Southwark Podtour
Shakespeare's London: bearbaiting and bathhouses
Southwark has always been a rather different part of London. It wasn't part of the City, with its strict laws and regulations, and it wasn't part of the Court at Westminster. Instead, it became the pleasure district of Shakespeare's London - a place where theatres, bear-baiting and Taverns flourished, where women were no better than they should be and cutpurses rubbed shoulders with poets.
This audio tour shows you Shakespeare's Southwark - the Globe Theatre, the church where his brother is buried, the back streets and byways of the ancient suburb. And there's more; a workers' rebellion commemorated on the site of an old brewery, a food market for the gourmet, and the house where Christopher Wren probably didn't stay when he was building St Paul's.
Visit Southwark Cathedral with its monuments to English poets and dramatists including John Gower, a contemporary and friend of Chaucer.
You'll also get an appreciation of Southwark's industrial past - in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Southwark continued its association with entertainment and alcohol as a major centre of the brewing trade. You'll see the Hop Exchange, where hops were traded and fortunes were made and lost. And you can visit Borough Market, a fine food market with many specialist shops.
Southwark Podtour : price £5
Photo credit: David Wilmot, on Flickr