Yesterday I was mostly in the West End so today I headed east. Coming out of Monument Station I was immediately confronted by the monument, squeezed in amongst tall buildings and a tube station. It commemorates the Great Fire of London in 1666, which devastated two thirds of the city. The allegorical sculpture shows Charles II coming to assist the slumped figure of the City of London.
I think this visit to London has been about small things, because a short distance away, on the corner of Philpot Lane, I was hoping to find London’s smallest public sculpture. Just when I found it and was about to take a photo, a rubbish truck pulled up and blocked my view. However there it was when he pulled away. Success! Legend goes that workmen put it there to honor two 19th century workmen who died in a fall while fighting over a missing lunch. The mice had actually taken the lunch.
A little further along the road was St Dunstan in the East, a ruined church which has become a peaceful garden, except for tourists like me.
After that peaceful interlude I returned to Endell Street as I now knew exactly where the nose should be. But the building was now a beauty shop and there was a sign attached to the wall right where the nose would have been. I guess it’s too much to expect them to have remained in place since 1997.
By 2.30 I was in the queue outside the King’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace, waiting to see “Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Style”. Once inside I checked in my handbag and took the opportunity to go to the loo. The lady behind me also wanted a posh pee. It was a terrific exhibition, covering babyhood right through her life. It was a bit special to see her wedding dress and Coronation gown. I took heaps of photos, which I know Anne will enjoy when I get home.
Back to Paddington by bus, a method of travel I much prefer to the tube.
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