Anyone who knows me knows how much I love Chinese food and that I have a very sweet tooth, so how excited was I to be invited to China  Tang in The Dorchester Hotel to review their newly launched Afternoon Tea, aptly named Tea at Tangs!

You know you are in for a treat when you enter China Tang through it’s beautiful blossom arch. The Afternoon Tea is served in The Bar, which oozes 1930s Shanghai glamour and we thoroughly enjoyed the four delicacies in our Steamed Dim Sum basket (one each), as well as the Butterfly Prawn Toast which was packed with prawn and fried perfectly, the Vegetarian Spring Roll and the Gai Lan Cheung Fun (gai lan, crispy dough rolled in rice noodle sheets). The savoury selection of the Afternoon Tea was served with two dips, and we only wished we could have had double of everything as we enjoyed it so much!

The sweet section of the Afternoon Tea however, is just as delicious, and we again wished we had more of the Chocolate Dumplings, Classic Fried Chiu Chow Dim Sum, Traditional Hong Kong East Custard Tart and Mandarin Delight, which was a slice of sheer heaven!

Complementing the food offering, China Tang is serving a carefully curated selection of teas from a menu devised by Jade Tea, ranging from Jasmine Supreme (a vibrant and lively green tea layered with fresh jasmine flowers) to Silver Needle (the champagne of white tea, with notes of sweet sap and honeydew melon) and Rare Orchid (oolong tea with notes of fig and elderflower).

From the bar, guests can also enjoy an optional glass of Heidsieck or select from three Tea-based Cocktails - Tang Teapot (Rum, Chrysanthemum Tea, Yellow Chartreuse, Lychee & Rose Bitter), French Tea (Pothecary Gin, Champagne Syrup and Lavender Tea) or Cosmopot (Grey Goose Orange Vodka, Cointreau, Cranberry Juice, Pomegranate Syrup and Bergamot Tea).

Tea at Tangs was launched in January 2019, and pays homage to late owner Sir David Tang, and is expertly prepared by Executive Chef Chong Choi Fong. Served from Monday to Friday between 2.30pm-4.30pm, Afternoon Tea costs £46. Tea at Tangs can be accompanied with a glass of Champagne (from £17) or a cocktail (£16) and for large groups, China Tang can also accommodate tea parties in their stunning Private Dining Rooms - Ping, Pang and Pong, which can be booked in advance.

Chinese restaurants aren’t commonly known for their desserts and sweet selection, but I have to say China Tang excels in this area, and this was my favourite Afternoon Tea ever, so if you are looking for Afternoon Tea with a difference, and you love Chinese food, off to China Tang you go!

‘Tea at Tangs’ Afternoon Tea China Tang, The Dorchester, 53 Park Lane, Mayfair, London, W1K 1QA, Telephone: 020 7319 7088

When I was a child I went on holiday with my Mum and Dad to Las Vegas, and two of my most endearing memories are firstly, nearly being  thrown out of one casino as my brother and I (at the tender age of 14 and 16) were caught telling Mum and Dad what buttons to hit on the slot machines, and secondly, that there were restaurants offering all the food you could eat for just a $1! It was ‘pile it high’ and of dubious quality, but at a $1 what was there to complain about?

Casinos, I am sure, have changed considerably in the interim years, but I only realised how much they have changed when I left the hustle and bustle of Berkeley Square and entered the Palm Beach Casino in Mayfair. First impressions to me are always a good indicator of what to expect, and here the décor and ambiance oozes class, and the welcome was friendly, warm and ultra-efficient.

We were guided to the Cocktail Lounge that wouldn’t be out of place in a plush hotel, with its low leather tables surrounded by luxurious red plush seating, and started the difficult choice of what to drink from their extensive cocktail menu which is reasonably priced (unfortunately inflation had clearly increased the price up from the $1!). My wife chose for the first time ever, the wonderfully named Porn Star Martini, which was served with the champagne on the side, so she had the choice of mixing it or drinking the ingredients separately. She tried both versions and personally preferred them separately, and I have a feeling it won’t be the first time she chooses this tipple! What I didn’t realise is a Porn Star Martini doesn’t follow the usual Gin and Vermouth ingredients but instead has a wonderfully fresh and fruity passion fruit and vodka combination which almost make the drink feel non-alcoholic!!

