This is the second part of our Christmas Tour for this year and concludes the circular tour we started last December. No pictures are necessary we all know what the tourist sites look like; all that’s provided is a potted history. I’ve attempted to give directions as a Knowledge student would use. Please note also that at this time of year there are many road closures and so it might not always possible to adhere to the tour’s directions.

[T]his short journey takes us from the seat of modern government to the ancient London home of the head of the Anglican Church.

Comply Parliament Square

Houses of Parliament In 1834 the Palace of Westminster burn down, ending the ancient accommodation for England’s legislature for nearly 300 years. Designed by Charles Barry whose son designed Tower Bridge, with ornamentation by Augustus Pugin in Perpendicular Gothic. When the clock tower reached a height of 150ft. work on it had to be suspended as it was discovered that the mechanism of the clock could not be raised inside it.

Westminster Hall The only surviving part of the original Palace of Westminster, built in 1097, with additions and alterations, it has the widest hammer-beam roof in the country added in 1399. Traditionally the Royal champion would ride to the centre of the Hall, throw down his gauntlet, and challenge any man denying the right of the Sovereign to single combat.

From 13th century to 1882 it housed the law courts. In early days men were hired as witnesses here, the sign of their trade was a straw protruding from their shoe, hence expressions ‘man of straw’ and ‘straw bail’ The barristers waiting for a brief, would place themselves around the room leaning against the posts and pillars where the expression ‘going from pillar to post’ comes from.

Amongst those tried here have been Sir John Oldcastle (Shakespeare’s Falstaff), Sir Thomas More, Queen Anne Boleyn and Guy Fawkes. After the Restoration the heads of Cromwell and his fellow Commonwealth leaders, Ireton and Bradshaw were placed on the roof. Cromwell’s head stayed there for 25 years until it was finally blown down. We seem to have forgiven Mr. Cromwell as his statute has pride of place outside Westminster Hall; unfortunately his spurs are upside down. The Irish however had not forgiven his barbaric treatment of them, as they refused to help finance the making of it.

L/By Margaret Street

F Old Palace Yard

F Abingdon Street

F Millbank

Comply Millbank Circus

Thames House on right headquarters of MI5. They are recruiting what they euphemistically describe as ‘mobile surveillance officers’ that’s spies to you and me. Now I’m old enough to remember the Burgess/Phil by/Maclean debacle and rather assumed recruitment was through an old boys’ network with links to an Oxbridge College, and a predilection to, shall we say? – unusual sexual appetites. There is great deal on the MI5 site about extended working hours, multitasking, thinking on your feet and the need not to have facial tattoos (they make you too noticeable, apparently!), but nothing about getting shot at, being stabbed with trick umbrellas or being irradiated. Should MI5 not be your cup of tea (or vodka martini), there’s always MI6 across the water. So surely there is something in there for everyone?

L/By Lambeth Bridge

Lambeth Bridge As you cross Lambeth Bridge note the bridge is painted red while Westminster Bridge on your left is green. This is reputedly to mirror the leather seats in the Palace of Westminster: green for the House of Commons nearest Westminster Bridge and red for the House of Lords at the other end of the Palace of Westminster nearest to where you now stand.

That is the end of our circular tour. Remember during the Christmas period there are numerous scheduled road works, for check them out follow this link.

It is that time of the year when many of you have time off from work coupled with a lifting of the congestion charge.

As with last year here is a potted car tour of our capital taking all the tourist sites which for one week only will be free from the usual hordes. It is circular and may be started from any point. The directions are written in the manner required when answering questions on The Knowledge.

[T]hey are pretty self-explanatory: L/L means leave on left; L/By leave by; Comply is to go round a roundabout; and L; R; and F – I’ll let your work those out.

Comply Parliament Square

Houses of Parliament In 1834 the Palace of Westminster burn down, ending the accommodation for the legislature for nearly 300 years. Designed by Charles Barry whose son designed Tower Bridge, with ornamentation by Augustus Pugin in Perpendicular Gothic. When the clock tower reached a height of 150ft. work on it had to be suspended as it was discovered that the mechanism of the clock could not be raised inside it.

