Ye Olde John O Gaunt

In Lancaster today, for a family lunch and to take some photographs for the forthcoming Superlative Walks website. This is one of the best pubs in the City.  I used to visit regularly on Sunday lunchtimes. In addition to live jazz they used to bring round a tray of free, very tasty sausages at about 1;30pm. I'm not sure whether they still do.  I was driving today and didn't want to go inside and not have a beer. I liked the reflections in the window.

The nearby Market Square includes the old Town Hall, built in 1781-3. Its design was then described as "inexpedient and dangerous to build." It now houses the City museum, one of several in Lancaster to be thtreatened by Lancashire County Council's spending cuts, in effect imposed by the Government because we are indeed all in this together.

Opposite the pub is a narrow alleyway which leads to Music Room Square. The elegant classical building (1739) is thought to have been called "the Muses Room" after the plaster decoration of muses inside.

Just down the road is Horseshoe Corner. The name for this has three possible explanations. It is thought to be the site where the horse ofJohn of Gaunt, the first Duke of Lancaster, shed its shoe on his last visit to the City in the 14th Century. It also could be connected to the visit to the City by the Young Pretender Bonnie Prince Charlie in the 1740s. A third option supposes it to have been connected with the horse fair held nearby. The horseshoe, embedded in the paving at the centre of the junction, is frequently replaced.