Update: 30.6.25

Extremely hot today, so a good day to ‘hibernate' and catch up on the Barbican/City of London related issues we have seen recently.

Even though incredibly spoilt by a regular commute on the Elizabeth Line (particularly today!) ‘commuting in a lift' i.e. living on the Barbican Estate, or nearby, still has some appeal (if absolutely no grounding in reality!) this ‘blast from the past‘ of Barbican Life in 1972 makes for interesting reading.

Coming soon is a new museum (it caught our eye as it is potentially going to be housed in a disused toilet!) dedicated to the Great Fire of London.

Whilst not directly related to the City or the Barbican, it will directly affect our community going forwards, the proposed closure of the Newark School of Violin Making is very worrying. Read more about the proposed closure and sign the petition to save the School here. Interestingly, it was the Violin Making aspect of this that first caught our eye.

Anyone who has visited us recently will be aware of the roadworks outside (emergency electrical work we understand) but there are much more substantial proposals in the pipeline, one of which has already begun its first phase. It has been great to welcome the guitar & harmonica playing or singing workers from the teams already hard at work in the Barbican Centre to the shop.

The Barbican Renewal Programme

Part of this programme (though it feels like a distant cousin even though we walk past some of the various entrances/exits almost on a daily basis) has come about more recently with news of the call for expressions of interest for proposals for the future usage of the Barbican Exhibition Halls.

Most significant of all, at least in terms of the potential direct effect on our shop, are the latest developments at One Silk Street which have been widely consulted upon as we prepare for the departure of our neighbours Linklaters (in 2026 the firm - and our customers who work there - will be moving to Ropemaker Street). Of course, it is worrying to contemplate the proposed demolition works and the inevitable disruption (with everything that means!) but the proposed new public plaza outside the main entrance to the Barbican Centre does sound interesting ♭

Update: 7.6.25

Occasionally, whilst doom-scrolling on the Elizabeth Line (still can't quite believe that there is a phone signal down there, and that isn't even our favourite thing about the ‘Lizzie' line!) we discover some really interesting information about the Barbican:

The Barbican Centre by Chamberlin, Powell & Bon is a fascinating article with loads of pictures of the area Chimes calls ‘home'. As per the original genesis of this post, we tend to take this for granted, so it was very interesting meeting Christopher Bradley from CMTB Works recently when he popped into the shop. This led on to a conversation about our different experiences of the area over the years, some familiar, some not. In our chat, we touched on the Barbican Launderette (which, like Chimes, is a bit of an anachronism) but very familiar to viewers of Killing Eve and Slow Horses.

And finally, after much chatting and the resultant clicking, we came across this blog post from a student (well, recent graduate really!) whose graduation took place at the Barbican Centre.

This exhibition has been on the ‘To Do' list for a little while and we've not made it there yet unfortunately. But no reason not to share! King's College London is hosting an exhibition From streets to the stars: 500 years of maps 24/3 to 28/9 2025. Maps from the 15th century onwards are on display. Whilst entry is free, a completed form (from the website) is required for entry. Whilst the exhibition in itself looks fascinating, it is also an opportunity to visit the former Public Record Office, a fascinating building.

As it is Saturday today, a reminder popped up that today is the day if interested in a guided tour of Billingsgate Roman House and Baths. Places are very limited, there is a charge and the exhibit is unsuitable for young children - do please check on the website for details. Tours run 3 times a day each Saturday until November 2025.

One for 2026

Too late for this year (we were busy eating our own pancakes!) but something to pencil in for 2026 is the Inter-Livery Pancake Race . Livery companies from all over the City compete in races, including a Fancy Dress Race.

Update: 27.5.25

Not a new point of interest at all, but Finsbury Circus (not Finsbury Park or Finsbury Square) is back! Well, to be honest, for some members of staff they've never known about it at all as it has been closed for so long. It is the City's biggest green space and has, sadly, been closed more or less for the last 10 years for various different reasons (Crossrail, or as it is now known the Elizabeth Line, being the main one). A great spot for lunch ♭

Update: 18.5.25

It was interesting to see this stylised tube map celebrating London's Grassroots Music Scene (also on display at the Outernet Building Charing Cross Road, WC2H 8LH, a short hop on the Elizabeth Line from our shop) and to remember (at least vaguely) some nights out ♭

Catching up on (or re-watching, for some of us!) Killing Eve or Slow Horses recently, a vaguely familiar place came into view. Having not used a launderette for years it took a while to cotton on!

Walking down Cheapside towards Mansion House en route to our other branch in South Kensington, once again, we spotted a never before noticed sign, this time indicating the birthplace of Thomas a Becket. It pays to look up!

It is always interesting to read about and see pictures of the area in which we are based, the Barbican Centre by Chamberlin, Powell and Bon. Whilst most of this article is behind a paywall there are some unusual pictures of the Barbican Centre visible which are worth a look, mainly as they remind us of different places to go and sit whilst having lunch now that the weather has improved, or that a visit to the Library is long overdue!

