The City of Westminster
Dec. 30th, 2005 12:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rosipheleeIt's not very often fantasy writers get to walk the ground their stories are set in. Yesterday I did just that. My Hawthorn story begins in London. Unfortunately, all my research led me to the conclusion that it had to start in Westminster. I barely know that end of London. I'd had been confident writing anything set in the West End or Holborn or even the City. I haven't been to Westminster for years and I've spent the last few days with maps spread out around me as I write. Even Google Earth, wondrous as it is, couldn't tell me all I needed to know, so Mum and I thought we'd go up sometime next week.
Yesterday we were supposed to be going to Portsmouth for shopping and to climb the Spinnaker tower and see the views over the Solent. However, when I woke up it was -2° (about as cold as it gets over here) and was forecast to stay that way, even on the coast. So, at the last minute, we decided to go to London instead.
Or rather, two maps - This shows the area between Waterloo and Buckingham Palace and this Hyde Park and Oxford Street.
We arrived at Waterloo late morning and caught a bus along York Road and over Westminster Bridge, passing the Houses of Parliament on the riverbank. In places the river laps against the very walls of parliament. We got off the bus in Parliament Square, just outside Westminster Abbey which was our planned starting point. As we'd left so early we hadn't checked the opening times and were dismayed to find a queue of tourists stretching into the distance, waiting for it to open at midday. We decided to get lunch and come back. We walked around Parliament Square, looking at the statues of famous politians of the past, and then headed up Whitehall. We passed the end of Downing Street, sealed off behind high black bars, and various government departments including the Treasury and the Cabinet Office. At the entrance to Horseguards, the home of the Troopers of the Household Cavalry, two mounted soldiers are on guard. Even on a cold Thursday at the end of December they were mobbed by tourists, although they maintained their impeccable expressions despite the crowd.
We had lunch towards the top of Whitehall and then continued on to Trafalgar Square to see the Christmas tree. They were already setting up crowd barriers in readiness for the huge celebrations that take place here on New Year's Eve.
Here, looking across the Square towards the National Gallery and St Martin-in-the-Fields Church:
Nelson on his column (complete with a pigeon perched on his head):
We then headed back down Whitehall to the Abbey. The queue was huge and, as my main research need was more the lay of the land than the inside of the Abbey, we decided to just circle the outside and then head off on the rest of our walk. We walked round the back of the Abbey, past the back of parliament (other photos). The statue here is of Oliver Cromwell:
We also passed a small tower (the Jewel Tower) which is all that remains of the medieval Palace of Westminster. By now it was snowing lightly and we considered curtailing our walk if it got any heavier. We tried to work our way through the backstreets to the front of the Abbey and found ourselves in Westminster School. This is one of the oldest and poshest in the country and resembles an Oxford college more than a school. The central quad is public and we wandered across, pausing, because we're nosy, to read some of the announcements on the noticeboards. We came out again at the front of the Abbey.
From there we started the real walk of the day, following the path Rhys and Nim take at the start of the story. We went down Tothill Street, opposite the Abbey, past St James Park tube station and then turned up Queen Anne's Gate (damn, there's a gate there! That doesn't show on Google Earth.) and onto Birdcage Walk which runs up the side of St James Park towards Buckingham Palace. Each of the roads which ends at Buckingham Palace has a set of gates at the palace end, each pillar engraved with the name of a different Commonwealth nation. In front of the Palace is the Victoria Memorial:
Queen Victoria is seated facing north-east. The gilded statue is of Victory and the other lower statues are the Angels of Justice, Truth and Charity.
Behind the Memorial is the palace. None of the Royal Family are in residence at the moment as they're all in Sandringham for Christmas.
From there we continued up Constitution Hill which runs between the palace gardens and Green Park to Hyde Park Corner. We stopped to look at the new Memorial to the soldiers of the Indian subcontinent, Africa and the Caribbean at the top of Constitution Hill. We then made our way past the Wellington Arch and through a warren of subways to catch a bus at Hyde Park Corner. This took us up Park Lane to Marble Arch and then along Oxford Street. As the sales are in full swing Oxford Street was manic and we were glad to be looking down from a bus rather than shoving through the crowds. We enjoyed people-watching as the bus crept along and got a good look at the Christmas lights which are always a showpiece along Oxford Street.
We got off at the top of Charing Cross Road and walked down to Borders for a cup of tea. By the time we left it was dark and we ambled down Charing Cross Road, via a few more bookshops, until we came out by the National Gallery in the top corner of Trafalgar Square. We stopped for tea and scones in the cafe in the crypt at St Martin-in-the-Fields. This is one of my favourite places in London. The church dates from the 13th century though it's been rebuilt a few times. Although it's now in the very heart of the city its name dates from the time when Westminster and the City of London were distinct settlements and the church, lying between them, really was 'in the fields'. Early in the evening, whenever there's a lull, the staff come round and light candles on the tables before dimming the overhead lights. We managed to time our visit so this happened just before we left.
Tea finished, we walked down through Trafalgar Square, across the Strand, and down a steep sidestreet beside Charing Cross station. From here a flight of steps leads up to a footpath through a small market, around a shopping centre, through a tunnel and out onto the footbridge beside the Hungerford Railway Bridge. We were on the St Paul's side with a view of the banks of the Thames and the skyline of London lit up against the night. This took us to the Royal Festival Hall on the South Bank and we dodged under the railway again to climb onto another bridge which led us into Waterloo and to our train home.