Westminster Hall The only surviving part of the original Palace of Westminster, built in 1097, with additions and alterations, it has the widest hammer-beam roof in the country added in 1399. Traditionally the Royal champion would ride to the centre of the Hall, throw down his gauntlet, and challenge any man denying the right of the Sovereign to single combat. From 13th century to 1882 it housed the law courts. In early days men were hired as witnesses here, the sign of their trade was a straw protruding from their shoe, hence expressions ‘man of straw’ and ‘straw bail’ The barristers waiting for a brief, would place themselves around the room leaning against the posts and pillars where the expression ‘going from pillar to post’ comes from. Amongst those tried here have been Sir John Oldcastle (Shakespeare’s Falstaff), Sir Thomas More, Queen Anne Boleyn and Guy Fawkes. After the Restoration the heads of Cromwell and his fellow Commonwealth leaders, Ireton and Bradshaw were placed on the roof. Cromwell’s head stayed there for 25 years until it was finally blown down. We seem to have forgiven Mr. Cromwell as his statute has pride of place outside Westminster Hall; unfortunately his spurs are upside down. The Irish however had not forgiven his barbaric treatment of them, as they refused to help finance the making of it.

L/By George Street

F Birdcage Walk

St. James’s Park Originally a deer part of Henry VIII. James I established a public menagerie with exotic animals and birds, hence the road Birdcage Walk. In 1829 John Nash commissioned by George IV made this the epitome of an English landscape garden. Fine views of Buckingham Palace, and the spires, pinnacles and domes of Whitehall, wonderful colour in spring and summer, lake with over 42 species of birds.

R Buckingham Gate

Buckingham Palace A modest brick house owned by The Duke of Buckingham, was enlarged in 1825, the project proved too expensive and the architect John Nash was dismissed. When Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1837 it was scarcely habitable. The drains were faulty, there were no sinks for the chambermaids on the bedroom floors, few of the lavatories were ventilated, the bells would not ring, some of the doors would not close, and many of the thousand windows would not open. When Queen Victoria moved in on 13th July 1837 it was, for the first time in her life, that she had a bedroom to herself. The east front was added in 1847 removing Marble Arch to its present position; in 1853-5 the ballroom block was added. In 1913 the present east front was built, with the famous balcony. Over 600 rooms, the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh occupy 12 rooms on the first floor overlooking Green Park. The Royal Standard flag flying means Queen is in residence.

Queen Victoria Memorial Succeeding to the British throne at the age of 18 and reigning for 63 years, Queen Victoria was married to her cousin, Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha for 21 years. She was related, either directly or by marriage, to most of the royal houses of Europe. The industrial revolution, the rise of the middle classes, social reform, scientific and medical advance, the apogee of empire, a distinctive artistic style and a sense of union never again experienced are all hallmarks of the period known as ‘Victorian’. This statute was erected in 1911 commemorating her rule. Its creator Sir Thomas Brock, was made Knight Commander of the Bath on the platform during the unveiling ceremony. Note that the Queen wears her wedding ring on her right hand as she did in life, to please Albert’s German custom. At some time in its life the Queen’s nose was knocked off and replaced. The new nose was whiter than the original leading wags to suggest that it looked as if the old Queen snorted cocaine. Sadly its refurbishment for the 2012 Olympics has corrected the colour difference.

R The Mall

L Marlborough Road

L Cleveland Row

St. James’s Palace From 12th century a leper hospital dedicated to St. James’ the Less, Bishop of Jerusalem, it was pulled down in 1532 by Henry VIII, now a fine example of Tudor architecture. Charles II, James II, Mary II, Queen Anne and George IV were born here. Official residence of monarch until Buckingham Palace was used in 1837. Now the offices of Prince Charles and the Beefeaters.

R St. James’s Street

Gentleman’s Clubs These clubs mostly came into being during the 18th century mainly as a place to wager. Two members made a morbid wager on the date of death of a famous actor called Charles Macklin. They chose badly as he lived to well over 100. They faired rather less well, as each gambler committed suicide over his respective gambling debts.

No. 6 St. James’s Street. Lock the hatters who devised the bowler as a hard hat for poacher-chasing gamekeepers.

L Bennet Street

R Arlington Street

R Piccadilly

Comply Piccadilly Circus

Its proper title is ‘The Angel of Christian Charity’ and is a memorial to the Earl of Shaftesbury who entering Parliament at only 25 led the way to reform factory workers conditions. His Coal Mines Act of 1842 prohibited the use of women and children under 13 working below ground. He supported Florence Nightingale. It is said the statute is a play on the word shaft connecting the arrow with his name.

