Exploring Bloomsbury by toonsarah
This is one of my favourite parts of London. Many tourists come here to visit the British Museum, but not all of them take the time to explore its pretty squares and historic streets, which I think is a shame.Part of its charm lies in its coherence. Despite many modern intrusions, it is still easy to capture the spirit of the development of this area by the local Russell family in the 17th and 18th centuries, when they turned it gradually it into a fashionable residential area. More recently, in the early 20th century, it gave its name to the Bloomsbury Group of writers and artists, many of whom lived in the area. These included writers Virginia Woolf and E. M. Forster, and artists such as Duncan Grant, Vanessa Bell, and Roger Fry. One of the delights of Bloomsbury is the large number of leafy squares, many (but not all) open to the public. These include:
Bedford Square ? one of my favourites in terms of architecture, with some of the best-preserved Georgian town houses in London, although unfortunately for most of us the square itself is only open to residents (photos 1-3)
Russell Square ? has a central area large enough to almost feel like a small park (its open-air café is a pleasant place to pause for refreshments), the grand Russell Hotel on its east side, the 1930s bulk of Senate House, part of the University of London, on the west and on the south side some more lovely houses (photos 4 & 5)
Bloomsbury Square ? another of the open spaces (and actually more rectangle than square), with more lovely houses on three sides and on the fourth, east side, the ornate Victoria House, the one time home of the Royal Liverpool and Victoria insurance company, now an office block where until recently I was lucky enough to work
Queens Square ? there is often a good fruit and veg stall here, and the Queen?s Larder pub in the south west corner is a great summer evening drinking spot (OK winter evenings too ? it?s quaint and cosy but rather small)
Tavistock Square ? not quite so attractive as the others, but notable, unfortunately, as the site of one of the 7 July 2005 London bombings, to which there is a small memorial in the north east corner of the square