St. George's Day, April 23, is my native England's national day. What I have done to celebrate is to combine together the short visits to London from several years ago. Today's visit also includes the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, which are not in London, because these were in the same visit with Imperial College, which is in London.
PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS
If we go back to the beginning of photography, my information is that the Houses of Parliament Building in London is the most photographed building in the world. It is an extremely attractive building that is seen across the world as standing for democracy. The actual name of the building is the Palace of Westminster. It has the status of a royal palace, but a king or queen has never lived in it. The building is used to conduct Britain's parliament, which is the legislative branch of government:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Westminster#/media/File:Parliament_at_Sunset.JPG
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Westminster#/media/File:The_Palace_of_Westminster_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1408776.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Westminster#/media/File:North_Front_detail,_Palace_of_Westminster.jpg
The Palace of Westminster is not extremely old. It was constructed in the Nineteenth Century, after the preceding building was destroyed by fire. The tower at the south end of the building is the Victoria Tower:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Westminster#/media/File:Victoria_Tower_from_Old_Palace_Yard.jpg
The tower at the north end of the building is the clock tower that houses Big Ben, which has become the symbol of London and of Britain. It was constructed in 1859. The actual name of the tower, but which no one seems to use, is the Elizabeth Tower, named for Elizabeth I. The building to the immediate right of Big Ben is Westminster Abbey, across the street from the Houses of Parliament, where most of the kings and queens have been crowned, married and, buried for nearly a thousand years:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Westminster#/media/File:Big_Ben_2007-1.jpg
Many large bells eventually crack at their weakest spot. But that can actually be a good thing, because it is what gives a bell it's distinctive sound.
Here are scenes inside the Houses of Parliament, the palace of Westminster:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Westminster#/media/File:Barack_Obama_in_the_Members%27_Lobby_of_the_Palace_of_Westminster,_2011.jpg
This is Westminster Abbey:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_Abbey#/media/File:Westminster_Abbey_Interior.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Westminster-Abbey.JPG
It has long been forgotten, but Westminster Abbey and the site of the Houses of Parliament were once on an island in the Thames River, known as Thorney Island. One of the channels between the island and the mainland has long since been filled in, and the former island is remembered only in the name of a street.
The main royal residence, Buckingham Palace, and the residence of the Prime Minister, 10 Downing Street, are nearby:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckingham_Palace#/media/File:Buckingham_Palace_from_gardens,_London,_UK_-_Diliff_(cropped).jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10_Downing_Street#/media/File:10_Downing_Street._MOD_45155532
The Magna Carta had been signed in 1215, limiting the power of the king. This shows the British way of doing things. The French royal family went under the guillotine, the Russian royal family went in front of the firing squad. But the British royal family accepted a compromise reduction in power, and so are still with us today.
In 1341, parliament had an upper and lower house for the first time. This is known as a bicameral legislature. The lower house is known as the House of Commons, and a British prime minister must retain the support of a majority in the House of Commons to stay in power. A prime minister would be replaced by his own ruling party any time he lost such a majority.
Under the parliamentary system of government, it is not often that a prime minister is replaced while in power. The only recent examples that I can think of are Margaret Thatcher, in Britain, and Brian Mulroney, in Canada. The countries that use the presidential system do not work this way, and a president cannot be readily removed and replaced by his own party if he becomes unpopular. For this reason there is no such thing as impeachment in the parliamentary system.
The U.S., France and the central and South American countries tend to use the presidential system. The rest of the democracies use the parliamentary system. Germany calls it's leader the chancellor, but it is really a prime minister.
The impression I get is that, if a king or queen is present, a country is likely to choose the parliamentary system so that the prime minister becomes the leader of the parliament which acts as a balance to the power of the monarchy, to create a democracy. But when there is no monarchy, the country effectively creates a temporary constitutional monarch in the form of a president, which is then balanced by a congress. In countries that have both a president and a prime minister, the president tends to be a mostly ceremonial position.
The primary difference between the two systems is that, in the parliamentary system, one is voting for the party rather than for the prime minister himself. The prime minister is simply the one selected by the ruling party to govern, and can readily be replaced by the party any time he becomes unpopular. In the presidential system, one is voting more for the leader himself, and a president cannot be readily removed while in power.
The parliamentary system is more flexible, and it would be very difficult for a prime minister to make himself into a dictator. The presidential system probably has more stability, since parliamentary governments often end up with a coalition government, if any one party fails to get a majority. A number of presidents, in countries that use the presidential system, have succeeded in making themselves effectively into dictators by manipulating the laws to allow unlimited consecutive terms.
