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Trooping the Colour

Hogs Back Books — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 19:17:14 +0000

The Queen’s birthday is celebrated each year with the Trooping the Colour at Horseguards parade. Jousting took place here in the time of Henry VIII.

Trafalgar Square

Hogs Back Books — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 19:59:11 +0000

Lord Nelson joined the Royal Navy as a boy and lost an eye and an arm in battle. He led Britain to victory at the Battle of Trafalgar but died in the fight.

The Lion King …

Hogs Back Books — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 18:57:45 +0000

King John kept lions and bears at the Tower of London in 1204. The animals were finally moved to London Zoo in 1831.

Ghosts, buskers … on the tube

Hogs Back Books — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 18:53:05 +0000

There are around 40 ghost tube stations in London. These are abandoned or relocated tube stations that are no longer used by London Underground.

Julian Lloyd Webber was London Underground’s first official busker.

First service

Hogs Back Books — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 17:29:47 +0000

Henry VIII was a keen tennis player. He invented the ‘service’ – his servants used to throw the ball up in the air for him because he was too fat to do it himself. While his second wife Ann Boleyn was being beheaded at Tower Green, Henry played tennis at Hampton Court. The tennis court is still in use today.

Horse Guards

Hogs Back Books — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 17:21:45 +0000

Horse Guards Parade is a large parade ground. It was formerly the site of the Palace of Whitehall’s tilt yard, where tournaments were held between knights in armour in the time of Henry VIII. Today it is the scene of the annual celebrations of the Monarch’s official birthday — the Trooping of the Colour.

Underneath the arches …

Hogs Back Books — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 16:11:06 +0000

… we dream our dreams away, but 500 years ago the site of Marble Arch was a place of nightmares. Prisoners would “go west” to the Tyburn Tree (near Marble Arch) to be hanged in front of crowds large enough to fill Wembley Stadium.

On the traffic island at the junction of Edgware Road and Marble Arch is a plaque, which marks the place where more than 50,000 people were executed, and only a few minutes walk away is the Tyburn Convent where the nuns still pray for the souls of those who died.

Canary Wharf

Hogs Back Books — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 22:27:07 +0000

The tallest building in London and the UK is Canary Wharf Tower, which is part of the London Docklands. It is 244 m or 800 ft high and was built in 1991.