#Hotels near Old Billingsgate

[blueorchidhotels]

The Whisky Show 2023 by The Whisky Exchange London Old Billingsgate

The Whisky Exchange presents, The Whisky Show is the UK's biggest whisky festival, and it is back for 2023! Taking place on 29 September - 1 October at Old Billingsgate in London, the show is a must-attend event for any whisky lover.

With over 1000 whiskies to sample, a variety of educational events, and the chance to meet and chat with whisky experts, the show is the perfect place to learn more about whisky and discover new whiskies to enjoy.

Highlights of the Whisky Show 2023

Glen Scotia Distillery in the spotlight

The Glen Scotia Distillery will be in the spotlight at the 2023 show, with a range of special tastings and events planned. Glen Scotia is a Campbeltown distillery that is known for its peaty and maritime whiskies. Visitors to the show will have the chance to try some of Glen Scotia's rarest and most exclusive whiskies, including the Glen Scotia 1960 Vintage.

Themed tasting areas

The Whisky Show will also feature a number of themed tasting areas, including Whisky by Flavour, Discover Flavour, and Whisky & Food. These tasting areas will give visitors the chance to try whiskies that are grouped by their flavour profile or by how they pair with food.

Meet and chat with whisky distillers and experts

One of the best things about the Whisky Show is the chance to meet and chat with whisky distillers and experts. Visitors to the show will be able to ask questions about whisky making, get recommendations for new whiskies to try, and learn more about the world of whisky.

How to get tickets to the Whisky Show 2023

Tickets for the Whisky Show 2023 are on sale now and can be purchased from the Whisky Exchange website. There are varieties of ticket options available, including single-day and two-day tickets, as well as Weekend tickets.

Tips for attending the Whisky Show 2023

Arrive early. The show can get very busy, so it is a good idea to arrive early to beat the crowds and make the most of your time.

Wear comfortable shoes. You will be doing a lot of walking, so make sure to wear comfortable shoes.

Bring a water bottle. It is important to stay hydrated, especially if you taste a lot of whisky.

Do not be afraid to ask questions. The whisky distillers and experts at the show are there to help you learn more about whisky and find new whiskies to enjoy.

Take your time and enjoy the experience! The Whisky Show is a great opportunity to sample a wide variety of whiskies and learn more about this fascinating spirit. So take your time and enjoy the experience.

Hotels near Old Billingsgate

If you are looking for a place to stay near Old Billingsgate, there are a number of hotels to choose. Two popular options from Blue orchid hotels include:

Tower Residences: Tower Residences is a luxury Serviced Apartments near Tower of London located right next to Old Billingsgate. It offers stunning views of the River Thames and the Tower of London. From Tower Residences (0.2-mile) approx. 6 mins walk to the Whisky Show.

Tower Suites: Tower Suites is luxury hotel located next to Tower Bridge near Old Billingsgate. It offers a variety of room types, including suites overlooking the River Thames, Tower Bridge and Tower of London. From Tower Suites is (0.4-mile) approx. 10 mins walk to the Whisky Show.

Top sights in Billingsgate

Billingsgate is a historic area of London that is home to a number of attractions, including:

The Old Billingsgate Market: The Old Billingsgate Market is a former fish market turned into a market hall. It now sells a variety of food and drink, as well as arts and crafts.

The Museum of London Docklands: The Museum of London Docklands tells the story of London's river and its people. It has a number of exhibits on the history of Billingsgate and the fish trade.

The HMS Belfast: The HMS Belfast is a historic warship that is now a museum. It is moored on the River Thames just next to Old Billingsgate.

[lotusevents]

Discover the Best Large Event Venues in London for Unforgettable Gatherings

London, a city rich in history and culture, offers an impressive array of venues for hosting large events. Whether you're planning a corporate conference, a grand wedding, or a major exhibition, London's diverse and versatile spaces can accommodate your needs with style and sophistication. Here, we explore some of the top large event venues London that promise to make your gathering truly unforgettable.

Alexandra Palace: Historic Grandeur

Known affectionately as "Ally Pally," Alexandra Palace is a historic venue that boasts a variety of event spaces. Its iconic Great Hall can accommodate up to 10,000 guests, making it ideal for concerts, exhibitions, and large-scale conferences. With stunning views over London, ample parking, and excellent transport links, Alexandra Palace combines historic grandeur with modern amenities to create a memorable event experience.

