Fransje van Riel
‘Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford”. These famous words were spoken some 250 year ago by the 18th century poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic and distinguished writer, Samuel Johnson, and I, for one, completely agree with the guy.
Because despite a reputation for being expensive, noisy and overcrowded with visitors, London has so many delights to offer for less than a cost of a pint in a pub. Taking a stroll through St James’s and Mayfair and reminiscing about its colourful history for starters.
Tucked snugly behind bustling and busy Piccadilly, Jermyn Street tends to be overlooked by visitors. But browsing the pretty fronted shops, taking in the quintessentially British vibe and settling down for a lunch amid the high heeled local businessmen and residents is something I always make sure never to miss whenever I am in town.
Named after 1st Earl of St Albans Henry James, this one-way street came about after Henry obtained a grant for a piece of Crown land from King Charles II in 1664, which he set about developing as an upmarket residential area for the rich and famous of the day. With the creation of St James’s Square and its surrounding high-end houses, shopkeepers and entrepreneurs flocked to the area eager to supply their wares to a wealthy clientele in the street we know as Jermyn Street today.
Exiting at Green Park underground station, I take a short walk past the Ritz hotel and right into St James’s Street. Crossing the road that leads to St James’s Palace and other grand buildings, I turn left into Jermyn Street to find Britain’s leading cheesemonger Paxton & Whitfield at number 93. In business as a partnership since 1797, its humble origins date back to 1742 when a certain Stephen Cullum set up a cheese stall at a market just off the Aldwych. His son Sam sold the stall some 30 years later to move closer to thriving Jermyn Street and entered a few short years later into a partnership with Harry Paxton and Charles Whitfield. Unfair perhaps, but it is their names that adorn the famous shop while the Cullum name has faded into obscurity.
Only a few metres further on, at number 89, is Floris of London, a delightfully quaint shop that sells a wide variety of perfumeries and fragranced bathroom essentials. The shop was founded in 1730 by Juan Famenias Floris and his wife Elizabeth. Famed for their perfume wares, combs and shaving products in the early 19th century, Floris received a Royal Warrant as Smooth Pointed Comb Maker to His Majesty King George IV and to this day is still run by the family’s direct descendants.
Nipping down the King of York Street, which leads to St James Square, we come across a spectacular display of summer flowers adorning the entrance of a stunning Victorian pub called the Red Lion. Stepping inside, etched glass panels mirror an almost fairground reflection of colours and pomposity.
There has been a pub on the very premises since 1788, so I read on the menu, but the present building dates back to 1821 and was redesigned in the 1870s. The overwhelming presence of mirrors and glasswork are said to have been commissioned by the local magistrate in order to reduce the “privacy” of snugs and the clandestine activities of prostitutes, who were an integral part of London’s shadowy streets after dark.
An interesting little fact I am learning is that in 1603 King James I issued a royal edict which decreed that all buildings of importance, including taverns, were to display his family emblem – the Red Lion of Scotland.
It is not surprising, then, that the “Red Lion” is the most common pub name in Britain today.
Re-entering Jermyn Street after some hearty pub fare, we round the corner into Duke Street towards the side entrance of London’s famous Fortnum & Mason just off Piccadilly. Much smaller and infinitely more British than London’s other famous department stores, Fortnum’s fascinating history is the result of the 1707 partnership of royal footman William Fortnum and his landlord, Hugh Mason. The Fortnum family had come to London from Oxford as high-class builders in the wake of the Great Fire to help establish the St James’s and Mayfair areas as the most fashionable in London. Hugh Mason had a small shop in St James’s Market and a spare room in his house, which William Fortnum took up to rent after he was offered the position of footman in Queen Anne’s household in 1705.
Because the Royal Family insisted on lighting new candles every night, there was a lot of half-used wax left for an enterprising footman to sell on at a profit; enough to cover the cost of rent, and so Mr Fortnum went into business with Mr Mason.
Going up the luxuriously carpeted stairs with carved wooden banisters alone is an experience. Its classy ambience comfortably runs over smoothly into the more rustic and informal subject of picnic hampers on the first floor.
Teas, coffees, biscuits, honey and preserves and myriad other goodies are on offer on the ground floor, with an extended selection of fresh groceries, fine wines and an informal restaurant on the lower ground level.
For the serious shopper Fortnum’s is probably best visited in the mornings as afternoons become very busy with international tourists pouring in from Fortnum’s main entrance on Piccadilly. Exiting here, we now stand in what is probably London’s most famous street. Originally named in honour of Catherine of Braganza, queen consort of King Charles II of England, Piccadilly used to be known as Portugal Street until the 17th century. The name Piccadilly can be traced back to Robert Baker, a successful tailor on the Strand who made a personal fortune selling piccadills, which were stiff collars that were fashionable in the early 17th century. Today it is one of London’s widest and longest streets, stretching from Hyde Park Corner all the way to the glare and blitz of Eros at Piccadilly Circus.
This, then, is truly the heart of the West End.