• Home
  • Weekend Walks
  • Private Tours
  • About Me
  • Contact
  • Writing
  • Things Are Afoot
Bowl Of Chalk - London Walking Tours

Things Are Afoot

Weekend Roundup - 9th/10th Nov - '13

11/11/2013

0 Comments

 
On Saturday, it was the Lord Mayor's Show. It happens each year when the new Lord Mayor of the City of London is officially welcomed in to their new year long post, and this year was the turn of Fiona Wolfe, only the second female Mayor in the history of the City of London ... the first being in 1983. When considering this fact, you should also bear in mind that last Saturday was the 798th Lord Mayor's Show. The City of London closes down for much of the day, and the streets are lined with thousands of people watching the parade go by, so I therefore decided to change the usual itinerary and instead, we stayed around Westminster.

Unfortunately for us (and everyone involved with the Lord Mayor's celebrations) it rained non stop for the entire morning. Despite the dismal weather I was joined by a hardy group, all from England, who weren't going to let the rain dampen their spirits. There were 7 in all; Carole from Blackpool, Dermot and Theresa from the Midlands and Glen, Norma, Judy and Ken all from London. 
Picture
Covent Garden
Quite early on, Ken made the excellent suggestion that I should furnish them with information under cover and out of the rain, so for the rest of the walk we darted from one bit of shelter to the next, under umbrellas, doorways, arches, markets and wot not. We ended up taking in a bit of Whitehall, including Banqueting House, Horse Guards and St James's Park.

Sunday, although a bit cold, was a lovely day for a walk around east London and I was joined by 10 people, or 10.5 if you include Lara who was just 18 months old. At about midnight on Saturday night / Sunday morning I had an email from a guy saying that him and his son were sitting in an airport in New York, (en route) from New Zealand and realised it was late notice, but could they come on the walk the next morning at 11am. I replied, giving him the meeting point details, and sure enough, they there were, Ryno and Francois, just arrived from the States. It's quite incredible really.

It was a pretty South African heavy group, sprinkled with a couple of Americans, a Canadian, an Australian and even Alex from Wolverhampton. Here they all are on Leonard Street, just near Old Street with Ian Stevenson's 'JUST LOOK AT THIS' mural behind them.
Picture
'JUST LOOK AT THIS' by Ian Stevenson - Leonard Street
Some Awards
Least waterproof waterproof - Judy
Second least waterproof waterproof - Ken
Youngest - Lara
Best moustache - No winners
Most American - Kaidi & Wendy
Name most likely to conjure an image of a large, horned, odd toed ungulate - Ryno
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Bowl Of Chalk

    Bowl Of Chalk based shenanigans. 

    Archives

    November 2018
    September 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011

