Three Days in London

The final stage of our wild trip with the Sems and the Townsends was London. We’d walked the southern half of the Cotswold Way, cruised the Kennet and Avon canal on a canalboat for several days, checked out a White Horse and Avebury’s massive stones, and were ready for London. After Avebury, we’d driven our rental car to Heathrow airport, taken a tube to St James’s Park, and checked into our Hub by Premier Inn by Westminster Abbey. We were ready for three days in London!

There was so much to see in London. For first time visitors who were unlikely to return, we tried to show them all the highlights. I recognized the look of “being in the fog” in the middle of our second day and hope that this blog will help align their memories with sights while entertaining others. I grew up just outside of London, near Chorleywood tube station (on the Metropolitan line). My Dad commuted for work near Baker’s Street and I travelled “into town” frequently. Each subsequent visit has been joyful as I learn something new each time. This trip was no exception and triggered some particular memories and thoughts that I share below.

Janet structured the three days around three regions. Day 1 covered the east end of central London, focusing on the Tower of London and St. Paul’s Cathedral and crossing the Millennium Bridge. Day 2 looked at the West End, starting with the sights between Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace, catching the Changing of the Guard, and then walking around the sights towards Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square. Day 3 was slower, starting with a visit to Janet’s favourite rose garden in Regent’s Park and walking through Hyde Park. Max and I visited the Royal Geographical Society to research Percy Fawcett’s expeditions (described in a separate blog) and we rounded out the whole trip with a dinner cruise together down the Thames cruising under Tower Bridge and passing the Docklands and Greenwich.

Day 1: From the Tower to St. Paul’s

With tickets booked for the Tower of London when it opened at 9am, we took an early tube and found breakfast near the Tower and wandered around. The morning light was very kind to the sights, and crowds were thin.

This cool sundial, just outside Tower Hill tube station, was telling the correct time!

Our first view of the Tower, so I felt a selfie was obligatory. The Tower dates from 1078 AD.

There was evidence that the Romans had a structure at this site that they called Londinium before the contemporary tower was built by William the Conqueror in 1078.

We found a fine cafe for breakfast at St Katherine’s Dock, just downstream of Tower Bridge.

On our way from St Katherine’s to the Tower, we caught our first of many close-up views of Tower Bridge. The bridge was built in the late 1800’s and the centre span lifts about twice a day.

Traitor’s Gate from inside the Tower. This gate connects the tower to the River Thames and was used to bring prisoners into the tower, often for their execution.

Ceramic poppies were throughout the tower, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. They represent remembrance for those who died in the wars, initially used because there were many poppies in the battlefields around Flanders in WWI where so many soldiers died.

We headed off to see the Crown Jewels, where photography were forbidden. It was very wise to visit these early. We walked straight in, but when we left, there was a 45 minute wait to get in.

Legend states that if the ravens ever leave the Tower, the kingdom and the monarchy will fail. The Ravens’ wings are clipped so they can’t leave!

Entering the White Tower, we were greeted by the Line of Kings, represented by horses and armour.

Lots and lots of breastplates! There were many armaments in this museum.

St John’s chapel in the White Tower was built in 1080.

Note how the top canon is curved from getting too hot after many firings.

Robert Devereux was the last person beheaded within the tower in 1601. Having been a royal favourite, he fell from grace, was convicted of treason, and it took three blows of the axe to cut off his head. Ew! The last execution in the Tower was of the German spy Josef Jacobs on 15 August 1941.

After a morning of hard sightseeing, it was time for a break. Victoria Sponge with my tea seemed fitting.

This Yeoman Warder, a ceremonial guard of the Tower and also known as a Beefeater, generously posed for a fine group picture. Beefeaters are recruited from ex-service personnel with long service and good conduct records.

As we left the Tower, we noted that there was going to be a 41 gun salute in recognition of President Macron of France’s state visit.

One of the forty one gunshots. I loved the smoke rings! Max had served in a ceremonial unit in the US army so could explain some of the back story. Why forty one? Because! (read more here)

The City of London and St. Paul’s Cathedral

After exiting the Tower, we headed west into the City of London. The City is only a square mile and is home to the historic financial district, associated skyscrapers, and St Paul’s Cathedral, with lots of other history.