The Palm Beach Casino has two wonderful choices for diners - one an informal Bar and Grill, and the other a more formal (but not too formal) restaurant. The relaxed Bar & Grill offers, all-day dining and coverage of the world’s major sporting events on the large TV screens overlooking the bar, and its menu reflects that less formal environment just next to the gaming area. Dishes are designed to appeal to the casino’s international clientele and traverses the globe, including as well as Zaman’s signature Asian dishes, choices such as the Palm Beach Burger with gherkins, onion rings and fries or the succulent 10oz grilled ribeye with peppercorn sauce and sautéed potatoes. The restaurant is a little more formal and is an eclectic mix of styles. Art deco mixes with modern and old school style and if I hadn’t been there and seen it with my own eyes, I would have said these styles wouldn’t mix, but they do, and make a perfect place to enjoy the delights that come out of the kitchen.

As I am sure you are realising the Palm Beach is a wonderful mixture of styles and its main restaurant is now exception and is opulent and elegant. Diners are transported back to a bygone era and are treated to dishes from around the world by award winning executive chef Mahmud Zaman’s extensive menu, which offers dishes from the Chinese, Indian, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean menus. Choices are so difficult to make we actually selected 3 starters! A beetroot and goats cheese salad quickly disappeared as the sweetness of the beetroot complimented the rich and gooey cheese. The other choices (we really couldn’t decide between them) were Chinese chilli prawns and squid. The batter on the meaty prawn was so light it melted in your mouth and resembled one of the best prawn dishes we have had in a Chinese Michelin stared restaurant, and the squid was accompanied by a chilli sauce giving off just enough heat to complement the fresh squid. The quality of all three dishes was of the highest standard, as was the mains we chose. My wife chose from the Indian menu and enjoyed a mild king prawn curry with rice and a delicious paratha, whilst I opted for a perfectly cooked steak with chips that were crisp and chunky. For dessert we were offered a selection of dishes that were all beautifully presented and we can highly recommend the apple tarte tatin.

Although Palm Beach Casino is a casino, the restaurant is outstanding, and worthy of a visit for the cuisine alone. The service was also outstanding, with several diners being warmly greeted by staff who almost seemed like family to the guests, and I can understand why they would have so many regular clients in the restaurant.

Following our fantastic dining experience we did head to the gaming tables and enjoyed a few rounds of roulette, but luckily left before we lost too much money!

Palm Beach Casino is a fun night out, and even if you don’t enjoy gambling, you will enjoy the Cocktail Bar and restaurant.

I am always amazed by how restaurants pop up with new concepts, and one of the latest provides the diners of London with the chance to feast on a true delicacy, the Red King Crab.

I am really not an expert on the fishing techniques to be able to catch what are the largest crabs, but I am reliably informed that these giants of the crab world are only found in a small section of the Arctic Ocean’s coldest and deepest waters and are very difficult to catch. I am also assured that these crabs are a prized delicacy, and the flavour makes up for all of the effort it takes to catch them.

Fancy Crab is well placed on Wigmore Street, and the building oozes class from the moment you enter, with the high ceilings giving a wonderful feeling of space, and the ice bar at the back of the restaurant housing these elusive red giants which you will be enjoying during the evening. In between the ice bar and the door are simple tables and chairs, and green leather booths against the walls overlooked by an eclectic mix of modern and old paintings. Some places just have a cool vibe, and this is one of them. Our welcome was warm and we were led to our booth where we could peruse the menu over a glass of something cold.

