Saturday, May 18, 2013

A walk through Covent Garden in London

Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site.


It was our first visit to a ‘market’ in London.
Laid out in 1630, it was the first modern square in London, and was originally a flat, open space or piazza with low railings. A casual market started on the south side, and by 1830 the present market hall was built.


The space is popular with street performers, who audition with the site's owners for an allocated slot
By the end of the 1960s, traffic congestion was causing problems for the market, which required increasingly large trucks for deliveries and distribution. The following year the market relocated to its new site, New Covent Garden Market, about 5 km south-west at Nine Elms. The central building re-opened as a shopping centre in 1980, with cafes, pubs, small shops and a craft market called the Apple Market.


Another market, the Jubilee Market, is held in the Jubilee Hall on the south side of the square.


Contrary to its name The Apple Market does not sell apples. It has stalls selling all sorts of handcrafted 


goods. A place where one is bound to pick up something!


The London Transport Museum is in a Victorian iron and glass building on the east side of the market square. It was designed as a dedicated flower market by William Rogers of William Cubitt and Company in 1871, and was first occupied by the museum in 1980.


The current Theatre Royal on Drury Lane is the most recent of four incarnations, the first of which opened in 1663, making it the oldest continuously used theatre in London. Since November 2008 the theatre has been owned by composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and generally stages popular musical theatre.


Overall it is a fun place to spend a day at. If you get tired walking around you can rest in any one of the


food courts there, have a drink and gorge on paella or pie to reenergize!

A must visit market in London!

All history gleaned from Wikipedia.

22 comments:

  1. Hari OM
    Do you know, I visited there on a school trip in the 1970's (attending Shakespeare at the Drury - King Lear if I recall correctly!)... can't remember a thing of the place, so this was a delightful tour round! Thanks for the memories! Happy weekend to you, YAM xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad it brought back memories!! Pleasure to share! Thank you! Happy weekend to you too!!

      Delete
  2. that's wonderful write with amazing pictures.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nice photos..nice post all in all bhai !! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Those structures remind me of ancient structures From India which were built during British rule.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The pics are amazing, Deepak. Ans so is your write up. Thanks for sharing..

    ReplyDelete
  6. The pictures are great and so is your description.

    ReplyDelete
  7. just about beautiful... such a pretty set of pictures bringing the wonderful world of europe... too good :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thoroughly enjoyed the walk and the sights of Covent Garden.
    Enjoy London!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. If India becomes rich, similar view can be seen !
    Nice post. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wonderful pictorial description.........

    ReplyDelete

Road tripping in Germany - 7 Black forest

  Bühlertal Our final destination on this road trip before we returned to Berlin was the cherry on the cake, rather the cake itself! Yes, ...