Presidential democracies tend to have fixed term elections, while prime ministers have to hold elections within a fixed time frame, to remain in power, and can call the election at any time within the required time frame. The fixed-term elections of presidential systems make for long election cycles, and put much more emphasis on campaigning than in the parliamentary system. Countries that use the parliamentary system like it this way, claiming that a long campaign means that a party that is less-capable at governing can still manage to get into power by being better at campaigning.
The upper house of the British Parliament is the House of Lords. Unlike the House of Commons, whose members are elected, the Lords are appointed. In a way, the House of Lords is like a museum of British history. The Anglican Church, the Church of England, is assigned seats for 26 bishops in the House of Lords. These bishops are known as the Lords Spiritual.
There are others in the House of Lords, known as the Lords Temporal. Many of these are hereditary peerages, where the nobility of medieval times lives on. The House of Lords used to have a judicial function as well, acting as Britain's highest court of appeals, but Britain now has a supreme court.
However, Britain is a true democracy and government revolves around the House of Commons. The House of Lords, while actually larger than the House of Commons, can only delay bills and not block them altogether.
As for one's opinion as to whether bishops and nobles should be actually involved in government in the Twenty-First Century, that depends on one's political views. There are a few liberals and socialists who would like to eliminate the House of Lords altogether.
Here is a refresher on the ranks of nobility, although it varied by country:
1) Emperor or Empress-an emperor is above a king because an emperor, unlike the king, might rule more than one country. Also, no one is above an emperor although a king might be under the rule of an emperor or of another king.
2) King or Queen
3) Archduke
4) Prince or Princess-usually a child of a king or queen, but is also a separate title of nobility. The fact that Wales, now a part of Britain, used to be a principality lives on today in the royal title "Prince of Wales". But this does not mean that the holder of the title is Welsh. Britain gives the title "Prince of Wales" to the next in line for king, what other monarchies call the "heir apparent" or the "Crown Prince".
5) Duke or Duchess
6) Count or Countess
7) Baron or Baroness
8) Knight- a squire was a young apprentice knight. In Feudalism, a knight was given the use of land, by a Lord, in exchange for military service. A knight was expected to be brave, even to the point of being foolish.
9) Yeoman-was a servant to a noble family.
It is no coincidence that the modern military ranks of Field Marshall, General, Colonel, Major, Lieutenant, Sergeant, Corporal and, Private, closely parallel the medieval ranks of nobility.
Here are some scenes at and around the Parliament Buildings. Big Ben, the clock tower, has the historical resonance that all great monuments must have because the Prime Meridian, from which longitude and thus time is measured, is defined from London. The building that looks like a cathedral, across the street from the Parliament Buildings, is Westminster Abbey. It is not considered as an ordinary cathedral, because it is where kings and queens have been crowned, married and, buried, for nearly a thousand years. This is far older than the Parliament Buildings.
If something looks a little bit out of place in these images, it is likely that you are in a country that drives on the right side of the road, while Britain drives on the left.
There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >. After clicking the up arrow you can then hide previews of successive scenes, if you wish.
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.4992598,-0.1260288,3a,75y,38.45h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sOJuXqmzDdeItEkOrManVKQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DOJuXqmzDdeItEkOrManVKQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D26.30552%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
WHITEHALL AND ST. JAMES
Let's visit the two adjacent areas of London known as Whitehall and St. James. Both are right in the center of London, and immediately north of the Parliament Buildings.
Whitehall is a street which gives it's name to the district. The street is the center of Britain's government and runs from the Parliament Buildings to Trafalgar Square. Adjoining St. James is an exclusive area adjacent to Buckingham Palace and being named for St. James Palace, built by Henry VIII (The Eighth), that was the royal residence before Buckingham Palace was built.
Whitehall extends northward from the "Parliament Buildings", which we have just visited. You can see the Parliament Buildings, and the top of Big Ben, at the southern end of Whitehall.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitehall#/media/File:Whitehall_2012.JPG
Whitehall was originally the name of a great palace, that was the royal residence from 1530-1698, before nearby St. James Palace. Whitehall Palace was believed to be the largest palace in Europe. Henry VIII, who is considered to have reigned at the peak of Britain's monarchy, actually died at Whitehall Palace.
There were two separate fires at Whitehall Palace, the first in 1691 and the second seven years later. What remains of the palace today is known as the Banqueting House. This is the Banqueting House. The origin of the name "Whitehall" is really simple, it refers to the color of the building stone in the area.
For this visit, I decided to use mostly the Geograph project that is photographing all of Britain and Ireland.
