London Walks

If you are lucky enought to be in London this season, be sure to take advantage of one of the city's best bargains: London Walks.  Here is their website with their daily schedules.

Though I am missing out on London this year, I've visited at least once almost every year for the last 25 or so, and I never tire of tagging along with the London Walks guides.  Not a single disappointment --  and I've been on quite a few of them at least twice.

There are many operators of walking tours and many may be excellent, but with London Walk, you can be confident you have an experienced and entertaining guide.  Among the most popular walks (and operated by many it seems) is a night-time venture through the alleys of the East End in the footseps of Jack the Ripper.  Note: you won't find him! I found the LW guide a fount of knowledge about the criminal, the victims, the crimes and the locale, with all sorts of facts included about the residents and architecture of the area, now largely gentrified.  I didn't want a sideshow kind of tour -- and it wasn't.  But be careful of copycat tour operators.

Bodecia on Westminster Bridge

One of my favorites (well, they  all are!) was a recent one: Old Westminster. I had told myself that since I'd visited Westminster Abbey, watched a debate in the House of Commons and walked across Westminister Bridge in the past, I really didn't need this tour.  Was I wrong or WHAT?  I learned so much!  And that is exactly what happens on all the tours.

Little Venice

Also highly recommended: the Little Venice walk through a neighborhood not far from Paddington Station. You'll see lovely homes and a fascinating church with a monument to actress Sarah Siddons. St. Mary on Paddington Green is, for Regency lovers, more like churches looked in those days, before the Victorians tarted them up with fancy new stained glass and other gee-gaws.

St. Mary Paddington Green, completed 1791

One of the Walks I have taken at least three times is Legal and Illegal London or the Inns of Court.  You will learn all about the British legal system, the difference between solicitors and barristers, and how the law is taught and practiced while walking around the delightful buildings and gardens of the City.

Gray's Inn

 And you will visit the Temple Church, full of fascinating lore, dating from the 12th century, but with many renovations, including repairs after the Blitz.

Temple Church

On the walk Secret London, you find out why there is a camel on the banks of the Thames and secrets of sculptor Sir Edwin Landseer's lion paws in Trafalgar Square.

You'll find walks geared to fans of Harry Potter, the Beatles, Charles Dickens, Shakespeare and many more clever approaches to seeing the great city.  There are some special opportunities to visit Olympic sites too.  Each Walk takes about two hours (don't forget to visit the loo before starting out).

Most days of the week London Walks runs Explorer Days, to such not-to-be-missed- sights such as Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral, Canterbury, Bath, Oxford and many many more, all accessible by train.  These cost a little more, but if you don't drive in England, it is a convenient way to see a bit of the countryside as well major cities.

The Roman  Baths, Bath

Another special set of walks visit pubs in the evening, a boon to those of us who sometimes visit solo and enjoy a bit of company with our  pints (or I suggest half paints as you will visit several pubs and time is short at each one).  Here is one of my favorite London pubs, though I can't remember which walk features it.

Blackfriars Pub

I hope this has convinced you to try out some of the London Walks on your next visit.  You won't be sorry.

If you, like me, have to stay home this year, you might send for London Stories, published by London Walks, and written by David Tucker and the Guides.  It's a good armchair companion.  It's available on their website and elsewhere.

Walking St. James, Part Two

Victoria here, continuing my walk through parts of St. James...I reached Marlborough House, once the residence of Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VII), and his wife Alexandra of Denmark.

Since it was not only the day of Trooping the Colour but also part of the Open Squares weekend, the gardens of Marlborough House  were open to the public.  It is now the home of the Commonwealth Secretariat and Conference Center. The tents shown above not only dispensed hot tea, a necessity on this chilly day, but also displayed brochures and booklets on the 54 member nations of the Commonwealth.  Anyone for a vacation in Tasmania?

Marlborough House was built for Sarah Churchill, first Duchess of Marlborough by Sir Christopher Wren, closely bordering the grounds of St. James Palace.  Eventually the house was taken up by the crown and used by various members of the royal family.  For many years, as the residence of Edward and Alexandra, it was the home of the Marlborough Set, a late Victorian social circle around the Prince of Wales.

My favorite feature of these gardens was most definitely the Pet Cemetery where Alexandra's dear little dogs are buried in a corner.  

I walked to the opposite corner of the gardens and watched the troops escorting the Queen back to Buckingham Palace. I stood on a mound inside the wall that gave an excellent views, only partially blocked by the police and mounted officers along the route.

A memorial to Queen Alexandria is built into the garden wall of Marlborough House, just opposite St. James Palace.