L/By Coventry Street

R Haymarket

L Pall Mall East

R Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square Laid out between 1829-41 to commemorate Lord Nelson’s victory over the French and Spanish navies at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21st October, 1805. Nelson was fatally wounded by a musket shot fired from the French ship Redoubtable. He was carried below deck and died in the arms of Thomas Hardy, his dying words ‘Kiss me Hardy’ have been immortalised. He probably said ‘Kismet Hardy’ meaning that it was his destiny. The fluted Corinthian column is 170 feet in total. Nelson aloft stands 17 feet 2 inches high. The bronze capital was cast from the cannon of the Royal George, which sank in 1782 while being heeled over for examination of her underwater timbers with great loss of life. At the base are four 20 foot bronze lions by Sir Edwin Landseer, added in 1867; the reliefs are made from French cannon captured at the battles of St. Vincent, the Nile, Copenhagen and Trafalgar. A few days before the statue was erected in 1843 fourteen people ate a precarious rump steak dinner on the top of the column.

Comply King Charles Island

King Charles Statue This statute by Hubert Le Sueur in 1633 and standing on the original site of Charing Cross is used as the starting point to measure distances from London. In 1649 John Rivett, a brazier, was ordered to destroy it by Cromwell, but he buried it in his garden and made a fortune by selling souvenirs allegedly from the metal. He gave it back to Charles II upon the Restoration of the Monarchy. The pedestal is said to have been designed by Wren and carved by Grinling Gibbons. The sword is not original, in the last century it was knocked off by an over- enthusiastic journalist covering a royal procession and was lost in the crowd. On 30th January each year, the anniversary of the King’s execution, the Royal Stuart Society holds a wreath-laying ceremony here.

L/By Northumberland Avenue

R Victoria Embankment

Great Scotland Yard spiritual home of the police was built on an unsolved murder mystery. When the previous building was being removed a headless female body, the victim of an unsolved murder, was found in the basement of the building. It remains unsolved. In 1748 Bow Street Runners were formed by Henry Fielding who wrote the book Tom Jones ‘not the singer’ and was also a magistrate, with only 7 men working out of Bow Street. In 1821 Sir Robert Peel the then Home Secretary formed the police force, hence the nickname ‘Bobbies’. They had to wear their uniform both on and off duty and were often beaten up or murdered. In 1864 they were given their famous helmet, but the blue uniform is inherited from the city police formed in 1782 when they were required to attend public hangings and blue was considered a suitable backdrop to the event.

R Bridge Street

Comply Parliament Square

Westminster Abbey every coronation since 1066 has taken place here, although two sovereigns have not been formally crowned: Edward V, one of the princes in the Tower who was murdered in 1483, less than three months after his accession and Edward VIII who abdicated to marry Wallace Simpson. During the dissolution of the monasteries part of the Abbey’s revenues were transferred to St. Pauls Cathedral as a bribe to save it from destruction, the expression ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’ comes from this act. Legend has it that John Bradshaw, who pronounced the death sentence on Charles I in 1649, haunts the Deanery. The first poet to be buried in the south transept commonly known as Poet’s Corner was Geoffrey Chaucer in 1400 and, after this, other poets sought to be buried near him. But many poets, often because of the unconventional lives they led, were considered undesirable by successive Deans and have only been given memorials many years after their deaths. One of the strangest is that of Ben Jonson, who despite his fame, and fortune as a poet and playwright decided to invest his wealth on wine, women and only escaped the hangman’s noose after killing a fellow poet in a drunken brawl by using the bizarre Elizabethan law at the time which gave anyone who could read Latin the right to have the letter M branded on the thumb instead of the long drop with a short rope. Living in poverty he persuaded the Dean of Westminster Abbey to give him a resting place a mere 2 feet by 2 feet, not having the money for the traditional size. Here his friends interned him standing bolt upright in a corner that has now become Poet’s Corner.

This is the second part of our Christmas Tour. No pictures are necessary we all know what the tourist sites look like; all that’s provided is a potted history. I’ve attempted to give directions as a Knowledge student would use. No doubt I will be castigated by those same students for any mistakes. Please note also that at this time of year there are many road closures and so the tour may not always be adhered to.

