Monday 16 November 2015

Highgate Cemetery: Part One (East)

Writing my top 5 London Monsters post inspired my girlfriend and me to go and check out Highgate Cemetery, the scene of the 1970 vampire scare, for ourselves.
Choosing to exit from Archway underground meant that we had a pleasant, if slightly tiring climb up Highgate Hill (it's called Highgate for a reason!). If you choose this route you can take in features such as the charming little statue of Dick Whittington's Cat, as well as numerous churches. Also be advised that about half way up the hill you can swing a left through Waterlow Park, a sweet little patch of green space complete with duck ponds. To the west and south of the park is Highgate Cemetery, in fact to the south is Highgate East Cemetery which we will concentrate on today.
This cemetery, which is the more modern of the two, is £4 per adult and free to roam. The other, Highgate West, is only accessible by guided tour, costing £12 per adult. This one we will return to investigate at its most eeire in mid winter, so stay tuned..
The volunteer manning the East Cemetery ticket office was a vampiric goth girl who had quite clearly scored her dream job! No offence intended to her, it just made us smile that she should be on meet and greet juty with tourists. 
The East Cemetery, which was created as an expansion to the slightly older West Cemetery in the 1850s, is the final resting place of many significant figures. Such individuals include leading Victorian novelist Mary Ann Evans, better known by her pen name, George Eliot, Hitchhiker's Guide author Douglas Adams, and of course philosopher and revolutionary socialist Karl Marx.

Douglas Adams' grave, (on the left) featuring a stone box filled with pens

By Karl Marx's grave

However, Highgate East Cemetery is much more than just a place to spot celebrity tombstones, it is a strangely aesthetic and beautifully gothic little patch of solemn calm. Just take a look at the images I snapped and tell me that it doesn't look more like an impressively detailed film set than an ordinary graveyard. You can easily see why people were so willing to believe that creatures of the night stalked the sinuous rows of Victorian stone. Looking like something from a Hammer Horror movie, I imagine that Highgate East would especially capture the imagination of our North American friends who I'm sure are fairly unused to seeing a cemetery appearing quite so primordial.
The atmosphere within the graveyard is however one of peace and tranquility. I felt incredibly at ease walking amongst the dead; there were no heavy vibes or eerie feelings from my part. I found the whole experience a very pleasant one, and was interested to take in the vast array of different gothic tombs, many of them crumbling and partially collapsed as they are steadily reclaimed by nature through sheer passage of time.

   Near the enterance of Highgate East Cemetery

Celtic-style crosses

Beautiful statue

Graves in a state of near collapse

Graves noticeably tilting due to interference from tree roots

Tombstones being reclaimed by nature

Heavily ivy-covered tombs

Beautifully gothic headstones

Tilting crosses

I would recommend Highgate East Cemetery to anyone interested in slightly morbid tourism or just something a little bit different to experience on a clear afternoon in London.

As mentioned, we will be checking out the guided tour of Highgate West Cemetery later on this winter, so I'll be sure to give you all my thoughts on that at some point. Please do let me know if you have also visited either cemetery and what you thought, I'd love to hear from you.

Saturday 14 November 2015

Top 5 London Monsters

As you would expect from a city as ancient and mysterious as London, some pretty bizarre stories have built up over the years concerning strange beasts that supposedly stalk its dank, shadowy backstreets. I have put together a list of my top 5 London monsters...
You won't find any spooks on this list; there are so many London ghost stories that they deserve a future list all to themselves, that goes for phantom beasts too, so there'll be no ghost bears of Bear Alley here...
You also won't find the likes of Jack the Ripper, or any other monstrous men on this list, as they needed to be considered as genuine cryptids to qualify.
If they've got fur, fangs or scales you can bet that they've been considered, here are my top 5!

5) The Brentford Griffin

 


