175 years ago this month Old Street not only starred in a serialised Charles Dickens story, but perhaps became the inspiration for a popular 21st Century pub chain.
The central theme of Bleak House, like most Dickens novels originally published in weekly magazines, is a family dispute over a will, the infamous case of Jarndyce versus Jarndyce. The trial is held within the Court of Chancery in Westminster Hall, and drags on so long due to legal teams spinning it out as they wanted to continue earning fees that at the end nobody inherits any money as everything goes to their legal advisors. This was Dickens’ way of trying to get people to realise how foolish such cases can be, and that some lawyers are slightly questionable.
However Old Street appears when Lawyer’s clerk, Mr Guppy, has lunch with Richard Carstone, one of the claimants, in a Tavern in Old Street, and orders lobster and lettuce. As they await his food he demands “make sure it is without the slugs this time.” For the reputation of catering establishments around this area, we can reassure everyone that his food was slug free on this occasion, as it is still now.
The “Slug and Lettuce” pub chain now found around the nation was founded in Islington in 1985, perhaps named after this saying from Dickens, and is now a popular tavern for young people, the nearest branch being near Fenchurch Street. The founder of the pub chain says the company name was his own inspiration, but perhaps he had been subconsciously influenced by Dickens. Therefore Old Street can be found in a classic piece of literary history, and, perhaps, was a subconscious influence on modern social life and entertainment.