L/By Charterhouse Street

Comply Holborn Circus

L/By New Fetter Lane

F Fetter Lane

L Fleet Street

Fleet Street St. Bride Church rebuilt by Wren 1670-84 with tiered spire 1701-3, 226 feet high inspiration for wedding cakes. Gutted in the Blitz and restored. River Fleet below was covered over in 1765. Latrines were built over the Fleet and conditions were so bad that it stopped flowing because of the sheer volume of human waste. A common sight in the Middle Ages was the human public convenience! This was a man wearing a large cloak and carrying a pail, the cloak being used to conceal the customer as he relieved himself in the bucket. Conditions so bad that in 1664 the Great Plague took hold. Once the plague was diagnosed a red cross was painted on the door and everybody in the house, contaminated or not, was locked in for 40 days and if another death occurred in the house the quarantine period had to start again. Guards were placed at the door; the inmates desperate to get out would try to strangle the guards by dangling a noose from an upstairs window. By 1665 over 100,000 had died.

F Ludgate Circus

F Ludgate Hill

St. Paul’s Cathedral first founded in 604, this is the fifth church of that name to be built this site. The fourth was even more awe-inspiring, being considerably larger than today’s’, which in its time had the tallest spire ever built. More a gigantic meeting and market place than a church. Street entertainers performed here, probably came from Italy as in Rome they were burnt as wizards. Henry VIII gambled away the church bells on a single throw of the dice; they were removed and sold for the value of the metal. Very occasionally the building was used for religious purposes, new translations of the bible, along with Luther’s was burnt here and in 1517 a maypole was denounced to death, although whether the sentence was carried out is uncertain. Cromwell’s troops burnt the pews and furniture and the roof fell in after the scaffolding holding it up was sold. Used as a cavalry barracks during the bitter winter of 1652 and horse dung was sold as fuel at 4d a bushel. For a small fee young trouble makers would climb to the top of the church and shout abuse and throw stones at passers-by, it seems hooliganism is not a 20th century phenomenon. Eventually burnt to the ground in the Great Fire of 1666. The current church is one of the great Gothic churches of Europe. Built by Sir Christopher Wren between 1675 and 1711, it took so long to build that to be called a St. Paul’s workman in the 17th century meant to be very slow at your job. In crypt tombs of Nelson, Wellington including his funeral carriage and many more including Wren’s almost anonymous plain black marble slab erected by his son, epitaph reads:

Si Monumentum Requiris, Circumspice If you seek of monument, look around you

An old legend says that if anything goes wrong with the bells it is considered an ill omen for the Royal Family.

L/By St. Paul’s Churchyard

F Cannon Street

R Friday Street

R Queen Victoria Street

L White Lion Hill

L Victoria Embankment

Temple on right. The word ‘inn’ originally meant a hostel where barristers and law students lived in a community. These Inns of Court, medieval colleges of lawyers, through which all have to pass who wish to qualify for the legal profession, developed into a sequence of courts, gardens, and alleys, badly blitzed in Second World War but restored. Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night was staged here in 1602. In 1608 King James I granted the Inner Templars, members of a legal fraternity, limited ownership. In gratitude they gave him a ‘stately cup’ of pure gold. His son in need of money pawned it.

Victoria Embankment designed by Bazalgette. Under this road is London’s first sewer. The river was so bad before there were dredgers who got a living from removing corpses taken from the Thames.

Cleopatra’s Needle having nothing to do with her but called Cleopatra’s Needle, carved in 1475 BC over 1,000 years before London was named, is by far the capital’s oldest man- made attraction. Stands over sixty feet high and weights 186 tons. Presented to the British in the early 1800s against its wishes. It was loaded onto an iron pontoon and showed its obvious displeasure at being moved from the shores of the Mediterranean by nearly sinking off The Bay of Biscay. The obelisk was saved but six seamen died in the ferocious storm. We eventually erected it in 1887. It is now the most popular suicide spot on this stretch of the Thames come here at night to witness two ghosts who are seen jumping into the river. You cannot help but feel that the needle is waiting for the day when it can return home to stand proud under the hot Egyptian sun.

R Horse Guards Avenue

L Whitehall

Banqueting House The only remaining part of the old Whitehall Palace above ground, designed by Inigo Jones and completed 1622 is the first purely Renaissance building in London. Inside it has a gallery with a stone balustrade so the King’s subjects could watch him dine. The ceiling commissioned by Charles I painted by Rubens and celebrates ‘The benefits of Wise Rule’. 14 years later in 1649 Charles walked out through a window here to his beheading, wearing a thick vest to stop him getting the cold, fearing that if he shivered they would think him afraid.