Kicking off this list is a truly bizarre element of London lore; in the 1980s locals began sighting strange griffin-like creatures in the skies over Brentford, West London.
A man by the name of Kevin Chippendale claims that he saw an animal which looked like a dog with wings and a beak flying over Green Dragon apartments on Braemar Road in mid 1984. He saw this strange apparition again in February 1985 and said that it looked like the animal featured on the sign of the Griffin Public House.
Chippendale's friend Angela Keyhoe, along with several other passengers on a bus, also claimed to have seen the creature sitting on top of a petrol station, and resembling a giant black bird. Psychologist John Olssen also saw it whilst jogging by the Thames. 
The sightings were featured in the press and on the six'o'clock news.
What was really going on, and whether or not the whole thing was just a hoax is uncertain, we'll probably never know. What is clear however is that the area has a long historical connection with griffins. 
A local legend tells the story of how King Charles II brought a griffin to Brentford as a gift for his mistress, Nell Gwynn. One day whilst it was playing on the banks of the River Brent the poor creature fell in and was washed down into the Thames, finally coming to rest on the small river island of Brentford Ait. Assumed drowned the griffin was left to its own devices. 
Years later a second griffin was brought into the area by botanist Joseph Banks, who had returned from a trip to the Pacific aboard Captain Cook's "Endeavor". This griffin was originally housed in the pagoda at Kew Gardens just south of Brentford Ait, and before long the two griffins met up and populated the tiny island, and later the whole of Brentford, with little griffins. 
The myth itself prevails, even if the sightings were simply made up. If you visit Brentford today you can at the very least witness the griffin heavy imagery and wordplay about town; there is a Griffin Court, of course the Griffin Public House, and even the local football team plays at Griffin Park. In a town so griffin-heavy maybe it was just inevitable that sooner or later people would start to see the winged beasts swooping overhead.

4) The Rat Queen

 


There is an immense labyrinth of cavernous tunnels beneath the streets of London, and so it was almost unavoidable that a tradition of monster stories would have built up around them.
One such tale is that of the "rat queen", or "rat-woman", which has been passed down by the "toshers" of Bermondsey. Toshers were men who went down into the sewers to look for valuable or saleable items such as coins and scrap metal, they returned with fascinating tales of the rats that they encountered down there in the darkness.
Liz Thompson's great-great-grandfather was one such Bermondsey tosher. Shortly before his death he spoke of a liaison that he had had with a rat queen down in the tunnels during the 1840s. Ms Thompson revealed his story in the Folklore Society's 1995 newsletter and it went like this; the Queen rat would listen secretly to the men talking and deduce which kinds of women they liked. If she liked one of them in return she would appear to them in the form of their ideal girl and sleep with them. The men were strictly forbidden to speak of the encounter on pain of extreme bad fortune, which could explain why Ms Thompson's great-great-grandfather waited until he was securely on his deathbed before revealing his tale. 
Now the toshers are long gone and the rat queen has passed into legend, but who is to say she doesn't still skulk the murky depths beneath our feet.

3) The Pig-Faced Lady of Manchester Square

 


In the mid 1810s a rumour swept across London that there was a pig-faced woman living in Manchester Square, a fashionable and wealthy part of town. The stories that spread claimed that she was the daughter of a wealthy noblewoman and would occassionally venture out covered in a heavy veil.
Portraits of her began to be published around 1815, the first of which included a brief bio from a woman who claimed to have attended her. It detailed that she was Irish, about 20 years old and did indeed have the head of a pig.  The attendant went on to claim that the woman spoke only in grunts and ate from a silver trough, she also went on to say that despite being paid 1000 guineas she left the pig-faced woman's service out of fear.
There began to be sightings of her; people claimed to have seen a snout poking out of windows or a silhouetted pig's head inside passing carriages.
A great number of people believed in her and she began to get coverage in the papers. The Times even printed a letter from a young woman offering to become the pig-faced lady's companion for a yearly income, but the paper later decided to denounce the rumours after receiving an advertisement from a young man wishing to marry her. 
In response to the man's prospective proposal The Times published the following;

"There is at present a report, in London, of a woman, with a strangely deformed face, resembling that of a pig, who is possessed of a large fortune... We, ourselves, unwittingly put in an advertisement from a young woman, offering herself to be her companion; and yesterday morning, a fellow (with a calf's head, we suppose) transmitted to us another advertisement, attended by a one pound note, offering himself to be her husband. We have put his offer in the fire, and shall send his money to some charity, thinking it a pity that such a fool should have any. Our rural friends hardly know what idiots London contains... The story...is an old one. About 50 years ago, it is well recollected by several elderly people, there was exactly the same rumour. It was revived with but slight effect about 30 years since; and now comes forth again in its pristine vigour."

