A short walk along Wellington Street and I arrive at Strand, turn right and head towards Trafalgar Square. Not a huge amount of interest to be honest, pre pandemic its a busy road that takes you from Westminster east to the city of London, which is the historic and the central business district of London. However I am heading west. The only thing that really catches my eye is a blue clock above the entrance to a now closed down watch shop. From 1877 the Civil Service Supply Association were based here, although I am not sure how the long the clock has been there. In 1927 the building was rebuilt in an art deco style and became a department store which closed in 1982 after a fire. Strand historically has been famous for pubs, apparently the gunpowder plot was hatched in a pub here, and theatres, although in the modern day just the Adelphi, Vaudeville and the Savoy remain. Authors Charles Dickens and George Eliot both lived here. The Strand Magazine was named after the street and Bush House was home to the world service from 1941 until 2012. I continue walking and soon arrive at Trafalgar Square a place that really needs no explanation as it probably ranks up there as one of the most recognizable parts of London, with Nelsons Column as its centre piece and the National Portrait Gallery as its backdrop. One of my earliest memories was coming here during the summer holidays and feeding the pigeons. My mum would buy us each a little tub of bird seed off the sellers and immediately pigeons would descend on us, nowadays I shudder at the thought. Today though on a slightly overcast day during the pandemic its almost empty and the bird seed sellers are nowhere in sight. There are four plinths in the square, three of which have statues of historic people, but one, often referred to as 'the fourth plinth', has temporary art installations the current one is entitled 'The End' by Heather Phillipson. It was unveiled in July 2020 and will remain until 2022. It is a large swirl of whipped cream with a cherry, a fly and a drone on top. There is a camera in the drone that plays a live feed which you can watch at www.theend.today .
Another place to mention is St Martin in the Fields Church which is north east of the square, it has an unusual warped window on the east side of the church by Iranian artist Shirazeh Houshiary which is worth a look. There is also a cafe in the crypt which is highly recommended however it was shut the day I was there. And a last little oddity is London's smallest Police Station in the south east corner of the square. It dates back to the 1920's and is made from a hollowed out lamppost, and is big enough to hold two prisoners.
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AuthorLouis Mogg. Archives
March 2020
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