern buildings surrounding it.

 

 

Pudding Lane is where the Great Fire began, and very close to Pepys' home.  Luckily, his home escaped the fire, and his cheese and wine was safely retrieved. 

 

 

Unfortunately, a lot of the area around the area where Pepys lived and worked is now full of modern financial institutions.  

 

 

This is Liberty Department store.  It was strongly recommended to me as a must-see by two ladies I met in the Victoria and Albert Museum.  Expensive and high-end goods, but a lot more interesting than Harrods!   I felt a little awkward taking photos inside of a store, but I could not resist. 

I remember on my first trip to London in 1967, trying to find Carnaby Street, made famous by the Beatles, but could not find it, but here it is!!

 

 

My favorite take-out chain.  There is a Pret on almost every block, but they do well because they offer organic food that is made every morning.  What does not sell at the end of the day is given away.  Mostly, they have sandwiches, desserts, juices, and snacks, all reasonably priced. 

 Last comment.  The instructions for the Pepys walk really could use more detailed instructions.  I spent most of today getting lost and walking the wrong directions.  And to make matters worse, at the end of the day when I was really exhausted, I ended up walking several blocks out of my way, and since my cell phone was out of power, I had to get help from two young men eating pizza at an outdoor table.  They looked up my hotel for me and were able to direct me correctly. 

My Fitbit says I walked 12,989 steps and 5.08 miles today.  I am guessing that at least 30% of this was in the wrong direction, however!