Update: 3.5.25

Scrolling through a news feed whilst on the Elizabeth Line on the way into the shop, this description of the Guildhall Art Gallery struck us: ‘The free London Gallery better than the National Gallery ♭' citing recent social media from the The London Spy  London guide extraordinaire (not unknown to add a magic trick or two as part of the guided tour).

Open 7 days a week too just like us!.

Continuing with the theme of art, we also noticed a new exhibition of paintings by Bob Dylan opening on 9 May.

Update: 24.4.25

Walking through Finsbury Square on the way back from a concert at St Katherine Cree, we spotted a blue plaque dedicated to Bruckner, who stayed there during the period when he started work on his second symphony.

Update: 5.4.25

What is believed to be a new work by Banksy was spotted by a member of staff on the way to open the shop this morning.  The artwork is currently being assessed to determine whether it is a genuine work by the artist. This latest addition adds to the numerous existing local Banksys listed below.

As sad as we have been to contemplate the disappearance of Smithfield Market in a few years time, it has opened up interesting new possibilities to look forward to. Moving onto the Smithfield site will be a much-expanded Museum of London (now re-branded as the London Museum), with many existing artifacts able to be displayed for the first time. Additionally, some 14,000 artifacts will be added to the collection, discovered during the construction of the Bloomberg Arcade, thanks to a generous financial donation from Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Update: 9.11.24

Dating back to 1504 is St John's Gate, recognised today from the ancient historic symbol of St John Ambulance, which itself dates back to 1080.

The Museum of Shakespeare is currently under construction on the site of the Curtain Playhouse, the theatre which served base for Shakespeare's acting troupe, The Lord Chamberlain's Men, from 1597-1599. This stage saw performances of countless iconic plays, including the premiere of Henry V, sometimes starring Shakespeare himself. As we look forward to visiting the museum, we've been thinking about Shakespeare's connection to the City.

We've all passed by or through Blackfriars at some point (maybe even having a pint at The Blackfriars), but did you know that there is also a Whitefriars♭ This former Carmelite monastery, dating back to the 13th Century, will open for public viewing as part of a new museum for which plans have recently been approved.

Discovered by accident while walking down Cheapside is a plaque, indicating that this followed the route of the Great Conduit. This was an underground channel bringing fresh water from the Tyburn Springs, acquired by the City of London in 1237, to the City. Beginning in modern-day North London and running via Marylebone, Mayfair and St James's, once work began in 1245, the Great Conduit was a source of water for city dwellers right up until the Great Fire of London in 1666.

A new sculpture of John Keats was recently unveiled at London Wall.

Update: 22.10.24

There are numerous artworks nearby the shop attributed to the graffiti artist, Bansky. These include Piranhas on a police kiosk (Guildhall Yard EC2V), I love Robbo Rat (Chiswell St, EC1), and homages to Jean-Michel Basquiat (Beech Street, EC2).

The annual Sculpture in the City uses the urban realm as a rotating gallery space. This year's iteration, the 13th edition of the sculpture park, is on display from 24 July 2024 - Spring 2025.

The Bank of England Museum is dedicated to the history of the Bank itself, as well as looking forwards to the economy of England and the future of money. See if you can lift a Gold Bar (1 of 400, 000 kept by the Bank, worth billions of £), or learn about the historic connection between British artist JMW Turner and the Bank.

Whilst marvelling at the lunchtime queue outside Porterford Butchers, in the shadow of St Paul's, a vague memory arose that Watling Street was once a historic route. A Google search led us to discover that the route was pre-Roman, used by the ancient Britons connecting modern day Canterbury and St. Albans, which was later paved by the Romans.

A new public garden at 25 Cannon Street offers an unusual view of St Paul's.

Where to start

If you are in the City of London for work or as a visitor and want to learn more about this uniquely historic part of the world, the City Information Centre is a good place to start. It is only a short walk from Barbican Chimes and very close to St Paul's Cathedral. Whilst it is possible to buy a paid ticket to visit St Paul's, you can also attend, free of charge, a service, and listen to the wonderful choir (which, as of September 2023, now includes girl choristers).

Another City Landmark that is famous for having functioned as a prison, a bank, an armoury and a place of execution since 1066 - is the Tower of London. It sits right on the boundary of the City of London, within easy walking distance of Barbican Chimes.

Churches

Originally, there were 110 parish churches within the City of London. In addition to this, there were private chapels of the Livery Companies, civic and other private chapels in the City.  The Great Fire destroyed 80 of these in September of 1666, of which 51 were subsequently rebuilt. The rebuilding took place under the direction of Sir Christopher Wren, most famously, of course, with St Paul's Cathedral. There are 48 churches that survive today (having made it through the bombings during the Blitz and by the IRA) within or near the boundaries of the modern City of London. This map shows those that have been left intact in some form or another.

