London
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First
stop today -- St.
Paul's Cathedral. As the Cathedral
of the capital city, St Paul’s is the spiritual focus for the
Nation. This is where people and events of overwhelming
importance to the country have been celebrated, mourned and
commemorated since the first Service took place in 1697.
Important
services here have included the funerals of Lord Nelson, the Duke
of Wellington and Lawrence of Arabia (who are buried here in the lower galleries)
; Jubilee celebrations for Queen
Victoria, King George V; peace services marking the end of the
First and Second World Wars; the launch of the Festival of
Britain; the Service of Remembrance and Commemoration for the
11th September 2001: the 80th and 100th birthdays of Queen
Elizabeth, the Queen Mother; the wedding of Charles, Prince of
Wales, to Lady Diana Spencer and, most recently, the
Thanksgiving for the Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty the Queen.
It was an overwhelming sight. There are more memorials to dead rules (and near-rulers), generals, admirals, authors and bishops than you can imagine. The Whispering Gallery, high above the cathedral floor, was worth the wheezing climb.
Next on my list was The Tower of London, the original Norman fortress in London. This has been the setting for many great events during its 900-year history as a royal palace and fortress, prison and place of execution, arsenal, mint, menagerie and jewel house.
Included
in the admission was a fabulous walking tour guided by one of
the yeoman guards, Eric. He had more good personal
stories about the Tower than I can remember. I was very
impressed by the Crown Jewels. What a
display! In the courtyard outside the Chapel
Royal of St Peter ad Vincula I stood on the
spot where many famous heads were severed including Sir
Thomas More, executed in 1535 for refusing to acknowledge
Henry VIII as head of the English Church. He were soon
followed by a still more famous prisoner and victim, the
King's second wife Anne Boleyn, executed along with her
brother and four others a little under a year later. Many
others went to their deaths on the same spot including
Catherine Howard, the other of Henry VIII's six wives to be
beheaded.
In
the tower most often used to house them there is prisoner graffiti hand carved in the stone
walls. Some of this is a deep relief that must have
taken ages to carve. Of course, what else did they have
to do?
After another great bus ride back to Kensington I enjoyed a Pub dinner of fish and 'chips', then off to relax and bed.
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