ExCeL London: Versatile Exhibition Space

Located in the Docklands, ExCeL London is one of the city's premier exhibition and convention centers. With over 100,000 square meters of flexible event space, it can host everything from international trade shows to large corporate events and public exhibitions. The venue is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, including multiple conference rooms, catering services, and advanced AV technology, ensuring a seamless event experience.

The O2: Iconic and Dynamic

The O2 is not only a world-famous entertainment venue but also a versatile event space. Its vast arena can seat up to 20,000 guests, making it perfect for concerts, sporting events, and large conferences. Additionally, The O2 offers smaller, adaptable spaces like the Indigo at The O2 and the InterContinental London – The O2, which can host banquets, receptions, and business meetings. With its distinctive architecture and prime location, The O2 adds a touch of excitement to any event.

Olympia London: Victorian Elegance

Olympia London is a stunning Victorian venue that has been hosting events for over 130 years. Its Grand Hall, one of the largest covered spaces in the city, can accommodate up to 10,000 guests. Olympia also offers several smaller halls and conference rooms, providing flexibility for various event formats. The venue's blend of historic charm and modern facilities makes it a popular choice for trade shows, conferences, and large social gatherings.

Old Billingsgate: Unique Riverside Venue

Situated on the banks of the River Thames, Old Billingsgate is a distinctive and versatile venue perfect for large events. The Grand Hall, with its stunning triple-height ceiling and ornate architecture, can host up to 1,200 seated guests or 2,500 standing. The venue also features The Vault and The Gallery, offering additional space for breakout sessions or smaller gatherings. Its central location and picturesque views make Old Billingsgate an exceptional choice for corporate events, gala dinners, and weddings.

Royal Lancaster London: Luxurious and Central

For those seeking a touch of luxury, the Royal Lancaster London offers an array of elegant event spaces. The Nine Kings Suite and Westbourne Suite can each accommodate up to 1,500 guests, making them ideal for large conferences, banquets, and exhibitions. Located near Hyde Park, the hotel combines opulent interiors with state-of-the-art facilities and exceptional service, ensuring a sophisticated and seamless event.

Conclusion

Large event venues London cater to a wide range of needs and preferences, from historic and iconic locations to modern and versatile spaces. Whether you're hosting a massive conference, an elegant gala, or a grand exhibition, these venues offer the perfect backdrop for your event. By choosing one of these top-tier venues, you can ensure an unforgettable experience for your guests, making your event stand out in the vibrant and dynamic city of London.

[cabbages-and-kings-by-miss-d]

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Chapter 1: The Romans

By Paul Slade

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Southwark got its first brothels when the invading Roman army arrived in 43AD. The Iron Age settlement once sited there had long since been abandoned, leaving nothing but a patch of swampy ground on the south bank of the Thames.

General Aulus Plautius marched his troops straight here from their landing point on the Kent coast, a distance of about 63 miles, meeting little or no resistance along the way. Forced to halt by the river, they camped opposite what is now Cheapside, where a network of tracks branched out towards every corner of the island. It was there, on the river's north bank, that Britain's defenders had chosen to make their stand. Plautius ordered his engineers to build a platoon bridge at the relatively narrow, shallow spot where Southwark Bridge now stands and this was quickly done. The Romans made short work of the British fighters waiting at Cheapside, replaced their original pontoon bridge with a permanent wooden structure and set about expanding their Southwark camp into something more like a small town.

"At the bridgehead, they established their commissariat and stores, because Southwark - and not London - would have been their resistance base if the campaign had gone wrong," Ephraim Burford writes in his 1976 book The Bishop's Brothels. "At least a cohort must have been stationed there and at that period a cohort comprised between 600 and 1,000 men, to which must be added the supporting establishment and the camp followers. There would have been at least 2,000 people in that settlement at any one time." Those camp followers included a good number of Roman prostitutes, who set up shop in the new timber and thatch buildings provided just off the military highway. Any army camp of that size would have produced ample demand for the girls' services and this grew further once the Romans had established landing docks nearby to disembark new soldiers and unload supplies. (1)

Southwark took slave girls from all over the Roman Empire to keep its brothels staffed

Within seven years of arrival, the Romans had already pushed their British frontier all the way to a diagonal line between the Humber and Severn estuaries - now marked by the old Fosse Way. It was also around this time that Roman merchants first built a town on the Thames' north bank, surrounding it with defensive earthworks and christening the place Londinium. Tacitus, the Roman historian, tells us that the Londinium of 61AD was already "much frequented by merchants and trading vessels".

