This is the 14th part of my tour around the London Monopoly Board.
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| 'Prince Henry's Room' at 17 Fleet Street, London. In the 12th century this site was the property of The Knights Templars. It is one of the few Fleet Street structures to have survived the Great Fire of London in 1666 |
In the UK, and possibly further afield, Fleet Street is synonymous with the Newspaper Industry. There are nine national daily newspapers and they have massive circulation
and readership figures. The best-selling Sun has over seven million readers. (In the USA the best selling paper is The Wall Street Journal with just over two million). But now the papers have all moved out to more modern locations in London's Docklands. The area is now mainly occupied by members of the legal profession.
The River Fleet now runs underground along the course of Fleet Street but it was formerly open to the skies.
An associate of William Caxton, one of the inventors of printing, was the first to publish there around 1500 but the street existed long before that. He had the brilliant name of Wynkyn de Worde (I kid you not!)
Fleet Street is a continuation of The Strand (see the previous post in this series).
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| Fleet Street. I guess this would be at the turn of the 20th century.
Finally, for clarity, Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (as portrayed by Johnny Depp in 2007) is a fictional character. That means that, contrary to widespread belief, he didn't exist!
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10 comments:
Hi bazza,
I'm really appreciating your London Monopoly tour. And as per usual, this was most informative.
Of course, when it comes to readership, a national newspaper is much more prevalent in the UK and has more readership than in the USA.
"USA Today" newspaper is their national newspaper equivalent. Anyway, before I ramble, I thought "Sweeney Todd" was a rock band from Vancouver, Canada.
Gary
Hi Gary: Yes, at one time the UK had the world's largest percentage of newspaper readers per capita but I don't know if that's still true.
'USA Today' was, I believe, the first national newspaper to be electronically printed in multiple locations using new technology.
I just checked out the rock band. Apparently they were formed in Vancouver in the seventies. But I suspect that you knew that!
Hi Bazza,
That's a lovely building, reminds me a little bit of Liberty's.
The river Fleet is a new one on me, must remember that for future pub quizes!
J
Follow me at HEDGELAND TALES
Hi John. The difference with the Liberty building is that it's 1920's Tudor Revival style; this one is genuinely old.
If a pub quiz asked 'which London Street runs along the course of the River Fleet?' I think a few people would guess correctly!
Such a gorgeous exterior; reminds me of old elevators in uptown Charlotte buildings. There was always someone to open and close the doors, then take you to your floor destination.
Also reminds me of "Kebler" dark chocolate striped cookies.
So, seems everyone has had a fleeting moment doing business there? And now the legal profession? Well, they'll probably hang out forever.
I'm really going to miss this game when it's done. Learned so much in such a fun way. Thanks Bazza!
Dixie: Funnily enough I was musing earlier today about what to follow up with when this series is complete.
I like Fleet Street and if I drive down there these days I think about it's one-thousand year history.
I love those old-time elevators (known as 'lifts' in the UK) with the concertina doors and an operator; them were the days! I would like to visit Charlotte one day.....
Newspapers are becoming a thing of the past as they are all struggling in these times of instant information on the Internet. It is a pity to see them go, but times are changing very quickly now.
SO,AC: Yes times are changing rapidly. I just got a Kindle Touch for my Birthday and, although I like the feel and smell of books, I am beginning to really enjoy the Kindle.
You can't halt progress!
Ooh that building is fab, lovely stuff, thanks for that chuck :)
AC: Eee lass, you're alreet! (Sorry that was meant to be 'Manchester')
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