London Walks

If you are lucky enought to be in London this season, be sure to take advantage of one of the city’s best bargains: London Walks.  Here is their website with their daily schedules.

Though I am missing out on London this year, I’ve visited at least once almost every year for the last 25 or so, and I never tire of tagging along with the London Walks guides.  Not a single disappointment —  and I’ve been on quite a few of them at least twice.

There are many operators of walking tours and many may be excellent, but with London Walk, you can be confident you have an experienced and entertaining guide.  Among the most popular walks (and operated by many it seems) is a night-time venture through the alleys of the East End in the footseps of Jack the Ripper.  Note: you won’t find him! I found the LW guide a fount of knowledge about the criminal, the victims, the crimes and the locale, with all sorts of facts included about the residents and architecture of the area, now largely gentrified.  I didn’t want a sideshow kind of tour — and it wasn’t.  But be careful of copycat tour operators.

Bodecia on Westminster Bridge
One of my favorites (well, they  all are!) was a recent one: Old Westminster. I had told myself that since I’d visited Westminster Abbey, watched a debate in the House of Commons and walked across Westminister Bridge in the past, I really didn’t need this tour.  Was I wrong or WHAT?  I learned so much!  And that is exactly what happens on all the tours.

Little Venice

Also highly recommended: the Little Venice walk through a neighborhood not far from Paddington Station. You’ll see lovely homes and a fascinating church with a monument to actress Sarah Siddons. St. Mary on Paddington Green is, for Regency lovers, more like churches looked in those days, before the Victorians tarted them up with fancy new stained glass and other gee-gaws.

St. Mary Paddington Green, completed 1791

One of the Walks I have taken at least three times is Legal and Illegal London or the Inns of Court.  You will learn all about the British legal system, the difference between solicitors and barristers, and how the law is taught and practiced while walking around the delightful buildings and gardens of the City.

Gray’s Inn

 And you will visit the Temple Church, full of fascinating lore, dating from the 12th century, but with many renovations, including repairs after the Blitz.

Temple Church

On the walk Secret London, you find out why there is a camel on the banks of the Thames and secrets of sculptor Sir Edwin Landseer’s lion paws in Trafalgar Square.

You’ll find walks geared to fans of Harry Potter, the Beatles, Charles Dickens, Shakespeare and many more clever approaches to seeing the great city.  There are some special opportunities to visit Olympic sites too.  Each Walk takes about two hours (don’t forget to visit the loo before starting out).
Most days of the week London Walks runs Explorer Days, to such not-to-be-missed- sights such as Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral, Canterbury, Bath, Oxford and many many more, all accessible by train.  These cost a little more, but if you don’t drive in England, it is a convenient way to see a bit of the countryside as well major cities.

The Roman  Baths, Bath

Another special set of walks visit pubs in the evening, a boon to those of us who sometimes visit solo and enjoy a bit of company with our  pints (or I suggest half paints as you will visit several pubs and time is short at each one).  Here is one of my favorite London pubs, though I can’t remember which walk features it.

Blackfriars Pub

I hope this has convinced you to try out some of the London Walks on your next visit.  You won’t be sorry.

If you, like me, have to stay home this year, you might send for London Stories, pub
lished by London Walks, and written by David Tucker and the Guides.  It’s a good armchair companion.  It’s available on their website and elsewhere.

Walking St. James's, Part Two

Victoria here, continuing my walk through parts of St. James’s…I reached Marlborough House, once the residence of Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VII), and his wife Alexandra of Denmark.

Since it was not only the day of Trooping the Colour but also part of the Open Squares weekend, the gardens of Marlborough House  were open to the public.  It is now the home of the Commonwealth Secretariat and Conference Center. The tents shown above not only dispensed hot tea, a necessity on this chilly day, but also displayed brochures and booklets on the 54 member nations of the Commonwealth.  Anyone for a vacation in Tasmania?

Marlborough House was built for Sarah Churchill, first Duchess of Marlborough by Sir Christopher Wren, closely bordering the grounds of St. James’s Palace.  Eventually the house was taken up by the crown and used by various members of the royal family.  For many years, as the residence of Edward and Alexandra, it was the home of the Marlborough Set, a late Victorian social circle around the Prince of Wales.

My favorite feature of these gardens was most definitely the Pet Cemetery where Alexandra’s dear little dogs are buried in a corner.  

I walked to the opposite corner of the gardens and watched the troops escorting the Queen back to Buckingham Palace. I stood on a mound inside the wall that gave an excellent views, only partially blocked by the police and mounted officers along the route.

A memorial to Queen Alexandria is built into the garden wall of Marlborough House, just opposite St. James’s Palace.