Haig’s Statute Douglas, 1st Earl Hag who commanded the British forces in 1915 during the first world war, but has since been denigrated for his mismanagement of the battle of Passchendale, his critics were quick to point out that the hind legs of his horse suggest not propulsion but urination. Now spoiling the view of Dover House built 1787 by Henry Holland looking like a Wedgwood Vase.

F                      Parliament Street

Comply           Parliament Square

Houses of Parliament In 1834 the Palace of Westminster burn down, ending the accommodation for the legislature for nearly 300 years. Designed by Charles Barry whose son designed Tower Bridge, with ornamentation by Augustus Pugin in Perpendicular Gothic. When the clock tower reached a height of 150ft. work on it had to be suspended as it was discovered that the mechanism of the clock could not be raised inside it.

Westminster Hall The only surviving part of the original Palace of Westminster, built in 1097, with additions and alterations, it has the widest hammer-beam roof in the country added in 1399. Traditionally the Royal champion would ride to the centre of the Hall, throw down his gauntlet, and challenge any man denying the right of the Sovereign to single combat.

From 13th century to 1882 it housed the law courts. In early days men were hired as witnesses here, the sign of their trade was a straw protruding from their shoe, hence expressions ‘man of straw’ and ‘straw bail’ The barristers waiting for a brief, would place themselves around the room leaning against the posts and pillars where the expression ‘going from pillar to post’ comes from.

Amongst those tried here have been Sir John Oldcastle (Shakespeare’s Falstaff), Sir Thomas More, Queen Anne Boleyn and Guy Fawkes. After the Restoration the heads of Cromwell and his fellow Commonwealth leaders, Ireton and Bradshaw were placed on the roof. Cromwell’s head stayed there for 25 years until it was finally blown down. We seem to have forgiven Mr. Cromwell as his statute has pride of place outside Westminster Hall; unfortunately his spurs are upside down. The Irish however had not forgiven his barbaric treatment of them, as they refused to help finance the making of it.

Westminster Abbey Every coronation since 1066 has taken place here, although two sovereigns have not been formally crowned: Edward V, one of the princes in the Tower who was murdered in 1483, less than 3 months after his accession and Edward VIII who abdicated to marry Wallace Simpson. During the dissolution of the monasteries part of the Abbey’s revenues were transferred to St. Pauls Cathedral as a bribe to save it from destruction, the expression ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’ comes from this act. Legend has it that John Bradshaw, who pronounced the death sentence on Charles I in 1649, haunts the Deanery.

L/By                Margaret Street

F                      Old Palace Yard

F                      Abingdon Street

F                      Millbank

Comply           Millbank Circus

Thames House on right headquarters of MI5. They are recruiting what they euphemistically describe as ‘mobile surveillance officers’ that’s spies to you and me. Now I’m old enough to remember the Burgess/Phil by/Maclean debacle and rather assumed recruitment was through an old boys’ network with links to an Oxbridge College, and a predilection to, shall we say? – unusual sexual appetites. There is great deal on the MI5 site about extended working hours, multitasking, thinking on your feet and the need not to have facial tattoos (they make you too noticeable, apparently!), but nothing about getting shot at, being stabbed with trick umbrellas or being irradiated. Should MI5 not be your cup of tea (or vodka martini), there’s always MI6 across the water. So surely there is something in there for everyone?

L/By                Lambeth Bridge

That is the end of our circular tour. We have, of course, just scratched the surface. We haven’t visited Royal London or the West End. Hopefully I will return to those another day. Remember during the Christmas period there are numerous scheduled road works, for check them out follow this link.

It is that time of the year when many of you have time off from work coupled with a lifting of the congestion charge.

So here is a potted car tour of our capital taking some the tourist sites which for one week only will be free from the usual hordes.

It is circular and may be started from any point. The directions are written in the manner required when answering questions on The Knowledge.

[T]he instructions are pretty self-explanatory: L/L means leave on left; L/By leave by; Comply is to go round a roundabout; and L; R; and F I’ll let your work those out. We start at St. Thomas’ Hospital and the Florence Nightingale Museum.

