by Monica Conrady

henever I’m in London, I always try to pop down to Fleet Street to one of my favorite places — Twinings.

Twinings Tea Shop, the world-famous purveyor of fine teas, is celebrating its tricentenary this year. It was in 1706 that Thomas Twining began selling tea as a novelty in his newly-acquired coffee house. For three hundred years, customers have been seeking out this tiny shop, across the street from the main entrance to the Law Courts.

A history snippet: Charles, 2nd Earl Grey, prime minister of England from 1830-34, was given a gift of aromatic tea from India. He asked Twinings to reproduce the flavor for him. As word got around, others came looking for Earl Grey’s tea. And so a household name was born.

Benjamin Franklin’s House. Another tricentenary. For decades, just a simple plaque on the front wall of the house at 36 Craven St. told us the great American statesman had lived there. In January this year, on the 300th anniversary of his birth, the Georgian terraced house where Benjamin Franklin resided from 1757 to 1775 was opened to the public.

Franklin was mainly occupied with negotiating relations between Britain and America when he lived on Craven Street, and his house became the de facto American Embassy. But he also found time to pursue his many other interests, including socializing with the famous figures of the day and inventing such things as bifocal spectacles, a musical instrument, and the Franklin stove.
The house, just steps away from Trafalgar Square, has been recreated as a ‘historical experience’ and conveys a sense of the life and times of the great man. Visitors receive a guided tour from “Polly,” Franklin’s landlady’s daughter, along with audio and visual presentations which really bring the 18th century alive.

Avenue of Stars. Britain’s answer to Hollywood’s Walk of Fame is being created in Covent Garden. Distinguished stars of stage, screen and TV are being immortalized on the Avenue of Stars — the walkway outside St. Paul’s, the “Actors’ Church,” in Covent Garden Piazza. The first 18 recipients, which include Nicole Kidman, John Cleese and the Rolling Stones, as well as the late Peter Sellers, Laurence Olivier and Alec Guinness, are already enshrined by silver stars in the walkway. More names honoring the greatest British and Commonwealth stars of the last half-century will be added each year.

Twinings Tea Shop: www.twinings.com. Benjamin Franklin House: www.benjaminfranklinhouse.org.
St. Paul’s Church: www.actorschurch.org.

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