Old Westminster

The weekend before last, the London walking team (made up of myself, Jacks, Shaun and Robyn) took part in another guided walk, this time around Westminster. There was a huge amount of history to absorb on a late and chilly sunday afternoon, but it was something I think we all enjoyed. Not as entertaining as the 'Jack the Ripper' walk, so if you're only going to do 1, that should be it.

Amongst all the historical blurb, I picked up a couple of interesting points:

1) Two examples of Winston Churchill at his witty best.

- He was at a political function, and had overindulged on the drink. A woman came up to him and told him that he was horribly drunk. He replied that she was horribly ugly, and that at least he would wake up sober in the morning.

- He was invited to a play, and on his invitation it read 'bring a friend, if you have one'. He replied, 'unfortunately I won't be able to attend, but invite me to your next performance, if you have one.'

2) There is an area west of the Houses of Parliament called St John's Smith Square. A church in the middle of the Square was built in honour of Queen Anne, and on being asked to describe what sort of design she wanted, she kicked over the footstool in her bedroom, and said 'what about that'. The church looks like an upside down footstool - quite funny.

3) There is a light above the clock section of St Stephen's (Big Ben's) Tower. When the light is on, it means that Parliament is sitting.

4) Around the area of St John's Smith Square there are various badges/emblems on the walls of a couple of the now very exclusive houses. A few decades ago, various fire companies sold their fire protection services to the residents of London. Each had a different badge, which would be placed on the owners house. In the event of a fire at the property, the specific fire company would arrive and put out the fire. On many occasions, rival companies would arrive first, not to put the fire out, but rather to show that they were quicker.