Yes, during yesterday’s outing we made the classic mistake of forgetting Tigger’s umbrella in one of the shops.

T2

Fortunately, she remembered which shop and telephoned them from the bus on the way home. They promised to keep it for us so our first call today was to that shop – the T2 tea emporium.

Catch the number 8 here

That job done, we looked for a bus to take us on the next stage of our outing. The first bus stop that we reached was closed because of road works and it needed a longish walk to find the next one.

The weather, as you can see, is cold and wet again, not conducive to long exploratory rambles.

St Dunstan-in-the-West
Photo by Tigger

The bus didn’t take us quite where we wanted to go so we started walking again. Fortunately, the rain held off, more or less. Thus we arrived at Fleet Street, once the heart of the newspaper industry, and passed in front of this ornate church with its fine clock. St Dunstan-in-the-West was first founded in the 10th or 11th century but was rebuilt in its present form in 1831. You can find more about it here.

Its clock’s bells are struck by humanoid automatons but unfortunately, we just missed its noon performance.

Drinking fountain

Set in the church railings is a drinking fountain bearing the installation date if 1860. The inscription tells us that it was gifted by Sir James Duke, sometime MP of the ward. No longer functioning and now devoid of its cups, the fountain was no doubt of great public benefit in its day as well as helping the cause of temperance. More about it here.

Prince Henry’s Room

Across the road stands this venerable building with the slightly curious name of Prince Henry’s Room. I don’t think Prince Henry ever set foot here but it was in early times known as the Prince’s Tavern. Built in 1610, it managed to survive the Great Fire of London (1666) and is all the more precious for that reason.

City of London Griffin

In the middle of the road in Fleet Street stands this column topped by a griffin. It is one of a set that stand in streets leading into the City of London, marking its boundaries. (NB these are griffins and not dragons, as so many sites wrongly call them.)

The Royal Courts of Justice

We entered (the) Strand, another of London’s more famous thoroughfares. There is argument as to whether it should be called The Strand or simply Strand. Perhaps its most renowned inhabitant is the massive Royal Courts of Justice, built in the 1870s and opened by Queen Victoria. More about that here.

Twining’s

This is where we were heading, to the tea emporium of the legendary Twining’s tea company. (And yes, they do also sell coffee and drinking chocolate,) Though now owned by Associated British Foods, it is one of Britain’s oldest tea merchants and has occupied the Strand premises since 1706.

We had come here, as we had often come before, so that Tigger could add to her collection of teas.

Inside Twining’s

For such an old and famous company, the interior of the shop is curiously utilitarian. It is long and narrow and can become uncomfortably crowded, especially in the tourist season. Today, though, we were the only customers during our visit.

Tigger’s selection
Photo by Tigger

While most of the shelves are stocked with boxes and tins of both loose tea and teabags, at one end there is a cabinet of unboxed tea bags and one can select as few or as many as one wishes of each kind. This is ideal if you want to try the various sorts and flavours of tea available. Tigger’s selection is shown above.

Walking to the bus stop, Tigger suggested that, before going home, we might indulge ourselves with coffee and cake. One of our favourite places was nearby, the Delaunay Counter, a Viennese-style cafe. Sadly, they were closed until later this month.

We caught a bus back to the Angel where we thought we might call in at Jusaka. They too were closed!

Coffee and cake from Saint Espresso

However, we did find the local branch of Saint Espresso open and bought coffee and cake (complete with wooden forks) to take home with us.

Our dull day’s outing was not devoid of interest and ended on a sweet note (literally – the cake was high in sugar).