|
| |
ADVENTURES IN LONDON
London: The Anchor—a pub
worth a crawl
—part two—
Today, there are more reasons than ever to escape to the south side of the Thames, not the
least of which is a visit to a thriving 17th century pub, The Anchor, still
slaking thirsts after all these years. Can you walk and read at the same time?
| WALKING THROUGH
SOUTHWARK. |
|
SOUTHWARK
CATHEDRAL.
SHAKESPEARE LIKELY
ATTENDED SERVICES HERE. |
Walk west (toward first Southwark Bridge)
through the alleys snaking among the old stone warehouses one-half block inland from the
Thames. Watch for the sign-posted museum at the remains of the infamous Clink prison. In
recent years this district has undergone major changes from dim, run-down warehouses to
new offices, apartments, museums, and restaurants. Still, you get some idea of its
not-so-distant past in the maze of little alleys around the Clink. |
| |
SLAKE YOUR THIRST
AT THE ANCHOR.
Return to the Jubilee Walkway and follow
it west beyond the Southwark Bridge. At the point where first alleyway, Rose Alley,
connects to the riverfront, you arrive at the historic Anchor Pub. If the scene seems
somehow familiar, you may have seen it in the movies—Tom Cruise has a pint here in
the first "Mission Impossible".
The 17th century diarist Samuel Pepys fled
across the London Bridge to this pub to avoid the Great Fire in September, 1666. The fire,
which |
THE ANCHOR PUB &
RESTAURANT,
SOUTHWARKKNOWN TO SAMUEL PEPYS AND TOM CRUISE. |
started on the north bank of the river almost
opposite the Anchor, was whipped into a five-day conflagration by gale
winds from the east. More than 13,000 houses were lost, virtually all of
the medieval City of London. Pepys escaped in a boat despite "fire
drops" falling all around him during the crossing of the Thames. His
account describes his South Bank refuge as "a little alehouse on
bankside" where he "watched the fire grow".
The Anchor itself fell victim
to fire within ten years, and was rebuilt in 1676. The original pub has
changed greatly over the centuries, resulting in todays quaint puzzle
of nooks and corners, each adorned with antique brick fireplaces,
exposed beams, and warped, noisy floorboards. |
| |
THE RIVERSIDE AND
SOME FAMOUS NEIGHBORS.
One of The Anchor’s bars is named
after Dr. Samuel Johnson, famed for his dictionary of the English language, who was a
regular here in the 1700’s. But not all at the Anchor is old—there is a
semi-sheltered barbecue patio on the riverside that draws summer crowds. Why not? The
view, even without a holocaust across the Thames, is still dramatic, with unrestricted
views of St. Paul’s Cathedral, and with busy river traffic gliding by. |
|
THE NEW GLOBE
THEATRE AND THE
TOWER OF THE TATE MODERN GALLERY. |
Something else is new, too, now that the
neighborhood has changed. The Anchor has gained some interesting, upscale neighbors, just
a little way west along the Jubilee Walkway. One neighbor is new—the acclaimed Tate
Modern Gallery is just three minutes along the levee. One neighbor is new
again—Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, rebuilt by American actor Sam Wanamaker near
its original site, where productions and workshops are now regularly occurring. Of course,
Shakespeare wouldn’t recognize much of the scene except the New Globe,
|
|
Southwark Cathedral, the much cleaner Thames, and, perhaps, bits of the
old pub that still holds the history of the South Bank in place like an
anchor. |
GO BACK TO PART 1:
You can visit pubs
throughout LONDON as part of your own
independent, custom-designed HOME AT FIRST travel itinerary.
|
