A fascinating place, for residents and visitors to London alike, on
those rainy days that are so frequent at the moment is the Wellcome
Collection in the Euston Road. It has a bit of something for everyone,
entry is free and there is even free wifi throughout.
I first came across the Wellcome Collection many years ago as a
biology student, reading around my study areas – the library is one of
the best for medical history books but has lots of other useful
information for students such as I was. Lots of it is accessible online
now, but back then…. Anyway, you miss too much by accessing it all
online.
The collection was established under the terms of the will of Sir
Henry Wellcome, a pharmacist who is also described as a philanthropist,
entrepreneur and collector. He was born in the United States in 1853,
and moved to Britain in 1880. He came over with a friend to set up a
pharmaceutical company, which soon turned into a multi-national. When
Sir Henry died in 1936, his will provided for a charity which used the
profits from the company to advance medical research and history, and
thus we have the Wellcome Collection.
As well as the library, there are a number of exhibitions on display,
including exhibitions they now put on tour. There is a café that
serves snacks throughout the day and a restaurant on the second floor
(which serves dinner on Thursdays at quite a reasonable price for
Central London).
At 183 Euston Road, NW1 2BE, the Collection is within easy walk of
Euston Station (almost opposite), Euston Square and Warren Street, and
numerous buses. It is open from Tuesday’s to Sunday’s from 10:00 to
18:00 (until 22:00 on a Thursday and from 11:00 on a Sunday). Check out
the website for more information:
The “S” at the end of the word fire is not a typo, I do mean the
Great Fires of London. All things considered, I think we do pretty well
for fires these days, as in the lack of them. Generally, when we think
of the Great Fire of London, we are referring to the one that started
in Pudding Lane in 1666, and which probably did London a bit of favour,
what with the plague and all that. There have been a number of others
though. What follows is not fully inclusive, but details of some of the
great fires of London…
You can see my article about the Tooley Street Fire in 1861 here:
There is evidence of a fire in 60AD when good old Queen Boudicca
(Boadicea, as she is more commonly known) led a revolt and burned what
was then called Londinium to the ground. Boudicca had a bit of a beef
with the Roman rulers – when her husband died, the Romans ignored the
terms of his will, flogged Boadicea and raped her daughters, hence the
revolt. This fire was so severe that is allows archaeologists to use
the ash layer to date the layers below modern day London.
122AD
The Roman Emperor, Hadrian (he of the wall fame) popped over for a
visit in 122AD. We don’t know what caused this fire (or fires) although
personally, I’m not ruling out arson, but an area of 100 acres across
Londinium was wiped out, leaving only a few buildings remaining. Think
about that next time you do something a bit risqué on your holidays.
675AD
The Saxons didn’t have a great rep when it came to fires either.
There was a fire in 675AD that destroyed the great Saxon Cathedral, that
was built of wood. As you might imagine, it was rebuilt in stone.
There was another in 989 that started in Aldgate and finished in
Ludgate, and burned pretty much everything in between.
1087 – St Paul’s destroyed
Moving on to 1087, to the reign of William Rufus. London was a
Norman City by now, and someone dropped a Norman match, and boof! The
St Paul’s Cathedral of the day was totally destroyed.
1135
On 26 May 1135, there was another fire, which spread from near to St
Paul’s to the area around the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand.
There is some controversy about where and how this fire started, but it
seems to have been in the area around London Bridge.
1212
On 10 July 1212, on the other side of London Bridge, in Soutwark, a
fire broke out that destroyed St Mary Overie, where Soutwark Cathedral
now stands. In those days, there were houses on the bridge, which were
also completely destroyed in the fire. The houses and the bridge were
all made of wood.
The Denmark Street Fire
Denmark Street, London W1, was home to a fire on 16 August 1980. To
say it wasn’t widely known is a bit of an understatement. It was the
worst fire since the Second World War, with 37 people dying as a result,
more than in the King’s Cross Fire.
In those days, Denmark Street was famous for its unlicensed
nightclubs and illegal gambling dens. Two of them in particular, Rodo’s
and El Hueco, were popular with South American immigrants. They were
both illegal and were both due for closure. The buildings were packed.
One chap was ejected for fighting and locked out. To show his
displeasure, he returned to the club with a can of petrol which he
promptly poured through the letterbox and chucked in a match behind it.