This however did little to crush the rumours as rival papers, Morning Herald and Morning Chronicle, stepped in to defend both the pig-faced lady and her would-be suitor. Both papers suggested that her facial deformities, although unknown to doctors, were not beyond the realms of possibility.
During celebrations to mark the end of the Napoleonic Wars a huge crowd had gathered around Piccadilly, the traffic slowed right down and it was at this time that eyewitnesses claim that they saw a woman sitting in one of the carriages dressed in a fashionable bonnet with a pig's snout protruding from underneath. The crowd tried to stop the carriage but it managed to drive away through them at high speed.
Tales of the pig-faced woman persisted throughout the 1800s; it was reported that a young baronet by the name of William Elliot was bitten on the neck by a pig-faced, yet fashionably dressed, lady in the drawing room of a house at Grosvenor Square. 
In 1861 a man wrote to Notes and Queries magazine asking if anyone possessed medical or biographical accounts of the pig-faced lady, claiming himself to have had contact with an eyewitness of her. A Mr FitzHenry responded by saying that he had known the pig-faced woman's sister, a Lady H.W, and that forty years' previous he had attended a dinner party with her in which all the guests had been forewarned not to mention anything about pigs out of delicacy. A George Lloyd also replied, stating that he had seen the pig-faced lady when he was a child in Wakefield, in around 1828-29, and that he had been haunted by the image ever since.
Showmen cashed in on the pig-faced lady scare, by the 1860s Charles Dickens wrote that no fair was complete without its own pig-faced woman on display. Often the creature was actually a bear which had been drugged into a stupor with strong beer, shaved, tied up and dressed in a wig and women's clothing. It was probably one of these dressed show bears that George Lloyd witnessed in Wakefield.
It is not fully known whether a real pig-faced lady of Manchester Square ever really existed or if it was merely the phenomenon of social mania which had swept its way through 19th century society. What is clear is that our fascination for the grotesque lives on and myth will always prevail.

2) The Sydenham Beast

 


Here is a monster story which can't be so easily dismissed.
In 2005 Sydenham man Tony Holder was attacked in his garden at 3am by a large animal that he claimed resembled a black panther. He struggled with the heavy creature, which had him pinned down for several seconds, as his 11-year-old daughter looked on from her bedroom window. In a statement he revealed "I could see these huge teeth and the whites of its eyes just inches from my face. It was snarling and growling and I really believed it was trying to do some serious damage." He finally managed to fight it off and was left with scratches to his face, arm and finger. Afterwards it withdrew to a neighbour's garden and sat watching him. The police and ambulance services were called. Holder sighted the animal skulking past again whilst he was getting patched up in the ambulance, and one of the police officers also claimed that he saw a cat the size of a labrador at the scene. 
Not only did the Met police issue a warning and mount extra patrols in the area but Scotland Yard revealed that they had received reports of a large black cat in the area back in 2002. 
The RSPCA and London Zoo were both consulted for advice.
The beast was sighted again in 2009 when jogger Roger Fleming claimed to have been chased through Dulwich Woods near Sydenham Hill Station by a creature he described as looking like "a brown cheetah". He stated "It sat there, locked its eyes on to me, sat up and - boom - it started running..." After a lengthy chase the animal apparently gave up and Fleming made it safely home, if more than a little shaken.
In 2015, David Owen realised a novel entitled Panther - Can You Control A Beast You Can't See? which was partly inspired by an even earlier recollection, before the 2005 attack, of a police helicopter circling his house one night, beaming a spotlight down into the allotments by Chesham Road in search of "The Penge Panther" (The Sydenham Beast). 
So could there really be a big cat loose in South East London? It's not as far fetched as you would think. Reports of big cats prowling the British countryside are nothing new and may be an effect of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976.
After the Act came into force it was required by law for owners of animals considered a threat to public safety to obtain a special licence. It is believed that instead of paying for licences many big cat owners simply released their pets into the wild where they have continued to live ever since.
Still not convinced? Well, take these cases into consideration;
After several years of sightings a puma, a large cat native to the Americas, was captured in Inverness, Scotland, in 1980. The creature was rehomed at The Highland Wildlife Park where the zoo director concluded that it had been domesticated and enjoyed being tickled.
In 1989 a jungle cat, native to South Asia, was hit by a car in Shropshire, and two years later a Eurasian lynx, which had been killing sheep, was shot in  Norfolk. The lynx case was hushed up and only confirmed by police in 2006.
In 1994 a farm worker shot a large spotted cat on the Isle of Wight but didn't report it for fear of prosecution, however the police later concluded it had been an ocelot or a serval. 
In 1996 police in Northern Ireland shot what turned out to be a caracal, a medium sized wildcat native to Africa and Asia, and finally in 2001 a Eurasian lynx was captured alive after a chase across school grounds in North London. It was placed in London Zoo before being transferred to France to breed.
A further case study, which you may choose to discount as merely anecdotal evidence if you wish, concerns a big cat cryptid from my own home town. This animal, known as the Beast of Boxley, having been sighted around Boxley Village outside Maidstone, Kent, was once seen by my own mum on a night drive through the North Downs. She stated that it was a large slender, cat-like animal which sat half obscured by long grass, its ears tufted like a lynx. 
Even in light of all these examples there will be those who doubt the Sydenham case, and for good reason. A panther, which can be a black variant of either the leopard or the jaguar, is a very large animal. It is considerably bigger than the lynxes and other cats that have previously been confirmed as living wild in Britain, which just makes it that much more implausible. Surely there would be a greater number of sightings if an animal of this size was romaing a built up area? And you would imagine that the carcasses of family pets would be turning up left, right and centre.
Whether it is indeed a black panther that prowls the woods of suburban South-East London remains highly debatable. However, something attacked Mr Holder that night and he has the medical report to prove it. Personally, I have no doubt that at the very least some type of large, non-native cat is on the loose down there and I'm sure it isn't the last we've heard of the Sydenham Beast.