By 75AD, Southwark had grown into a large suburb, snaking out a string of taverns along the access roads to its south. Throughout the Roman occupation, these were the busiest roads in the country, lined all the way to the coast with grog shops and inns, each one with a resident whore on 24-hour duty. As its population grew, Southwark shipped in slave girls from all over the Empire to keep its brothels staffed. Evidence of busy landing docks and slave markets from this period has been found all along the Thames' north bank opposite Southwark at sites such as Queenhithe, the Tower and Billingsgate. (2)

A steady supply of new girls was essential to replace the many prostitutes who Southwark simply worked to death. "Once sold, these slaves had no rights whatsoever," Burford says. "Each one would spend the rest of her life on her back, day and night, submitting to every sexual vagary forced upon her by exigent men, until she died. If she were not lucky enough to be bought by some admirer for his personal pleasures, she would die of exhaustion or disease by the age of 30."

Disease was a problem for the Roman army too, if only because it didn't want its men too clap-ridden to fight. In an age where condoms and penicillin were still centuries away, however, there was nothing much their commanders could do to combat venereal disease but order every soldier to give his genitals a good scrub every now and again. The only other precaution available was to ensure that any girl who was obviously diseased be banned from further whoring and that responsibility fell to a band of civic officials called the aediles.

Every Roman city had a team of these men, who were charged with keeping a register of all the town's licensed prostitutes. They financed this operation by collecting a licence fee and taxes from every girl registered and from every licensed brothel-keeper too. Once she'd got a licence, the girl could choose a name to work under, tell the aedile what type of clients she planned to serve and then hang up a shingle outside displaying her prices. The licence gave her a measure of protection under Roman law, but in return she had to succumb to the aedile's regular health inspections and agree never to dress in a way which concealed her profession. Although local pimps and procurers were free to become Roman citizens, that privilege was not extended to the girls themselves. (3)

Southwark's busy brothels soon produced a satellite trade of rough-arse taverns, sleazy gambling joints and every other form of low-life entertainment. These, in turn, pulled petty thieves, gangsters, killers and conmen to the area, partly for the opportunities it offered them and partly because they felt safer there than in respectable Londinium itself. Runaway slaves and other fugitives flocked to Southwark too. "The very nature of the surrounding land - marshy, dank and uninhabited - made it a natural hiding place and refuge," Burford writes. "It was regarded as part of the pomerium of London. This was a swathe of 'no man's land' outside the walls of Roman cities, which was deliberately left clear so that approaching enemies could quickly be spotted and dealt with."

In placing their brothels outside the city wall, with a river segregating them from more respectable neighbourhoods, the Romans were following a familiar pattern from home. Rome's own red light district, the Trastavere, was sited just across the Tiber from the city itself and named to reflect precisely that fact: Trastavere translates as "on the other side of the Tiber".

There were other amusements on offer in Southwark too - perhaps including an arena for the Roman games. Archaeologists have found evidence of a female gladiator's funeral feast in what's now Great Dover Street and the grave goods buried with this woman suggest she was a worshipper of Isis. Another team of archaeologists found a Roman jug inscribed "London, at the Temple of Isis" in the Thames river bed near what's now Southwark Cathedral, which Burford believes was used in the regular "days of drinking" her worship required. Isis cults persisted in England until 350AD and these two finds suggest she was widely worshipped in Roman Southwark. (4)

And so, it seems, was her son Horus, who the Romans called Harpocrates. A small silver statue of this Egypto-Roman god, often depicted with a penis twice the height of his body, was fished out of the Thames near the Southwark end of London Bridge in 1825. Brothels throughout the Roman Empire displayed his picture as a means of spurring on the clients. Just as Isis worship encouraged regular bouts of heavy drinking, Harpocrates' followers were expected to indulge in the wildest displays of sexual licence. All the relics I've mentioned here date from the first or second centuries AD, long before Christianity gained any foothold in Britain. The pantheistic Romans had many gods to choose from and Southwark's selection of Isis and Harpocrates tells us the locals have always put drinking and sex very high on their own list of priorities. (5)

By 150AD, the Romans' army base had moved to a new home in London's northwest suburbs, leaving Southwark's brothels to serve a civilian clientele instead. Burford describes their new customers as "freedmen, petty traders, travellers, lower officials, even slaves - and, of course, criminal elements using whorehouses for nefarious purposes."

Rome's soldiers had dominated Southwark for little more than a century, but even in that short time, they laid down the pattern of everything we'd see in the borough for the next two millennia: licensed brothels, frantic commerce, boozy travellers, disease, low-life entertainment and a dual status as both London's sanctuary and its dumping ground. All these elements will surface again and again as we proceed through Southwark's history, and all their seeds were planted by Roman hands.

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