ENGLAND TRIP: Day 2: Part 5d: Ghost/History Walk: Scrooge/Dickens/Harry Potter/Paratroopers!

SCROOGE'S COUNTING HOUSE - One of the cool places Richard Jones took us was to the building and alleyway that inspired Charles Dickens' setting for Scrooge's counting house in "A Christmas Carol." Scrooge’s counting house is in the  city of London, near Cornhill. In the story, Bob Cratchit ran home to Camden Town, where Dickens lived as a boy.

It was so amazing to stand in the alleyway that likely inspired one of the settings for "A Christmas Carol."   Here's a photo from that street.

A street that looked similar to Dickens' time

ANOTHER DICKENS STREET - This is another street in the same Cornhill neighborhood of London, that looks very similar to how it appeared during the lifetime of Charles Dickens. Of course, we know there were no cars during his time! :) It was really cool to see the architecture.

  

LEADENHALL MARKET AND HARRY POTTER - Richard also took us by this marketplace in London, because it was the site where one of the Harry Potter movies were filmed. It was used for the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron.

Leadenhall Market- a Harry Potter location

   It's located at Gracechurch Street and the market dates all the way back to the 14th century! It stands on what used to be the center of Roman London. We thought it was a beautiful structure and really nicely lit. Unfortunately, the photo we took of it was cut off, but you get a good feel for it anyway.
 



A UNIQUE PARATROOPER EVENT - During the week we were in London, the Royal Air Force (I think)  was performing paratrooper drills over the city. Rob managed to snap this eerie photo of the paratroopers descending in what appears to be a trail of smoke, with the large moon shrouded behind some clouds. The structure in the forefront is Guild Hall. It made for a really cool photo.