|
The Blackfriars Public House to
the Tate Modern with a twist.
Here we are standing outside the
Unilever building at New Bridge Street looking across
this very busy junction towards the Blackfriars Public
House which just happens to be a good old fashion London
pub except you may think your eyes are playing a trick
on you because behind the pub is a new building housing
the New York Bank of Mellon. The lines and perspective
here are mixed and confused giving the impression you're
looking at a hologram.
Enough of the view and it's time
to cross this busy junction so we enter a subway and
walk east bound noticing iron girders supporting part
of this underground tunnel, take your first left again
and we exit the subway right outside the Blackfriars
Public House. But what of the name Blackfriar, well
it refers to the colour of habits worn by Dominican
friars who moved their friary from Holborn to this area
back in the 13th century.
We are walking along the front
of the New York Bank of Mellon building opposite you
will notice two "no entry" signs which lead
to the slip road by the road named Puddledock and what
we find here is a couple of experimental inflatable
speed humps, worth a look if you find daft ideas fascinating.
Moving further east along Queen
Victoria Street we come to a Piccolo bar, basically
this is a Italian café used by many of London's
taxi-cab drivers, excellent tea, coffee, sandwiches,
pasta at a very reasonable price. Next door though is
one of the many Wren churches located throughout the
square mile, this one has a peculiar name St Andrew
by the Wardrobe. Take a look at the understated gate
the nice slightly steep stone stairs and the very simple
conservative look to this splendid church. I do like
the benches outside behind the bushes on the right,
nice place to find a little peace and quiet in the city.
But what of the name, well it turns out a former King
decided to move his armour, weapons and some furniture
from the Tower of London to a storage facility behind
the church so hence the name "St Andrew by the
Wardrobe".
Next to St Andrew by the Wardrobe
we find the Church of Scientology, a very impressive
looking building which is open to the public. Have to
say I don't know much about Scientology but they do
have a DVD to give away if you're interested. Now the
next building on our left is Faraday House which is
a British Telecom telephone exchange but this site used
to be a "Doctor's Common" which was also called
the "College of Civilians". This was a society
of lawyers practising civil law in London however The
Court of Probate Act 1857 effectively abolished the
Doctors Commons by allowing common lawyers the right
to practise in other areas of law which used to be the
sole preserve of civilian lawyers.
Now opposite us is one of the
most awful looking buildings that sits with the square
mile, it's called Castle Baynard house but if we look
closely we shall see a totem pole amongst the grey drab
building with a small open space. The totem pole in
fact represents the seven ages of man and if you listen
to the pod cast you can here me reading a piece from
"As You Like It" by William Shakespeare. If
you do cross the road here and take a look at the totem
pole you will get a fantastic view of St Andrew by the
Wardrobe, puts the church in a great perspective.
Next we walk further east crossing
Godilman street and please do take a look at the City
of London Bollards, they look so fine and dandy but
must cost a fortune to cast, plant then paint but we
come across a really fine looking brick built building
with a beautiful well maintained set of gates. This
just happens to be the College of Arms, it is the official
repository of coats of arms and pedigrees of English,
Welsh, Northern Irish and Commonwealth families. If
you ever watch the state opening of Parliament you'll
notice the officers of the college, known as heralds
line the stairwell at the sovereigns entrance. Heralds
used to organise tournaments, jousts and because Knighthoods
were passed on through blood lines they gained a level
of expertise in genealogy. The building is a absolute
marvel and certainly looks out of place when you look
at the surroundings but take a moment to look through
the gates and just admire the stairs leading to the
main door, notice the Lion, the Unicorn and the Royal
coat of arms, for the College of Arms is part of the
Royal Household. Please note it is self funding by charging
for its services to individuals and companies.
We now press the button on the
Pelican crossing and walk across Queen Victoria street
and onto the pavement through the first pair of HSBC
gates notice the large glass building on the left which
just happens to be the Salvation Army International
Headquarters. On the right is the City of London Boy's
School, but dead ahead you will see the Tate Modern
Gallery, formerly known as Bankside power station. To
get there we must cross the Millennium bridge, yes the
wobbly one is open and my god you'll get a fantastic
view of London from this modern marvel of civil engineering.
When you walk along you'll notice the shock absorbers
that stop this suspension bridge from wobbling. The
views to your left are of Southwark bridge with Tower
in the distance and to your right you see a railway
bridge with Blackfriars behind, but like the title of
this walk I would like you to twist or turnaround around
and just take in the most magnificent of view of St
Paul's Cathedral.
The view from the bridge is just
amazing, the dome of St Paul's just fills you with hope,
especially now we are heading through troubled economic
times. However let us never forget that this great City
of London was blitzed in 1940 and from amongst the fires
and the smoke the Dome of St Paul's gave us all hope.
Again I firmly believe our faith will bring us through
these troubled times and whatever is thrown at this
great nation in the end, just makes us stronger. Welcome
to the City of London and I do hope you get the chance
to enjoy this walk.
|
