Anarchy in the UK: Part 4: Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?)

After walking under the Thames, we ended up in Trafalgar Square, pretty much the gathering place in London, watched over by Nelson’s Column, a monument built between 1840 and 1843 to commemorate Admiral Horatio Nelson's victory over Napoleon at the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar. It's good that the site of the victory shared its name with a square in London. Quite fortuitous, that. Anyway, the 18-foot statue of Nelson is perched atop a 151-foot granite column. Unlike Eros in Piccadilly Circus, Nelson is not nude, for which I think we can all be grateful.
Trafalgar Square is also the home to the National Gallery and, around the corner, the National Portrait Gallery. Whenever there are rallies, celebrations, or other events in London, Trafalgar Square is usually where they take place. The architecture is all rather grand, although the marble statue of pregnant English artist Alison Lapper (who actually was born without arms and with truncated legs--a congenital disorder called phocomelia) sculpted by Marc Quin is a bit out of place, at least in my opinion.
We passed quickly through Trafalgar and walked down Whitehall, past the Horse Guards Palace. This is one of the places where the immobile Palace Guards stand and are taunted and photographed by tourists. The guards are not supposed to move or react, but I can only imagine what they are fantasizing about doing to the tourists, and how best to dispose of the bodies.
We also passed the Banqueting House, perhaps most noted for the fact that it was there in 1649 that King Charles I was beheaded (I’ve been to banquets like that).

We drifted past the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. (By the way, “Big Ben” is the name of the bell housed within the clock tower, not the tower or the clock itself.) In fact, Big Ben is officially called the “Great Bell.” The 16-ton bell was cast on April 10, 1856, in Stockton-on-Tees by Warner's of Cripplegate. Why “Big Ben”? Two theories; one is that the commissioner of works, Sir Benjamin Hall, was responsible for ordering the bell. the other is that it may have been named after heavyweight boxer Benjamin Caunt.
One of Steven’s favorite “museums” is the Cabinet War Rooms. This is basically an underground warren (under what is now the HM Treasury) where Churchill and his ministers set up military headquarters during World War II. The rooms were constructed in 1938, and featured a steel-reinforced roof. The winding network of rooms are well-preserved and give an excellent idea of how claustrophobic it would have been down there. (However, the portion that is preserved and open to the public is only s small fraction of what was a much larger—three-acre—facility that housed a staff of up to 528 people. Facilities included a canteen, hospital, shooting range, and dormitories.) In fact, the signage informs us, it was not an ideal place to spend large amounts of time and the dark, dank, and insects drove many of the people to emerge at night and sleep above ground—even during the London Blitz. Churchill himself only spent three nights down there. Still, the war rooms remained operational throughout the war and the day after VJ Day, the lights were switched off and everyone left everything just as it had been. I expect the mannequins of military personnel were added some time later.

There is also a Churchill Museum, which was just about to close when we got to it.

By this time it was after 5:00, and we had to head back to Hackney to pick up the kiddies. We made it home just in time for dinner.

And thus ended Tuesday.