Captain's Log

Final Day

I’d finally reached the final day of my 6 day London campaign. It had been a full itinerary, but I intended to squeeze the most out of the last day. Most of my time would be spent in the Science Museum in South Kensington, but I needed to get there first. There was a light rain and I wondered about taking the Tube, but I felt like doing some exercise, and so I donned my anorak before setting off from my base in Blackfriars. My route would be fairly direct: I’d follow Fleet street and The Strand to Trafalgar Square, then Pall Mall to Green Park,  cross the park to Hyde Park Corner, walk along the edge of the Serpentine, before heading towards the Royal Albert Hall, and then take a short street walk to the Science Museum. 

Fleet Street And The Strand

It was past rush hour, but Fleet was still busy with people and traffic. I weaved in and out of the approaching zombies. People didn’t look very happy, but I guess the rain might have had something to do with that. I passed the church, St Dunstan in the West. I’d visited the bombed remains of St Dunstan in the East, earlier in the week (see A London High). Fleet Street turned into the Strand.  I reached the rambling gothic building of the Royal Courts of Justice. Whenever there is a high profile court case, then this impressive place usually provides the backdrop to the news report. I passed the buildings of King’s College London. I wondered how students could afford to live in London and attend a campus that is so central. The Bank of Mum And Dad, I guess. 

A seagull chased another one up and down the street. They were making such a noise that some people stopped to watch them. They both just managed to avoid an approaching double-decker. The shape of the sign above the entrance to the Savoy Hotel reminded me  of the front of a Rolls Royce car. How appropriate. 

Charing Cross

I reached Charing Cross Station. I didn’t have to search for very long to find what I was looking for. I'd visited Lincoln Castle last year and in its grounds came across the remains of a stone cross. This turned out to be part of one of the crosses that King Edward I created as a memorial to his wife, Eleanor of Castile. She died in 1290 and her visceral remains were entombed in Lincoln Cathedral. Her body was then transported to London, and at the site of each of her nightly resting-places along the route, a memorial cross was erected. I’d seen the first one at Lincoln Castle and now I’d found the last one at Charing Cross. There hadn’t been much left of that cross at Lincoln, but this one at Charing Cross was more substantial. The original cross went into disrepair and the current one is a Victorian replica. It’s certainly ornate. The remains of her body (the non-visceral bits) ended up in Westminster Abbey. 

Charing is a corruption of the word ‘cierring’, an Old English name for a river bend. The ‘cross’ probably comes from this memorial to Eleanor. 

Trafalgar Square And Pall Mall

It was only a short walk from Charing Cross to Trafalgar Square. The problem with high columns is that you can’t see much of the statue on their tops. Nelson must have a very lonely life there.  I’d climbed the Monument yesterday and I wondered if there was a similar spiral staircase in Nelson’s Column. Apparently, the 311 step spiral staircase is only used for maintenance and not open to the public. I remember watching John Noake’s of Blue Peter fame climbing the outside of this 51.6m column. He was un-roped. I can’t imagine they’d allow that nowadays. Having said that, Netflix recently live streamed (admittedly with a 10 second delay)  Alex Honnold free climbing the 508m Taipei 101, and so maybe things have not changed that much. 

I crossed the square to Pall Mall and continued westwards. Pall Mall was the first public street in the world to be lit by gas in 1807. I passed the home of the Royal Automobile Club. My research found that you get around a 40% accommodation discount if you are a member, but when the Standard Guest Single for a weekday is £326, it would still be well beyond my pay scale. There are other members-only clubs along the street like the Athenaeum and Reform Club. Pall Mall came to an abrupt end and it was left to Cleveland Row to take me to Green Park. 

Green Park

It was nice to enter the 40 acre triangle of Green Park and get away from the traffic that had accompanied me since the start of the walk. There were plenty of paths that criss-crossed the park and I picked one that headed westwards to Hyde Park Corner. I could just make out Buckingham Palace through the trees. In medieval years, it was said to be a swampy burial ground for lepers from the St James’s hospital on its north side. Not a place to wildcamp, then. 

At Hyde Park corner, I passed under Wellington Arch. It acquired its name from the statue of Duke of Wellington who sat astride his horse on the top of the arch. For some reason, Wellington got relegated from the arch when the monument was moved to its current location from its former position slightly to the east. The great man was substituted with a bronze statue of the Goddess of Victory Nike riding a quadriga (that’s an ancient four-horse chariot). 

A little further along was the bulk of the Royal Artillery Memorial. It commemorates the 47,076 soldiers from the Royal Artillery killed in WWI. The top of the memorial supports a one-third scale sculpture of a Howitzer. The plinth was in the shape of a cross and there was a sculpture of a soldier at the end of each arm, with one of them laid down dead. I’d seen this memorial before and continue to find it quite moving as war memorials go. I think some war memorials are too abstract, whereas this one explicitly shows the machinery, the people and the consequences. I crossed the busy roads and entered Hyde Park. 

Hyde Park

It was raining enthusiastically as I walked along a straight pathway known as Rotten Row. Nobody knows for sure how it got its name, but some people think it may be a corruption of ‘Route de Roi’, Road of the King. It was a pleasant enough walk, but I diverted towards a path that ran alongside the Serpentine at the first opportunity. There were plenty of wild fowl enjoying the wet conditions on the lake. A few swimmers crossed my path as they made their way back to the changing rooms from the lido. I passed under the Serpentine Bridge and then headed south along West Carriage Drive. I picked up a path that delivered me to the Albert Memorial. 

Albert

The Albert Memorial was an ornate, gothic monument dedicated to the memory of Prince Albert who died in 1861. A gold-leafed Albert sat in a chair, under a 54m high canopy, which was quite handy for him on a rainy day like today. There are 8 themed groups of statues that surround the memorial. The themes are: agriculture, commerce, engineering, manufactures, Africa, America, Asia and Europe. 

Debatedly, a more impressive memorial to Albert was the massive Royal Albert Hall that was built just across the road from his statue. It was certainly impressive from the outside and I expected it looked pretty good on the inside too. When it was first opened, they found that the huge glass dome of the arena caused acoustic problems and they had to suspend a canvas awning below the dome to prevent the echoes. From 1949, they tried different methods to prevent these acoustic problems, but it wasn’t completely resolved until 1969 when large fibreglass acoustic diffusing discs were installed below the ceiling. There’s an 800 foot long terracotta mosaic frieze that runs around the top of the building. They depict ‘The Triumph of Arts and Sciences.’ 

It was raining quite heavily now. At least I’d now not far to walk to the Science Museum. I headed east along Kensington Road and then south along Exhibition Road. The Science Museum was next door to the Natural History Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum. That Albert gets everywhere. 

Reflections

Despite the grey and rainy conditions I’d enjoyed the variety in today's walk. I’d ticked off Eleanor’s cross at Charing Cross and a visit to Trafalgar Square was mandatory on visit to London. The walk through Green Park was very pleasant and I'd paid homage to the Artillery men of the First World War. It was a nice, but damp stroll through Hyde Park. The memorial to Albert and his Hall were well worth a quick  diversion. 

It was now time to visit the Science Museum. See Science Museum for a Captain’s Log of my visit.