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City & Village Tours: 0845 812 5000 info@cityandvillagetours.com
A brand new day telling the story of shops and shopping
through the ages from the Romans to Gamages, Marshall
& Snelgrove and Derry & Toms. With a coach tour and
little forays on foot to visit iconic and beautiful shops this
is an enormously entertaining day out available all year
round and, of course, ideal for Christmas when you can
round it off with a tour of the Christmas Lights
We begin at 10.30am to buy morning coffee in London’s
first shopping district – Cheapside in the old Square Mile.
Sit back to enjoy a coach tour exploring the evolution of
shops from the ancient markets to the modern day.
We pick out the street signs that developed for a largely
illiterate population – even for the very rich in St James’s
and Mayfair where old signs still hang above centuries
old shops on Jermyn Street and Savile Row. Our story also
includes Royal Warrants, unusual shops and the epic tale
of the grand department stores. And it’s not just Mr.
Selfridge – wait till you hear about London’s first
department store king William Whiteley! This is a great
morning of well-I-nevers and fascinating facts that you’ll
never forget – when you go shopping!
Brand New London Tour - Are You Being Served?
To the left is Watling Street in the Square Mile, this is the
original Roman Road that runs parallel with Cheapside
which name comes from the Saxon for
to bargain, barter or
buy.
This was London’s first shopping district and each
street and lane is a reminder of the goods sold, A medieval
Londoner could put together all the ingredients for a hearty
breakfast by taking a walk through Milk Street, Bread Street
and Honey Lane. For centuries the illiterate population of the
greatest city in the world relied on pictorial shop signs to
find the shops they sought. Above the civet cat was the sign
of the perfumier who extracted musk from the animal’s anal
glands! This sign has survived the centuries in Kensington.
Liberty of London