This monument commemorates the Great Fire of London in 1666. It marks the location of the bakery on Pudding Lane where the fire started. It came shortly after the Great Plague of 1665 and rendered about 85% of London homeless. Christopher Wren designed and coordinated much of the rebuilding, including St Paul’s.

A bridge has been at this site since the Romans built one in AD 50. The background to the nursery rhyme about London Bridge falling down is unknown. The current bridge was built in 1973. When the previous bridge needed replacing, it was sold in 1968 to Robert McCulloch for $2.5 million who moved it and rebuilt it in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

A statue of Wellington on his horse in front of the Bank of England and the original Stock Exchange.

St Mary-le-Bow church dates from 1080 and was rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren after the Great Fire. It suffered significant damage in WWII though was rebuilt.
Traditionally, only those born within earshot of the bells were considered to be true Londoners, or Cockneys.

St. Bride’s Church on Fleet Street inspired the tiered wedding cake tradition.
Fleet Street is where London’s newspapers were printed until modernization. My grandfather and uncle both worked at newspapers on Fleet Street.

St. Paul’s Cathedral

Next was St. Paul’s. It is an active Christian church, with visitors asked to remain still for prayer on every hour. We checked out the inside before the brave few climbed to the top for fantastic views. The surprising highlight was on our way out when Max and I stumbled across the American Memorial Chapel (thanks to Rick Steves’s guide).

First, the view of the front of the cathedral. The facade depicts the blinding flash of light associated with Paul’s conversion. Paul stands above, with Peter and the cockerel to his right and James on his left.

The choir stalls and the east end of the cathedral.

Inside the dome which we climbed. The walkway inside is known as the Whispering Gallery. Its design allows sound to travel from one side to the other and even whispers can be heard. That is when there are not hundreds of tourists speaking!

A straight-upwards view of the very top of the dome. Notice the tiny circle in the middle. More about that later.

Janet, Stephanie, Max, and I headed up the 528 steps while Dean got his Turkish shave and Tracy read about the cathedral’s history, including famous events such as the royal wedding of Charles and Diana in 1981. Max made it to the Whispering Gallery with views inside the cathedral but that was enough height. I was quite uncomfortable but persevered and we all very much enjoyed the views from the top in all directions.

At one point on our ascent when I felt I was close to the top, I stopped for a breath. After a few seconds, I noticed a glass disk in the floor and then realized I was standing on the very top on the interior dome, as the photo above shows. My heart probably missed a beat, but I recovered to take this photo straight downwards through the small hole.

The American Memorial Chapel

After descending from the dome and while looking at the high altar before heading to the crypt for refreshments, I checked our Rick Steves guidebook and he pointed out the American Memorial Chapel. It occupies the eastern end of the cathedral behind the high altar. As one of many displays in the cathedral, it is easily missed.

This visit to London made me particularly aware of the suffering and sacrifice from the world wars. Today’s comfort and relative tranquility makes that period seem so far away. I looked at memorials differently, now that I have children who could go to war. Maybe it was because my Uncle Den, who fought the Nazis in North Africa and Italy, is no longer with us. In his eyes, Trooper Ireland simply did his duty and didn’t have much to say about it. The war memorials that we had seen in every English small town were testaments to the numbers killed. For example, there were 57,470 British casualties on 1 July 1916, the opening day of WWI’s Battle of the Somme, with the four and a half month battle claiming over a million wounded or killed.

Our visit to the Tower and St Paul’s provided background about the Blitz. From 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941, the Nazis relentlessly bombed the UK to destroy its industrial centres, ports, and break the British morale. London was hit particularly hard with 43,000 deaths and 50,000 injured. My Dad described an incendiary bomb landing on his house in West London which fortunately did not explode. Rather than break the British people, the attacks strengthened their resolve. King George VI and his queen refused to leave London during the Blitz, despite their home (Buckingham Palace) taking direct hits, and they visited with the people in the bombed areas. The King’s daughter, Princess Elizabeth (later queen) was the first royal female to join the armed forces and served as a mechanic and driver.

