Photo Archive: Horsemen, The Lord Mayor’s Procession, opposite St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, 2006.

Tags

City of London, costumes, Horse riding, horses., London, Lord Mayor of London, Lord Mayors Show, national dress, St Paul's Cathedral, The Great Steppe, The Steppe

I remember these riders quite clearly, but I never did find out what  aspect of London life these men were representing in the Lord Mayor’s Procession, because I didn’t buy a programme, but it was remarkably easy to believe that the Lord Mayor would not be coming and that The City of London was under new management. Don’t they look splendid! I’m not an expert in matters of national costume, but there is something of The Great Steppe about them.

Photo Archive: Musicians, Covent Garden Market, London, c.2009.

Tags

Covent Garden, Covent Garden Market, denim, London, Music, musicians, string instruments

Photo Archive: Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret on a Rocking Horse, Poster for The Royal Childhood Exhibition, Waterloo Underground Station, London, 24/08/14.

Tags

British Monarchy, Buckingham Palace, colourised photograph, London, London Underground, poster, Princess Elizabeth, Princess Margaret, rocking horse, Royal Childhood exhibition, Royal Family, The King's Speech, The King's Speech film

I didn’t think of it at the time, but on seeing this photograph again today, it reminded me of the 2010 film “The King’s Speech“, in which a whole stable of toy horses can be seen in the background of more than one scene. I didn’t go and see the Royal Childhood exhibition, but it looks like the rocking horse in this colourised photograph featured in the exhibition.

Photo Archive: “Ravens May Bite!” Tower of London, London, c.2007.

Tags

Astronomer Royal, astronomy, foreign languages, John Flamstead, King Charles II, legends, London, ravens, Royal Observatory Greenwich, signs, Tower of London, translations, warning signs

To quote from my  trusty Ladybird book, “Discovering The Tower of London“, “The ravens are certainly the most important residence of the Tower of London, for – as the story goes – if they ever leave, the Tower will fall and England with it. As soon as the castle was built ravens must have flown in to feed off the rubbish from the kitchen and there may have been some at the Tower ever since“.

The Tower raven’s accommodation.

My souvenir guidebook from the Tower goes further and insists that the ideal number of ravens resident within the fortress is six, thanks to King Charles II. “The King’s Astronomical Observator” or the first Astronomer Royal, John Flamstead, then based at the Tower, appealed to the King to have the ravens, who were taking over the place by this point, removed completely from the fortress; presumably because they were getting in the way of his telescope. King Charles II, understandably weary of doing anything that might course the kingdom to fall, insisted that at least six ravens be present at all times, but the rest could be cleared out. He also gave Flamstead a warrant to set up an observatory in Greenwich, so his telescope would be well out of the way, founding what would become the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, what would become the home of the Greenwich meridian and Greenwich mean time. I wonder if Flamstead had stayed on at the Tower, despite the ravens, we would have ended up with a Tower Hill meridian and Tower Hill mean time?

Photo Archive: Pope Joan, St. James’s Church, Piccadilly, London, 2013.

Tags

bus, double decker bus, London, National Youth Theatre, photographer, Photography, Pope Joan, Public Transport, Reflections, St James's Church Piccadilly, The Legend of Pope Joan, Theatre

…also featuring the reflection of the photographer and a double decker bus.

“An atmospheric church in the heart of London, St James’, Piccadilly is the perfect setting for this play which tells the story of the legend that is Pope Joan – the first and only female to achieve Papal status. Controversial, moving and enthralling, audiences can witness an unfolding of unbelievable and prescient events that have profound parallels today. Unmissable“.

According to the National Youth Theatre’s website [I didn’t go and see it myself, but purely for financial and logistical reasons].

Photo Archive: Escalators, Canary Wharf Tube Station, Canary Wharf, London, 2013.

Tags

architecture, Canary Wharf, Canary Wharf Tube Station, escalators, London, London Underground, Public Transport, tube

Photo Archive: Sir John Betjemen Admiring The Eurostar, St Pancras International Train Station, Euston Road, London, 2013.

Tags

Eurostar, Euston Road, hat, London, Public Transport, roof, Sir John Betjemen, Sir John Betjemen Statue, St Pancras International, St Pancras Station, statue, Train stations, Trains.

Photo Archive: Teapot, Fortnum and Masons, Picadilly, London, 2013.

Tags

Food and Drink, Fortnum and Masons, London, Picadilly, tea., teapot

Photo Archive: The Martin Tower, The Tower of London, London, c.2007.

Tags

Castle, Colonel Thomas Blood, Crown Jewels, Fortifications, King Charles II, London, Martin Tower, Royal Regalia, tower, Tower of London

Viewed from the queue to see the Crown Jewels.

According to my trusty Ladybird book, “Discovering The Tower of London“, the Martin Tower housed the Crown Jewels during the reign of King Charles II and that this was the place where “adventurer” and self-styled “Colonel“, Thomas Blood attempted to steal the royal regalia. In those days you could pay for a private viewing of the Crown Jewels and after winning the trust of Jewel Keeper Talbot Edwards, Blood knocked him unconscious and a run for it. Colonel Blood was captured, after an affray in which one of the sentries on duty was shot, but bizarrely, after an audience with King Charles II, Blood was let off! There are many stories wrapped up in the history of the Tower of London, but the tale of Colonel Blood and his mysterious pardon has to be one of my favourites.

Photo Archive: Photograph of Second Radio Officer Norman Eric Blyth, Tower Hill Memorial, London, 2014.

Tags

Arctic Convey PQ13, London, memorial, Merchant Navy, Norman Eric Blyth, plaques, SS Induna, staues, Steam Trawler Imperial Queen, Tower Hill, Tower Hill Memorial London, U Boat, U376

I always find it moving to see any sign that there is still a connection between the living and those who sacrificed their lives and are commemorated on memorials, like this memorial to merchant seaman at Tower Hill in London. Second Radio Officer Norman Eric Blyth of the Merchant Navy, whose photograph somebody has thoughtfully affixed to the memorial plaque that bears his name, died on the 30th March 1942 when the SS. Induna, part of Arctic Convey PQ13, on route to Northern Russian, was torpedoed by the U376 and sunk. In the list of the crew lost you will also find Norman Blyth’s colleagues, First Radio Officer Arthur Carpenter of Swanmore, Hampshire and Third Radio Officer Samuel Ezekiel McClure of Cloughmills, County Antrim.

The U376 was lost with all hands in the Bay of Biscay on the 13th April 1943.

On the subject of connections between the living and those members of the Mercantile Marine who made the ultimate sacrifice, my own surname appears on the Tower Hill Memorial amongst the crew of the Steam Trawler Imperial Queen (GY502), which was lost on the 28th July 1920; the victim of a sea mine drifting across the North Sea.

To quote from the memorial itself, “The Twenty Four Thousand of the Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets whose names are honoured on the walls of this garden gave their lives for their country and have no grave but the sea.“