East facade of St. James, facing the grounds of Marlborough House

Queen's Chapel, opposite St James Palace, north of Marlborough House

The Queen's Chapel was built for Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I, in 1625 and designed by Inigo Jones.  It is used for services at various times of the year that are open to the public.  It was originally Roman Catholic but is now Church of England.

I walked around the corner of St. James Palace to the more familiar facade of the palace which faces north, up St. James St. toward Piccadilly.

From here on, the royal connections are more limited: the warrants given to various merchants which supply the royal family and the memberships various royals hold in the gentleman's clubs.

Berry Bros. and Rudd, wine merchants, est. 1698

Their website is here.

Through a narrow passage beside the shop is Pickering Place, a small courtyard reputed to be the sight of duels.  They must have involved swords for certainly it is too small for gun play.



Nearby is Lock and Co. Hatters, est. 1676.

Their website is here.

D. R. Harris, Chemists, is located at 29  St. James St. Their website is here.

St. James Street is also the location of several of Britain's most prestigious gentleman's clubs. Below is Brook's.

Here is the famous bow window of White's.

When I reached the top of St. James Street, at Piccadilly, I turned east once more and sought the comforting, yet stimulating, confines of Hatchards Bookshop.  Oh, to be there once more!!  Their website is here.

I will leave you here, as I immerse myself in some wonderful volume -- most likely more about London or British history.

Walking St. James, Part One

St. James Palace

My pictures of London's St. James over the years show astonishing similarity of views, but I keep trying to capture the essentials of the area and manage to fail.  St. James is the area around St. James Palace and was once, in the reign of the Stuarts, where "everyone" lived.  Before Kensington, before Belgravia, before Mayfair, St. James Square was -- and is -- the Place To Be.  Only the most exclusive clubs, the most distinguished businesses and retailers, the most luxurious hotels..the creme de la creme of London.

map of St. James

St. James is bordered on the east by Haymarket, on the north by Piccadilly, on the south by the Mall and St. James Park, and on the west by Green Park.  Once part of the royal hunting grounds itself, like the Parks, the area of St. James was granted by Charles II to Henry Jermyn (Earl of St.Albans) to develop as a residential neighborhood adjacent to St. James Palace.

Last June (2011), I watched the Queen and Royal Family, accompanied by a FEW of her  Guards, parade from Buckingham Palace along the Mall toward the parade ground at Horse Guards for the annual Trooping the Colour.  See this blog of July 30, 2011, for more.

The Queen was accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, beside her and following were Prince Charles, Prince William, and Princess Anne on horseback.in their uniforms as Colonels of Guards regiments.

While the Queen was reviewing her troops, I took the opportunity to wander around St. James and snap more pictures.  I walked up the steps from the Mall between the two large buildings that comprise Carlton House Terrace, once the site of the Prince Regent's fantastic Carlton House, demolished in 1825.

The large townhouses which comprise the Terrace wings and Carlton Gardens are mostly offices now but once housed distinguished figures such as Lord Palmerston. 

Waterloo Place is not much more than a parking lot, sadly. 

Waterloo Place with Duke of York Column

The large monument is to the Duke of York, son of George III and brother of George IV.

Waterloo Place was to be the terminal point of the great development of Regent Street, stretching from the Mall to Regent's Park, as designed by architect John Nash for George IV, and for which Carlton House itself was demolished.  But unlike the nearby Trafalgar Square, it has never become a public gathering place of importance.

Looking in the other direction, north, up Regent Street.

 One one side  of Waterloo Place is the Traveller's  Club and on the other is the Athenaeum with its garden.  I assume all the distinguished members were at Horse Guards, for it appeared to be rather deserted. 

Atheneaum, with equestrian statue of Edward VII

Athenaeum and Garden

Athenaeum Entrance

Things were pretty quiet with everyone watching for the Queen's return, so I turned west and walked down Pall Mall.

Above, looking west on Pall Mall with London's ever present traffic diversions

  At 87 Pall Mall is the elegant facade of Schomberg House with its Coade Stone figures supporting its portico.

Just a few steps farther is the handsome 79 Pall Mall with its lovely window set off by pink geraniums looking out at the busy street.

A building on this site, still part of the Crown Estate, was given to Nell Gwynne (1650-1687), the little orange seller who became the Restoration Theatre's most famous actress -- as well as being one of the mistresses of Charles II.

I'll continue with my St. James Views soon...next stop, Marlborough House and St. James Palace.  How I long to return...there's so much more to explore in just this one small area of London.