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5324507
One of the most prominent buildings in Whitehall is the Horse Guards Building, from the mid-18th Century. The area behind the building has been a parade ground for centuries.
A http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/894263
B http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1409551
C http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1021951
D http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5654010
The Cenotaph, on Whitehall Street, is considered as Britain's most important war memorial.
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1417686
Around Whitehall there are many statues. At the Admiralty Building is a statue of Captain James Cook. He was the first European to discover Hawaii, and why there is a British flag on the state flag of Hawaii. Did you know that a Hawaiian flag is a combination of a British and a Russian flag?
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5600221
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Hawaii#/media/File:Flag_of_Hawaii.svg
Until the 1960s, this was Britain's version of the Pentagon. Like the Pentagon, it is an oddly-shaped building.
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3101389
Admiralty House used to be the headquarters of the navy, and prime ministers have also lived here.
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5325031
The Old Treasury Building is also in Whitehall.
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5347443
Off Whitehall runs Downing Street. 10 Downing Street is the residence of Britain's Prime Minister. It is within easy walking distance of both the Parliament Buildings and Buckingham Palace.
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2956421
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5460596
The reason that the police are referred to as "Scotland Yard" is simply the street that it was located on, running off Whitehall. Ironically, a dismembered female body was found when the foundation of the police building was being dug and the mystery has never been solved.
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3154497
There is also entertainment on Whitehall.
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2064248
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1419082
Whitehall is separated from St. James by The Mall, the ceremonial royal route that leads from Trafalgar Square to Buckingham Palace.
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/4473001
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2982981
When a foreign leader is visiting, flags of that nation may be alternated with the British flags along The Mall. Don't forget that, if something seems out-of-place in these photos, it is because Britain drives on the left side of the road.
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2068712
The Mall goes through the Admiralty Arch, which was built in 1912.
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3545811
The adjacent district of St. James is named, of course, for St. James Palace. Henry VIII (the eighth) was fond of red brick palaces, and this was the royal residence before Buckingham Palace was built. There wasn't room in the middle of London to build the vast palace complex that Henry really wanted, so he built what is now called Hampton Court Palace to the southwest of London. The following scenes are of St. James Palace. You can see in the posting on this blog, "Hampton Court Palace And The King James Bible", how Hampton Court is of the same design as St. James, but takes up far more space.
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2984189
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5695754
Next to St. James Palace is Marlborough House. This is actually the headquarters of the Commonwealth. It is not really the "British Commonwealth", as it is sometimes referred to, because all nations of the Commonwealth are equal partners. More than one-quarter of the nations of the world are members of the Commonwealth. The nations of the Commonwealth do all that they can to make the world a better place.
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1092495
In the middle of St. James is the square of that name. The library on the square is typical of the architecture of St. James.
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/715713
Like Marlborough House, many of the buildings in the St. James district originated as homes of the nobility. Here are some other former such homes nearby. The former Clarendon House is not there any more.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarendon_House#/media/File:ClarendonHouse_Circa1680Engraving_ByWmSkillmam.jpg
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5584970
One of the best-known organizations in St. James is the Royal Society. It is located in Carlton House Terrace. The Royal Society is the world's original organization dedicated to the promotion of science.
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/613338
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3075020
England has always valued science. As one example, everything is made of atoms. Did you know that all three components of the atom, electrons, protons and, neutrons, were all discovered in England?
There have traditionally been a lot of exclusive clubs located in the St. James area.
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/846256
The first of the following scenes of the general area of central London, beyond Whitehall and St. James, is at the north end of Whitehall. You can see the top of Big Ben in the distance at the other end of the street. 90 degrees to the right is the Admiralty Arch which leads, by way of The Mall that we saw above, to Buckingham Palace. 90 degrees to the right of that is Trafalgar Square. You can see the dome of the National Gallery on the other side of the square. 90 degrees to the right of that is the entrance to The Strand, which is one of the most important streets of London.
There are a number of equestrian statues around London. Some people believe that if the horse has both front feet off the ground in the statue, it means that the rider died in battle. If the horse has one foot lifted, it means that the rider was wounded in battle. If both feet are on the ground then the rider was never wounded in battle. But other people say that this is not true.
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.5072704,-0.1274632,3a,75y,120.98h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sjYt3FiPXHQFz5Ybs_5MZDw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DjYt3FiPXHQFz5Ybs_5MZDw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D133.96597%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
I am a native of England, although not of London. The place where I had originally come from is what we saw in the posting on this blog, "Placid Britain". The wider area is seen in the posting "Gloucestershire And Herefordshire". If you wonder why British counties are called "shires", it is because "county" is a term that was introduced by the Normans, and the name of shire is from before that.
