The Victoria Embankment. London

London’s Victoria Embankment stretches along the north side of the River Thames from Westminster Bridge to Blackfriars Bridge, a distance of about one and a quarter miles. It is a broad street that carries two lanes of traffic in each direction, with pavements on both sides. There are features of interest on both the river and landward sides of the road, so care must be taken when crossing from one to the other.

The Victoria Embankment is a feat of Victorian engineering that was originally built with a very utilitarian purpose, namely to form a conduit for London’s largest sewer, which was being built under the direction of Joseph Bazalgette. At the same time, accommodation was made for the underground Metropolitan Railway (now the District and Circle Lines) under the “cut and cover” method. There are four stations along the route, Westminster and Blackfriars at the two ends and Embankment and Temple spaced evenly between them.

If starting the walk from Westminster Bridge, you will have the Palace of Westminster, with the Big Ben clock tower, right behind you. Immediately on the right is Westminster Millennium Pier, from which riverbus services operate to other piers along the Thames, as do pleasure cruises run by several commercial operators.

There is an excellent view from here across the river to County Hall (which now houses a number of attractions including the Sea Life London Aquarium) and the London Eye observation wheel.

Also here is the Battle of Britain monument, unveiled in 2005, that depicts in a series of friezes the lives of airmen and others during the Royal Air Force’s defence of the country in 1940. A few yards further along is the older (1923) RAF Memorial, this being a stone plinth surmounted by a huge golden eagle.

There are more than 40 statues and memorials along the Victoria Embankment, either facing the street itself or in the gardens that line the landward side of much of its length. Not all of these are to military personnel, as they include the poet Robert Burns, engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, composer Sir Arthur Sullivan and religious reformer William Tyndale.

On the landward side, at the Westminster end of the Embankment, are the backs of government buildings that front on to Whitehall, most notably the white stone edifice of the Ministry of Defence.

There are several ships moored permanently along the Victoria Embankment, and the first to be encountered is the Tattershall Castle, a paddle steamer that was once a ferry across the River Humber at Hull. It now operates as a party and meetings venue that is also open as a public bar and restaurant.

After passing under the noisy Hungerford Bridge that carries commuter trains across the river into Charing Cross Station (there is a walkway that will take you across the river to the south bank), the main Embankment Gardens are on the left and Embankment Pier on the right.

Not far along is the oldest item you will see on this walk, namely Cleopatra’s Needle. It has nothing to do with Cleopatra, being more than a thousand years older than the tragic Egyptian queen. It is an obelisk that was made for Pharaoh Thotmes III in 1460 BC and brought to London in 1878, being the twin of the obelisk in Central Park, New York. It now stands beside the Thames, and is flanked by two bronze sphinxes (Victorian replicas). You can see evidence of damage to the plinth of the obelisk caused by a Zeppelin raid during World War I.

The view across the river is of the Royal Festival Hall and the smaller Queen Elizabeth Hall, behind which is the Hayward Gallery.

Just before Waterloo Bridge is another floating bar and restaurant, the twin-funnelled Queen Mary that was built in 1993 to carry mail and passengers along the west coast of Scotland (and should not be confused with the former Cunard liner of the same name!).

Beyond Waterloo Bridge, on the landward side, is the rear of Somerset House, which can be entered from the Embankment. Built on the site of a Tudor palace, the present building dates from the late 18^th century and is a splendid example of neo-classical architecture. It is a major Arts venue, housing the Courtauld Gallery and many other tenants who stage exhibitions and events throughout the year. At the heart of Somerset House is the Fountain Court, which becomes a public ice rink during the winter months.

Another floating restaurant is “The Yacht”, which was formerly the St Katherine, built in 1927, and which was armed and saw action during World War II.

Not far away is HQS Wellington, an ex-Navy sloop, which as HMS Wellington saw service protecting convoys during World War II. The ship operates as a floating classroom and is open to the general public only on special occasions.

Further along is HMS President, a corvette built in 1918 and designed to look like a merchant ship so that it would attract the attention of German U-boats. She saw little service, being built when the war was nearly over, and has been moored up for the last 80 years. The ship operates as a meetings and events venue, although the bar is open on most days.

On the other side of the road are the gardens of the Middle and Inner Temples, two of the four Inns of Court at which barristers are trained. The gardens and some of the buildings may be visited, but the entrance is on the other side from the Embankment.

Incidentally, just before reaching the Temple you will have entered the City of London, as opposed to Westminster. The border is marked by two impressive painted griffons, standing on stone plinths on either side of the road.

Blackfriars Bridge marks the end of the Victoria Embankment. You might want to take the Underground back to where you started or, now that you are in the City, carry on exploring. After all, St Paul’s Cathedral is only a short walk away!