Before revealing our number one London Monster here are some honourable mentions;

 

Olympic Park Monster

 


Something monstrous may be living in the waters around London's Olympic Park.
In 2011 local filmmaker Mike Wells reported seeing a 16lb Canada goose silently disappearing into the swampy waters in the Lea Valley. Wells stated that "suddenly the bird just went vertically down into the water. I was absolutely gobsmacked. Whatever took it didn't come back up again. There was no sign of it whatsoever, but it was obviously pretty big."
In 2005 there was a similar report of a swan being dragged into the murky depths and large holes were also found in the river bank.
These stories have led to speculation that the River Lea could be home to a giant turtle, python or even an alligator. The most plausible theory however is that the silent killer was probably a monstrous pike. Whatever the truth of the matter, the take away message is clearly that you shouldn't go paddling in the River Lea!

Highgate Vampires

 


In the 1970s the national media sensationalised the claims of an "occult expert" who stated that Highgate Cemetery was infested with vampires, and the impressively gothic necropolis has attracted the attention of monster hunters ever since.
The original claims were given clout by local occultist David Farrant who reported supernatural encounters at the cemetery during the late 1960s, a time in which graves were already being desecrated by persons unknown in a seemingly ritualistic fashion. The story was picked up by a second local man, Séan Manchester, who later claimed to have performed holy rites at the cemetery in order to exorcise the malevolent undead who resided there. Intially the two men supported each others' claims, detailing similar findings such as dead foxes at the cemetery, but later fell out over conflicting accounts.
The rivalry between them, which remains to this day, inflamed public interest in the story. On the night of Friday 13th March 1970 just hours after ITV broadcast interviews with both Farrant and Manchester, a mob on a mass vampire hunt descended on the cemetery, over its walls and locked gates, despite police efforts to keep them away.
Over the next few months tombs were broken into and corpses desecrated. The remains of a woman, charred and headless, was discovered at the site, and Farrant was even arrested when he was discovered near the cemetery holding a crucifix and a wooden stake.
Whatever your opinion on the existence of vampires, this is a great example of modern mass hysteria in London over perceived forces of evil.

1) Spring-heeled Jack

 


Was there really any competition as to which London monster would make it to the number one position?! If you haven't already been acquainted with the legendary Spring-heeled Jack here is a brief summary of his bio...
So-named for his ability to jump over high walls, Spring-heeled Jack was said to be some kind of demon who terrorised the residents of Victorian London and caused a moral panic at the time.
A report on Jack featured in The Times and he was even discussed by the Lord Mayor, Sir John Cowan, during a public session at Mansion House in 1838.
Described as terrifying in appearance, with glowing red eyes and huge metallic claws, Jack was first sighted in 1837 when he attacked a girl named Mary Stevens on Clapham Common. Mary noted how he jumped right in front of her, clawing her clothes and kissing her face before fleeing with great speed. He was reported again the following day when he jumped in front of a stagecoach causing it to crash, afterwhich he fled the scene in fits of uncontrollable high pitched laughter.
Sightings of Jack began to appear far and wide but, perhaps the best known accounts were the attacks on two teenage girls, Jane Alsop and Lucy Scales.
The Alsop case occurred in Bow, East London, in February 1838. Jane Alsop answered a terrible knocking at the door to the house she shared with her father and two sisters and was greeted by a shadowy man who told her that he was a police officer, and in need of a light as he had captured Spring-heeled Jack. On presenting him with a candle the man held it to his chest revealling a hideous appearance and began to vomit blue and white flames! As Jane tried to run Jack caught her head under his arm and scratched at her all over with his metallic claws, tearing her dress and arms, and pulling out clumps of her hair. Her father and sisters came running on hearing Jane scream and managed to get her into the house. One of her sisters then called out of the window for a policeman, at which Jack leaped into the shadows and out of sight. The Alsops were in fairly good standing in the community and so the case was taken seriously by local police and was reported extensively in the papers.
In the Lucy Scales case, Lucy and her sister were walking through an alley in Limehouse a week or so after the incident at the Alsop's home. Lucy noticed someone lurking in a nook just ahead. As she drew nearer the cloaked figure spurted blue flames in her face; Lucy collapsed instantly and began having a seizure. Her sister, trying to hold Lucy, could only watch as the figure walked calmly away. The girls' brother who had his butcher's shop nearby, came running when he heard screams. The two of them got Lucy back to the shop, and she and her sister made a full report to Lambeth police.
After Jack caught media attention his legend inevitably grew and people began to sight him all over the country, from Brighton to Lincoln, and even in Scotland. The last reported sightings of Jack were in Everton, Liverpool, in 1904.
It is unclear who, or what, Jack was, what he wanted or where he went. It was suggested in an article published by Flying Saucer Review in 1961 that Jack could have been a stranded extraterrestrial. However, the author of the piece, J Vyner, took many liberties with the details in the reports to basically reimagine the Jack story to fit his agenda and so his interpretation is fairly uncredible. That said we still have no idea what exactly took place and really any theory is as good as the next. There has never been a plausible explanation as to how Jack managed his incredible feats. What is evident is that something truly strange occurred during that 67 year period of sightings, the like of which has never been repeated. Spring-heeled Jack survives to this day in legend, his home was right here in London.