East facade of St. James’s, facing the grounds of Marlborough House
Queen’s Chapel, opposite St James’s Palace, north of Marlborough House
The Queen’s Chapel was built for Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I, in 1625 and designed by Inigo Jones.  It is used for services at various times of the year that are open to the public.  It was originally Roman Catholic but is now Church of England.
I walked around the corner of St. James’s Palace to the more familiar facade of the palace which faces north, up St. James’s St. toward Piccadilly.
From here on, the royal connections are more limited: the warrants given to various merchants which supply the royal family and the memberships various royals hold in the gentleman’s clubs.
Berry Bros. and Rudd, wine merchants, est. 1698

Through a narrow passage beside the shop is Pickering Place, a small courtyard reputed to be the sight of duels.
  They must have involved swords for certainly it is too small for gun play.


Nearby is Lock and Co. Hatters, est. 1676.

D. R. Harris, Chemists, is located at 29  St. James’s St. Their website is here.

St. James’s Street is also the location of several of Britain’s most prestigious gentleman’s clubs. Below is Brook’s.

Here is the famous bow window of White’s.
When I reached the top of St. James’s Street, at Piccadilly, I turned east once more and sought the comforting, yet stimulating, confines of Hatchards Bookshop.  Oh, to be there once more!!  Their website is here.
I will leave you here, as I immerse myself in some wonderful volume — most likely more about London or British history.

Walking St. James's, Part One

St. James’s Palace

My pictures of London’s St. James’s over the years show astonishing similarity of views, but I keep trying to capture the essentials of the area and manage to fail.  St. James’s is the area around St. James’s Palace and was once, in the reign of the Stuarts, where “everyone” lived.  Before Kensington, before Belgravia, before Mayfair, St. James’s Square was — and is — the Place To Be.  Only the most exclusive clubs, the most distinguished businesses and retailers, the most luxurious hotels…the creme de la creme of London.

map of St. James’s
St. James’s is bordered on the east by Haymarket, on the north by Piccadilly, on the south by the Mall and St. James’s Park, and on the west by Green Park.  Once part of the royal hunting grounds itself, like the Parks, the area of St. James’s was granted by Charles II to Henry Jermyn (Earl of St.Albans) to develop as a residential neighborhood adjacent to St. James’s Palace.

Last June (2011), I watched the Queen and Royal Family, accompanied by a FEW of her  Guards, parade from Buckingham Palace along the Mall toward the parade ground at Horse Guards for the annual Trooping the Colour.  See this blog of July 30, 2011, for more.
The Queen was accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, beside her and following were Prince Charles, Prince William, and Princess Anne on horseback.in their uniforms as Colonels of Guards regiments.

While the Queen was reviewing her troops, I took the opportunity to wander around St. James’s and snap more pictures.  I walked up the steps from the Mall between the two large buildings that comprise Carlton House Terrace, once the site of the Prince Regent’s fantastic Carlton House, demolished in 1825.

The large townhouses which comprise the Terrace wings and Carlton Gardens are mostly offices now but once housed distinguished figures such as Lord Palmerston. 
Waterloo Place is not much more than a parking lot, sadly. 
Waterloo Place with Duke of York Column
The large monument is to the Duke of York, son of George III and brother of George IV.
Waterloo Place was to be the terminal point of the great development of Regent Street, stretching from the Mall to Regent’s Park, as designed by architec
t John Nash for George IV, and for which Carlton House itself was demolished.  But unlike the nearby Trafalgar Square, it has never become a public gathering place of importance.
Looking in the other direction, north, up Regent Street.
 One one side  of Waterloo Place is the Traveller’s  Club and on the other is the Athenaeum with its garden.  I assume all the distinguished members were at Horse Guards, for it appeared to be rather deserted. 
Atheneaum, with equestrian statue of Edward VII
Athenaeum and Garden
Athenaeum Entrance
Things were pretty quiet with everyone watching for the Queen’s return, so I turned west and walked down Pall Mall.
Above, looking west on Pall Mall with London’s ever present traffic diversions
  At 87 Pall Mall is the elegant facade of Schomberg House with its Coade Stone figures supporting its portico.
Just a few steps farther is the handsome 79 Pall Mall with its lovely window set off by pink geraniums looking out at the busy street.
A building on this site, still part of the Crown Estate, was given to Nell Gwynne (1650-1687), the little orange seller who became the Restoration Theatre’s most famous actress — as well as being one of the mistresses of Charles II.

I’ll continue with my St. James’s Views soon…next stop, Marlborough House and St. James’s Palace.  How I long to return…there’s so much more to explore in just this one small area of London.

Coutts Bank, a London Institution

Victoria, here, dreaming about my weeks in England last spring.  Here are my photos of Coutts Bank, The Strand, London, taken in June 2011. The bank’s website is here.

