Many of you coming to London to study on an English course will not have to buy the famous “London A-Z”. It was created in 1934 by Phyllis Pearson, a lady of a certain age who walked 17000 streets in London to map the city. I often see students at the Islington Centre of English check their smart phones to find the street they need. Recently a student in my class checked with me that the Moument in Monument Street at the North end of London Bridge was where the Great Fire of
London started in 1666. In fact the 62m tall Monument, which you can climb inside to the top for a wonderful view, is 62m from where the fire started on 2 September in Pudding Lane in a baker’s shop. The fire burned for five days destroying 80 per cent of London. In those days a “pudding” was a baked pie of pastry and offal such as liver, heart and kidney. At the top of the column there is a gilt bronze flaming urn to symbolise the fire. The architect suggested putting a statue of the King but King Charles II refused saying: “I didn’t start the fire”!!