The King’s Cross Fire
If you are regularly underground user, you will know that King’s
Cross is a major overground station and a major underground
interchange. 18 November 1987 was just another day for most of us
commuters – I can tell you where I was working but not what I was
doing. In those days, people were allowed to smoke on the underground
and some of the stations still had wooden escalators. Seems strange to
think how much has changed in 30 years.
The fire started on one of the escalators going to the Piccadilly
line platforms at about 19:30. Within fifteen minutes, the escalator
was seriously on fire, a phenomenon known as flash over occurred and
within seconds, the escalator shaft and ticket hall was filled with heat
and smoke. 31 people died, 100 people were injured, 19 seriously.
Amazingly, the Metropolitan line platforms and ticket hall were not
damaged and reopened the following day. The Victoria line was not
seriously damaged and re-opened the following Tuesday. Northern line
trains didn’t stop at King’s Cross for about 16 months because its
escalators connected with the Piccadilly line and as they were out of
use, it would have caused serious congestion. New escalators were
installed in the Piccadilly lines and the station returned to normal on 5
March 1989.
One of my favourite places in London is the British Library, in the
Euston Road, just a stone’s throw from King’s Cross St Pancras station.
As a book lover, I suppose it’s no great surprise that I like being
there, but it really is an amazing place.
Although the building was only opened to the public in 1997, it is a
Grade I listed building. Getting that far was not without controversy
though, it cost £506m to build and was described by the architect, Sir
Colin St John Wilson as “30 years war” due to budget cuts and policy
changes. Not only that, a parliamentary committee described it as one of
the ugliest buildings, a description with which I find it hard to
disagree. For me, it is not a beautiful building, angular and plain red
brick, I think it detracts from some of the beautiful Victorian
architecture in the area.
The British Library from outside
But that’s the outside. Inside, however, is a very different story.
There’s a café on the ground floor, to the right of the entrance, and
wide steps leading up to the first floor, where there is space for
exhibitions as well as the reading rooms. There are always exhibitions
displayed here. The cloakrooms are in the basement, as well as the
lockers – only limited equipment is allowed into the reading rooms, lest
any of the precious collections become damaged by skilled coffee or
people getting a bit carried away with pens, so you have to stow your
belongings in the lockers or cloakroom before you are allowed entry.
The thing I love most about the basement is the artwork, in
particular, The Paradoxymoron Painting by Patrick Hughes. I say
painting, but I’m not sure that does it justice, and if you haven’t seen
it, it’s worth a visit just to do so. It’s more than a
three-dimensional painting, it seems to follow you and change shape as
you move. The best I can do to show you is to refer you to the link
below:
The British Library is the largest library in the world, classified
by the number of items catalogued. Historically, it was part of the
British Museum, but The British Library Act was passed in 1972 divorcing
it from the museum, and the library itself came into operation on 1
July 1973. There are several “satellite sites” around the UK but the
Euston Road site is the main one.
The building boasts eleven reading areas with seating for 1206
readers (not to mention computer terminals for research purposes), four
basement levels with carefully controlled environmental conditions in
order to preserve the 12 million volumes stored there, and King George
III’s 60,000 volume collection of books, and that’s just for starters.
Although the hard copy newspapers are stored in Lincolnshire, the
library has microfilm and digital copies of newspapers as far back as
the seventeenth century, and not just from the UK – Dutch, German and
American papers are included.
One of the most useful parts of the library is the Business and
Intellectual Property Centre on the second floor. Apart from free access
to the most amazing collection of databases and information about
business, the library runs a number of webinars and workshops relating
to setting up businesses and how to grow your business, many of which
are free.
You do need a reader’s pass to access the library proper, but that’s
free, and provided you take the appropriate forms of identification
(something showing your home address and something showing your
signature) you can usually get your pass within about fifteen minute,
you can even pre-register online.
For more information about the library and its services, visit the website at be.uk
It would be remiss of me not to mention Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s official 90th birthday celebrations that took place over the weekend of 10 June to 12 June 2016.
Her Majesty has two birthdays – her “true” birthday and her official
one. Having two birthdays was a tradition that started with King George
II in 1748. His birthday was in November, not a great time of year for
people to be standing out in the street to celebrate with their
monarch, thought His Majesty. So in a PR coup worthy of Simon Cowell,
he gave himself an “official” birthday in June to coincide with the
Trooping the Colour parade. Every monarch since has done the same
thing.