As the name suggests this is a seafood restaurant (although there are some dishes for the meat eaters, well two!), and the selection is extensive. For the romantics a few oysters to start would be perfect, but we passed on these as we spotted some gems from the appetiser and starter section. It was a bitterly cold evening so our first choice was a warming King Crab and Lobster Bisque (£13). Generous pieces of this regal giant were engulfed by the rich bisque which also provided a hint of the sea. Our other selections were the Grilled Tiger Prawns (£12) and the King Crab Tempura (£12.50). The tiger prawns were flavoured with tamarind and honey, and the sweetness of the honey came through without overpowering the prawn, whilst the light batter gave a satisfying crunch to the sweet white claw meat accompanied by a delicate saffron aioli.

Although there is a wide choice of mains and also a number of amazing Crustacean Stands packed with lots of goodies from the sea (priced from £19.50 to £100), the next decision, in my view, was a simple one, and rather than what to choose, it was how much of it would we order (Red King Crab £18/kg). The restaurant name says it all, and you are coming to taste this red ‘fancy’ giant, and when you do taste it you will see why it is so prized. The choice is really whether to have the crab on ice or baked over charcoal and we decided to respect the delicate taste and have it on ice. To accompany our crab we selected some truffle fries (£5) and some buttered spinach (£4.5), which perfectly accompanied the fresh and slightly sweet crab. Food of this quality shines in any situation, and to get the full experience and delicate flavour I recommend keeping it simple. There are other choices including a King Crab Burger (£23) and the Singapore Chilli Crab (£28) which is a firm favourite because of its contrasting sweet and spicy tastes, but to me this crab’s taste is so good it seems a crime to mask it with anything, even if it is a great sauce.

It was with great disappointment that when the deserts menu was handed to me it didn’t have a King Crab Cheesecake or at least something with Red King Crab in it!! Well that wasn’t strictly true, and I was delighted to be able to pick the Chocolate Fondant (£7.5) and my wife picked the Fancy Lemon Tart (£6.5). The chocolate fondant ticks every chocoholic’s dreams, and the deconstructed lemon meringue was tangy and zesty and provided a palate cleanser to end the meal.

Crab needs to be treated with respect to enable the diner to get the full benefit of its texture and slightly sweet taste, and now there is somewhere in London where you can experience this to the full.

You’ll find Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. restaurant and market in the historic London ‘Trocadero’ building, just a few minutes’ walk from Piccadilly Circus or Leicester Square. We have always had a great time as the atmosphere is lively, the food is good and the interior quirky. It is always busy, and the day we visited was no exception. Our two teenage children were excited to join us for the first time, enjoying the buzz you feel upon entering the restaurant. Many of our fellow diners were evidently celebrating a birthday on this busy Saturday evening of our visit – there were groups of families, friends, and couples spanning the generations, all enjoying the party vibe.

If you haven’t already worked it out, the restaurant is a tribute to the movie ‘Forrest Gump’ and features a menu of comfort food from the American South that reflects the film’s setting in Alabama. The fact that there are now 40 Bubba Gump’s worldwide, is testament to its success. We first encountered the chain whilst on holiday in Monterey, California some 5 years ago - it turns out this was the first of the restaurants to open back in 1996.

The speciality here is shrimp, but there are a wide variety of alternatives on offer. The friendly waiting staff are on hand to give useful advice and steered us towards the ‘Run Across America Sampler’ (£22.50), a starter to share that is ideally suited to families or groups wanting a taste of several different starters without committing to just one! Our starter included Grilled Shrimp, Mama Blue’s Fried Shrimp, Spicy Chicken Strips and homemade Tortilla Chips. This large platter was served with delicious dips including Bubba’s Far Out Dip. Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Other starters include a great range of favourites including Mama Gump’s Garlic Bread Basket, Best Ever Popcorn Shrimp, Frizzled Onion Rings, Shrimp Mac & Cheese, and Cajun Shrimp. The kids’ favourite among those we sampled were the Spicy Chicken Strips, whilst us adults preferred the grilled shrimp.

