Leaving Trafalgar Square on the North side you come to Pall Mall. Follow this road and you will arrive at St James's Palace. This is the London home of Prince Charles and his sons. It is a much older Palace than Buckingham Palace as it was built during the reign of Henry VIII. It was used as the main Royal residence until Queen Victoria moved into Buckingham Palace in 1837.
The whole area of St James's is one of opulence and elegance. It is here that you find all the famous 'Gentlemen's clubs' like the Reform club or the Athenaeum and other institutions like the Royal Society and the Institute of Directors.
Walking down St James's street there are some beautiful buildings and some long established shops.
There are no names outside some of the buildings so I have no idea about this one. But looking up to the windows on the second floor you can see huge glass chandeliers so this building is no ordinary office.
Berry Brothers and Rudd was established in 1698 and is Britain's oldest wine merchant. I have not been inside the shop but it apparently has old wine cellars which used to be part of Henry VIII's residence. These are now converted meeting rooms. There is also supposed to be a tunnel(now blocked) leading from St James's Palace which was very handy for the royals to visit the ladies of the night during the 18th cent.
The window displays are excellent and changed on a regular basis.
Lock and co. was established as a hat makers in 1700 - it made Lord Nelson's famous cocked hats. It still makes hats today - if you can afford it.
John Lobb, the shoemakers, where they make wooden models of clients feet so that the shoes are always a perfect fit.
I liked the window display at William Evans but couldn't get a good photo because of the reflections in the window.
This one is Truefit and Hill - a gentlemen's hairdressers. Love the box of moustache wax in the window:
I enjoyed this stroll, your photos and narrative. After reading your first sentence though I wondered if this is where the cigarettes named "Pall Mall" are made. I'm not smoker so I don't even know if these cigarettes still exist.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful and fascinating look at your world! Living in such a relatively young country, I'm always fascinated by the history of England and Europe! I lived in Europe for over three years and traveled a lot there, but never got to go to England and I was so disappointed! Your terrific photos are the next best thing! Thanks for sharing and have a great week1
ReplyDeleteSylvia
What a great post!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great place, lots of history there. Out here, I think "gentlemen's club" means something completely different than in that part of the world!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful Pics! Wonderful tour!
ReplyDeleteThank you for this interesting walk along St. James Street; and the inspiration. Please have a wonderful Tuesday.
ReplyDeletedaily athens photo
Now if the walls in these buildings could talk they would really have spectacular stories to tell! Such historic places still functioning and being kept up are irreplaceable gems. Living or working in one must be wonderful. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tour, London is a beautiful city. Thanks for sharing, lovely photos.
ReplyDeleteAll of these buildings are so elegant. I like the hat shop - hard to believe it was established in 1700. I grew up in Boston, and that has the oldest buildings in the U.S., but they are all young compared to European buildings.
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures! What's this blue sky I keep seeing in your pictures? I just read that the UK is worried about the fact that you are probably NOT going to have any for the Olympics. :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat looking buildings on that street of amazing variety.
ReplyDeleteAwesome post (posts).... I always enjoy catching up on your blog. You are so good at explanations ---and the pictures are terrific. I know that things are quite exciting in your area these days---getting ready for the Olympics.... Hope you enjoy them. I'll be watching on TV.
ReplyDeleteLoved the story about the tunnels and the 'ladies of the night'...... ha ha ha... Times haven't changed have they???
Hugs,
Betsy
Thanks for taking me along.Interesting place.Have a great week ahead.
ReplyDeleteShantana
Ladies of the night, huh? It made me smile to think they could be reach by a specially built tunnel. Many bloggers this week have chosen historical topics and I'm loving it. This was a fascinating read!
ReplyDeleteFantastic climatic photographs. I am greeting
ReplyDeleteA great post. The area is well kept and still have shops from way back that is so good.
ReplyDeleteThe old shops all look so well preserved, looks like old times.
ReplyDeleteGreat images. I love the moustache wax... I wonder if anyone actually uses that stuff any more.
ReplyDeleteMollyxxx
beautiful buildings and shops. thanks for the virtual tour.
ReplyDeleteWow I like structures like this it has a lot of personality and beautiful too.
ReplyDeleteKim,USA
Thanks for our walk along this very classy street ... Love the window displays. I wonder if John Lobb would make a wooden model of my feet!! Possibly not.
ReplyDeleteSo much history on one street -- thank you for your fascinating photo tour and descriptions!
ReplyDeleteThis is so much fun -- we saw some of those windows and of course the Palace (did I tell you that we spent three months in London in 2007, to celebrate our 50th Anniversary? I usually brag about it every chance I get). We loved it -- a lifelong dream for me!
ReplyDeleteune belle promenade dans la ville, avec de superbes vitrines (surtout la bouteilles de vin ;)) )
ReplyDeleteLots of lovely (and I'm sure expensive!) shops! :o)
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