St Paul’s cathedral became the symbol of national resistance during the Blitz. Many civilians volunteered for “St Paul’s Watch,” armed with buckets of water and hoses to put out fires and save the cathedral. Each morning during the Blitz, Churchill would eagerly enquire whether the dome was still in tact. While the vast majority of the surrounding area was devastated, St Paul’s suffered only one direct hit on its eastern end. In a testament to the strength of bond between the US and UK, and the gratefulness of the British people to their American allies, the damage was rebuilt as the American Memorial Chapel Dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus, with more than half the cost raised by ordinary British people. The stained glass windows include many nods to America such as an American Eagle and an image of George Washington. The chapel’s centerpiece is the 473-page Roll of Honour containing a personal message from General Eisenhower and the name, rank and service details of the 28,000 American soldiers stationed in Great Britain who gave their lives throughout the War. I was honoured to visit this site with Max, a former US soldier. Soldiers fighting in foreign wars is a complicated and sensitive topic. All wars are horrible and some continue to be necessary to combat evil. I have previously not known how to react when an American suggests that Brits thank them for not speaking German. I feel WW2 was a combined effort to rid the world of Hitler’s evil. In the future, I will at least be able to respond by pointing them towards the renovated eastern end of St. Paul’s. The cathedral continues to have a close association with the American people, including holding an annual Thanksgiving Day service since the chapel’s consecration in 1958.

Herbert Mason’s image of St Paul’s Cathedral during the night of 29 December 1940.
https://ww2ondeadline.substack.com/p/st-pauls-cathedral-photo-london-blitz-ww2

My video of the chapel

The Roll of Honour was opened to this page.

The central stained glass window includes an American Eagle.

The stained glass window on the right includes a picture of George Washington.

Rounding Off Day 1

We closed the day by crossing the Thames via the Millennium Bridge and taking the lift to the top of the Tate Modern, housed in the former Bankside Power Station, for the view back across the river. Janet had researched the Lord Nelson pub which served up excellent burgers with the added bonus of being close to Southwark tube station.

The iconic view is made all the more special from the Millennium Bridge.
Londoners nicknamed it the “Wobbly Bridge” after pedestrians experienced an alarming swaying motion caused by resonance on its opening day on 10 June 2000. It was closed for almost two years so that modifications and repairs could be made to keep the bridge stable and stop the swaying motion.

The Lord Nelson pub was certainly colourful! We were happy to rest our feet, and even happier to have an easy tube ride back to our hotel and a restful night.

Day 2: Parliament to the West End via the Changing of the Guards

We followed the previous day’s 23k steps with an even bigger day of over 26k steps. Once again, we started early to catch Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament in the warm morning light with commuters whizzing by rather than tourists clogging the pavement. Our stroll down Whitehall, the home of many UK government buildings, led us to Horse Guards Parade. That allowed us to cut through to St. James’s Park which in turn took us to Buckingham Palace. With an hour before the action started, we laid claim to our strategic position by the Queen Victoria Memorial to watch the Changing of the Guards and were not disappointed with our view of the spectacle over the crowds. After the guards had been changed, we headed towards the busy centre of London with its theatre district and popular attractions such as Leicester Square, Covent Garden, and Trafalgar Square. I wanted to check out the water pump where John Snow discovered that Cholera was a waterborne disease though the route took us through Soho which remained surprisingly seedy. I detected the glazed look of “too much touring” on my ducklings’ faces so we grabbed some yummy crumble and took a break amongst the gravestones in a cafe in the crypt of the church of St Martin-in-the-fields. Walking past a “farting lamp” (a lantern from 1870 that continues to burn off gas from the Victoria Embankment sewer) provided sufficient inspiration to cross the Thames for more great views and we escorted the gang to The Mulberry Bush pub on the Southbank. Janet and I then headed off to Pimlico for a great evening with Sian and Ros, friends from high school that I had not seen for over a decade.

Max bravely started the day by trying Marmite. I think he prefers Nutella…

We passed Westminster Abbey many times and always enjoyed the view.

We found some cool street names around the abbey.
Max was very happy with Pepsi Max, until he learned it was sugar free.