  

© John Welford

Sizergh Castle, Cumbria

Sizergh Castle (pronounced “Caesar”) is about four miles south of Kendal in Cumbria. It can therefore be regarded as being on the edge of the English Lake District. It is a “lived in” castle, but managed by the National Trust so that much of the castle and grounds are open to the general public.

The Strickland family have lived at Sizergh since the 13^th century, and played a part in many events in English history, including the Battle of Agincourt and the Wars of the Roses. However, by retaining their loyalty to the Catholic Church they fell from favour in Stuart times and lost much of their fortune.

This family history meant that they were able to build well during their years of prosperity but had to rein back when money became harder to come by. Preservation took precedence over development, so what remains is a property that is largely Elizabethan but in an excellent state of repair, although a limited amount of building continued into Georgian times.

The earliest part of the castle is the 14^th century Solar Tower, which is what is known as a “pele tower”, built as a fortified manor house in a lawless area, and on top of which signal fires could be lit to be seen a long way off.

The tower was augmented by Tudor buildings that enclose a courtyard, with two wings being mainly private family rooms. Visitors can view some of the rooms, from various eras, in the pele tower and attached buildings.

One of the best rooms is the Inlaid Chamber, with its excellent wood panelling and a 16^th century four-poster bed. The panels and furnishings have not always been here. They were bought by the Victoria and Albert Museum (London) in the 19^th century but loaned back to the castle in 1999.  This means that the room has had the best preservation treatment that 20^th century science could offer, thus giving the visitor the most authentic view possible of a 16^th century upper-class bedroom.

The Georgian drawing room is a contrast to the heavier ambiance of the Tudor rooms, with light blue walls, tall wall niches and a collection of Oriental and European ceramics.

As is typical of a family house of this age, the walls are adorned with portraits of Stricklands from down the centuries. Also present are portraits that betray the family’s Catholic and Jacobite sympathies, including the “Old Pretender” as a boy and a bust of the “Young Pretender”.

Sizergh Castle is a site that is worth a visit whatever the weather, because it is interesting both indoors and out. The gardens are exceptionally good, including ornamental and kitchen areas, orchards, a fern garden, a limestone rock garden, ponds and a lake.

Outside the gardens there are paths that one can walk right across the 1600-acre estate of fields and woods. On a fine day there are excellent views back to the castle and to the mountains of the Lake District that rise in the distance.

© John Welford

A booklover's guide to London's Charing Cross Road

It cannot be denied that, from a booklover’s perspective, London’s Charing Cross Road is not what it used to be. The book (later made into a play and a film) “84 Charing Cross Road”, by Helene Hanff, was based on events that began in 1949 when the road in question was virtually lined with bookshops along much of its length. Sadly, that has not been the case for a long time, and the bookshop at number 84 had closed even before Helene Hanff published her book in 1971.

That said, Charing Cross Road is not yet a lost cause for book buyers and there are still places to visit where books of quality and interest can be found, both new and second-hand, and the chance of finding a bargain still exists.

Charing Cross Road runs north from Trafalgar Square and ends at the crossroads next to the massive Centrepoint tower where Oxford Street meets Tottenham Court Road. Charing Cross Road is divided into two parts by Cambridge Circus, where Shaftesbury Avenue crosses it. It is not a long street; one can walk the whole length in twenty minutes, assuming that one is not tempted to visit any bookshops along the way!

Foyles to Cambridge Circus

Towards the top of the street (the Oxford Street end) is Foyles, which is arguably London’s “top shop” for new (and some second-hand) books. At one time it claimed to be the world’s largest bookshop, and even if that status has long been overtaken it is still of impressive size. The original premises had been occupied by this family firm since 1906, with books on a wide range of subjects being sold on five floors. However, the shop has now moved to new premises a little further down Charing Cross Road.

Next door to the original Foyles building (across a side street) is a reminder of the changes that have afflicted this part of London in recent years. Soho Original Books offers mainstream books on its ground floor, but much of its business derives from its very different basement floor, which is a licensed sex shop. This is a pattern that can be found elsewhere in this part of London, including further down Charing Cross Road.

On the opposite side of Charing Cross Road there was once a large branch of Borders bookshop, but since that company’s demise the premises have been taken over by TK Maxx, thus representing another lost space for the book trade.

Another bookshop loss is Blackwells, which used to be on the opposite side of the street to the new Foyles site. The main London branch of this famous Oxford-based firm is now on High Holborn – not all that far away, but not on Charing Cross Road!

The best second-hand bookshops

You should now cross Cambridge Circus to the southern section of Charing Cross Road. Incidentally, the site of “number 84” is just past this point on the left-hand side if walking southwards. Things get more interesting at this point if it is second-hand books that one is after, because there is a string of small independent shops that are well worth a visit on this side of the road.

