Fleet Street - a news story
March 14th 2008 04:52
London’s Fleet Street is to the U.K. press as New York’s Wall Street is to the USA stock market. Just as the very name Wall Street conjures up images of TV screens flickering above a throng of wildly gesticulating and loudly shouting suits, so does the mere mention of Fleet Street prompt pictures of buzzing newsrooms and reams of papers rolling off the printer.
Wynken de Worde, an ex-apprentice of William Caxton, began the long tradition of Fleet Street publishing in 1500 when he established his printing press in this ideal location, halfway between Westminster and the city. Writers followed the printing industry into the area; among them were Samuel Pepys, Samuel Johnson, and Boswell. Literary Clubs sprang up, like the Apollo Club, one of London’s first, founded by Ben Jonson in the mid 1600s. In March, 1702 Fleet Street’s first newspaper, The Daily Courant appeared. Scores of others followed. By the end of the 1800s most national newspapers were based in the area and for a century it was one of the most interesting corners of London. The clubs, pubs and restaurants and cafes that grew around the industry buzzed with stories, breaking news and gossip.
Although Fleet Street had ceased to be the engine room of the British press by the end of the last century, its legacy remains and its presence still lingers.
Many old Fleet Street buildings still stand today. Ye Old Cock Tavern at 22 was a haunt of T.S. Eliot. At its original site,190, it was frequented by Samuel Pepys, Shakespeare, Marlowe, Johnson, Dickens and Tennyson. El Vino wine bar, at 47, where GK Chesterton worked (and drank) prodigiously, was the favourite of the newspaper world during Fleet Street’s heyday. Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, at Wine Office Court off Fleet Street was patronised by Dr Johnson and Oliver Goldsmith, then, in the 1890s it was home to the Rhymers Club which numbered W.B. Yeats and Oscar Wilde among its members. Later still, it was Dylan Thomas' watering hole here and now it is a mecca for tourists on the literary trail.
Ghosted signs on Fleet Street buildings tell of the newspapers that were once housed here. The press presence, too, is still strong. With the Royal Courts of Justice at the Strand end, journalists and photographers hover constantly for scoops and shots. They congregate still in the pubs, the bars and the cafes. They are still part of the fabric of this place.
Fleet Street, too, is still part of newspapers and newspeople and even though their offices and presses have moved away, its name goes with them. Fleet Street still stands, today, for the great traditions of the British news industry.
Old newspaper offices in Fleet Street
Wynken de Worde, an ex-apprentice of William Caxton, began the long tradition of Fleet Street publishing in 1500 when he established his printing press in this ideal location, halfway between Westminster and the city. Writers followed the printing industry into the area; among them were Samuel Pepys, Samuel Johnson, and Boswell. Literary Clubs sprang up, like the Apollo Club, one of London’s first, founded by Ben Jonson in the mid 1600s. In March, 1702 Fleet Street’s first newspaper, The Daily Courant appeared. Scores of others followed. By the end of the 1800s most national newspapers were based in the area and for a century it was one of the most interesting corners of London. The clubs, pubs and restaurants and cafes that grew around the industry buzzed with stories, breaking news and gossip.
Although Fleet Street had ceased to be the engine room of the British press by the end of the last century, its legacy remains and its presence still lingers.
Many old Fleet Street buildings still stand today. Ye Old Cock Tavern at 22 was a haunt of T.S. Eliot. At its original site,190, it was frequented by Samuel Pepys, Shakespeare, Marlowe, Johnson, Dickens and Tennyson. El Vino wine bar, at 47, where GK Chesterton worked (and drank) prodigiously, was the favourite of the newspaper world during Fleet Street’s heyday. Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, at Wine Office Court off Fleet Street was patronised by Dr Johnson and Oliver Goldsmith, then, in the 1890s it was home to the Rhymers Club which numbered W.B. Yeats and Oscar Wilde among its members. Later still, it was Dylan Thomas' watering hole here and now it is a mecca for tourists on the literary trail.
Ghosted signs on Fleet Street buildings tell of the newspapers that were once housed here. The press presence, too, is still strong. With the Royal Courts of Justice at the Strand end, journalists and photographers hover constantly for scoops and shots. They congregate still in the pubs, the bars and the cafes. They are still part of the fabric of this place.
Fleet Street, too, is still part of newspapers and newspeople and even though their offices and presses have moved away, its name goes with them. Fleet Street still stands, today, for the great traditions of the British news industry.
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Comment by Mountain Fog
Infognito
I am saddened to hear Fleet Street bustles no more, I thought it was just Murdoch's mob who decamped, I would have thought though, even with him, that The Times would have left offices there.
Who works in their old buildings today?
cheers
fog
Comment by Patricia
Travel Stripe
Comment by Anonymous