What did you think of this list, and which London monster stories are your favourites? Did I leave out any that you felt deserved a mention? I'd love to hear from you so let me know all of your thoughts and comments and I'll try and get back to you.

Tuesday 10 November 2015

Urban Art #9

Queen Square/Old Gloucester Street, Camden, 2015

Tavistock Square Gardens



When you next find yourself walking between Fitzrovia and St Pancras, or perhaps on your way to The Wellcome Collection on Euston Road, take a minute from your day and head into the delightful Tavistock Square Gardens on Tavistock Square.
The gardens are a calm little patch of green in the middle of the frantic, hare-paced city and provide a welcome leafy spot to sit and think.
Exceedingly charming and extremely restful, the gardens also play host to the friendliest, most confident squirrels I've encountered so far in London (which is actually a bold statement). These little furry fellas will actually climb your leg if you let them!
The space has been unofficially regarded as a "peace garden" due to its resident monuments; a stone commemorating "conscientious objectors all over the world and in every age", a cherry tree in memory of the victims of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings and a centre piece featuring Mahatma Gandhi. There are also trees and benches all over the gardens dedicated to different causes and people which will make you smile, for example "the friendship tree" or "a Canadian who loved living in London", very sweet.
Next time you are in the area take a minute out of your busy schedule to relax in this lovely little scrap of greenery, you'll certainly thank me for it.

Monday 9 November 2015

Wellcome Collection



Originally setting off to explore the new Ann Veronica Janssens installation yellowbluepink, being hosted in the same building and running 15 October 2015 - 3 January 2016, but ultimately aborting in order to avoid a two hour long wait in line. We decided to take in the permanent exhibits at the Wellcome Collection instead and certainly weren't dissappointed.
I hadn't heard of the Wellcome Collection before last weekend, but apparently I was in the minority as it recieves 500,000 visitors annually! It's easy to see why.
The collection advertises itself as "the free destination for the incurably curious" and is a great alternative for those seeking a similar atmosphere, but wishing to avoid the overcrowding and overpricing of, the frankly overated, Ripley's Believe It or Not! in Piccadilly. The Wellcome Collection is also a little more focused than Ripley's in that it deals with a specific theme; the connections that we can draw between medicine, life and art. 
We are presented with two permanent exhibitions; Medicine Man, a part of the collection obtained by American-British pharmaceutical engineer Sir Henry Wellcome, and Medicine Now an exhibit using art and mixed media to showcase aspects of modern medicine.
Medicine Man, my favourite, and the larger of the two exhibits is an obsorbing and fascinating collection of medical artifacts and curiosities from all over the world. Such wonders include a lock of George III (the mad king)'s hair, a shrunken head and a beautifully preserved 17th century recipe book detailing how to brew up a plague "curing" potion.
This collection is a little more aimed at adults than children due to the sheer amount of death imagery and certain artifacts it could be tricky to explain (see Japanese sex aids) but I'll leave that up to your discretion! 
Medicine Now is also very interesting and is basically a little gallery space presenting various art installations with an emphasis on science and medicine. Some of the work here is a little nauseating but intelligent and thought provoking nonetheless. 
A brilliant little find and completely free! Make sure to come and check out the Wellcome Collection on a rainy afternoon in London.
I'm certain we'll also be back to successfully visit, and review, the Ann Veronica Janssens installation before it dissappears in early January so stay tuned for that, and drop me a comment if you have already visited this or the permanent attractions at the Wellcome Collection to me know what you thought.

