In London to check out a new PhotoWalk route from Charing
Cross to Hyde Park Corner via Horse Guards and Buckingham Palace. Starting at
the Eleanor Memorial cross (1863), then down Whitehall passing the Old Admiralty
Building (1726) to Horse Guards (1748) by William Kent.
Through into Horse Guards Parade and on the left a statue to
Field Marshal Earl Roberts – Frederick Sleigh Roberts, then the very strange
Cadiz Memorial (1814) with a mortar mounted on a dramatic Chinese dragon with a
two headed dog.
Walking across towards The Mall the Citadel comes into view
(can’t miss it) built as a bunker - fortress and air raid shelter in 1939, with
pebble and flit aggregate block facing, the English Heritage listing calls it a “Massive
Cubist fortress”.
Then up The Mall, looking at The Duke of York's column and
round the outside of St James’s Palace coming out at the front of Buckingham
Palace and having to fight the crowds of tourists watching the changing of the
guard. Could not get near to the Victoria Memorial (1911) by Sir Aston Webb but
instead looked at the impressive ‘Canadian’ gates with gilded crests.
Nothing much to see along Constitution Hill until the Wellington
Arch comes into view. 1829 by Decimus Burton topped with the Quadriga sculpture
of 1912 by Adrian Jones. The orientation of the arch was altered in 1883 with
the original massive statue of the Duke of Wellington on horseback being moved
to Aldershot. It’s worth going into the arch for the views that can be had from
the top and English Heritage exhibitions held in the Quadriga Gallery.
Delving into one of the subways put in by the London County
Council I came out by the Hyde Park Screen (1829) by Burton, originally the
entrance to Hyde Park. Finally Apsley House (1778) by Robert Adam, remodelled
and enlarged by Wyatt in 1830. Known as ‘No1 London’ the house of The Duke of
Wellington, is worth a look inside – good interiors and fantastic silverware
and ceramics.
Altogether an interesting day even if it was dull, windy and
a bit wet, with no good photos taken but the basis for another PhotoWalk in The City of Westminster.