First in line is Koenig Books, which specialises in art, architecture and photography titles. A few doors down is Quinto and Francis Edwards, the name coming from the fact that it was formed from a merger of two earlier bookshops. It stocks antiquarian as well as general second-hand books, and makes a point of completely re-stocking one floor of the shop every month.

A little further along is Henry Pordes Books, where it is well worth going to the back of the shop where the cheaper stock will be found and the temptation to browse will be almost irresistible! The staff at Henry Pordes are very helpful and know their stock backwards.

Just next door is a shop with the intriguing name of Any Amount of Books. It is an appropriate name because it would be hard to imagine how any more books could be crammed into the space. It is a popular shop, which means that the difficulty of browsing the shelves is compounded by having to avoid the elbows of one’s fellow browsers! Down the narrow stairs is an airless room packed high with yet more books, and probably a staff member unpacking boxes and trying to find space for even more stock. The impression one gets is of vaguely organised chaos, but real bargains can be found if one is persistent.

Cecil Court

“Any Amount” is the last bookshop in Charing Cross Road, but it is worth walking on past Leicester Square Station and Wyndham’s Theatre to find Cecil Court (pictured above), which is an alleyway on the left that leads to St Martin’s Lane. This narrow street, which is free of traffic, is lined on both sides by specialist bookshops that might also be just the place to find something special, although the prices are a bit on the steep side.  That said, a number of the shops put racks outside their shops that contain books that are past their best and will be sold at rock-bottom prices (the same applies to some of the shops on Charing Cross Road).

The traders in Cecil Court include: Storey’s Ltd, which specialises in antique maps and prints; Travis and Emory, which is a music bookshop that stocks scores as well as books; Motor Books, specialising in all aspects of motoring plus other forms of transport; and Watkins Books, which stocks books on all aspects of mysticism and spirituality.

Worth a look

All in all, if one is even remotely interested in books, a walk down Charing Cross Road will probably take considerably longer than the twenty minutes suggested earlier! However, if walking round bookshops and jostling with fellow enthusiasts proves to be a tiring escapade, there are plenty of places to get a coffee or a meal (some of the eateries used to be bookshops!) and one does not have to carry one’s book purchases very far to the nearest tube station or bus stop. Shopping for books in Charing Cross Road may not be as good as it was in years gone by, but it is still worth the effort.

© John Welford

The Penwith Peninsula, Cornwall

The Penwith peninsula is the “toe” of Cornwall, comprising the most westerly portion of mainland Britain and including the rocky cliffs of Land’s End. Penwith is of interest to the walker, birdwatcher and enthusiast for history, both ancient and industrial.

The Penwith Peninsula

Most tourists make a beeline for the “first and last house” and the signpost that points the way to John O’Groats in one direction (874 miles) and New York in the other (3147 miles), but it would be a mistake to ignore the rugged scenery of the granite outcrop that leads to this point.

The Cornwall coast path that circumnavigates the Penwith peninsula runs for 36 miles from St Ives to Penzance, although it can be tackled in shorter sections as it is rarely far from a road along which  bus services run (albeit infrequently!) to take the walker back to base.

The path westwards from St Ives, for example, winds between rocky headlands and remote coves which were once used by smugglers. Walkers sometimes need to descend steeply to cross fast-flowing streams and then clamber up the other side, so progress is unlikely to be rapid. That does not matter, because there is much to see here; not only views of the sea breaking against the rocks below, but, depending on the time of year, of birds such as herring gulls, fulmars and auks, and seals in the less accessible coves and on offshore rocks. The natural flora of the area includes pink thrift, purple heather and yellow gorse which is sometimes blanketed by red tendrils of dodder, a parasitic plant.

Cornish tin

West Cornwall was for many centuries a centre for tin mining, although this has now ceased (pending a possible revival). There are many monuments to the industry to be seen, mostly along the coast such as at Botallack near St Just. The mine workings extended half a mile out to sea, but the towers that stood above the shafts and contained the winding gear and engines were built close to the cliff edge. The tin was smelted locally and produced arsenic as a by-product. Some of the furnaces used in this process can also be seen.

One of the last working tin mines was at Geevor, near Pendeen, and the pit has been preserved as a museum that includes underground workings that can be visited. The idea of the museum is to give as faithful an impression as possible of how the mine operated, as well as to provide an enjoyable experience for a family visit.

Abundant evidence of ancient settlements

Inland from the coast, the granite hills of Penwith have changed little for thousands of years. The visitor can see a microcosm of Celtic Britain in the form of burial mounds, monuments, field boundaries and even an entire village. Not only was this region too remote and inhospitable for large-scale development, but the lack of woodland meant that the local people, who started mining back in Bronze Age times, were forced to build in stone, much of which has been preserved down to the present day. Penwith boasts the largest concentration of prehistoric antiquities in the whole of Great Britain.

