Зображення сторінки
PDF
ePub

RAILWAY HOTELS.

The discontinuance of the coaching system, consequent on the introduction of railways, has produced a very marked change, not only in the appearance of the streets of London, but in the appointment of the numerous inns, once so famous throughout the country, as the head quarters of provincialists.

While many of those houses have sunk into comparative obscurity, a few of them yet retain their ancient prestige, being still conducted on a liberal scale, combining comfort and economy in an eminent degree; in addition to these old established houses, there have sprung up near most of the railway termini, one or more hotels, of firstrate pretensions, and in which the casual visitor will find every accommodation.

The most important hotels of this class, are the Euston and Victoria, Euston Square; the Golden Cross, Charing Cross; the Clarence, Aldersgate Street; the Bull, Aldgate; and the Spread Eagle, Gracechurch Street. At Salter's Hotel, Victoria Street, Snow Hill, excellent accommodation may be had, coupled with moderate charges.

COMMERCIAL BOARDING HOUSES.

For the accommodation of those whose habits or inclination lead them to prefer greater privacy than an hotel affords, will be found numerous establishments of a highly respectable character, and, in general, conducted on excellent principles.

These houses are much frequented by commercial gentlemen, who visit London for a few days, for business purposes, and are chiefly situated in the neighbourhood of Cheapside. Mrs. Randalls's, King Street, is a highly respectable house of this class, the accommodation at which is excellent, and the charges moderate.

PUBLIC HOUSES.

These houses, which from the splendour of their fittings up, and the dazzling brilliancy of their appointments. are usually called "Gin Palaces," cannot fail to attract the stranger's notice. In number there is considerably more than five thousand, regularly licenced, besides a great number of other houses, which do not properly come under this designation; as the Alton ale and beer shops.

In some of the largest gin palaces, the exterior and the interior are alike brilliant: on the outside are ranged large and splendid gas lamps, whilst in the interior, elegantly formed branches of pipes descend from the ceiling, or ascend from the counter, and yield a vast nvmber of gas flames; and the bar furniture, such as the counter, and beer and spirit machines, are all of the finest workmanship, and of the highest polish.

Those who wish to taste London porter or stout in perfection, may do so at the Cock Tavern, 201, Fleet Street; the Rainbow, 15, Fleet Street; at the Nell Gwynne Tavern, Bull Inn Court, Strand; and at Blockey's, Jermyn Street.

FURNISHED APARTMENTS.

The great size of the houses, and the high rents required in all the most central parts of the metropolis, for business premises, together with the number of casual visitors always in London, has induced a very extensive practice among the occupants, of letting furnished apartments, which may be obtained in one or more floors, at prices varying at from one to five guineas a week, according to the situation and nature of the accommodation afforded.

There are also numerous streets at the West-end, and near important thoroughfares, in which the majority of the inhabitants live by letting furnished apartments, and it not unfrequently happens that the apparent owner of an excellent house, submits to the utmost inconvenience, usually residing in the basement, whilst the entire upper portion of the house is let handsomely furnished, in suites of one or more floors.

At the West-end, in nearly all the streets of the district known as May Fair, bounded on the south by Piccadilly, and on the east by Bond Street, furnished apartments may be had at prices varying from three to ten guineas a week; these apartments are generally let through the medium of respectable house agents, who receive a commission for their trouble, and who are able to furnish every particular as to the nature of the accommodation, and the respectability of the parties-a point of considerable importance to the stranger.

In Charter House Square, in the neighbourhood of Holborn, and in most of the bye-streets leading from the Strand to the river, similar accommodation may be met with, at a more moderate rate, and from the close proximity of the latter to the theatres, the Houses of Parliament, the National Gallery, and other public places, will be found very convenient to those making a short stay in London. The prices of apartments varying according to the accommodation provided, at from one to four guineas a week; as highly respectable houses of this class, we may name Mrs. Kent, 32, Norfolk Street; Mrs. Russell, 33, Craven Street; and Mr. Thomson, 26, Bartlett's Buildings, Holborn Hill

DINING HOUSES.

The habits of a large portion of the Londoners, the majority of wohm are employed in business, and whose avocations prevent them from dining at home with their families, has called into existence a very nu

merous class of dining houses, in and near all the leading thoroughfares, in which for a small sum a good dinner may be had.

At most of these establishments, hot joints, in great variety, are served up daily, from one till six o'clock: the prices of each article are affixed to a bill of fare, which is constantly varied.

At many of the most respectable taverns, ordinaries are held daily, at one shilling and sixpence each. At the Salutation, Newgate Street, at two and five o'clock, a most excellent dinner may be had; the high respectability of its frequenters, and the excellence of the viands provided, place this house at the head of its class.