Peruvian Mummy, Medicine Man

Wednesday 4 November 2015

Top 5 Overshadowed London Landmarks

London is so full of iconic landmarks, such as Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge and the Houses of Parliament to name but a few, it's little wonder some of the lesser known monuments get completely overshadowed. Here is a list of the top 5 landmarks that tourists rarely give the time of day but are equally as fascinating and awe inspiring as their more recognisable counterparts.

5) Cleopatra's Needle 

 



Some of the world's most premiere cities boast their very own Egyptian obelisk, Paris, New York, Rome... and London is no exception. However, ordinarily they occupy pride of place in some great plaza for all to see, few are as discreetly tucked away as Cleopatra's Needle. 

Stationed on the river front, and all but missable unless passing by boat, this great monolith can be easily overlooked, especially when taking into account it is practically opposite the massive London Eye and just a few minutes walk from Parliament and Westminster Abbey.

It is however very striking, and has an interesting history too; forming a pair with the one that stands in Central Park, New York, it was originally erected in Heliopolis by Thutmose III, around 1450 BC. It was presented to the UK in 1819 by Muhammad Ali of Egypt and Sudan to commemorate Britain's efforts in keeping the French from invading Egypt during the French Revolutionary Wars. The British, although welcoming the gesture, declined to fund the Needle's transportation to London.

In around 1815 Italian-born Giovanni Battista Belzoni, Father of modern Egyptology, personally funded the transportation of the Needle from Cairo to Alexandria. He was unable however to fund its onward journey to London, so it stayed in Alexandria for about the next 60 years.

Finally in 1877 distinguished anatomist and dermatologist Sir William James Erasmus Wilson paid for the Needle to be placed inside a specially built iron cylinder and transported by sea. The voyage met with disaster however when a storm in the Bay of Biscay made the cylinder uncontrollable. When a rescue boat arrived to help those steering the cylinder it capsized and all six of the crew were lost; they are named on a bronze plaque attached to the needle's mounting stone. The Needle drifted lost for four days until it was discovered by Spanish trawlers, and subsquently rescued by a British steamer.

It finally arrived in London in 1878, and was erected where it stands today on the Victoria Embankment. A time capsule was placed inside the front of its pedestal which contains items such as a set of 12 photographs of the best-looking English women of the day, a complete set of contemporary British coins, a portrait of Queen Victoria and copies of the Bible in several languages.
The Needle is flanked by two faux-Egyptian sphinxes, one of which shows signs of WWI bomb damage. These sphinxes were installed incorrectly, looking at the Needle rather than guarding it, and this is how they remain to this day. 

An interesting and impressive monument, it is well worth a look! 

4) All Hallows-by-the-Tower

 

  

Just a short walk from The Tower of London you will find All Hallows-by-the-Tower. Admittedly it's not the most visually interesting of structures that you will find in London however this ancient Anglican church is a grade 1 listed building placing it in the same category for significant historic and cultural importance as Buckingham Palace and St Paul's Cathedral. 

What is impressive about this much overlooked building is just how old and unique it is. The original structure was established in 675 by the Anglo-Saxons on top of a former Roman site and is one of the oldest churches in the City of London. Traces of the older Roman structure are still present both in the recycled tiles within an Anglo-Saxon archway (the oldest church fabric in the city) and a portion of pavement in the crypt. 

The church survived an explosion in 1650, albeit being badly damaged and in need of repair; the only example of building work done on a church during the Commonwealth era. It also survived the Great Fire of 1666, during which the celebrated diarist Samuel Pepys climbed its spire to watch the progress of the blaze.

It was all but levelled by German bombs during the Blitz and was subject to extensive reparations during the 1950s.

On account of these numerous reparations at different periods in time this ancient church is a real hodgepodge of the different influences and architectural styles which will be immediately obvious as you walk around it outside, and observe the checkerboard of different brickwork and masonry.

Step inside the church, which is free to enter, and you will be struck by an instant state of blissful tranquility, its walls shield those seeking sanctuary from the hustle and bustle of the city and offer an oasis of perpetual calm in the heart of London. 

The decor is also stunningly beautiful; natural light pours in from all sides through the magnificent stained-glass, softly illuminating the airy interior, it is so soothing to the eye that on leaving you will be immediately hit by how seeringly harsh and angular everything now appears.