We so much to see we hadn't realised how far we'd walked but when we got home Mum checked her pedometer to find we'd covered almost ten miles.
Yesterday we were supposed to be going to Portsmouth for shopping and to climb the Spinnaker tower and see the views over the Solent. However, when I woke up it was -2° (about as cold as it gets over here) and was forecast to stay that way, even on the coast. So, at the last minute, we decided to go to London instead.
Or rather, two maps - This shows the area between Waterloo and Buckingham Palace and this Hyde Park and Oxford Street.
We arrived at Waterloo late morning and caught a bus along York Road and over Westminster Bridge, passing the Houses of Parliament on the riverbank. In places the river laps against the very walls of parliament. We got off the bus in Parliament Square, just outside Westminster Abbey which was our planned starting point. As we'd left so early we hadn't checked the opening times and were dismayed to find a queue of tourists stretching into the distance, waiting for it to open at midday. We decided to get lunch and come back. We walked around Parliament Square, looking at the statues of famous politians of the past, and then headed up Whitehall. We passed the end of Downing Street, sealed off behind high black bars, and various government departments including the Treasury and the Cabinet Office. At the entrance to Horseguards, the home of the Troopers of the Household Cavalry, two mounted soldiers are on guard. Even on a cold Thursday at the end of December they were mobbed by tourists, although they maintained their impeccable expressions despite the crowd.
We had lunch towards the top of Whitehall and then continued on to Trafalgar Square to see the Christmas tree. They were already setting up crowd barriers in readiness for the huge celebrations that take place here on New Year's Eve.
Here, looking across the Square towards the National Gallery and St Martin-in-the-Fields Church:
Nelson on his column (complete with a pigeon perched on his head):
We then headed back down Whitehall to the Abbey. The queue was huge and, as my main research need was more the lay of the land than the inside of the Abbey, we decided to just circle the outside and then head off on the rest of our walk. We walked round the back of the Abbey, past the back of parliament (other photos). The statue here is of Oliver Cromwell:
We also passed a small tower (the Jewel Tower) which is all that remains of the medieval Palace of Westminster. By now it was snowing lightly and we considered curtailing our walk if it got any heavier. We tried to work our way through the backstreets to the front of the Abbey and found ourselves in Westminster School. This is one of the oldest and poshest in the country and resembles an Oxford college more than a school. The central quad is public and we wandered across, pausing, because we're nosy, to read some of the announcements on the noticeboards. We came out again at the front of the Abbey.
From there we started the real walk of the day, following the path Rhys and Nim take at the start of the story. We went down Tothill Street, opposite the Abbey, past St James Park tube station and then turned up Queen Anne's Gate (damn, there's a gate there! That doesn't show on Google Earth.) and onto Birdcage Walk which runs up the side of St James Park towards Buckingham Palace. Each of the roads which ends at Buckingham Palace has a set of gates at the palace end, each pillar engraved with the name of a different Commonwealth nation. In front of the Palace is the Victoria Memorial:
Queen Victoria is seated facing north-east. The gilded statue is of Victory and the other lower statues are the Angels of Justice, Truth and Charity.
Behind the Memorial is the palace. None of the Royal Family are in residence at the moment as they're all in Sandringham for Christmas.
From there we continued up Constitution Hill which runs between the palace gardens and Green Park to Hyde Park Corner. We stopped to look at the new Memorial to the soldiers of the Indian subcontinent, Africa and the Caribbean at the top of Constitution Hill. We then made our way past the Wellington Arch and through a warren of subways to catch a bus at Hyde Park Corner. This took us up Park Lane to Marble Arch and then along Oxford Street. As the sales are in full swing Oxford Street was manic and we were glad to be looking down from a bus rather than shoving through the crowds. We enjoyed people-watching as the bus crept along and got a good look at the Christmas lights which are always a showpiece along Oxford Street.
We got off at the top of Charing Cross Road and walked down to Borders for a cup of tea. By the time we left it was dark and we ambled down Charing Cross Road, via a few more bookshops, until we came out by the National Gallery in the top corner of Trafalgar Square. We stopped for tea and scones in the cafe in the crypt at St Martin-in-the-Fields. This is one of my favourite places in London. The church dates from the 13th century though it's been rebuilt a few times. Although it's now in the very heart of the city its name dates from the time when Westminster and the City of London were distinct settlements and the church, lying between them, really was 'in the fields'. Early in the evening, whenever there's a lull, the staff come round and light candles on the tables before dimming the overhead lights. We managed to time our visit so this happened just before we left.
Tea finished, we walked down through Trafalgar Square, across the Strand, and down a steep sidestreet beside Charing Cross station. From here a flight of steps leads up to a footpath through a small market, around a shopping centre, through a tunnel and out onto the footbridge beside the Hungerford Railway Bridge. We were on the St Paul's side with a view of the banks of the Thames and the skyline of London lit up against the night. This took us to the Royal Festival Hall on the South Bank and we dodged under the railway again to climb onto another bridge which led us into Waterloo and to our train home.
We so much to see we hadn't realised how far we'd walked but when we got home Mum checked her pedometer to find we'd covered almost ten miles.