CENTRAL LONDON
The first of the following scenes is the side of St. James Palace. Most of the scenes are of nearby Buckingham Palace, where the monarch now lives. The building with the complex system of domes is the Horse Guards Building. The Treasury Building can also be seen.
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.5046341,-0.1368799,3a,75y,270h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1ssQv44dHUg0UT9IxM7uUlWQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DsQv44dHUg0UT9IxM7uUlWQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D92.522476%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656
Here is Piccadilly Circus, the major traffic circle with the prominent electric advertising:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piccadilly_Circus#/media/File:Piccadilly_Circus_in_London_1962_Brighter.jpg
This is the nearby Admiralty Arch, which connects Trafalgar Square to the Mall which leads to Buckingham Palace. Other scenes of central London include Piccadilly Circus. The building in Trafalgar Square, with the pillars at the entrance, and the dome right above it, is the National Gallery of art:
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.5066543,-0.1289217,3a,90y,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sg8q-i6ne8WCRgLrniIN4oQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
The area of London where the financial district is located is referred to as "The City" or "The Square Mile". Westminster, where the palace and government buildings are located, is technically a separate city but most people just refer to it all as London.
These two places, Guildhall and Mansion House, are where this part of London, known as "The City" is run from.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_London#/media/File:Guildhall,_Londres,_Inglaterra,_2014-08-11,_DD_139.JPG
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_London#/media/File:London_MMB_%C2%BB2K9_Mansion_House.jpg
This is the British Museum:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Museum#/media/File:British_Museum_from_NE_2_(cropped).JPG
I was at the British Museum, but I really didn't spend enough time there. It is like a trip through the history of all the world. Among many other famous artifacts are the Standard of Ur:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_of_Ur#/media/File:Standard_of_Ur_-_War.jpg
And the Cyrus Cylinder:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrus_Cylinder#/media/File:Cyrus_Cylinder_back.jpg
And, of course, the Rosetta Stone:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosetta_Stone#/media/File:Tourist_watching_Rosetta_Stone_at_British_Museum.JPG
Here is another view.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosetta_Stone#/media/File:Rosetta_Stone.JPG
Here is the well-known "Reading Room" of the British Museum. I saw it before it was moved because of lack of space. This is a library within the British Museum that has been used by many great writers and national leaders. In the days before the internet, this was the place to be for access to information.
It is perhaps best-known for being the place where Karl Marx, a German Jew in exile in London, wrote his theories. London has been a popular place for exile and university study, and the Reading Room has also been used by Vladimir Lenin, Mahatma Gandhi, Mohammed Ali Jinnah (Founder of Pakistan) and, Sun Yat-Sen (who could be considered as the founder of modern China):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Museum_Reading_Room#/media/File:British_Museum_Reading_Room.jpg
Here is another view.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Museum_Reading_Room#/media/File:British_Museum_Reading_Room_Panorama_Feb_2006.jpg
Can you believe that Bashar Assad, the embattled president of Syria, once had a peaceful life as a student at the Western Eye Hospital in London? He was called back home, to prepare for future leadership, when his older brother was killed in an accident. He took over leadership when his father, Hafez, died in 2000:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Eye_Hospital#/media/File:Western_Eye_Hospital.jpeg
Nearby is the Tower of London, which is a very old fortress:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_London#/media/File:Tower_of_London_(Foto_Hilarmont).jpg
The central building in the Tower of London is the White Tower:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_London#/media/File:Tower_of_London_White_Tower.jpg
The other major structure is the Waterloo Block:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_London#/media/File:London_Tower_(CherryX).jpg
Many people have been imprisoned in the Tower of London over the centuries. This includes Queen Elizabeth I, the founder of the Anglican Church, while her half-sister Mary was ruling and doing her best to restore Catholicism to England by force. The Crown Jewels are on display in the Tower of London. Viewers cannot stop to look at the jewels, everyone is taken through on a moving sidewalk. This is one of the crowns:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_London#/media/File:Imperial_State_Crown_-_Seitenansicht_von_unten.jpg
I am pleased to find out that the dispute over the Kohinoor Diamond has been resolved. As a native of Britain, it would be fine with me to give the diamond back to India, if it is that important. The situation is complicated by the fact that Pakistan and Afghanistan also claim the diamond. Britain is fascinated by diamonds, but doesn't have any of it's own. So, all of the diamonds in the Crown Jewels must have come from somewhere else. But there are enough Indians and Pakistanis in London that everyone can see it if it is on display there.