It looks like an important place, though the architecture is about as 1970’s Mundane as one could imagine. The only reason I actually noticed it was that I was often across the street, sitting in McDonald’s where I could use their free wi-fi to power my iPad.* I was particularly amused that this great London institution, the bank that holds accounts for Her Majesty the Queen, had a glass curtain wall that clearly reflected that notable American institution on the other side!

[*Why is is that really inexpensive hotels have free wi-fi service while the better establishments charge outrageous amounts for the same thing?  ]

As I walked closer to get this picture of the reflection of McDonald’s, I think that guard inside picked up the phone to call for assistance to deal with the clearly deranged photographer on the pavement! I didn’t wait around to see what happened!  I’ll bet the bank’s directors did not consider what might happen to the glass during major demonstrations moving towards the adjacent Trafalgar Square.  You can clearly see the McDonald’s sign reflected above and to the right of his head.


So, fully knowing I was edging into Wellington Connection territory, I decided to see what more I could learn  about Coutts Bank. Angela Coutts (1814-1906) was a dear friend of the 1st Duke of Wellington, one of those younger women so attracted to the Great Hero (*like many of us???). But there must be much more.  The bank’s website has a nice timeline and lots of information, but other than the widely known fact that QEII banks there, the list of clients is a well-protected secret. 

It is said that checks written by (for?) the Queen are often saved as souvenirs, making it difficult to balance her accounts. 
Here is an account of a famous period in the existence of the bank, excerpted from Tales of the Bank of England, with anecdotes of London bankers, an anonymous book from 1882:
“The house of Coutts & Co. has a very interesting history. A very great banking heiress is the Baroness Burdett-Coutts, whose recent marriage with Mr. Ashmead Coutts-Bartlett excited so much attention. The kindly and popular Baroness is—or was until recently—the head of the great banking firm of Coutts & Co., and was popularly supposed to draw a hundred thousand a year from the business. Mr. Coutts married, for his second wife, Miss Mellon, the actress, to whom he left his entire fortune—about a million of money. Mrs. Coutts, left a widow, married the Duke of St. Albans; but, in her marriage settlement, this vast fortune was left entirely in her own power. She thought that she would best carry out the wishes of her husband, who had made the money, by bequeathing it to his favourite granddaughter, Miss Angela Burdett, the daughter of the famous Sir Francis. An infinite amount of this money “has wandered Heaven-directed, to the poor.” Child’s Bank was once represented by a lady, who became Countess of Westmoreland, and afterwards by her daughter, who became Countess of Jersey. On certain state occasions Lady Jersey dined with the bank officials, and took the head of the table.
The history of Coutt’s Bank shows how much may be done by a discriminating liberality. Old Coutts heard, one day at a dinner-party, from the manager of a city bank, that a nobleman had applied to his house for the loan of thirty thousand pounds, and had been refused. At ten o’clock at night he started for the peer’s house, and saw his steward. He explained his business, and said that if the nobleman would call upon him the next morning, he might have whatever he wanted. On the next morning, when the noble lord called at the bank, Mr. Coutts handed him thirty notes of a thousand pounds each. “What security do you want?” asked the peer. “I shall be satisfied with your note-of hand,” was the reply. This was given; and the nobleman said, ” I shall only want for the present ten thousand pounds of the money; so I will leave twenty thousand pounds with you, and open an account.” Some time afterwards the nobleman sold an estate for two hundred thousand pounds, which he deposited with Coutts’s. Nor was this all. He told the anecdote to his friends, and also to George III. The King was so impressed with the story that he himself deposited a large sum with Mr. Coutts. The King withdrew his patronage, however, when Coutts supported Sir Francis Burdett in his contest for Middlesex with immense sums, and transferred his account to another banker, who failed; and we cannot help thinking that in this instance his Majesty was served quite right.”

Angela Burdett-Coutts, portrait by an unknown artist, from the National Portra
it Gallery

Another old excerpt about the bank appears in Walter Thornbury’s 1865 volume Haunted London (this obviously refers to the old headquarters of the bank on The Strand, not the present building pictured above):