CHOP HOUSES,

These are a class of houses much frequented by lawyers and men of business, at which only steaks, chops, kidneys, and sausages, with potatoes are dressed. The most noticeable of which, are the Rainbow, 15, Fleet Street; Dollamore's, the Cheshire Cheese, Wine Office Court, Fleet Street; the Cock, 201, Fleet Street, also celebrated for its stout and oysters; and Joe's, Finch Lane, Cornhill.

A-LA-MODE BEEF, AND BOILED BEEF HOUSES.

The most noted of these establishments, which are celebrated for the excellent quality of their articles, and the cheap rate at which a good dinner may be obtained, are Balls's, King Edward Street, Newgate Street; Wilkinson's, Gracechurch Street; Alexander's, Tichborne Street; and Williams's, Old Baily.

COFFEE HOUSES.

If the numberless coffee-rooms abounding in Lonaon, those of a higher grade, will bear comparison with the hotels and club houses for respectability, comforts, and even luxuries. Some assume a mercantile character, having emerged from original insignificance, to become the rendezvous of merchants, as Garraways, the Jerusalem, and the Jamaica coffee-rooms, in Cornhill; Deacon's, in Walbrook; and Peel's, in Fleet Street. The first mentioned claim a superior title to that of coffee-houses, being in fact like Lloyd's-commercial rooms, open expressly for the transaction of a varied description of business: thus, the Jerusalem is a well known arena for shipping business; Garraway's, for puplic sales of imports; whilst Deacon's and Peel's, are principally known as advertisement media, and for the means of access they afford to files of newspapers, whether colonial, foreign, metropolitan, or provincial journals.

[ocr errors]

There are also a very numerous class of Coffee Houses, of a much more humble, though of a higly useful nature, at which cups of ready-made tea and coffee, with slices of dressed meat, may be obtained at very moderate prices, and where all the most important London newspapers may be seen. These houses, which are chiefly resorted to for breakfast, and in the evening, have had a very beneficial effect on the habits of the industrious classes, whose circumstances present them from takiug their meals at home. The refreshments at the more respectable of these houses, are served in stylish China ware, by genteel, and well-conducted waitresses, who expect a gratuity of one penny.

CIGAR DIVANS,

Are essentially coffee houses, but they are of a distingué character, expensive in their charges, and more studied, elegant, and luxurious in their appointments and conveniences; the most important of which are the two following:

REIS'S CIGAR DIVAN, 101 and 102, Strand, opposite Exeter Hall, consists of a spacious room, fitted up in a style of Oriental splendour, and at night brilliantly illuminated. Here may be had all the London newspapers, magazines, and periodicals.

KILPACK'S CIGAR DIVAN, 42, King Street, Covent Garden. A noble and capacious room, fitted up with great taste, and conducted on a similar plan. American Bowling Alleys, and Billiards, have recently been introduced here.

OYSTER ROOMS.

The most important of these rooms are principally in the neighbourhood of the theatres, and being generally conducted by respectable persons, enjoy a considerable share of public patronage. Excellent oysters may be had at Dyer's, or Quinn's, in the Haymarket; Lynn's, 70, Fleet Street; Pim's, in the Poultry; and at the Whistling Oyster, Vinegar Yard, opposite Drury Lane Theatre.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

LONDON TRADING ESTABLISHMENTS.

The shops of London are among the most suggestive of all subjects for reflection, if we choose to carry the eye of the mind a little beyond the mere external appearance of the commodities displayed therein, and think of the productive and commercial agencies by which those commodities have been placed at our disposal.-DODD.

The cities of London and Westminster, with their populous suburbs, abound with trading establishments, unequalled in any age, or by any nation; it is therefore our intention, in the present chapter, to notice some of the most extensive establishments which distinguish the metropolis, and which from their commercial magnitude, or architectural importance, may justly be considered as an important feature of "London as it is to-day?" "If I were to pass the remainder of my life in London," says Southey, in his Letters of Espriella,' "I think the shops would always continue to amuse me. Something extraordinary or beautiful is for ever to be seen in them. In one window you see the most exquisite lamps of alabaster, to shed a pearly light in the bed chamber, or formed of cut-glass, to glitter like diamonds in the drawing room; in another, a convex mirror reflects the whole picture of the street, with all its moving swarms, or you start from your own face, magnified to the proportions of a giant. Here a painted piece of beef swings in a roaster, to exhibit the machine that turns it; while another window displays every sort of artificial fly, for the angler. And thus is there a perpetual exhibition of whatever is curious in nature, or art, exquisite in workmanship, or singular in costume; and the display is perpetually varying, as the ingenuity of trade, and absurdities of fashion are ever producing something new.'

[ocr errors]

It is sufficient to glance at St. Paul's Churchyard, Ludgate Hill, Regent Street, and other similar localities, to be at once convinced that this is undoubtedly an age of surpassing energy and enterprising speculation; and that the Great Industrial Exhibition, is but the necessary and inevitable adjunct to the present, and the herald and forerunner of a yet more extended and honourable era of trade.

« НазадПродовжити »