From a good family Florence went into nursing when before her time they were mostly harlots. Florence went out during Crimean War with 38 nurses to tend over 10,000 injured soldiers. She came back to England in 1856 and raised £50,000 to start a nursing school at St. Thomas Hospital and strove to improve sanitary standards in hospitals. A small idiosyncrasy was that she kept a small owl in her apron pocket (this can be seen in her statute in Waterloo Place. At the age of 40 she became a hypochondriac. A visitor at her house said they could hear her laboured breathing through closed doors it was as if she was breathing her last. But she managed to struggle on for another 50 years dying at the age of 90.

L/L Lambeth Palace Road

Comply Lambeth Circus

L/By Lambeth Palace Road

Lambeth Palace the London seat of Archbishop of Canterbury for over 700 years. The first bishop to live here was Stephen Langton generally accepted as the author of Magna Carta.

Museum of Gardening In St. Mary’s Church dedicated to John Tradescant gardener to Charles I. Buried in graveyard is William Bligh of The Bounty whose crew mutinied and was romantically recreated by Hollywood. What is little known is that 21 years later while Governor of New South Wales another mutiny occurred resulting in him being held prisoner for two years.

R Westminster Bridge Road

L Addington Street

R York Road

L Chichester Street

R Belvedere Road

South Bank Complex started in 1951 on bombsite. Royal Festival Hall, two concert halls, Royal National Theatre, Hayward Gallery of modern art. Museum of the Moving Image, the hat and cane owned by Charlie Chaplin is on view along with all aspects of the cinema.

F Upper Ground

R Hatfields

L Stamford Street

F Southwark Street

L Southwark Bridge Road

L Park Street

R New Globe Walk

Globe Theatre first thatched building since the Great Fire of London in 1666. There were four theatres here from 1580-1630: The Rose, the Swan with seating for 3,000, the Hope the newest theatre had a moveable stage to facilitate bear and bull baiting and the Globe part owned by Shakespeare. The original Globe theatre was in Shoreditch some 1½ miles to the north but after a disagreement with the owner of the site it was dismantled and moved here overnight. It was used in the summer only as there was no roof, the price of admission being 1d for the pit; 2d for the gallery; and 3d (approximately 1p in today’s’ money) for a seat. Plays known to have been performed here include Richard III, Romeo & Juliet, King Lear, Othello, Henry VIII, Love’s Labour Lost, The Winter’s Tale, The Taming of the Shrew and Pericles.

Turn New Globe Walk

L Park Street

Stop at The Anchor public house the original definition of an inn was a place where food, drink and lodging could be obtained, whereas a tavern, strictly speaking, sold only drink, and woe betide the landlords of either who broke and law. The Anchor was rebuilt in 1676 after a fire, replacing the original frequented by William Shakespeare. Dr. Samuel Johnson, who obviously found compiling the first dictionary in the English language thirsty work, came here. There are tales of river pirates selling their booty to the barman, of escapes from the nearby Clink prison, and of the press gang, whose job it was to impress upon fit and hearty men the need to join the Navy. One of the river ferrymen overcharged Samuel Pepys, the diarist and Secretary to the Navy Office, for his journey across the river the Anchor. Shortly afterwards the man found himself in the Navy.

Walk to Clink Prison takes its name from the dungeons of the Palace of The Bishop of Winchester, which stood here. The surrounding area formed the notorious ‘Liberty of the Clink’ famous for its medieval ‘stews’ (brothels), taverns, bear gardens and theatres.

R Park Street

R Redcross Way

R Southwark Street

R Thrale Street

R Southwark Bridge Road

F Southwark Bridge

F Queen Street Place

R Upper Thames Street

F Lower Thames Street

L Fish Street Hill

The Monument 202ft high precisely 202ft from Pudding Lane bakery where great fire started on 2nd September 1666, the fire burned for 4 days destroying over 13,000 houses, 87 churches, miraculously only nine people were killed. Designed by Christopher Wren and erected 1671-77 it is the tallest unsupported Doric column in the world, surmounted by gilded fireball; relief on pedestal depicts rebuilding London after fire. The fire started by accident but a Frenchman, Robert Hubert confessed to starting it and was later hanged at Tyburn. This was once a favourite spot for people wishing to commit suicide who had a head for heights. There must be something about kneading dough, or the fact that as a result of a nearby baker’s oven the City was consumed by fire, that has made this ledge the launch pad of choice for suicidal bakers. Six unfortunates have committed suicide by jumping from the top of the Monument and three had associations with baking; John Cradock in 1788; a man named Leander in 1810; and Margaret Moyes a daughter of a baker in 1839.