All Hallows also boasts some incredible artifacts such as a Croke Altar Tomb which was smashed into over 150 pieces by an air-raid in 1940 and subsequently restored, and a crucifix made of wood from the Cutty Sark. You can also head underneath the church and observe the original Roman pavement along with many other incredible items in the Crypt Museum.

This is definitely one not to miss! The Tower of London will cost you up to £24.50 per person, so make sure that you head along to All Hallows before or after your visit for a good full day out!


3) Monument to the Great Fire of london

 

 


London's most famous column has stood pride of place in Trafalgar square, crowned with the immortal stone effigy of Admiral Horatio Nelson for over 170 years, however The Monument to the Great Fire of London is equally as impressive, with the added bonus that you can climb it for the sum of just £4 per adult.

Neatly tucked away down a back street and surprisingly easy to miss, The Monument stands 202 ft (62 m) high, making it the tallest isolated stone column in the world. Its height is actually significant; 202 ft from where it was erected is the place that the Great Fire first broke out at a bakery shop on Pudding Lane in 1666. 

Capped with a great urn gilded in gold leaf, it was designed by the legendary Sir Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke, who also collaborated on St Paul's Cathedral, the Royal Greenwich Observatory and many other great architectural feats.

It's definitely worth taking a look! A word of warning however; if you plan on climbing the 311 steps of narrow winding staircase to the top just make sure to be physically and mentally prepared, as it really does take it out of you!

2) Royal Albert Hall and The Albert Memorial

 


Our penultimate entry is a twofer; the colossal Albert Memorial and stunning Royal Albert Hall which have stood facing each other, solemn and proud, for over 140 years.

Situated between Kensington Gardens and the museum district, these two magnificent structures are rarely listed as top sights to see in London, which is a great shame.

Both were completed in the early 1870s in dedication to Queen Victoria's beloved husband, Albert, the Prince Consort, who died of typhoid in 1861. This whole area, centred around Exhibition Road containing these two structures and all the top museums is known as "Albertopolis", named after the Prince. Albert was a great patron of the arts and sciences; it was he the real driving force behind The Great Exhibition of 1851, which took place just up the road in Hyde Park, and was used to showcase Britain's innovation and position as the global leader of industry. 

The Albert Memorial is elegant and impressive in a Gothic Revival style, and features allegorical sculptures depicting the key areas of Victorian achievement and preoccupation; agriculture, commerce, engineering and manufacturing, along with representations of the four corners of the empire; Asia, Africa, America and Europe. In the centre sits a huge gilded bronze statue of Albert himself which was ceremonially set in place in 1875, and has sat there ever since.

Opposite the memorial is the Royal Albert Hall which is best known as the venue of The Proms, an eight week long summer orchestral event held annually, but also hosts a variety of live events throughout the year including The Classic Brit Awards.

The building itself is seriously impressive; an immense ellipse plan structure with major and minor axes of 272 ft (83 m) and 236 ft (72 m), encircled by a phenomenal great mosaic frieze, depicting "The Triumph of Arts and Sciences", and ultimately crowned with an enormous glass and wrought iron dome 135 ft (41 m) tall. It simply has to be seen! 

Before revealing what makes it to our number 1 spot, here are some honourable mentions;

 

Marble Arch 

 

 

Often it's all about your surroundings; it's pretty hard for Marble Arch to capture the imagination to any real extent sat unceremoniously and without purpose on a traffic island at one of the far corners of Hyde Park. Now imagine it positioned as it should have been, and once was, at the State entrance of Buckingham Palace about at the site that the famous balcony stands today and it will paint a completely different picture.

The arch was another feat of Victorian architectural success and although it pales somewhat in comparison to some of the other great European arches, the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin spring to mind, it still deserves a place somewhere on this list for its understated and overshadowed elegance.

The Millennium Dome (The O2 Arena)

 



The Millennium Dome is best known to the British as a giant white elephant and a huge waste of time and money. It's basically unknown by everyone else on the face of the planet, and that's a huge part of the problem.  

Completed to coincide with the turn of the millennium, and seen by many as little more than a glorified circus tent, The Dome was originally built to house "The Millennium Experience". The Experience was billed at the time as being an event which would rival The Great Exhibtion in terms of showcasing a sense of British prowess and national pride. Then Prime Minister (now war criminal) Tony Blair said at the time "In the Dome we have a creation that, I believe, will truly be a beacon to the world". It wasn't.

The Dome cost around £1.66 billion (in 2015 pounds) to build which it was meant to easily make back through ticket sales to The Millennium Experience in just one year. It didn't. People caught on quickly that The Experience consisted of little more than shameless advertising for big brands and was a major disappointment. I was one of the schoolchildren who did actually make it along to The Dome during the millennium year, and can honestly say I remember more about what I had for lunch that day (cheese and onion slice and a banana, which squished everywhere in my bag) than what was inside the exhibition.

