Short and sweet – Throgmorton Street, and a view of St Paul’s

Wednesday, 1st September 2021

Throgmorton Street is  so short, I thought I’d be through in a few minutes but it’s a street packed with lovely things, and that’s before I’ve even walked down its few courts and alleys.

Looking at the map you can see Throgmorton Street clearly marked. The diagonal Old Broad Street  will lead you eastwards to the back of Broadgate/Liverpool Street station. I started my little walk at the southern entrance to Austin Friars passage, where Throgmorton Street cuts cleanly into the junction the passage makes with Old Broad Street. The western end of Throgmorton Street stops at the back of the Bank of England. At any rate, it’s not hard to see – even without panning out to the bigger map – that is a bit of a warren.

The street is named after Nicholas Throckmorton, chief banker of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The stock exchange was on the south side from 1972 to 2004.

The Throgmorton Restaurant, between the Stock Exchange and the Bank of England, was opened on 15 October 1900.

J Lyons & Co., a British restaurant chain, food manufacturing, and hotel conglomerate founded in 1884, had an 80-year lease on the property in 1897 from the Worshipful Company of Drapers. It was a celebrated eating place by the stockbrokers, bankers and insurance brokers who have dominated this  area for generations. By all accounts the interior of the restaurant was incredibly grand, with many rooms. The restaurant business ended in the  1970s.

I have so many happy memories of having tea and cake or sandwiches at Lyons Corner Houses around London. The best are from the 1960s when I worked close to the one on the Strand. I’d buy the cheapest lunch – tomato sandwiches – with the luncheon vouchers that were part of my salary. I’d eat these sandwiches in Trafalgar Square and save the rest of my voucher money so that every Friday I could combine them to have a really special lunch.

Another fun thing about Lyons is Nigella Lawson’s connection –  her mother, Vanessa Salmon, was an heiress born into the Lyons Coffee House dynasty. I loved Lyons chocolate cupcakes and found them one day in Morrison’s supermarkets. My fond memory of peeling off the foil cups, then peeling the chocolate icing off the chocolate sponge bottom, to eat last, was tarnished when I tasted them – they were awful! Had they changed or had my memory been faulty? Likely both.

At any rate, the lanterns and everything about the door is gorgeous (there are two identical doors). The place continued as a restaurant, owned by Mitchells & Butler from 2004 to 2013. I’d missed it.

The original Drapers Hall was built in St Swithin’s Lane in the 1420s, then the present hall was bought from King Henry VIII in 1543. It had been the property of Thomas Cromwell, the king’s chief minister. Thomas had been instrumental in the arrest and execution of Anne Boleyn, and later was executed himself, his property forfeited to the king. The hall was rebuilt after the Great Fire and then in 1772 was again rebuilt. The latest alteration was in 1898-9. What I’ve seen of the inside from pictures shows enormous rooms like a palace. In fact, the halls are often shown in television series and movies, such as The King’s Speech.

Through the gates at the left (closer views below) is Throgmorton Avenue, which runs from here to London Wall. It’s a private road belonging to the Drapers’ livery company, with these splendid gates on each end.  Today this end was closed. The gates to London Wall are controlled by the Carpenters’ Company. All this tells me is that there are bits of the area I need to see more of, since Krish tells me that he was lucky enough to see the gates open one day with some ‘old’ carpenters in their livery having a lunch break.

Krish wanted to walk west. I’ve spent so much time in the tight winding streets of the city, I’ve found myself feeling disappointed with the wider and more widely spaced streets leading away from The City. They need a lot more walking to see what’s down each street, what hidden treasures are along the main roads. These days it’s not easy for me to manage, so I felt a bit restless. There were at least a few obvious gems along the way.

Earlier that day I had been reading about a new rooftop view on One New Change, a low rise shopping centre next to St Pauls. As we walked along, the centre was suddenly just to my right so I asked Krish if he wanted to go up. He did.

It’s not very high, six storeys up. At the top is a restaurant-bar. We hadn’t chosen a very bright day to go up, but the views were lovely anyway.

Despite the dull day, the view is great. You can see the Shard to the left, and over towards the right, there’s a glimpse of the London Eye. The only sad note is that my eyes aren’t good enough to read the inscriptions on the several artifacts on the rooftop. I’m going to assume they were rescued from the original Bank of England Chambers that were here before.

Apart from the rooftop, I didn’t linger at One New Change. This was once the location of the Bank of England Chambers/New Change Buildings, pulled down and replaced by the modern shopping centre. Many people hated the idea of this change, but here it stands home instead to the usual London franchise stores, most selling fashion. The best thing about the centre is this view of St Pauls as you walk towards it. On a bright day it’s a lovelier mirrored image.

We decided to head over on the 25 bus to Whitechapel for the usual samosa run. I really liked the chaotic nature of the Gherkin viewed through the trees, and with the modern buildings and old church in the foreground. I’m not sure if the Gherkin was the first modern City of London icon, but for me it remains the most eye-catching and fascinating.

After a day in the City, there’s not much to do but relax at home with a cup of tea and a samosa warm from the bag. Until next time…