On Thursday 11th February, members of the Cambridge Society of London explored the Evolving City of London in a virtual tour led by Blue Badge Tourist Guide Caroline Piper. We started with the first major rebuilding after the Blitz, in the Golden Lane Estate, Barbican (photographed) and the much maligned pedway scheme. We then enjoyed exploring buildings by famous architects such as Terry Farrell, James Stirling, Norman Foster and Richard Rogers. This included the wonderfully cheerful and inventive No. 1 Poultry (photographed), which was built despite long and complex planning wrangles and the discovery of a huge stretch of Roman remains beneath it, including a Roman drain dated to 47 AD which provides the most concrete date available for the construction of Roman Londinium. Caroline admits she loves it, despite James Stirling also being responsible for the cold in winter / hot in summer History Faculty building at Cambridge where she spent much of her university days!
We finished in the Eastern Cluster (photographed x 2), discussing some of its most iconic buildings, such as the Cheesegrater and Lloyds Building, as well as new kids on the block such as the Scalpel and One Fen Court, and those that have been (blessedly?!) rejected, such as the Tulip. At the end of the tour we had an open discussion on what is going to happen now? Caroline had no answers, as the impact of the coronavirus crisis is only just beginning to be understood, but all agreed we appear poised for another major shift in the development of the City