This morning we headed off on a busy day of walking and climbing. The usual wait for a bus outside our hotel lets us go over the day with the fantastic background roar of jets taking off and landing across the road at Heathrow.
First up we are aiming to climb The Monument and on our way from the Tube we saw the Bank of England. But enough of that, we are on the lookout for which important street? Anyone? Yes, correct- Pudding Lane!!
Pudding Lane is the site of a bakery where on the night of 2nd September in 1666, a fire broke out in what would be a massively devastating event in London's history. Most homes in that part of London were made of timber and the fire tore through the area over a period of 4 days.
The City's gates, 87 churches, businesses and 13,200 homes were lost. Only those buildings with some stone in their construction escaped total destruction. Luckily loss of life was comparatively low.
I wrote this before our travels to explain it to the family:
Sir Christopher Wren and Dr Robert Hooke were tasked by King Charles II with creating a memorial of the Great Fire near Pudding Lane. Wren was also given the mammoth job of architect for the rebuilding of St. Paul’s Cathedral.
This memorial became The Monument and was constructed between 1671 and 1677 at the junction of Monument St and Fish Street Hill in the City. The Monument is a memorial to what was lost but also a celebration of the rebuilding of the City.
The column houses a stone staircase of 311 steps leading to a viewing platform. The Monument is 61 metres or 202 feet high- the exact distance between it and Pudding Lane where the fire began.
We were the first to climb The Monument that day and wow- around, around and around you go up to the very top. The reward for the effort was a breathtaking view of London's skyline featuring all the landmarks. A careful descent and we were given certificates to say that yes, we had climbed.
Next stop...catch the Tube to Westminster and walk the length of Whitehall. From Westminster Abbey and Big Ben all the way to Trafalgar Square.
Whitehall is completely made up of important building after national monument after another important building. Basically every inch has seen, and continues to see, history every day.
Some of the sights:
Cabinet Office, King Charles Street which house the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) and leads to Churchill War Rooms, The Cenotaph, the PM's home No. 10 Downing Street ( it had a stunning Christmas tree out front), Department of Defence, Horse Guards and Banqueting House which is where we would stop for a while.
As mentioned in a previous blog post, I belong to the charity Historic Royal Palaces which manages six historic royal palaces. This trip we had already been to one of these buildings, Tower of London. Today we would do two more- Banqueting House and Kensington Palace.
Banqueting House is the last remaining part of Henry VIII's Whitehall Palace that stands today. It has had many versions over the centuries due to fire and rebuilding but essentially a Banqueting House was a place to hold masques, balls and celebrations. It had to be grand to house the stage, props not to mention guests.
This incarnation of the Banqueting House was designed by Inigo Jones early 17th century in the Italian Palladian style of the day. The building has the dimensions of a double cube and windows and columns are in proportion. The ceiling has nine amazing paintings by Reubens ( 1636) and the facade is Portland stone which was used widely throughout London ( think St. Paul's).
Stuart period King Charles I was hanged outside the entrance on a bitterly cold January day in 1649. Long story short, but basically he was overspending, overreaching the remit given to a ruler and would not find a way of working with the government of the day.
I have been to the Banqueting House a few times and although not expansive in terms of sightseeing, a lie down on the bean bags provided allows for a spectacular way to absorb the ceiling. The windows look down at Whitehall and Horse Guards Parade ( another day...).
After dressing up in costumes of the 1600s we left to grab a bite to eat.
Our afternoon was spent at Kensington Palace ( KP) and Kensington Gardens- probably my favourite part of London.
KP is part of HRP and they have done a magnificent job in restoring the State Apartments, using it for various exhibitions as well as the permanent Kings Apartments and Queens Apartments.
Kensington Gardens adjoins Hyde Park and I have previously walked the entire length- from Kensington High Street right along to Marble Arch.
The current exhibition commemorates Queen Victoria who was born in the very same Palace 200 years earlier. The then Princess Victoria grew up here and only moved once she became Queen. Then she relocated to Buckingham House, now Palace.
After looking at the beautiful Christmas decorations, some of Diana, Princess of Wales's garments on display and wandering around we went outside to find Harry who had spent the time exploring the Gardens.
We were then totally exhausted and made our way back to the Tube at Kensington High Street. Hotel and bed, here we come.....
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