Catholic History Walk

On Saturday 17^th August, an intrepid group of Catenians with their family members made their way to London. On the steps of Westminster Cathedral, we met up with our guide Catholic Historian Joanna Bogle. Joanna is the author of over 20 books and is currently working on a history of St Mary’s University. One of the first facts we learnt was that the Cathedral was built on the site of Tothill Fields Bridewell Prison an altogether much less salubrious area than it is today.

Having been encouraged to bring our teenagers to the Cathedral to reinvigorate their faith, we wandered along various back-streets taking in, amongst other sites: the Bluecoat School; Methodist Central Hall; St James’ Park; the Cabinet War Rooms; Horse Guards Parade; Banqueting House; the gardens along the Embankment; the Liberal Club and finally; St Martin-in-the-Fields, where we stopped off for lunch and Joanna finally paused for breath. 

The walk had taken just under three hours and during that time we had been treated to an enthusiastically delivered potted history of Catholicism in London.  A thoroughly enjoyable morning out.

We love to go awandering around old London Town!

The copy and photograph for this article were provided by Vice-President Bro. Tim Edwards