Park Crescent, as the name suggests, is a semicircle consisting of elegant stuccoed terraced houses that were completed in 1821. The crescent is divided in half by Portland Place and a private garden sits in the middle. Inside is a statue of Queen Victoria's father Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn which was installed in 1824. The houses and the Garden are Grade I listed buildings. On the day I was there, there were renovations going on, lots of builders and noise so I hurried through and turned right into Portland Place. Portland Place was named for the Third Duke of Portland William Henry Cavendish Cavendish-Bentinck, who was a Conservative politician during the late Georgian era. He served as Chancellor for the University of Oxford from 1792 until 1809, and twice served as Prime Minister of Great Britain in 1783 and then of the United Kingdom in 1807 until 1809. He is also the great-great-great-grandfather of Queen Elizabeth II. The buildings are grand and typical of the area, many of which are now occupied by company headquarters, professional bodies, embassies and charities. South Bank International School, Queens College Preparatory School, Chinese Embassy which had a small demonstration outside, Polish Embassy, Kenya High Commission, Colombian Consulate and the Association of Anaesthetists are amongst the aforementioned that I notice. Farther along the road in the middle is a statue of Wladyslaw Sikorski (20 May 1818 - 4 July 1943) a Polish military and political leader. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Sikorski Further along the road I pass BBC broadcasting house, which to be honest is nothing to write home about although i imagine the day to day goings on inside are a lot more interesting. At the end of the road where it becomes Langham Place is the Langham Hotel, which is an impressive building and one of the largest and most famous of the traditional grand hotels. Unfortunately I didn't manage to get a decent photo of it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langham_Hotel,_London On the opposite side just down a little and on the opposite corner from the BBC is All Souls Church which I thought was an interesting building. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Souls_Church,_Langham_Place
Shortly after I arrive at my destination, the first of the orange properties, (Great) Marlborough Street.
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AuthorLouis Mogg. Archives
March 2020
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