Lunchtime Tourism: The beautiful, elegiac Gilt of Cain at Fen Court Toast the City The biblical story of Cain and Abel explores dark themes. Cain is enraged by God’s favouritism towards Abel. In his fury, he kills his brother. Jealousy, guilt, violence, forgiveness, and how we humans treat each other are themes explored in the Book of Genesis story. In Fen Court, Michael Visocchi’s sculpture is paired with Lemn [...]
Lunchtime Tourism: London’s amazing Temple of Mithras Toast the City The City of London is one fifth Roman. The Londinium that was founded 2000 years ago lasted just over 400 years, and gave us (amongst other things) London’s first private members’ club, The Temple of Mithras. And it’s still here. The Walbrook Club is one of the City’s most exclusive hangouts but right opposite is [...]
Lunchtime Tourism: Is there a better City green space than the Garden at 120? Toast the City To get you in the mood for out Toast the City Awards celebrating everything that makes the Square Mile great, we asked a professional tour guide to recommend his favourite City spots. “The first weeks of August,” said American writer Natalie Babbitt, “hang at the very top of summer, the top of the live-long year, [...]
Lunchtime tourism: All Hallows by the Tower in the City of London August 6, 2025 To get you in the mood for out Toast the City Awards celebrating everything that makes the Square Mile great, we asked a professional tour guide to recommend his favourite City spots. All Hallows By The Tower looks lonely. A dual carriageway cuts her off from the City, and behind her, the Tower of London [...]
Inside the amazing Pollocks Toy Museum in Leadenhall Market July 30, 2025 The grand Victorian setting of Leadenhall Market is the perfect backdrop to The Pollocks Toy Museum, a wonderful little City attraction offering a series of toy artefacts from across the generations. The central attraction is a fabulous exhibition about Pearly Kings and Queens. The first Pearly King was 1880s rat catcher and orphan Henry Croft. [...]
Lunchtime Tourism: Why Goldsmith’s Garden is the bees knees July 24, 2025 Our new series Lunchtime Tourism tells you all about the places you can visit in the Square Mile on your lunch break. Think you have a better option? Our Toast the City awards are celebrating the green spaces and hidden gems (and much, much more) that make the City great and we want YOU to [...]
Lunchtime Tourism: The secrets of the Gherkin at St Mary Axe July 17, 2025 St Mary Axe is a five-minute walk from the commemorative plaque dedicated to the Aldgate Station 7/7 victims. There, in the shadow of one of London’s most famous buildings, is another monument to the innocent, an echo from our ancient past. The Gherkin, designed by starchitect Sir Norman Foster, changed the way we think [...]
Lunchtime tourism: Rosetti at Guildhall Art Gallery July 3, 2025 Bob Vylan at Glastonbury 2025 showed how art and entertainment is often explosive in the political and cultural discourse. ‘Twas ever thus. Just take a walk into the Guildhall Art Gallery. Upstairs in the Victorian section you will find La Ghirlandata, Dante Gabriel Rosetti’s self-proclaimed “very best picture,” painted 152 years ago in 1873. Her eyes [...]
Lunchtime Tourism: Discover The Café Below a St Mary-le-Bow June 25, 2025 If you fancy a cup of Rosie Lea and a slice of Give and Take, then the Café Below in St Mary-le-Bow may be right up your Field of Wheat. Famously, those born within earshot of the Bow Bells are considered true Cockneys, a term that originated as a way for countryfolk to mock their [...]
Lunchtime tourism: The wonder that is St Stephen Walbrook June 19, 2025 This new regular feature will bring you a guide to the best hidden spots you can visit in your lunch break, by Chris O’Donnell. This week: St Stephen Walbrook Sometimes a lunchtime walk is best done alone. Without the well-meaning chatter of a friend or colleague, you can better hear the story that a place [...]