There is a mouth-watering selection of Entrées, including Soups, Salads, Burgers, Sandwiches and Jenny’s Catch (fish options). Of course, we were keen to go for the Shrimp Options in a Shrimp restaurant (their shrimp is sustainably and ethically sourced, certified by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council)! The Shrimp dishes are priced from £18.50. Myself and my eldest son (both ready for a feast) chose to share a couple of restaurant favourites – Forrest’s Seafood Feast and Lt. Dan’s Surf and Turf. The Seafood Feast (priced at £20.50) offered us more of Mama Blue’s Fried Shrimp, hand battered Fish & Chips and made from scratch Seafood Hush Pups. This meal was served with delicious Cajun seasoned Fries and their homemade Dippin’ sauces – Tartar, Cocktail and Remoulade – all sublime, and easy to see why this platter is voted the #1 Guest Favourite. Lt. Dan’s Surf & Turf (£25.95) offered their award- winning Dixie Style Baby Back Ribs, slow roasted to perfection with succulent Grilled Shrimp and Cajun seasoned Fries, another large platter, and the sweet sauce of the Ribs perfectly complemented the rest of the meal. My youngest son who sometimes has eyes bigger than his belly was keen to give the Shrimper’s Heaven a go. This meal (priced at £24.50) included Hand Breaded Coconut Shrimp, Grilled Shrimp, Crispy Golden Shrimp and Tempura Shrimp – heaven indeed, providing you like shrimp! The platter also came with Cajun seasoned Fries served with their homemade Dippin’ Sauces – Tangy Asian, Cajun Marmalade and Zesty Cocktail. He ended up sharing this with my wife who enjoyed her Classic Caesar Salad (£13.25; adding Grilled Chicken £2.99), knowing that she would get invitations to try all the Shrimp we had ordered!

There are many good other menu options to choose from, including Dumb Luck Coconut Shrimp, Shrimp & Veggie Skewers and some tasty looking fish dishes. I also contemplated Mama’s Southern Fried Chicken and that classic Southern dish ‘Jambalaya’- something I’ve always been intrigued to try after hearing The Carpenters sing about it in the 70s - I guess that’s one for my next visit. There is also an extensive Kids menu, a Pre-Theatre Menu and separate menus dedicated to Gluten Free and Vegetarian options.

‘Smoothies’, ‘Quenchers’ and ‘Hand Shaken Margaritas’ are some of the drinks offerings - we chose instead to enjoy a bottle of red wine with dinner, whilst the boys chose ‘Secret Mango Sparkler’ and a pineapple juice.

I knew we would have to save some room for dessert - we had promised the kids after all! The dessert list offers a selection that includes Key Lime Pie, Mama’s Bread Pudding, Mama’s Best Strawberry Shortcake (Mama had a sweet tooth evidently), Alabama Brownie and a Chocolate Chip Cookie Sundae to share, which we marvelled at as we spotted it delivered to other diners! Again, our friendly waiter was on hand to point us in the direction of the sharing option known as ‘The Best of The Best Sampler’, so we could enjoy a taste of 3 of their most popular desserts. As it turned out the portions were huge! The (supposedly) smaller portions of Mama’s Cinnamon Bread Pudding, Strawberry Shortcake and the Chocolate Chip Cookie Sundae priced at £11.95, represented comfort food at its best ... homemade, sweet and delicious.

Service throughout was actually really good for a restaurant of this size, and seems to work as a well-oiled machine. Staff are cheerful, pleasant and helpful with menu choices, as well as catering really well to the kids. Take note though, you may need to brush up on your ‘Forrest Gump’ knowledge as each table is given a trivia quiz by their waiter - just for fun, of course!

During the meal, we were entertained by the fun, casual atmosphere around us - there is a lot of memorabilia from the movie displayed on the walls and around the wooden shack-style eating booths, including some fabulous quotes from the movie itself (which incidentally plays continuously on screens dotted around the space) our favourites being “Stupid is as stupid does” and “Life is like a box of chocolates - you never know what you gonna get”. Every so often the waiting staff would break out in a birthday rap to celebrate diners’ birthdays with everyone nearby joining in. This is a fun venue, offering more than just a restaurant, and if you want to check out what nearby Piccadilly and Leicester Square has to offer then you can take advantage of the all-day parking for £17.50 (if you dine and book online).

If you haven’t yet visited, add it to your list – either book before or get there early, as the queues can be long. We did of course have to watch the movie as soon as we got home, which reminded us why this is one our favourite movies and an all-time classic worthy of 40 restaurants!

Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. 13 Coventry Street, London W1D 7AB, Telephone: 0203 7635 288, www.bubbagumpshrimp.co.uk

First Among Churches

Every church tells a story or two. The architecture, ornaments, sculpture and names on the gravestones, pews, floors of the nave, plaques and  sarcophagi on display nurture seeds of knowledge – sketches of social history.

If the Brigadier General was interred inside the church yet his grandson was buried in the churchyard years later, maybe the family fell on hard times? Until the early 19th century only the notable (church benefactors, in fact), determined to be as close as possible to Christian piety, were buried inside the church. Not every body could be accommodated. Thereafter burial under the church floor was deemed insanitary; the smells were not that of incense! Hence, the origin of the term, according to the National Churches Trust, “stinking rich”. Good story?

Another enlightening church tale hails from the Church of St Michael and All Angels in Berwick, East Sussex. The church is resplendent with murals painted by Bloomsbury group members Duncan Grant, Vanessa Bell and Vanessa’s son, Quentin, who all lived at Charleston, a farmhouse nearby. This artistic achievement came about because during the Second World War bombs damaged some of the church’s decorative stained glass windows. Rather than replace the stained glass, the Bishop of Chichester commissioned these artists to cover the walls with biblical scenes; the Sussex landscape is evoked; the models come from the locality, even the breed of sheep. The clear glass filling the windows allows light to filter in, illuminating the murals; and this is certainly a marvel to behold.

A most interesting ecclesiastical page-turner in Central London is St Bride’s, Fleet Street. This illustrious church, a stunning edifice designed by Sir Christopher Wren, has quite a distinguishing feature. For St Bride’s is known as the journalists’ church. Many people working in the press, printers and journalists alike, used to worship here when their offices and print works were located nearby in Fleet Street and the streets branching off. For several hundred years, Fleet Street was the ‘avenue’ of the manufacturing industry of the word. Incidentally, there was one rector, Prebendary Arthur Taylor, who had, unusually for a rector, a deep knowledge of printing and publishing. This was because he was a secretary of the Bible Society, which sends the printed – and now digital – gospel all over the world in every language. He served St Bride’s from 1918 until 1951.

The church still has strong links with members of the industry, some of whom still come to worship there, venturing often from far away. It holds an annual journalists’ carol service for all those working in the media industry, and a Remembrance Day service for them as well, commemorating the ones who have lost their lives in the line of duty. Readers are people who work in the industry. Both services are extremely well attended. Arrive early!

In the church’s journalists’ chapel, there are portraits on the altar of journalists who have died in the course of their work. Information underneath each picture details who they are and how they lost their lives. There are so many portraits for display, so the church ‘alternates’ them. One of the portraits shown is of Daniel Pearl, The Wall Street Journal correspondent who was beheaded in Pakistan in 2002. His gruesome death shocked the world. Another face is that of The Sunday Times journalist Marie Colvin. In 2010, she gave an address during a service to commemorate war reporters who had died since 2000. Two years later Colvin herself was killed during the slaughter of Homs, a city under siege at the time by the Syrian government. Another portrait is that of Jamal Khashoggi, the prominent Saudi journalist who was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. He was a contributor to the opinion page of The Washington Post. In the 1990s vigils were held for journalists John McCarthy and Terry Anderson, and Terry Waite, then the Archbishop of Canterbury’s international envoy, while they were being held as hostages in Lebanon.

The genesis of publishing in the church’s area began when the German immigrant Wynkyn de Worde, a pupil of William Caxton (known as the “first printer”), established a printing press near St Bride’s, in Shoe Lane, around 1500. Wynkyn is credited as being the first printer to use italic type. Another notable printer, Richard Pynson, who was born in France, also set up shop at the time, nearer to St Paul’s Cathedral, a short stroll away from St Bride’s. Pynson is credited with introducing Roman type to English printing. He was King’s Printer to King Henry VII and King Henry VIII. Both printers published works featuring a broad range of literary genres, such as romances, religious works, school textbooks and poetry. Other publishers and printers, following their lead, established themselves in the area. Some supplied texts for the legal world at the four Inns of Court nearby and catered for the fictional tastes of an increasing population of literate members of the public living in the City and its environs.