Here are the three photos of the Tower of London from the Travel Photo Blog Of Europe:
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3879/3734/1600/dc_250884.jpg
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3879/3734/1600/dc_250885.jpg
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3879/3734/1600/dc_250886.jpg
Next to the Tower of London is Tower Bridge. This is built in the form of two towers, and named for the adjacent Tower of London. Tower Bridge is nowhere near as old as the Tower of London, having been built near the end of the Nineteenth Century.
In 1968, a Royal Air Force (RAF) jet pilot was upset that the Ministry of Defense did not intend to have a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the RAF. So, he decided to stage his own celebration by flying low past the Parliament Buildings and through Tower Bridge, below the upper walkway. While it was decided not to proceed with criminal charges against the pilot, the stunt did bring his flying career to an end:
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3879/3734/1600/dc_250883.jpg
The following imagery begins at the massive stone Bank of England building. Banks are not something that many people have great affection for, at least not since the Crash of 2008, but the Bank of England building is affectionately nicknamed "The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street".
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.5135247,-0.0887269,3a,75y,16.58h,91.69t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sZLxN1Q0ufVShi88nFargiQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DZLxN1Q0ufVShi88nFargiQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D305.87515%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656
London has always been about the old and the new together. If you think that the shapes of some of the modern buildings look out of place among London's older buildings, such as the one whose sides curve like a telephone handset, you have a significant amount of company. But some people were saying the same thing about Tower Bridge in 1898.
You may notice in Europe that historically Catholic countries tend to keep old and new buildings separate while historically Protestant countries are more likely to mix them together. The Catholic mentality seems to be that a building should "fit in" with it's surroundings while the Protestant mentality is that too much "fitting in" is not good for freedom.
The domed building is the 17th Century St. Paul's Cathedral. Here are two interior photos, looking in opposite directions:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Paul%27s_Cathedral#/media/File:St_Paul%27s_Cathedral_Nave,_London,_UK_-_Diliff.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Paul%27s_Cathedral#/media/File:St_Paul%27s_Cathedral_Choir_looking_west,_London,_UK_-_Diliff.jpg
Here is some images of the area, starting inside the cathedral:
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.5138751,-0.0985528,3a,75y,145.16h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-tHr5u3NG1ig%2FVSnDgaMM5BI%2FAAAAAAAAnR4%2FdfgqWtbDQ84!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2F-tHr5u3NG1ig%2FVSnDgaMM5BI%2FAAAAAAAAnR4%2FdfgqWtbDQ84%2Fw203-h101-n-k-no%2F!7i3584!8i1792
There is some history in this part of London that does not deserve to be forgotten. 3.5 km to the northeast of the Reading Room in the British Museum, where Karl Marx worked on his theories, much of the history of the Twentieth Century took shape. It is not discussed much nowadays, but Vladimir Lenin, Josef Stalin and, Leon Trotsky once met in London.
The future course of Communism was decided in, of all places, a church in London. In 1907, the Fifth Congress of the Russian Social Democrat Labour Party was held in the Brotherhood Church on Southgate Road. The debate was between the Bolsheviks, who wanted to violently overthrow the Tsar's government, and the Mensheviks, who sought a more peaceful path to power.
The Bolsheviks got their way and, ten years later, the October Revolution would change the world.
The first of the following images looks like an ordinary street intersection in London. But the site of the Tesco Express convenience store is where the historic congress took place. The rest of the images are in the surrounding neighborhood:
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.5383506,-0.0860908,3a,75y,173.3h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s-B3AfTaSHn3D55fWvVemgg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D-B3AfTaSHn3D55fWvVemgg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D322.36618%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656
KENSINGTON AND THE CRYSTAL PALACE
There is a small royal palace in Hyde Park, Kensington Palace. This is where Queen Victoria was born.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kensington_Palace#/media/File:Kensington_Palace,_the_South_Front_-_geograph.org.uk_-_287402.jpg
In 1851, what is known simply as the Great Exhibition was held in London's Hyde Park. The main purpose was to display the latest technology and to celebrate industry.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Exhibition#/media/File:Crystal_Palace_-_Queen_Victoria_opens_the_Great_Exhibition.jpg
The exhibition was a success and there was considerable money left over afterward. It was decided to use the money to start a nearby complex of buildings, immediately south of Hyde Park, to further knowledge and culture. The effort was organized by Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert.
The results of this effort were the Royal Albert Hall, for music and other performances, and the Royal College of Music. The Victoria and Albert Museum (the V & A) is among the few largest art museums in the world. Also created with these funds was Imperial College.