    Categories

    All
    1666
    Actor's Church
    Adelaide House
    Admiral Arthur Phillip
    Air Pollution
    Air Raid Precautions
    Air Raids
    Alfred Hitchcock
    All Hallows By The Tower
    All Hallows-by-the-Tower
    Anne Boleyn
    Anne Of Cleves
    Apothecaries' Hall
    Architecture
    Arnold Circus
    Bankside
    Barbican
    Ben Wilson
    Berry Bros & Rudd
    Big Ben
    Blackout
    Blitz
    Borough Market
    Brick Lane
    Brick Lane Mosque
    Bridewell Theatre
    Britain's Smallest Police Station
    Bruce Castle Museum
    Brunel Museum
    Buckingham Palace
    Bunhill Fields Cemetery
    Burlington Arcade
    C215 - Christian Guemy
    Cabmen's Shelters
    Camouflaged Buildings
    Canary Wharf
    Cardinal Wolsey
    Chad Varah
    Charles Barry
    Charles Dickens
    Charles Ii
    Charlie Chaplin
    Charterhouse
    Cheapside
    Christchurch Spitalfields
    Christchurch - Spitalfields
    Christiaan Nagel
    Christopher Wren
    City Of London
    City Road
    Clerkenwell
    Clet Abraham
    Clockmakers' Museum
    Columbia Road
    Covent Garden
    Cripplegate
    Criterion Restaurant
    Curiosities
    Curtain Road
    Cutty Sark
    Dan Cruickshank
    Daniel Defoe
    Day Trips
    Dead Man's Hole
    Dennis Sever's House
    Dr Johnson's House
    Duke Of Buckingham
    Duke Of Wellington
    East London
    Edwin Landseer
    Eine
    Eros
    First World War
    Fleet Street
    Florence Nightingale
    Floris Perfumers
    Floris - Perfumers
    Fortnum And Mason
    Fossils
    Fournier Street
    Fourth Plinth
    Gainsborough Studios
    Geffrye Museum
    Geoffrey Chaucer
    George Dance The Younger
    George Frederic Watts
    George Frideric Handel
    George Inn
    George Washington
    Gillian Wearing
    Golden Hinde
    GreatFire350
    Great Fire Of London
    Greenpeace
    Greenwich
    Greenwich Foot Tunnel
    Grinling Gibbons
    Guy's Hospital
    Ham House
    Hampton Court Palace
    Hatchards
    Henry Croft
    Hever Castle
    Historical Fiction
    HMS Belfast
    Hodge
    Horace Jones
    Horatio Nelson
    Horniman Museum
    Horse Guards
    Household Cavalry Museum
    Houses Of Parliament
    Hoxton
    Hoxton Hall
    Hoxton Square
    Hoxton Street Monster Supplies
    H.R Higgins - Coffee Man
    Huguenots
    I Love London Town
    Inigo Jones
    Invader
    Italian Gardens
    Jack The Ripper
    James Parkinson
    Jewel Tower
    Jimi Hendrix
    Jimmy C
    John Milton
    John Wesley
    Kaspar - The Savoy Hotel Cat
    Kensington Palace
    King Charles I
    King Edward Ii
    King Edward Iii
    King George Iii
    King George Iv
    King Henry Viii
    King James I
    Knights Templar
    Leadenhall Market
    Lloyds Of London
    Lock & Co Hatters
    Lock & Co - Hatters
    London Books
    London Bridge
    London Bridges
    London Cabs
    London Museums
    London's Dead
    London Underground
    Margaret Thatcher
    Marie Lloyd
    Mayfair
    Metropolitan Police
    Millennium Bridge
    Millicent Fawcett
    More London
    Mudlarks
    Museum Of The Order Of St John
    National Gallery
    National Trust
    Norton Folgate
    Old London Bridge
    Old Street
    Old Truman Brewery
    Oliver Cromwell
    Pablo Delgado
    Parks
    Parliament Square
    Paternoster Square
    Paul Don Smith
    Paxton & Whitfield
    Pearly Kings & Queens
    Piccadilly Circus
    Pitfield Street
    Platform 9 3/4
    Portland Stone
    Postman's Park
    Prince Albert
    Private Walks
    Punch & Judy
    Queen Anne
    Queen Elizabeth I
    Queen Victoria
    River Thames
    Roa
    Robert Peel
    Roman London
    Ronzo
    Rose Theatre Bankside
    Rotherhithe
    Royal Academy Of Arts
    Royal Albert Hall
    Royal Courts Of Justice
    Royal Opera House
    Royal Warrants
    Russel Hoban
    Samuel Johnson
    Samuel Pepys
    Saxon London
    Sculptures
    Shad Thames
    Shakespeare's Globe Theatre
    Shops
    Shoreditch
    Shoreditch Park
    Silicon Roundabout
    Southwark Cathedral
    Spitalfields
    Spitalfields Life
    Stafford Hotel
    Statues
    St Bride's Church
    St Clement Danes
    St Dunstanintheeastca4d4776b9
    St Dunstan In The West
    St Etheldreda
    St Giles Cripplegate
    Stik
    St James's Palace
    St James's Park
    St Johns Gate57173442d0
    St John's - Smith Square
    St Katharine Docks
    St Katherine Docks
    St Mary Aldermanbury
    St Pauls Cathedral
    St Peter Cheap
    Street Art
    St Stephen Walbrook
    Suffrage Movement
    Sweet Toof
    Tate Modern
    Telephone Box
    Temple Bar
    Temple Church
    Thames Barrier
    Theatre Royal Drury Lane
    The Birdcage
    The Dickens Inn
    The Eagle
    The Foundling Museum
    The King's Wardrobe
    The Mayflower
    The Monument
    The Old Curiosity Shop
    The Old Operating Theatre
    The Ragged School Museum
    The Shard
    The Spitalfields Trust
    The Ten Bells
    The Theatre
    The Tipperary
    Thomas Archer
    Thomas Barnardo
    Thomas Coram
    Thomas Crapper
    Thomas Farriner
    Thomas Sutton
    Tower Bridge
    Tower Of London
    Trafalgar Square
    Twinings
    Urban Geology
    Va27d30ae324
    Vhils
    Victorian London
    Victorian Music Hall
    Victoria Park
    Weekend Walks
    Wesley's Chapel
    Westland London
    Westminster
    Westminster Abbey
    Whitechapel Bell Foundry
    William Hogarth
    William Shakespeare
    William The Conqueror
    William Waldorf Astor
    William Wordsworth
    Winchester Palace
    Windsor Castle
    Winston Churchill
    Women's Rights
    WWII
    Xylo
    Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese
    Yeoman Warders

    RSS Feed

  • Home
  • Weekend Walks
  • Private Tours
  • About Me
  • Contact
  • Writing
  • Things Are Afoot