This statue of Abraham Lincoln overlooked Parliament Square. It was a 12-foot 1920 replica of a 1887 original in Chicago’s Lincoln Park

Churchill’s sculpture is where he wished it to be placed in Parliament Square, looking at Parliament. The 12-foot statue, unveiled in 1973, was based on a photo of him taken on 11 May 1941 when he surveyed the chamber of the House of Commons after it had been destroyed by Nazi bombing.

The streets were abuzz with commuters cycling to work. They go fast and all over the roads so it was wise to wait for the green man at the traffic lights, and then cross with caution. Max lamented his inability to watch the Tour de France as his app was restricted to the US.

We walked out onto Westminster Bridge to catch good views of The Eye, London’s former County Hall, and Parliament.

The Cenotaph was unveiled in 1920 as the United Kingdom’s national memorial to the dead of Britain and the British Empire of the First World War, was rededicated in 1946 to include those of the Second World War, and has since come to represent the Commonwealth casualties from those and subsequent conflicts. The word *cenotaph* is derived from Greek, meaning ’empty tomb’. Most of the dead were buried close to where they fell; thus, the Cenotaph symbolises their absence and is a focal point for public mourning. It is the site of the National Service of Remembrance every November

Right next to the Cenotaph is Downing Street. Number 10 is the Prime Minister’s home, but access to the street has been blocked since the 80s for security concerns associated with the Troubles in Northern Ireland and have not been lifted.

At the entrance to Horse Guards Parade from Whitehall, the French flag flew alongside the Union Jack, recognizing President Macron’s state visit.

One of many memorials throughout the capital to those who died in the world wars.

There were lots of interesting birds throughout London and especially in the Royal Parks, like these in St. James’s Park.

Queen Victoria’s statue and her view down the Mall.
I think she was not amused.

We stationed ourselves at a strategic viewing point about an hour before things started.
Janet sought shelter under her sweater!
A school group below us were intentionally dropping litter into the dry fountain and our teachers did not let them get away with it, calling them out and showing solidarity with their teacher!

The changing of the guards took about an hour with lots of pagentry. The bands played some surprising tunes including I Need a Hero, Highway to the Danger Zone, the Star Trek theme, and the Star Wars theme.

I noticed that the police guards on the palace gates carried firearms, something regular police in England do not. Throughout London there are barriers that prevent rogue vehicles from entering. Often, they blend into the overall decor and are not immediately obvious.

As we headed into Central London after the changing of the guards, we passed these memorials. The larger memorial is the Guards Crimean War Memorial from 1861 which commemorates the Allied victory in the Crimean War of 1853–56. In front of it is a 1915 statue of Florence Nightingale, the Lady with the Lamp. While she led a group of nurses in the Crimean war, her wider achievement was in raising the status and standard of nursing as a profession. Her grave is East Wellow, north of Southampton, close to where we used to live.

The statue of Eros in a busy Leicester Square.

The view down Shaftesbury Avenue, the heart of London’s West End and theatre district.

In 1854, a severe cholera outbreak was killing many people in London’s Soho. The above mentioned Florence Nightingale looked after sufferers. Dr John Snow challenged the prevailing theory that Cholera was transmitted through the air. Through spatial analysis of the cases, he identified this water pump on Broad Street as the epicenter. He convinced local authorities to remove the pump’s handle, which halted the outbreak in that area and proved his theory that Cholera was waterborne. There is a pub named after him next to the pump, of course.

We walked down Berwick St and its bustling market.

Tracy was excited to find a physical book store and we lost her there for a while. Foyles opened in 1903 and this flagship Charring Cross location was in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s largest bookshop in terms of shelf length, at 30 miles.

With energies flagging, Janet was very excited when she found a Humble Crumble store, one she had read about in another location that we were not visiting. We all enjoyed the hot apple crumble and custard.

There has been a market at Covent Garden since 1654, with the location’s name dating back to 1200 when it was a Convent garden belonging to Westminster Abbey. It is the site of the Royal Opera House in My Fair Lady where Eliza Doolittle sold flowers.

A visit to M&M world could not be resisted.

The Odeon cinema in Leicester Square is the UK’s main location for movie premiers.

Also in Leicester Square was this statue of Mary Poppins.

For several years, multiple locations throughout London show live tennis from Wimbledon.