The two important museums that were formed were the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum. Among the exhibits in the Science Museum are some of the surviving original steam engines, the first jet engine and, one of the Apollo space capsules.
Here are some views of the projects of knowledge and culture, that started with the Great Exhibition of 1851, beginning inside the Royal Albert Hall.
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.5010678,-0.1773481,3a,75y,29.63h,89.91t,0.08r/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1shaLrZunOKQIAAAQ1y8i62w!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DhaLrZunOKQIAAAQ1y8i62w%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D83.8578%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
The exhibition hall, the first large structure to be made of glass, was disassembled after the exhibition and reassembled in south London, where it became known as the Crystal Palace.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crystal_Palace#/media/File:Crystal_Palace.PNG
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crystal_Palace#/media/File:Crystal_Palace_-_interior.jpg
For more than eighty years, the Crystal Palace served as a general exhibition hall. The area of London around it also became known as Crystal Palace. Millions of people saw it and it might be considered as the building that brought the world into modern architecture.
It has a direct influence on any number of buildings across the world, such as the Infomart in Dallas.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infomart#/media/File:Dallas_Infomart.jpg
And the Citi Europe Mall, on the French side of the English Channel Tunnel that we saw in the travel photo blog of Europe.
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3879/3734/1600/dc_250932.jpg
A few decades after the Great Exhibition of 1851 would come another exhibition, the Exposition Universelle, held in 1889 in Paris. The exhibition was held to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. The entrance arch to the exhibition was the tallest structure ever built, and became known as the Eiffel Tower.
If we put the massive glass structure of the Crystal Palace together with the tall metal frame structure of the Eiffel Tower, we get modern glass skyscrapers, and this is where they began.
Crystal Palace + Eiffel Tower = Modern Architecture
So great was the influence of the Crystal Palace that Crystal became a girls' name. If you know anyone named Crystal, they are named for the Crystal Palace.
One night in 1936, a fire started in a women's coatroom. Hundreds of firemen from across south London arrived, and prevented the fire from spreading, but couldn't save the building itself.
The site of this iconic building that influenced the world is now a park. The front stairway, and the foundation arches on either side of it, are still there, looking like the ruins of some ancient palace.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crystal_Palace#/media/File:Crystal_Palace_General_view_from_Water_Temple.jpg
Every once in a while, someone starts talking about rebuilding the Crystal Palace. But with all of the stadiums around, there is doubt that it is really necessary. In the following scenes, you can see the stairs and foundation arches that can be seen in front of the building in the photo above.
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.4222418,-0.0736578,3a,75y,352h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-yB8xog0t7HU%2FV5e4MAx3pkI%2FAAAAAAAADYA%2Fi1Y5I8jFanEdsxvs2TnVBGy5rNduPf5pgCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh4.googleusercontent.com%2F-yB8xog0t7HU%2FV5e4MAx3pkI%2FAAAAAAAADYA%2Fi1Y5I8jFanEdsxvs2TnVBGy5rNduPf5pgCLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya71.62958-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i8704!8i4352
I actually consider the Eaton Centre in Toronto, which is the busiest shopping mall in North America, as the rebuilding of the Crystal Palace. The resemblance between the interiors, although not the exteriors, of the two are unmistakable. The Eaton Centre is supposedly modeled on the Galleria Victor Emmanuele II, in Milan, but Giuseppe Garibaldi once made a speech at the Crystal Palace and I believe the mall in Milan to also have been modeled on it.
Toronto once had it's own replica of the Crystal Palace, where the Horticulture Building stands now, but it was destroyed in 1906.
THE PHENOMENON OF QUEEN VICTORIA
She was barely five feet (152 cm) tall, and became queen as a teenager because all of the other heirs to the throne had died.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Victoria#/media/File:Queen_Victoria_by_Bassano.jpg
At the beginning of the Nineteenth Century, "Victoria" was a rarely-seen name for a girl. But today, a Google search for "Victoria" brings up more then a billion hits. The name of Victoria is found across the world, for cities, towns, streets, hills, mountains, parks and, islands, and just about everything else. The latter two-thirds of the Nineteenth Century are known as the Victorian Era. The term "Victorian" is also applied to a wide variety of things from furniture and architectural styles to general way of life.
She is also known as the "Grandmother of Europe". The royal houses of Europe are more interrelated then most people realize. At Victoria's death, in 1901, her oldest grandson was present, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany. Another grandson would become king George V of Britain. A cousin was Czar Nicholas II, of Russia.