In 1702, Elizabeth Mallet, writing as a ‘him’, in Fleet Street, published London’s first daily newspaper, The Daily Courant. Within 100 years, there were 278 newspapers, journals and periodicals published in London, most of which were published in the region of Fleet Street. The exodus of the press from Fleet Street began in the 1980s, ending in 2005, with the departure of Reuters news agency. The offices of the major newspapers are no longer in one area. The Daily Telegraph is located near Victoria station; the Evening Standard is in Kensington. The Times is at London Bridge. Lawyers, accountants, the financial services industries, notably Goldman Sachs, have taken up the vacant property space.

If you walk along Fleet Street you will see several architecturally impressive buildings originally built to house the press. The Daily Telegraph Art Deco building, with its colonnade façade, bronze balconies and window frames and Egyptian ornamentation is especially impressive. Also of note is the building that was once home to the Press Association and Reuters. Edwin Lutyens, who is considered one of the greatest English architects of the 20th century, designed it. Among his many remarkable achievements is the Cenotaph in Whitehall. The ‘futuristic’ elegant black glass and chrome structure, designed by Ellis and Clarke with Sir Owen Williams for the Daily Express, is quite striking.

St Bride’s is the eighth church on the site of a series of reincarnations dating from the 6th to the 17th century. It is accepted that St Bridget (c. 451 – 525), a sixth century Irish saint from Kildare, founded the first Christian church. The skeleton of a woman who had been given a Christian burial has been found on site. Churches bearing the name of St Bridget are often found near wells, and St Bride’s well is known to have some religious significance.

In medieval times St Bride’s area was associated with several parochial guilds. Parish guilds were dedicated to supporting the worshipping life of a church. Members paid a fee and often gave property to the guilds. These guilds ensured that its members had proper funerals. Some guilds provided charitable services, such as schools or hospitals, for their members and the wider community.

The Guild of St Bride’s, established in 1375 and confirmed by a writ issued by King Edward III, is the oldest guild associated with the church. It  still survives today. Members, numbering one hundred, represent a cross section of interests and activities in the region of Fleet Street. They are distinguished at services and during opening hours by their livery gown of russet cloth, trimmed with black, and the medallion they wear around their necks. Each year the Guild funds a bursary of £3000 for a one year postgraduate MA in Newspaper Journalism at City University in London.

Notable historic parishioners have included the parents of Virginia Dare who in 1587 was the first English child to be born in colonial America. The parents of one of the leaders of the Pilgrim Fathers, Edward Winslow, were married at St Bride’s. Other remarkable parishioners were poets John Dryden, John Milton and Richard Lovelace, diarist Samuel Pepys and novelist Samuel Richardson, and the French physicist Denis Papin, who, in 1679, invented the first pressure cooker! The Edwardian novelist Anthony Hope, wrote his world famous novel, The Prisoner of Zenda, while living at the rectory; his father was the vicar at the time. Hope’s novel has been adapted for stage, screen, radio and television.

Today’s incarnation is quite breathtaking for its simple, dignified beauty. It is a measure and reflection of the genius of Wren, the architect of St Paul’s Cathedral, who was commissioned to design a new church on the site after the Great Fire of 1666. This church, alas, was again destroyed when it was bombed during the Blitz on the 29 December 1940. All that remained were the steeple and the exterior walls.

The archaeological excavations that followed after the destruction confirmed the existence of a series of churches on this site. One can view many of the remains in the Crypt Museum below stairs. There we see sections of the foundation walls that formed parts of the churches of the past, Roman coins, kitchen pottery and oyster shells – the Romans relished oysters – medieval window glass and floor tiles, gravestones, 16th century clay tobacco pipes, and an iron coffin, among other items.

