HIDDEN LONDON
Rosemary Scadden
Author Rosemary Scadden made a return visit to Cowbridge U3A’s History Group recently to give an illustrated talk on the hidden places of London, those outside the familiar tourist destinations. It must be said that Rosemary is an organiser’s dream speaker, as she brings and sets up her own equipment, with even a personal microphone system!
Her first visit to London was as a child with her mother in 1947, when the capital was filled with bomb sites, like so many British cities. On her next trip, to the Festival of Britain in 1951, a goat pulled the ribbon out of her hair and ate it – Rosemary feared she was next on the menu!
Since then, she has spent many days and weeks in London investigating the less well-known sights and places, of which her talk gave the audience a flavour. Not many were aware that there are streets in the square mile of the City called “Poultry” and “Hanging Sword Alley”, or that the Bank of England has an interesting (and free) museum where you can lift up a gold ingot, or that there are the remains of a Roman amphitheatre in the basement of the Guildhall complex.
Close to St Paul’s Cathedral is a bronze memorial to all the UK firefighters who have lost their lives in service (almost 1,200 names are inscribed on it), while nearer to the river is a small Christopher Wren church, St Benet’s, which survived the Blitz essentially unscathed, like its famous neighbour. In 1879 Queen Victoria granted the church to Welsh Anglicans for services and it continues as London’s Metropolitan Welsh church, with services conducted in Welsh.
Not too far away is Postman’s Park, which contains the Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice, a shelter and long wall housing 53 ceramic tiles, each a commemoration of an ordinary person who died while saving the lives of others and who might otherwise be forgotten.
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The church of St Michael Paternoster Royal is where, in 1423, Richard Whittington, the fabled Lord Mayor of London, was buried, although his tomb is now lost (the church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London of 1666 and then very badly damaged in 1944 when it was hit by a VI flying bomb). On the south wall of the rebuilt church, a stained glass window depicts “Dick” Whittington with his equally famous black cat.
Lincolns Inn The four Inns of Court are near one another in central London and are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales: all barristers must belong to one such association, which have supervisory and disciplinary functions over their members. The Inns also provide libraries, dining facilities and professional accommodation. Each has a church or chapel attached to it too. The Inns harbour some of the most picturesque, least changed and historically fascinating places in London. Although the Inns appear to be private estates, visitors are normally welcome to walk around the precincts, although the buildings are only open for organised tours.
Hyde Park Corner and its environs are home to numerous monuments and war memorials, ranging from the Wellington Arch to the huge Royal Artillery edifice, and from the Bomber Command memorial to the Animals in War monument with its inscription: “They had no choice”, which remembers the rôle played in conflicts by horses, mules, dogs, pigeons and even glow worms.
At the nearby Marble Arch, there is a 10m tall sculpture of a horse’s head, balanced on its nose, entitled: “Still Water”.
There are some 20 subterranean rivers and streams in London, culverted over in the past during the city’s expansion. An antiques’ shop near Oxford Street claims that the body of water, complete with goldfish, which can be seen in an open conduit in the basement of its premises, is part of the River Tyburn.
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Another suggestion from Rosemary was to explore Little Venice and Regent’s Canal, either on foot or by canal boat. On the Thames, there are regular river cruises from Westminster Bridge to Greenwich or the Thames Barrier.
Visitors to London were recommended to consult “Heritage Open Days”, England's largest festival of history and culture, as on certain days entry is allowed into many buildings not usually open to the general public, such as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Several companies offer guided walks in London, with themes such as Jack the Ripper, pubs or even the Beatles!
As Samuel Johnson stated in 1777: “No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life”.
Steve Monaghan
