Thursday 22 August 2013

"In London, love and scandal are considered the best sweeteners of tea" - John Osborne

If you want to have a rummage around second hand and independent bookshops, one of the best areas you can go in London is around Leicester square.


books, bookshop, Cecil Court, London, vintage
There are loads of bookshops waiting to be discovered in the vicinity, we stumbled upon Cecil Court (WC2N 4EZ) completely by accident.
books, bookshop, Cecil Court, London, vintage, Watkins
Established over 100 years ago Watkins specialises in occult books 

books, bookshop, Cecil Court, London, vintage, Alice Through the Looking Glass, visit
Alice Through the Looking Glass

books, bookshop, Cecil Court, London, vintage

After having a wander around the bookshops and The National Portrait Gallery we were parched, so went to probably one of the most unusual places we have ever had a cup of tea- the crypts of a church

St Martin in the Fields  is just next door to Trafalgar square.  The crypts of the church have been converted into a cafe where you can get reasonably priced food and drinks in a unique and atmospheric setting.


cream tea, scones, St Martins in the Fields, London
cream tea at St Martins in the Fields

 We shared the afternoon special, which came with a scone, two pieces of cake and a pot of tea. We also bought an additional cup of a tea, I think the price came to around £7 all together, which is really quite cheap for central London. The scone came with a generous amount of cream and jam, which is just the way I like it, and the cakes were tasty as well.
St. Martin in the Fields, cafe, crypt, London, afternoon tea
St. Martin in the Fields 

grave, crypt, St. Martins in the Fields, cafe, London
Our fellow dinning companion 
It is a bit weird to be sat on top of graves, but I think its a really good idea. The church gets a lot of revenue from the cafe, which helps maintain the building. The graves markers are all still visible, which is fantastic,  as the people who are buried there are just normal people it is unlikely they would be remembered or noticed if there wasn't a cafe down there. Besides, the crypts have been re-purposed before, they were used as an air raid shelter during the blitz.

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