F Monument Street

L King William Street

F London Bridge

London Bridge first built of wood by the Romans the oldest bridge across the Thames being the only crossing point until 1749 when a second bridge was constructed, due in part to the three-hour traffic jam waiting to cross. In 1014 Ethelred, trying to regain his throne from Canute called on the aid of Olaf of Norway for his Vikings to lash ropes around the supports of the bridge and set off downstream, the foundations were shaken and the bridge gave way thus dividing the Danish forces. The popular nursery rhyme “London Bridge is falling down” is probably based on this event. The southern approach was known as Traitors Gate where the heads of enemies of the state were placed on spikes having been parboiled and dipped in tar to preserve them. One of the first heads was that of the Scotsman William Wallace who was hung, drawn and quartered in 1305, portrayed in the film Braveheart starring Mel Gibson. The bridge was considered a prime place to live and as you did not have far to go for shopping as the bridge was full of all kinds of shops and a chapel. The last London Bridge, built in 1831, has made a long journey overseas, this time to warmer climes. It can now be seen in Lake Havasu, Arizona; though whether the buyers thought they were purchasing Tower Bridge is a matter of conjecture.

L Duke Street Hill

F Tooley Street

B/L Queen Elizabeth Street

L Tower Bridge Road

F Tower Bridge

F Tower Bridge Approach

L Tower Hill

R Trinity Square

All Hallows by the Tower John Quincey Adams, 6th President of the United States was married here when he was ambassador to the Court of St. James. Also William Penn the founder of Pennsylvania was baptized here. There is a very good brass-rubbing centre situated inside the church.

Tower of London the most perfect medieval fortress in Britain, begun by William I in 1066 to awe the people into submission on this strategic site outside the city near the only possible crossing point of the Thames. The walls range from 11 feet at the top to 15 feet at the bottom. It has been a palace, prison, and place of execution and has housed the royal armouries, the mint, the royal observatory, the royal menagerie, the public records, and still guards the Crown Jewels.

Built to be escape proof, but this was not to be, one of the most bizarre escapes was that of Lord Nithsdale, a Scottish peer, who had chosen the wrong side in 1715. He escaped, accompanied by his wife and maid, dressed as a woman, not that remarkable except he was over 6 feet tall and sported a full bright red beard.

It is said that if ever the Ravens leave the Tower, England will fall. A yeoman warder is now in charge of their well-being. Among those executed here were Thomas Moore and John Fisher for refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy during Henry VIII reign, also Henry’s wives Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard and Lady Jane Grey who was briefly Queen of England.

In 1685 James, Duke of Monmouth was executed after the Battle of Sedgemoor, the axe was blunt and after the first blow he got up and rebuked the executioner.

Tower Bridge Built between 1881 and 1894 in the Gothic style. The span now raised by electricity, the hydraulic machinery having been replaced. It is opened many times a year, now contains a museum and you may visit the top for panoramic views across London.

Tower Hill is the principle place of execution by beheading for the traitors who have been imprisoned in the Tower, seventy-five people known to have been executed here. Lord Lovat in 1747 was the last man executed by beheading in England. So many people would come to see an execution that in Lord Lovat’s execution a spectator stand collapsed crushing several people to death to which Lord Lovat commented: “The most mischief, the better sport”. A descendent of Lord Lovat still sits in the House of Lords today.

L Muscovy Street

R Seething Lane

R Crutched Friars

F Jewry Street

L Aldgate

Aldgate Pump before the piping of water into the City there was a series of pumps from which water could be drawn. The water from this pump had a different taste from the other local pumps making it a popular tipple. It was discovered that during its journey underground from the hills of Hampstead 5 miles to the north, it passed through a cemetery. Calcium from the bones gave its unique taste.

B/R Leadenhall Street

Lloyds of London is a unique insurance market, which has no shareholders and accepts no corporate liability for risks insured. It is a society of underwriters made up of individuals called ‘names’ that accept insurance risks for their personal profit or loss and are liable to the full extent of their private fortunes to meet their insurance commitments. Named after Lloyds Coffee House where business started near here in the 1680’s. Present building opened 1986. Architect Richard Rogers.

F Cornhill

R Finch Lane

L Threadneedle Street

Bank of England founded in 1694 and called The Bank of London, the present building’s exterior was built in 1788 but the interior was remodelled in 1925. Its nickname ‘The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street’ is thought to originate from a cartoon by James Gillray in 1804 satirising government interference. The best-known functions of the bank are the design, print and issue of banknotes, to store the gold reserves in its vaults and to raise finance and manage the government debt.