We enjoyed refreshments in the Cafe in the Crypt, underneath the Church of St Martins-in-the-Fields off Trafalgar Square. One of the church’s ministries is London’s homeless and they opened this cafe to help support it. It was cool, but a bit weird to be sipping coffee while sitting on top of gravestones!

Refreshed, we headed down a sidestreet alongside the Savoy Theatre to find this “sewer gas destructor lamp.” It is the last of its kind that was installed in 1870 to burn off residual biogas from the Victoria Embankment sewer.

Back by the Thames, we found this beautiful bird. Google Lens tells me it is the Egyptian Goose, remarkably appropriate as we were right next to Cleopatra’s Needle.

A prominent landmark on the north bank of the Thames on the Victoria Embankment is Cleopatra’s Needle.
It is one of a pair that were donated by Egypt to the UK and US in the 19th century.
The other one stands in Central Park, New York.
The obelisks were originally erected in Heliopolis, Egypt, around 1450 BC, during the reign of Pharaoh Thutmose III.
They have absolutely nothing to do with Cleopatra!

From Waterloo Bridge there were fine views across the river of the Southbank, including the Shard and the OXO building.

The appearance of the steps and sand suggest low tide. The tidal range while we were in London was between 15 and 20 feet.

Day 3: Roses, Parks, the Royal Geographical Society, and a Thames Cruise

Our final day in London started like the others with a hotel breakfast. Today’s first destination was Janet’s favourite place in London – Queen Mary’s Rose Garden in Regent’s Park. The nearest tube station was Baker’s St., so we were able to say hi to Sherlock at 221B. The roses did not disappoint. Max and I had to head off by ourselves for our research visit to the Royal Geographical Society. It was located on the south side of Hyde Park, next to the Royal Albert Hall, and we enjoyed walking from Regent’s Park to Hyde Park Corner (past where my sister used to live) and then across Hyde Park. We spent several inspiring hours at the Royal Geographical Society (which will be covered in a separate post) before walking back to the hotel via the back wall of Buckingham Palace and the Wellington Arch. The trip’s grand finale was a sunset dinner cruise down the Thames, taking us under Tower Bridge and past Greenwich to the O2 arena while enjoying a fine dinner. All that was left was our trip back to the airport the following morning.

221B Baker’s Street is a fictitious address, but that does not stop this museum from capitalizing on the location.

This fine weeping willow greeted us as we entered Regent’s Park.

Janet loved showing off the Queen Mary Rose Garden, one of her favourite London sites. It was fun chatting with a groundskeeper.

When Max and I were heading out of Regent’s Park, I looked closer at this bandstand where we had noted the boxers training. The poppies caught my eye and I realized that this was the bandstand hit by an IRA bomb in 1982. I was fourteen, and I wasn’t allowed to travel up to London for a while after the explosion. It was less than a mile from my Dad’s office.

The above bandstand reminded me how macabre the ’80s were. In the same decade, the Kings Cross Underground Station fire claimed 31 casualties in 1987 and the Marchioness party boat sank in the Thames in 1989 taking 51 people. The Piper Alpha oil rig disaster claimed 167 lives on 6 July 1988. These accidents led to the introduction of today’s safety culture. Seatbelts had been made mandatory in the UK in 1983, and in Texas in 1985. In the 90s, terrorist attacks associated with the Northern Ireland Troubles diminished, ending with the Good Friday Agreement in April 1998.

The 2000’s brought the Islamic terrorist attacks. Everyone is aware of 9/11 in New York on 11 September 2001. London had its own Islamist attack on 7 July 2005 when four suicide bombs (three on tube trains, one on a bus) killed 52 people. The US and UK have different approaches to policing and anti-terrorism. Most UK police officers don’t carry guns, which works in the UK because the vast majority of bad actors don’t carry guns either. London has the largest number of CCTV cameras of any city outside of China. I felt as safe in London as anywhere and was thankful for all the efforts that make that happen, while blissfully unaware of the details. However, such feeling of safety made the Independence Day floods in the Texas Hill Country that much harder to fathom. Many remember Hurricane Katrina striking New Orleans in August 2005 with 1,392 casualties and Hurricane Harvey inundating Houston in August 2017 and taking over 100 lives. These lead me to pray and to admit that I do not understand everything that our omnipotent God allows to happen.