What went wrong ...?

When I was little there was a nursery rhyme we used to sing called 'Orange and Lemons', basically it was:

"Oranges and lemons", say the bells of St. Clement's
"You owe me five farthings", say the bells of St. Martin's
"When will you pay me?" say the bells of Old Bailey
"When I grow rich", say the bells of Shoreditch
"When will that be?" say the bells of Stepney
"I do not know", says the great bell of Bow
Here comes a candle to light you to bed
And here comes a chopper to chop off your head!

The origins of Oranges and Lemons are not well known, but are thought to date to at least the 17th or 18th century. Given that the bells of St. Clements Eastcheap were destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666, it is likely that the rhyme predates it. Some believe that the rhyme may be a reference to the beheading of King Charles I, as all the church bells rang to mark his execution, and the final lines may refer to his head being chopped off! (And that line was my favourite when a child! Could explain a lot ...)

So why the lesson on an old English nursery rhyme? Well yesterday I visited St Clements, which is literally across the road from my office, and was a bit disappointed with it to be honest. The inside was very worn and uncared for, with mismatching chairs, temporary partitions blocking off areas of the church, rugs strewn around the floor, all a bit sad, and also a reflection on a lot of churches around the square mile - possibly down to the fact they're rarely used, a lot of them don't even open on a Sunday!

And not one orange or lemon was to be seen ...

Then I went to Leadenhall Market:

The market dates back to the fourteenth century. It is open from 07:00-late Monday to Friday, and sells fresh food; among the vendors there are cheesemongers, butchers and florists. Originally a meat, game and poultry market, it stands on what was the centre of Roman London.

The ornate roof structure, painted green, maroon and cream, and cobbled floors of the current building, designed in 1881 by Sir Horace Jones (who was also the architect of Billingsgate and Smithfield Markets), make the building a tourist attraction. It was used to represent the area of London near The Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley in the film 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone', and of course I didn't annoy everyone I was watching the film with by constantly saying "That's near my work!" everytime I saw the place. The marker is also popular among local city workers specifically from the nearby Lloyd's Building - which can be seen in the background of the top right market picture.

Leadenhall Market is another one of those 'old amongst the new' type buildings in London, as the entrance is situated between two office blocks, and round the back the Lloyds Building (Which is frankly hideous) adjoins the market. What gets me when walking round London, is seeing buildings like Leadenhall Market, St Pauls, The Tower of London, and then looking at new buildings either just built or being built and wondering "What went wrong?!" ...

However, there is a new building being built round the corner (Everything is round to corner to me...) where the front of the original building has been kept, and the new building is being built onto the existing front - how cool does that look?!