Punch and Judy in Covent Garden

We’ve been wanting to go to London’s Covent Garden May Fair for years and somehow other things have always taken over, but this year we got up horrible early and made our way to St Paul’s church where they hold an annual Mr Punch church service.
We’d been to Covent Garden a few times before but hadn’t discovered the little park behind the church or been inside St Paul’s itself, a beautiful building dating back to the 1600′s. The service was a surprise in itself, Mr Punch in the pulpit, Samuel Pepys reading from the bible and a carnival mix of clowns, brass band musicians and choristers parading down the aisles.
Waiting for the Punch and Judy shows to begin.

One of the highlights for me was meeting genuine Pearly Kings and Queens. I’ve seen lots of people dressed up in pearly buttoned clothes but I could spot the genuine article straight away, there was a quiet dignity about them.
pearly king 2