Last year I read all about the Courvosier Dickens tour and promptly booked tickets. Then I got my times all mixed up and we missed it. Then recently I was reading Tatty Devine's blog about their collaboration with the shoe designer who resides at The Old Curiosity Shop, so when I heard Courvosier were running a new event this year I leapt at the opportunity.

The event was described as: "On a cold November night, guests gather in an old, shadowy doorway lit by a solitary hanging lantern. Ahead of them lies an evening of Dickensian adventures taking them through London's winding streets and culminating in a steaming cup of hot punch taken directly from Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol'".

Sounds tempting no?

Our evening began at 6pm outside Bow St Magistrates Court and we walked on to see the Charles Dickens Coffee House and headed towards Clements Lane past the London School of Economics. As we headed down a quiet lane the evening began to get more interesting...

As we walked, and our guide told us all about the area and Dickens, we were approached by an excited man, dressed in unusual clothes, who was pleased to see us but said we had to rush as time was getting on. Our guide apologised but as the man was so insistent before we knew it we were following him through the streets and rushing along. By the time he stopped we were standing outside The Old Curiosity Shop. The shop windows were lit up with candles and as soon as the door opened, a delicious aroma of spices filled our senses...

Inside was a man asleep on a table and as our new companion attempted to wake him, it became apparent the sleeping man was Ebenezer Scrooge and our new friend was Bob Cratchit...

The rest of the experience passed in a haze of punch making, punch drinking (Smoking Bishop as ordered by Scrooge at the end of 'A Christmas Carol'), mince pie eating and punch song singing all whilst Scrooge played a stringed instrument (possibly a lute or a rebec) and we sat surrounded by candlelight, appetising smells and atmospheric artefacts.

Before long we were cast out into the cold night of London in 2011 and made our way home full of Christmas spirit.