Fortunately, the weather was lovely on Friday (and some of Saturday)
in London, because London was absolutely rammed with tourists. Security
was very high, with detector arches springing up around St James’ Park,
where events were due to take place. The police search officers doing
their very thorough searches all around Central London. It is this
attention to detail that kept us safe during the 2012 Olympics,
thankfully.
Friday
The celebrations started on Friday with a Service of Thanksgiving at
St Paul’s Cathedral, in the City of London. St Paul’s was rebuilt after
the Great Fire of London by Sir Christopher Wren and has, for
centuries, been one of the main London landmarks. Sadly, now dwarfed by
the skyscrapers that are popping up all over the place. You can read
more about St Paul’s in my other blog susanshirley.co.uk
The service was followed by a lunch for the Governors General at
Buckingham Palace. At noon yesterday, there was a gun salute Hyde Park,
by the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery to mark Prince Philip’s
birthday. This was followed by another one at 13:00 at the Tower of
London, by the City of London’s Army Reserve Regiment.
Saturday
Difficult to know the highlight of the day, and I suppose it all
depends upon your preferences and point of view. The annual Trooping
the Colour Parade at Horse Guards – if you’ve never seen it, try to get a
ticket. It really is very special.
There was also a 62-gun salute at the Tower of London and a flotilla
of 50 vessels sailed down the Thames and a fly past of 32 aircraft
which, as well as some aircraft I’ve never heard of, included:
Chinook helicopter, C-130 Hercules, CI7 Globemaster III, BAE 146,
Tornado GR4, A330 Voyager, Typhoon, Spitfire, Hurricane, The Red Arrows
Sunday
Sunday’s event was what was known as the Patron’s Lunch – the Queen
is patron of over 600 different charitable organisations, and 10,000
people from these organisations were invited to a party and lunch in The
Mall (hence the heightened security in the area). Tickets to this were
£150 each, which caused a bit of controversy, but all the money raised
is going to charity. Guests were given picnic hampers containing
sandwiches, salad, Pimm’s, apple juice and more. Although the guests
weren’t allowed to take umbrellas to the Mall, where the lunch was
taking place, ponchos were on standby should they be required. There
was also a procession along the Mall, described as “carnival style
entertainment” to celebrate the different ages of Her Majesty’s life to
accompany the lunch.
That ended the official celebrations for Her Majesty’s birthday this
year, now our longest reigning monarch. I wonder how my next birthday
bash will match up?
Pubs and Pulpits – my walk was themed around pubs and churches. I began the walk at the recently modernised and enlarged Blackfriars Station – the mainline platforms are massive, to cater for the twelve carriage trains that now travel into it. It also now has entrances both sides of the river; Blackfriars on the north side, Bankside on the south.
Blackfriars Station
From here, I walked around the corner to the Blackfriars public house. An unusual building (although not unique, there is at least one other of the same shape in the City) because it is shaped a bit like an iron. It is a Grade II listed building, but not as old as you might think. It was built towards the end of the nineteenth century on the site of a Dominican Friary.
The Blackfriar Public House
From here, I made my way along Queen Victoria Street. I hadn’t got very far when I stopped off to my check out my first pubs in St Andrews Hill. I wouldn’t say the first is a traditional pub, far from it. It was called Shaw’s Booksellers. It never was a bookseller but it fools you into thinking it was one.
Shaw’s Booksellers
The one a little further up, the Cockpit, looked older because it is (I’ll show you how to tell when you come on a walk). It was built in around the sixteenth century, next to the Blackfriars monastery, and used to be a site for cock fighting, a popular “sport” of the time.
The Cockpit
Then I passed St Andrew next to Wardrobe Terrace, another Wren church, rebuilt after the Great Fire. There has been a church on this site since at least 1170, maybe even earlier. It got its name from being part of Baynard’s Castle, originally a Norman Castle and later a medieval palace, destroyed in the Great Fire. Henry VII lived here, and Henry VIII gave it to Catherine of Aragon as a wedding present.
St Andrew by the Wardrobe
There is a plaque in the wall of a building further down “Site of Doctors Commons. Demolished 1867” in the ward of Castle Baynard. Doctors Commons was also known as the College of Civilians, and was the society for the lawyers who practiced civil law in London. It is believed to have been founded in the fifteenth century. The English legal system of civil law is complicated in its origins, much of it being in place before the Romans conquered us. However, these courts did apply the Roman based law. The society was abolished in the nineteenth century.