“No. 59 is Coutts’s Bank. It was built by the Adam brothers—to whom we are indebted for the Adelphi—for Mr. Coutts, in 1768. The old house of the firm, of the date of Queen Anne, was situated in St. Martin’s-lane. No. 59 contains some fine marble chimney-pieces of the Cipriani and Bacon school. The dining-room is hung with quaint Chinese subjects on paper, sent to Coutts by Lord Macartney, while on his embassy to China, in 1792-95. In another room hang portraits of some early friends of this son of Mammon, including Dr. Armstrong, the poet and physician, Fuseli’s friend, by Reynolds. Mr. Coutts was the son of a Dundee merchant. His first wife was a servant, a Lancashire labourer’s offspring. He had three daughters, one of whom became the wife of Sir Francis Burdett, a second Countess of Guilford, and a third Marchioness of Bute. On becoming acquainted with Miss Mellon, and inducing her to leave the stage to avoid perpetual insults, Mr. Coutts bought for her a small villa of Sir W. Vane Tempest, called Holly Lodge, at the foot of Highgate Hill, for which he gave 25,000/. His banking-house strong rooms alone cost 10,000/. building. The first deposit in the enlarged house was the diamond aigrette that the Grand Signor had placed in Sir Horatio Nelson’s hat. Mr. Coutts, though very charitable, was precise and exact. On one occasion, there being a deficit of 2s. li)d. in the day’s accounts, the clerks were detained for hours, or, as I believe, all night. One of Coutts’s clerks, who took the western walk, was discovered to be missing with 17,000/.* Rewards were offered, and the town placarded, but all in vain. The next day, however, the note-case arrived from Southampton. The clerk’s story was, that on his way through Piccadilly, being seized with a stupor, he had got into a coach in order to secure the money. He had remained insensible the whole journey, and had awoke at Southampton. Mr. Coutts gave him a handsome sum from his private purse, but dismissed him.
Coutts’s Bank stands on nearly the centre of the site of the New Exchange. When the Adelphi was built in Durham Gardens, Mr. Coutts purchased a vista to prevent his view being interrupted, stipulating that the new street leading to the entrance should face this opening; and on this space, up to the level of the Strand, he built his strong rooms. Some years after, wishing to enlarge them, he erected over the office a counting-house and set of offices, extending from William-street to Robert-street, and threw a stone bridge over William-street to connect the front and back premises.
      Mr. Coutts, a few years before his death, married Harriet Mellon, who, after his death, became the wife of the Duke of St. Albans, a descendant of Nell Gwynn, that light-hearted wanton, whom nobody could hate. “Miss Mellon,” says Leigh Hunt, “was arch and agreeable on the stage; she had no genius; but then she had fine eyes and a goodhumoured mouth.” The same gay writer describes her when young as bustling about at sea-ports, selling tickets for her benefit-night; but then, says the kindly apologist for everybody, she had been left with a mother to support.”
I wish that old building was still the headquarters. And I suspect that you will hear more about Angela Burdett-Coutts in this space in the future.
In 1969 Coutt’s Bank, with origins in the late 17th century, was bought by National Westminster Bank (NatWest), and in 2000, NatWest was purchased by the Royal Bank of Scotland.  Coutt’s is now the wealth division of the conglomerate, engaged in private banking, with branches and offices worldwide. To become their client, I assume you would have to rob your piggy bank. And a few others as well.
The Strand, c. 1824

London Calling…

The New York Times book Review of Sunday, November 13, 2011, carried a review of a new book I need to add to my library: London Under: The Secret History Beneath the Streets by Peter Ackroyd.
To read the review, click here.

The book begins with a warning to tread carefully in the streets of London, for one is walking over the remains of tens of thousands over many centuries. It is no surprise to think of cities buried beneath us; that is true of many cities. But for London junkies like Kristine and Victoria, all other locations pale in comparison.
Author Peter Ackroyd (above, from The Guardian in 2008) has written dozens of books, many about London and its residents.  One of my favorites is London: The Biography, published in 2000. Beginning with pre-history, Ackroyd brings London’s story up to the Greater London of almost today, a metropolis that sprawls over a vast region. London Under tells about what is below, from the earliest races of human habitation along the river Thames to the constant expansion of the Underground, or as it is more affectionately known, the Tube. The chapter headings begin with “Darkness Visible” and run to “Deep Fantasies.”
Ackroyd’s biographies include such subjects as Chaucer, Shakespeare, William Blake, J.M.W. Turner, Charles Lamb, Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde, T.S. Eliot, and Ezra Pound.  Don’t you wonder what he does in his spare time? 

I seem to have missed Ackroyd’s 2007 book Thames: Sacred River, a situation I will have to remedy soon.  He has also written fiction, some sounding like fictional biography, a genre that has become increasingly popular lately.

Above, the story of Charles Lamb, written as a novel, published in 2004.  From what little I recall about Charles and his sister Mary, the truth is actually stranger than fiction.  But the story of the pair no doubt makes for a dramatic account of interesting aspects of the regency era.

I guess I have set us up for a lot of reading in the near future.  But as long as the topic is London, it is a labor of love.  Thanks, Mr. Ackroyd!

Above, my photos:  Seven Dials, 2010; The London Eye from Parliament, also 2010.