Charles Dickens - on The Strand

Writer Charles Dickens lived in the district around The Strand several times in his illustrious life.

Dickens used words like dull, dingy, and dusky when describing the area, but today it is a pleasant place to stroll. Black-clad lawyers carrying bundles of papers tied with pink string still walk briskly on their way to court.

These streets were home to Miss Flite, Mr. Tulkinghorn, and Mr. Guppy, as well as to Dickens himself during his time as a lawyer's clerk. He drew many of his later characters from observation of his firm's clients, and the settings so perfectly sketched were places he encountered daily. One is the store at 13-14 Portsmouth Street, a building dating from 1567 and said to be the inspiration for The Old Curiosity Shop.

Across the Strand from the courts, at the bottom of Middle Temple Lane, are more lawyers' chambers in the narrow alleys and paved courtyards of the Temple, an area that received kinder literary treatment than Lincoln's Inn. In Barnaby Rudge, Dickens spoke fondly of its drowsy, dreamy atmosphere.

Many of its tall, gracious buildings date from the 17th century and are grouped around quiet courtyards or well-kept gardens. This slice of history