The College of Arms is further along Queen Victoria Street. This is the official heraldic authority for England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some of the Commonwealth, eg Australia and New Zealand. It is responsible for maintains the register of coats of arms, and other duties, also grants new coats of arms.
St Benet’s
On the opposite side of the road is St Benet’s another church destroyed in the Great Fire, and rebuilt by Wren. It is the official church of the College of Arms, and another that has an interesting history – after almost being destroyed, it was re-consecrated in 1879 as the London Church of the Church in Wales (the Anglican Church of Wales). It is one of only four churches in the City that was not damaged in the Second World War. There has been a church on this site since at least 1111.
St Benet’s
As I walked along, I passed St Mary Alderbury, another of Wren’s rebuilt churches, although this time, he rebuilt it in the Gothic style. There has been a church on this site for over 900 years.
St Mary Aldermary
I paused at the end of Queen Victoria Street to check out the latest situation regarding the Temple of Mithras. At the time of writing, it is hidden behind hoardings while other building works are undertaken. I was told that they are going to rebuild it…
The Dome inside St Stephen’s
Then I popped into another of Wren’s churches, St Stephen at Walbrook. It’s said that this is one of the churches that he used to practise the dome at St Paul’s. Certainly, it was built before St Paul’s so it’s entirely probable. It’s also very lovely inside, circular and quite intimate.
St Stephen’s
I moved onto Lombard Street, passing St Mary Woolnoth as I walked along it. It’s right on the corner of Lombard Street and King William Street, and, in my opinion, does not look like a church at all, which may explain the fact that I walked right past it first time round.
Further along Lombard Street was St Edmund the King and Martyr. Although it is still a consecrated church, dedicated to St Edmund the Martyr, it is no longer used for regular worship. Another of the Wren churches whose original was destroyed in the Great Fire, St Edmund’s has the unusual distinction of having the altar oriented towards the north, not east, as is usual.
Then along Grace church Street passing the Swan Tavern on my right. Actually, it’s in Ship Tavern Passage, and is reputed to have the smallest bar in the whole of the City. The downstairs bar also has a marble top which is unusual in any pub. There is another larger bar upstairs.
Leadenhall Market
Further along is Leadenhall Market, one of the oldest in the City, dating back to the fourteenth century. Nowadays it is full of shops and places to eat and drink, but it originated as a livestock market.
Gibson Hall was on my left as I walked into Bishopsgate. Gibson Hall was once the Headquarters of the National Provincial Bank (which later merged with two other banks to form the National Westminster – or NatWest as we now know it). John Gibson was the designer of the new headquarters.
St Ethelburga
As I continued, I passed St Ethelburga, the smallest church in the City. It appears almost lonely as building works are carried out on one side of it. Another of Wren’s rebuilt churches, it suffered moderate damage in the Second World War, was restored in 1953, then was badly damaged by an IRA bomb in 1993. Although it has been rebuilt, the interior is very different.
St Botolph
Then along to St Botolph Without. There has been a Christian church on this site since Roman times, and this was one that survived the Great Fire. However, it subsequently fell into disrepair and was demolished in 1725. The new church was completed by 1729. St Botolph’s only had one window broken in World War II but was damaged severely in the 1993 IRA bombing. It took three and a half years to restore it.
I ended my walk further along Bishopsgate by Dirty Dicks and the Woodins Shades, giving you a choice of places to have a drink and food at the end of the walk.
Dirty Dicks and Woodins Shades
When I first went into Dirty Dicks back in the 1970s, there was still sawdust on the floor (which wasn’t uncommon in those days). It used to be called the Old Jerusalem but was renamed after a merchant who had a warehouse nearby. Legend has it that the owner, after the death of his fiancée, stopped cleaning anything, including himself. Letters addressed to the dirty warehouse were sent to him. The Old Jerusalem was renamed Dirty Dicks, and all manner of dirty things were kept in the cellars. Fortunately, it has now cleaned up its act, but there is still a glass display case…
Dirty Dicks serves bar food and has a restaurant upstairs. Traditional English food? Maybe not, but there is a wide range of food available.
Woodins Shades has stood on its present site since 1893. It is now a Nicholson’s pub, a chain of pubs famous for their ales. It also has an extensive menu. If neither of these pubs takes your fancy there are other places to eat in the area.
Live Like a Londoner 