F Bank Headway

L/By Poultry

F Cheapside

St. Mary-le-Bow Church Although enemy bombing in 1941 destroyed the original bells it is said that a true ‘cockney’ has to be born within the sound of these bells. Probably dating from 1520 when a larger bell was installed in the tower of the old church to sound ‘the retreat from work’. Thinking I was a true cockney until discovering the clock tower, and the bells, were rebuilt to Christopher Wren’s design in 1956, nine years after my birth – oh well!.

F Newgate Street

Old Bailey Until its demolition at the turn of the century the name Newgate was synonymous with death and deprivation. The prison was probably London’s most corrupt, all necessities, such as beds, had to be paid for and your treatment and conditions depended entirely on how much money you had or could get hold of. Henry Fielding called it one of the most expensive places on earth, indeed not unlike some of London’s hotels today! If you happened to have a private income a place was found for you in the Press Yard where the rooms were large and spacious as well as being well supplied with light and air, and free from smells. The prisoners confined here spent much of their time drinking, gambling and gossiping. There were inns both inside and outside the prison gates and outsiders were allowed in to mix and drink with the prisoners. It would not be uncommon to witness a game of skittles or tennis or even be a party to one of the many illicit weddings performed inside. If you had the money you could pay to stay away from prison for days on end. The post of prison keeper was hereditary as it had many financial perks. At Fleet Prison the post became vacant after 350 years and was sold for £5,000, an enormous sum in those days. For the majority however, life was not so comfortable. The stench in the prison was so bad that during trials herbs were strewn the court of justice and the passages leading to the prison. The help prevent infection and disguise the obnoxious smell of the prisoners they were bathed in vinegar before their appearance in court.

Site of Tyburn was a place of entertainment for hundreds of years. Prisoners would be carried by cart from here to Tyburn 2 ½ miles away, facing backwards if convicted of treason. One of the perks being an executioner was keeping the victims clothes. Hannah Dagoe brawled with the executioner who tried to stop her stripping off and throwing her clothes to the crowd. She was an immensely strong Irish woman who, when the executioner tried to stop her, nearly knocked him out of the cart. She was eventually to depart the world in the same state of undress as the arrived. Early forms of execution the prisoner had to mount a ladder with a rope tied around his neck and ordered to jump, this was modified later by standing on a cart before a horse towed it away leaving you dangling. The crowd would surge forward to pull the legs of the prisoner to ensure a speedier death. Many women dashed forward to place the dead man’s hand on their cheeks or breasts as the dead were thought to have mystical gifts and be able to cure warts, pimples and other blemishes. Later the rope was sold at 6d a yard. Tyburn was closed as a place of execution in 1783 because of the ever increasing problem of riots associated with hangings, particularly highwaymen who were very popular, thereafter Newgate was used.

F Holborn Viaduct

Comply Holborn Circus

L/By Charterhouse Street

L Ely Place

Stop at Old Mitre

If ever there was a place which encapsulates ‘Englishness’ the Ye Olde Mitre Tavern is it, hidden away down an alleyway in Hatton Garden. The first Mitre Tavern was built in 1546 as the boozer for servants working in the Palace of the Bishops of Ely. This small area is still technically under the control of the Diocese of Ely, Cambridgeshire and until the last century the pub licence was issued from Ely. The City police at that time had no jurisdiction within its bounds.

The Mitre today claims to be the oldest pub in London, which although rebuilt in 1772 it is technically still part of Cambridgeshire, so it should lay claim to be the oldest boozer in Cambridge.

Soon after its rebuilding Dr. Johnson was a regular – Is there any 18th century public house without that claim? – much of the interior would be familiar to the grumpy lexicographer. If you want to be transported back to Georgian London a trip to the outside gents toilets will give you that questionable experience. The only hand basin in the men’s is in the cubicle so be weary of pissing on your hands if somebody is taking a dump there. The women’s toilets are upstairs in the Bishop’s Room it would be too tempting to have the men’s toilets in the Bishop’s Room for fear of jokes about bashing it.

Beware of head and body injuries in Ye Olde Mitre, as the ceilings are low and the rooms are small, dark and crammed with furniture and people, With no TV’s, gaming machines or piped music, just the murmur of polite conversation Ye Old Mitre is a hidden gem.