Could she imagine that, thirteen years after her death, they would be embroiled in a war with each other like the world had never seen before, the First World War. They all respected her. What if she had lived, maybe the war would not have happened.
Queen Victoria was the longest-serving British sovereign, until that record was broken by her great-great granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II. A great-great grandson of Queen Victoria is the once-popular long-time king of Spain, Juan Carlos I, making him a distant cousin of Queen Elizabeth.
OXFORD, CAMBRIDGE AND, IMPERIAL COLLEGES
The oldest English-language university is at Oxford. In 1167, King Henry II forbade English students from going to the Sorbonne (University of Paris) to study. So, they started their own university at Oxford. It was already the site of teaching.
What is known as Oxford University is today many separate colleges. Oxford was originally known for it's classic education. A student used to have to know ancient Greek and Latin to get into Oxford.
The number of important people who have been educated at Oxford is far too long to list here. In the past seventy years only one British prime minister, Gordon Brown, was educated at a university other than Oxford. Dozens of leaders of nations across the world went to Oxford. The Rhodes Scholarship is probably the most prestigious scholarship in the world.
Oxford is the world's university. It may be that, when the leader of one nation visits the leader of another, they reminisce about their student days at Oxford.
This is the well-known dining hall at Christ Church College which, with stained glass windows, looks like a cross between a palace and a cathedral:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Oxford#/media/File:1_christ_church_hall_2012.jpg
A student at Oxford, Roger Bannister, was the first human to run a mile in under four minutes. Until then, it was thought by many to be beyond human capability. When it comes to recreation today, Oxford students are known especially for their rowing competitions:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Oxford#/media/File:Eights_2005.JPG
Here is a look around Oxford, starting at All Souls College.
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.7535948,-1.2529382,3a,75y,258.85h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sIFkcwW8yCJBRfTUPBdRIqg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DIFkcwW8yCJBRfTUPBdRIqg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D252.33197%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656
Not far from Oxford is Blenheim Palace, built in the Eighteenth Century, which we can take a quick detour to have a look at. This is where Winston Churchill was born. When I was there, I recall that they made their own ice cream to sell. We saw Blenheim Palace on the travel photo blog of Europe. Photos can be enlarged just by clicking on them:
I have wondered if Blenheim Palace could have contributed to the building of Buckingham Palace, where the monarch now lives. Blenheim Palace is not a royal palace, it belonged to nobles. Much of England's history was shaped by competition between royalty and nobility. When Blenheim Palace was built, the royal family was still living in St. James Palace. Blenheim Palace is far more palatial then St, James Palace, and I wonder if the royals of the time could have responded by having Buckingham Palace built.
Here is Blenheim Palace, starting in one of the dining rooms:
Dissension between university students and local townsfolk, known as "town and gown", is nothing new. This led some students to abandon Oxford and start a new university somewhere else. The new university was to become known as Cambridge. Like Oxford, it actually consists of many separate colleges.
My impression of Cambridge is that it has a strong emphasis on mathematics. I have the idea that any graduate of Cambridge, no matter what they majored in, is also a mathematician. The first person that comes to mind as associated with Cambridge is Sir Isaac Newton. It has been a haven for many other scientists such as Paul Dirac, who correctly theorized the existence of antimatter. During the time after the Reformation, Cambridge was known for it's association with Puritanism, rather than with the new Anglican Church.
Like Oxford, there are many high-tech industries and start-ups that have been spun off from the university. The area around Cambridge is sometimes referred to as "Silicon Fen", for the industries associated with computers. Whereas America has one "Silicon Valley", Britain has it's computer industries scattered among several different centers. Brighton, on the south coast, is one, and this Silicon Fen is another, building on Cambridge's history in the early history of computers.
One graduate of Cambridge was named John Harvard. He later crossed the ocean to what was then the colony of Massachusetts, and started the university that today bears his name.
In the architecture of Cambridge University, notice that twin towers on either side of an entrance way are often seen, that are of the same design as those at St. James Palace, in London. This was the red brick palace, built by Henry VIII (The Eighth), where the royal family lived until Buckingham Palace was built:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_James%27s_Palace#/media/File:St_Jamess_Palace.jpg
Here is a look around Cambridge University, starting in the chapel of King's College:
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.2047912,0.1166117,3a,75y,268.52h,95.75t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-JpyKRzWDs1A%2FVAGW6oLV6ZI%2FAAAAAAAAARg%2F3qtLfm6U_h8DyTeN8DDZv3rYkdAHttY5g!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh4.googleusercontent.com%2F-JpyKRzWDs1A%2FVAGW6oLV6ZI%2FAAAAAAAAARg%2F3qtLfm6U_h8DyTeN8DDZv3rYkdAHttY5g%2Fw203-h101-n-k-no%2F!7i10240!8i5120There was money left over from the Great Exhibition of 1851:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Exhibition#/media/File:Crystal_Palace_-_Queen_Victoria_opens_the_Great_Exhibition.jpgThe money was used to set up a number of educational and cultural institutes just south of Hyde Park, where the exhibition had been held. These institutes include that are now the Royal Albert Hall, the Victoria and Albert Museum (which is actually the largest art museum in the world), The Natural History Museum, The Science Museum and, The Imperial Institute.
