London

Guildhall and the surroundings

January 13, 2020 / No Comments

A Lecture evening of Gresham College @ the Old Library of Guildhall; 9-1-2020

“City of London-Culture, Creativity & the Culture Mile”

The reason I ended up in the financial district of London was to attend a lecture at the beautiful old library of Guildhall.The founder of Gresham College (1597) , Sir Thomas Gresham left money in his will to establish a College to bring the “new learning” to the public through lectures that would be free for all to attend. It is a fantastic opportunity for everyone to be able to attend lectures on wide range of topics ( from art, music, history, literature, to law, business, medicine, environment, astronomy….) delivered by some of the world’s leading authorities in their respective fields. Amazing that such a tradition is kept up for over 400 years! There are quite many lectures each month and are organised in several locations around the City of London.

This was the special annual event by Lord Mayor who spoke this evening about the value of culture for the City of London. The director of the London Symphony Orchestra, the director of Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the director of Museum of London ( all ladies), and a director of Barbican Centre were present to explain the cultural contribution of their institutions to the City. The library was packed and after the lecture, there was another big hall below prepared for a nice reception with drinks and snacks where everybody could join, meet the speakers and discuss. I am impressed how this country takes pride in it ‘s historical heritage and keeps up maintaining old traditions, and pass it on into the 21st century in such a generous way.
For those who are interested, you can also follow the lectures online; https://www.gresham.ac.uk
The Guildhall, originally built in 1440
The Old Library, Guildhall
The Guildhall and Guildhall Art Gallery on the right
St.Lawrence Jewry, an Episcopal Church built in 1687, restored in 1957

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