New flat in London

(Originally posted 10 April 2008)

Last December I left my old flat in Westminster/Victoria, as there were some issues with the building maintenance that left me feeling unsafe. So the rental company gave me the choice of two flats, both with 24 hour concierge service. I chose the one in an area I didn't know very well, and it is "real London", not touristy at all. The area is in SE London, near the famous Borough Market, which is full of food stalls: honey's from France, exotic meats, etc...
Sometimes I take a taxi back from the City, and usually, the cabbies take me down a street called Marshelsea. They often tell me that this area of London is one of the oldest. Marshelsea, they tell me, used to have a debtors prison on it, Marshelsea prison, which is referenced in a Dicken's novel. A street near me is called Little Dorrit's Court, a Dicken's character (I have no idea if the lane was named after the character or the character after the lane...but I bet someone knows). The Borough/Bermondsey area that I live in is part of the Southwark Diocese, which is the oldest in London. Southwark Cathedral was built on the site of religious practices going back over 1,000 years. The Cathedral itself was built in the 1500 - 1600's.
The new area I live in is a 10 minute walk to the Tate Modern, the Globe Theatre and a 15 minute walk to St. Paul's and the Tower Bridge. I have a shorter walk to work and go right past the Old Vic Theater (managed now by Kevin Spacey), and a pub called the Stage Door, named because you can see the lamp that lights the Stage Door at the Old Vic. The interesting thing about this pub is it is believed that this pub was once called the Halfway House and was frequented by Samuel Pepys (I think it was him). Right up the Borough High Street is one of the oldest pubs in London, The George, which was rebuilt in 1637, and is the only remaining galleried Inn in London. The levels are sorta wavey now, given all the years it has been standing.
One thing I find fascinating about London is that in the older streets are named for something meaningful. For example, near the Spitalfields market, which is the old livestock market area, are streets named "Poultry Lane" or Dairy Street", things like that. These streets were literally named because one was where they sold the chickens, and the other where they sold dairy products.