Sarah Matthias latest novel, Tom Fletcher and the Three Wise Men, was published at the end of September. To celebrate Catnip organised a walking tour of Medieval London on Thursday 1st October 2009. Anita Loughrey attended for Write Away and sent this report:

 We met at St Paul’s tube station and out guide Sue Jackson from London Walks took us on a fascinating tour starting at St Paul’s Cathedral. She explained how the plot of Sarah’s book linked with the various churches and historical sites that we visited. The tour included: At Paul’s Gateway, St Agnes church, the ruined abbey and rose garden with its magnificent watch tower, Newgate prison and the dungeon where the hero Tom is taken (now under a pub), St Bartholomew’s Hospital and Priory and the place where the meat market would have been held when Tom arrived in London in 1220.

Our guide was particularly impressed with the accuracy of Sarah’s research and explained how 1220 was a pivotal point for the churches. The tour ended at the Fox and Anchor in Charter Street, where we all enjoyed wine, beer and pork pie with English mustard. It was a very successful evening and I had a great time.

2009-10-04