Burial mounds were formed by setting three or four stones on end and laying a slab across the top. The walls and roof would have been made from turf that has long since disappeared, leaving the stone skeleton behind as a “cromlech” or “quoit”. Lanyon Quoit is one such monument, alongside the road from Morvah to Madron. It was re-erected in the early 19^th century after falling in a storm and now stands only one metre high, although it was originally possible for a horse and rider to pass beneath the 13 ton horizontal slab.

Not far away is Men-an-tol, which features a stone set on edge with a circular hole in it, with other holes nearby. The original purpose of this site is unknown, but local folklore maintains that it had healing powers and that children were passed through the hole to cure them of rickets.

The most remarkable ancient site in Penwith has to be Chysauster Ancient Village (see photo), not far from the road between Penzance and St Ives. This was an Iron Age settlement dating from around 100 BC. Each house in the village, of which nine can be traced on either side of a central street, had a central courtyard around which were several rooms that would have had thatched roofs. Also on the site are the remains of a “fogou”, a stone-walled underground passage that may have been used for security or storage purposes.

Mousehole and Penlee

The village of Mousehole (pronounced “Mowsul”) is also not to be missed. This is a small fishing village, grouped around its harbour, that has retained its character down the centuries and will continue to do so thanks to its conservation status. Unfortunately, its very attractiveness causes it to become crowded with tourists in the high season, and so it is best visited at other times of the year.

Not far from Mousehole is the former Penlee lifeboat station that is a stark reminder of how the forces of nature can make life in this area difficult and dangerous. On the night of 19^th December 1981, eight volunteer lifeboatmen lost their lives when called to rescue the crew of a cargo ship that had been thrown on to the rocks by an Atlantic storm.

Worth a visit?

This wild and windswept area of land at the far end of England is certainly worth a second look. It would a waste to go all that way just to say you have “done” Land’s End, especially if you are interested in coastal scenery, industrial archaeology or ancient remains. This an area where time does seem to have stood still, and it is not surprising to learn that this was where the ancient Cornish language (related to Welsh and Scots Gaelic) was last spoken as a first language, back in the 18^th century, although attempts have since been made to revive it.

© John Welford

Tyneham, Dorset

Tyneham is a village in Dorset, England, where nobody has lived since 1943 and which lies mostly in ruins.

The village was commandeered by the War Ministry during World War Two because it lay within an area designated as an Army training range. All the villagers had to leave at short notice but had every hope that they would return when the War was over.

However, this never happened and the village has been part of the Lulworth Ranges ever since. Many of the buildings were hit by shells as the Army practised their artillery skills and fought mock battles round the village. However, care was taken not to damage the church, and this has stayed remarkably intact.

One beneficiary of the Army’s presence has been local wildlife that has flourished in the nearby woods and fields that have not been cultivated for more than 70 years.

In recent years it has been possible for people to visit Tyneham once again at weekends and during the month of August, when the ranges are not in use. However, the fact that unexploded shells are quite likely to lie undetected in the area is a good reason to stick closely to the designated paths!

The photo is of the ruins of the former rectory.

© John Welford

Virginia Water, Surrey

Virginia Water is a lake that covers about 160 acres of the south-eastern corner of Windsor Great Park on the border between Berkshire and Surrey, England. The neighbouring district that takes its name from the lake is wholly within Surrey.

The lake is an artificial creation that was the brainchild of William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, the youngest son of King George II. In 1745 the Duke won fame as the victorious general at the Battle of Culloden and earned the nicknames of Sweet William and Butcher Cumberland, depending on whether you were English or Scottish.

However, he retired from active military life after having thus ended the threat of the Jacobite uprising and concentrated on more leisurely pursuits, which included the damming of a stream in Windsor Great Park to create the lake. The duke had a mansion (Cumberland House) within the Great Park, which is attached to Windsor Castle, itself a royal residence.

But why the name Virginia? The answer is that the Duke had formerly been the governor of the American colony of Virginia, so the Water was a reminder of his previous life. Given that the colony was itself named after the “Virgin Queen”, Elizabeth I, it was perhaps fitting that the name returned to the royal territory from where it had started!

© John Welford

Bignor Roman villa

Bignor is a village in West Sussex (England) about nine miles northeast of the city of Chichester.

A remarkable discovery was made here during the early 19^th century when a farmer discovered a section of Roman mosaic flooring in one of his fields. He could see that it was a picture of a girl who was dancing.

Excavations began in 1811 and eventually revealed the foundations of an extensive Roman villa (country house) that would have been occupied between the 2^nd and 4^th centuries.

Bignor Villa must have been owned by someone who was particularly wealthy, because no expense had been spared on the floor mosaics that were revealed. These are among the finest to have been found anywhere in Britain, and include the example pictured here. This is the longest piece of Roman mosaic on public display anywhere in in the country, being 25 metres (82 feet) in length.

© John Welford