The Dome stood unused, but for an event or two for a few of years, until it was bought up in 2005 by telecommunications company O2 and rebranded as The O2 Arena. 

The central arena is seriously big and now hosts many concerts and live events, which have included the artistic gymnastics and basketball during the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Despite the hate The Dome itself still remains a remarkable feat of late 20th century engineering and is definitely worth checking out, it's just a shame that it's so hard to see it from almost anywhere in the city.

To soak in this controversial masterpiece why not plan ahead to take in a concert during your stay and experience it up close and personal. 

1) The Natural History Museum

 


The Natural History Museum is yet another example of phenomenal 19th century architecture, completed in 1880 and clad in beautiful blue and beige terracotta to resist the smoggy atmosphere of Victorian London, it stands as an eternal monument to the life sciences.

Now this may seem a strange choice for number one on this list, tourists flock to The Natural History Museum every day, in fact it receives over 5 million visitors annually, but what I mean to say is that the museum as a structure is completely overshadowed by the incredible array of artifacts that it contains. These artifacts include dinosaur skeletons, the body of a giant squid, and of course the famous full-sized replica of a blue whale, to name but a few. The collection is really impressive, there is no denying that, but so is the building itself, it's like a classical palace or a cathedral, albeit one dedicated to the worship of science. Indeed it is sometimes dubbed the cathedral of nature, and for good reason; it was actually custom built to house the collection that we still see there today.  

The museum was the brainchild of palaeontologist Richard Owen, who was Superintendent of the natural history departments of the British Museum during the 1850s. Owen saw that the natural history department needed more space and The Natural History Museum (officially known as British Museum (Natural History) until 1992) was the result of his vision.

Everything was purpose-built in hommage to the natural world and perfectly compliments the collection housed within. Gaze up in awe at the chimerae which adorn the outer walls and notice that rather than being grotesques they actually depict a vast array of flora and fauna, both living and dead. On Owen's request the living and extinct species featured on the west and east wings respectively. This explicit seperation of the two classes of creature has been seen as a statement against Darwin's attempt to link present species with past through the theory of natural selection, something which Owen refuted. It has often struck me when gazing at the hundreds of stone monkeys, which climb their way up the magnificent columns within, just how Darwinesque they seem in appearance. Perhaps this too was an opportunity that Owen took to ridicule Darwin, in the same way that contemporary publications chose to do through the use of caricature at the time. However, it was Darwin who ultimately had the last laugh, his laws of natural selection have stood the test of time and a larger than life sized marble statue of him now sits pride of place on the central staircase of the museum.

When visiting the museum you really owe it to yourself to take all of this in; climb to the top of the stairs and just look out across the vastness of the enterance hall. Make note of the exquisite floral paintings on the ceiling and the sculptures on the walls, and how the colosal arches and columns make it seem almost as if you are standing beneath the ribs of some ancient fossilised giant. 
Over 130 years old and yet as stunning now as it must have been when first gazed upon by Victorian eyes; make sure to fully open your own and appreciate this incredible London landmark for the spectacular feat that it is.

Happy sightseeing! Make sure to sign up to the mailing list and please do drop me any comments and thoughts that you have about this list, I would love to hear them. Also, any suggestions for future articles and reviews are most welcome so don't hesitate to let me know!

Parkland Walk


This is one of those real hidden gems that you can often stumble across in London, especially aided by a bit of local knowledge. 

Declared a nature reserve in 1990, Parkland Walk is a thin strip of green linear walkway which follows the route of an old railway line which ran between Finsbury Park and Alexandra Palace. Perfect for a blustery Autumn afternoon walk, this tentacular oasis of green snakes its way along the border between the boroughs of Harringay and Islington before turning north into Alexandra Park.

This walk, which will take you around two hours to complete, starts on the west side of Finsbury Park and is divided into a north and south section. The entrance to the north part is a little more difficult to locate but if you persevere heading north down Muswell Road you should eventually come to a small opening at the intersection with Cranley Gardens and you are good to go!

For graffiti lovers Parkland Walk is a must as artwork is plastered over every inch of the old railway brickwork. For everyone else this is also just a great opportunity to grab a few hours of tranquility in the heart of London. 

Special points of note include; bat boxes, bits of old railway sleeper still laying around (incredible seeing as the track was lifted way back in the early '70s), a home-made rope swing and at one point an awesome little treehouse village-type construction around halfway up the south section of the walk. 



Parkland Walk, 2015