The Imperial Institute is now known as Imperial College, in the Kensington area of London close to the related institutes. There are other Imperial College campuses around London. This is a very highly rated university, which educates a large number of students. It is where penicillin was discovered, which may be the most important development ever made in medicine.
Imperial College is not all housed in Nineteenth Century buildings. There is the artistic "Blue Cube" building which is in keeping with London's tradition of putting the old and new right next to one another. Here is a look around Imperial College and the other related institutes, from the days after the Great Exhibition of 1851. Remember that the cylindrical building is the Royal Albert Hall:
CANARY WHARF
Canary Wharf is one of the two financial centers in London, the other being the traditional finance area, known simply as "The City". Well over 100,000 people work in Canary Wharf. It is to the east of the rest of London.
The idea of this development, as a "new downtown" in London, came about in the 1980s, by way of a Toronto company called Olympia and York. In 1975, this company had constructed the tallest building in Toronto, aside from the CN Tower. The company also built many of the buildings on Manhattan.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Canadian_Place#/media/File:First_Canadian_Place_01.jpg
The tallest building in the Canary Wharf development, with the pyramid roof, is called One Canada Square. The red lights are aircraft warning lights, because London City Airport is not far away.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canary_Wharf#/media/File:Canary_Wharf_Skyline_2,_London_UK_-_Oct_2012.jpg
Unfortunately, demand for property had decreased and the project brought about the bankruptcy of the company. Transportation to Canary Wharf was also an issue. It took time to complete the extension of the Jubilee Line, of the "Underground" or subway, that serves Canary Wharf today. Heathrow, Britain's major airport, was far away, on the other side of London, from Canary Wharf.
Before the Jubilee Line Extension to it was complete, it was accessible from central London by the Docklands Light Railway.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Docklands_Light_Railway#/media/File:DLR_106.jpg
Today, Canary Wharf is the financial center that it was intended to be and is easily accessible through Canary Wharf Station, on the Jubilee Line.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canary_Wharf_tube_station#/media/File:Canary_Wharf_Tube_Station_-_July_2009.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canary_Wharf_tube_station#/media/File:Canary_Wharf_concourse_and_concourse_roof.jpg
I would especially like Toronto readers to see how Canary Wharf is doing today. The waterways are because the development is on a former dock area, which is where the name comes from.
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.5054188,-0.0225474,3a,75y,90.7h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-RRH_GMy-xxw%2FVZe3RqEYpjI%2FAAAAAAAACho%2FWMbIc-CFlBYsXGMKiLFxe7mF1G7w_6h-wCJkC!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh6.googleusercontent.com%2F-RRH_GMy-xxw%2FVZe3RqEYpjI%2FAAAAAAAACho%2FWMbIc-CFlBYsXGMKiLFxe7mF1G7w_6h-wCJkC%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi0-ya332.12842-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i10240!8i5120
This is inside the O2 complex, just across the river from Canary Wharf, and some more views of Canary Wharf from the east.
To the south of the O2 complex and Canary Wharf is Greenwich Park. It is from the Royal Observatory in Greenwich Park that the Prime Meridian is measured. This means that Canary Wharf is in the Western Hemisphere but the nearby O2 complex, with the white shell roof, is in the Eastern Hemisphere. The park where the 2012 Olympics were held is just north of here, and is also just at the edge of the Western Hemisphere.
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.5030431,0.0042377,3a,75y,71.94h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-kU56ZkLwcHs%2FV5ZdKLeiFtI%2FAAAAAAABZMc%2FvPm1XII6z40svy6lzAH3qoaddnrxLnV6gCJkC!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh6.googleusercontent.com%2F-kU56ZkLwcHs%2FV5ZdKLeiFtI%2FAAAAAAABZMc%2FvPm1XII6z40svy6lzAH3qoaddnrxLnV6gCJkC%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-3.1991224-ya220.12785-ro5.6814756-fo100%2F!7i5376!8i2688
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