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The Cheshire Cheese Pub near St Clement Danes
(not to be confused with Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese pub in Fleet Street!)
Sketch by Pete Scully
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Hello! This week we invite you to explore Fleet Street and the
surrounding area.
Fleet Street has a long history of printing and publishing, and is also
known as the home of London’s newspaper industry. The street is long and dense, featuring many architecturally interesting
buildings of various styles, such as the Art Deco Daily Express Building on
the corner of Fleet Street and Shoe Street and, further east in Ludgate
Hill, the English Baroque edifice of St. Paul’s Cathedral.
The day is run by Akira Yamanaka and Adam Topór.
If this is your first sketchwalk with us, welcome to Urban
Sketchers London!
Every sketchwalk has a leader, a meeting point at the
beginning, a gathering place in the middle and another one at
the end, when we ‘throw down’ our sketchbooks and pose for a
group photo. Sketchwalk leaders know the area and are
there to help you feel at ease and give you some ideas about
what to sketch. Please note there is no tuition during the
sketchwalks. We all draw what we wish, following the
Urban Sketchers Vision and Values and sharing our drawings at the end.
We look forward to seeing you!
Meeting point at 11 am
We will gather in St Bride’s Passage (see photo below and point A on the local walking route
map below). If it's wet on the day there are few options for shelter in the Fleet Street area, so let's keep an eye on the weather and be prepared.
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St Bride's Passage
Photo by Akira Yamanaka |
Key times and meeting points
11 am
We meet in St Bride’s Passage for introductions, instructions and orientation (see photo above, local map below and, at the end of the blog post,
the Location Map for the sketchwalk).
1pm
We will have our first throwdown and group photo at
Victoria Embankment Gardens (point B on the map below) which is next to the Temple Underground
Station. It’s a 10 minute walk from St Bride’s Passage.
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Walking route between St Bride's Passage (A)
and Victoria
Embankment Gardens (B)
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3:30pm
We’re meeting again at Victoria Embankment Gardens for the second throwdown
and group photo to conclude the day.
Afterwards
Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese in Fleet Street is 'an historic gem of a pub' with sawdust on the floor and a close
association with Charles Dickens, WB Yeats and other famous literary types.
It's a good option for those wishing to meet up for a drink and a chat after
the sketchwalk, mainly for the unique and historic atmosphere of its
underground cellar rooms and bar. Please note, this venue is 'totally inaccessible' for people in wheelchairs. (NB: Be sure not to confuse Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese in Fleet Street with The Cheshire Cheese Pub near St Clement Danes!)
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Temple Church
Sketch by Akira Yamanaka
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Options for drawing
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St. Bride's Church - An historic building designed by Sir Christopher Wren, St Bride's is hidden away close to Fleet Street. It’s
a beautiful old church with a Baroque style interior, often called the
'wedding cake' church because of the shape of its spire. Sadly,
on the day of our sketchwalk there is a possibility of a wedding, and
so we may not be able to access the interior. On the other hand, this
means there may be more people in the area to draw.
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St Bride's Church
Sketch by Akira Yamanaka |
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Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese - This historic pub is linked
to the roots of Urban Sketchers London. Some of our first sketchwalks
took place here many years ago! The exterior is quite small and
narrow, but the interior cellar rooms and table seating areas are
quite interesting to look at and draw. The pub opens at noon. Please note, this venue is 'totally
inaccessible' for people in wheelchairs. (NB: Be sure not to confuse this pub with The Cheshire Cheese Pub near St Clement Danes!)
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Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese pub in Fleet Street
Photo by Ewan Munro from London UK
CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons |
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St Dunstan-in-the-West
- One of the Guild churches in the City of London. The original church was saved from the Great Fire of London in 1666
and was rebuilt in 1831. St Dunstan's is both an Anglican church and
the home of the Romanian Orthodox Church in London.
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St Dunstan-in-the-West
Photo by Akira Yamanaka |
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Hodge the Cat Statue - Tucked away between buildings by the Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese pub is a fascinating statue of a cat. The writer Dr Samuel Johnson’s restored house is nearby.
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Hodge the Cat statue
Photo by Akira Yamanaka |
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Daily Express Building- The Grade II* listed home of the Daily Express newspaper, located right on Fleet Street. It features an Art Deco style with curved windows and building corners, and is mostly reflective. The building was featured in the 1961 science fiction film The Day the Earth Caught Fire. It really stands out in the area.
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Daily Express Building
Photo by Akira Yamanaka
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Victoria Embankment Gardens - We will meet here later in the day. There are a couple of
statues of people like the philosopher and politician John Stuart Mill and the industrialist and philanthropist William Edward
Forster. In addition there are seating areas and a few spots with
various types of plants to sketch.
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Other very different styles of architecture in the area for inspiration - It's fascinating the way many buildings of various purposes have been sandwiched together here.
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More architectural styles in the Fleet Street area
Photo by Akira Yamanaka |
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More diversity in architectural design
Photo by Akira Yamanaka |
Practical information
Food, drink and conveniences
There’s numerous restaurants and cafes in the area of St Bride’s Church.
There's
Starbucks Coffee near Blackfriars station, which has toilets, then there is the
Punch Tavern
pub near St Bride's Church, the Albion, and LEON Ludgate. Further towards the Temple area are coffee shops like The Fleet Street Press, the SOHO Coffee Co, and restaurants and pubs.
Public transport
The nearest stations to our meeting point are the Blackfriars Underground
and train stations on the Circle and District Lines. For those moving around London, the Blackfriars Underground station is likely the best option. For those
wanting to travel from the Temple Church area/directions to the west, there
is the Temple Underground station, also on the Circle and District
Lines.
Accessibility
The Starbucks coffee shop mentioned above has a wheelchair-accessible
entrance and toilet. The Punch Tavern and LEON Ludgate restaurant have
wheelchair-accessible entrances. Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese pub is 'totally
inaccessible' to people in wheelchairs. For detailed accessibility information on other venues in the area, have a
look at the online guide AccessAble.
Covid guidance
Urban Sketchers London remains alert to national guidance about COVID-19 and its variants. Even though restrictions have been lifted, it's sensible to take all necessary precautions to keep ourselves and fellow sketchers safe throughout the event. The risk of infection for outdoor events is low, but basic guidance still applies:
- Please do not attend if you feel unwell
- Wear a face covering when you're close to others
- Give people space
- Practise good hand hygiene.
Location map
See you in Fleet Street!
Let's draw London in 2023 -- Find our full
programme here
London by Urban Sketchers - Our 10 Year Anniversary
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Let's draw Fleet Street - Saturday 8 July 2023
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