Next door to the Tower of London is All Hallows by the Tower. So, you think the Tower of London is old♭ All Hallows is even older (though, sadly, not the current church). It has been a place of worship since 675 AD (thus, pre-dating the Tower of London by a smidgeon over 400 years). The Crypt is free to enter and absolutely fascinating, with artefacts to see from Roman times onwards.  You will see parts of a Roman tessellated floor and indications of an underfloor heating system (a hypocaust). An eccentric member of the clergy sealed written records for the parish inside a lead box during the 16th century for some unknown reason. And there is a great cafe there too! - Byward Kitchen & Bar

Music in City Churches

Highlighted below are just a few of the churches within the City of London which host regular concerts; some as part of the Summer Music in City Churches festival, others with a lunchtime series of concerts or as part of the Brandenburg Choral Festival.

• St Giles-without-Cripplegate (also home to St Giles Book Fair)
• St Bartholomew the Great
• St Lawrence Jewry
• St Mary-le-Bow
• St Stephen Walbrook
• St Bride's
• Holy Sepulchre Church (the National Musicians' Church)
• St Andrew by the Wardrobe
• St James Garlickhythe
• Temple Church
• The Charterhouse Chapel

Another church which springs to mind is St Mary-le-Bow - partly because it has a cafe, but mainly because it is famously said that only by being born within the sound of the bells of the church that a true Cockney is made.

Exploring on foot

Perhaps the best way to explore the City is to walk. Not for nothing is the City of London known as the Square Mile - it is tiny!) A good place to start exploring is the Pocket Park tour of the City, all things considered astonishingly green!

If you're coming into the City from Old Street (again, only a short walk from Barbican Chimes) you will pass Bunhill Fields Burial Ground, where John Bunyan, Daniel Defoe & William Blake are buried, and Braithwaite House, where the Kray Twins were arrested in the late 1960s at their mother's flat.

Many other historical places of interest can be found here.

Perhaps the best juxtaposition of historic and modern is the London Mithraeum, a Temple of the Roman god Mithras which lies under a Temple of Capitalism: Bloomberg's European headquarters (where there are also some rather nice places to eat!).

The Guildhall Art Gallery, located in Guildhall Yard, is another place in which the new and old come together, containing a collection of paintings to rival other galleries in addition to London's only Roman amphitheatre. Look out for the circle of black paving stones in Guildhall Yard before descending into the depths of the Gallery to see what remains of a stretch of the stone entrance tunnel, the east gate, and the arena walls, dating back some 2000 years.

City Streets

Whilst on foot, it is always worth keeping an eye on the names of the streets. These are notably not ‘roads'; there is only one road in the City of London, and that only because the boundaries of the City were re-drawn in mid-1990s, bringing part of Goswell Road (formerly in the London Borough of Islington) into the City. The word ‘road' did not come into existence until around 1500, by which time the City had already been in existence for over a thousand years!

Staff favourites from the eccentric street names in the area include: Bread Street and Milk Street (named for the trades which took place there), Wood Street (thought to be so-called as it houses the oldest tree in the City), Little Britain, Love Lane (this is a modern-day ‘sanitisation' of the original name) and Walbrook Street (which is an underground river or brook - a tributary into the Thames).

Modern Buildings

The City of London has always been a place of change, and, in recent years, a literal ‘architect' of change has been at work as new buildings have sprung up. A selection of these are listed below, all with great views, sometimes with a convivial place to stop for a coffee at the top and watch the world go by.

One New Change: Currently closed but accessible via a restaurant.
Horizon 22: Tickets required, but free.
The Lookout: 8 Bishopsgate: Tickets required, but free.
The Garden at 120: Free, no ticket required - staff favourite!
Sky Garden: Tickets required, but free.
The Monument: Tickets required. Of course, this one isn't new! It is sited at the starting point of the Great Fire of London in Pudding Lane (incidentally not a purveyor of sweet treats but rather a butcher!).

Food & Drink

For sustenance, our staff are lucky to have many places to visit before, during and after work.

Here are some favourites, and a few on the list still to try:

SandwichSandwich
Porterford Butchers
Whitecross Street Market
Artillery Arms
Two Brewers
Details Coffee - our favourite meeting spot! Now open in the evenings
FWD Coffee on Whitecross Street
Kennedy's Fish & Chips on Whitecross Street - our Friday Fix!
Café Below (St Mary-le-Bow)
Jiak 吃 Malaysian Street Food on Whitecross Street

London isn't quite as much of a 24 hour city as some other world cities, but there are places to go which boast extended opening hours:

The Fox & Anchor (Open for breakfast from 7 a.m.)
Polo Bar (Open 24 Hours)
Piccolo Bar, Gresham Street (Open from 6 a.m. Mon-Fri, popular with cabbies)
Piazza Cafe, Aldersgate Street (Open from 7 a.m. Mon-Sat, Franco is larger than life)

If you've ever wondered about the history of Barbican Chimes, please see our timeline.