Iron coffins were in use during the early 19th century. Their advantage was that, unlike wooden coffins, their lids could be secured tightly. This made it difficult for ‘body snatchers’ to steal the bodies for medical research. The fresher the body, the better, the snatchers reckoned! But, alas, iron coffins did not disintegrate as fast as wooden ones, so churches charged more for them if they were used as burial caskets, as they had to wait longer for burial space to be freed. As a consequence, iron coffins had a short commercial life.

Downstairs, you will also see a restored and redesigned 14th century medieval crypt chapel, which now serves as a war memorial chapel for those who worked with Associated Newspapers and lost their lives during the the two World Wars. The Harmsworth family, a newspaper dynasty, generously funded the refurbishment. There is a plaque on the south wall revealing the names of the 58 fallen inscribed in glass. The walls, ceiling and altar are for the most part chalk white and the lighting is subdued; the chapel has a very serene air.

If you attend the fascinating tour on Tuesday afternoons – the guide I met was extremely well informed and enthusiastic - you can also visit the charnel house (not otherwise open to the public), which contains some 7000 skeletal bones. When they were removed from the cemetery during the Middle Ages – to make room for more burials – they were arranged according to type, skulls with skulls, etc., and laid out in a checkerboard pattern. Also on view are numbered cardboard boxes containing the skeletal remains of 227 people buried between the late 17th to the mid 19th centuries, whose coffins, with identifying plates, were discovered during the excavations. The fact that the coffins were buried within the church confirms that the people were of a middle to upper middle social class. Students of dentistry, medicine and forensic science come to St Bride’s to study the bones in order to find out more about the health of a stratum of people who lived in the past. A pitted skull, for example, may indicate death from venereal disease. The distorted ribs of the women are the result of wearing tight corsets. Jelena Bekvalac, the curator of osteology at the Museum of London, is leading the research.

The present restoration, completed in 1957, is considered more akin to Wren’s original designs that what transpired in 1675. Godfrey Allen, the architect, “produced a faithful re creation” according to St Bride’s. As one discovers Wren’s churches, it is apparent that although each church has its own individual characteristics architecturally, and distinctive embellishments, paintings and sculpture, there are architectural characteristics distinguishing Wren’s style. Symmetry and Wren’s love of natural light are apparent at St Bride’s; we bask in his favoured clear glass windows with round tops. This is a sharp contrast to the stained glass windows of Gothic – or neo-Gothic - churches. The black and white marble flooring is also a distinctive Wren feature. Typically Wren, the Portland stone work is ‘clean’ and the ceilings are white washed with gilding; and there is a tower in the west end with an elaborate spire atop. St Bride’s spire is a series of octagons, with open arches, diminishing in size. As the church is not easily visible from the street, the art historian and former museum director David Piper has described it as being “like a hollyhock that escapes from the pressure of the undergrowth”.

The shape of the spire is the reason why the church is referred to as the “wedding cake church”. During the late 18th century, a pastry chef, Mr Rich, who lived in Fleet Street, modelled his wedding cakes on the tiered spire.

The collegiate arrangement of the stalls (with the choir sitting in the middle of the arrangement) gives the church quite an intimate aura. (St Bride’s is renowned for its professional choir and music.)

Above the east window are ‘illusionist’ mural paintings by Glyn Jones, designed to give the flat east wall the appearance of an apse, which is extremely effective. In front of the ‘apse’ is an exquisitely carved oak reredos – a screen - that is a copy of one in the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace, in Richmond.

Whether you worship in a church, a mosque or a synagogue or even if God is not your thing, visiting St Bride’s is an enriching experience. We explore the past in a beautiful setting, learning about what we did not know there was to learn about. Our spirits will be lifted not only for a few hours. Good stories await you.

Article by Jenny Kingsley Please visit www.stbrides.com for information about services, events, opening hours and tours.

After you visit St Brides, venture westwards down Fleet Street and explore Dr. Johnson’s House, an enchanting 300-year-old house in Gough Square. Johnson compiled A Dictionary of the English Language, which to this day is considered an outstanding achievement. For further information, see www.drjohnsonshouse.org.

The images of the interior of the church are courtesy of St. Bride’s church.