called him âHairy Potterâ? Ha ha. Anyway, I told them it was only fantasy.
In Kingâs Cross Station there is a baggage trolley that disappears half way through one of the platform walls, in line with scenes from the films when Harry and his friends are returning to school. I could plainly see that these people were somewhat disappointed and they said that they wanted to go back to the hotel. So as I was doing my U-turn near to St Maryâs Hospital, I showed them a plaque on the wall stating that Alexander Fleming made the great discovery of penicillin in the room on the second floor in 1928. Some culture dishes had been on the table over the weekend and when they came back days later there were strange growths on the plates. It all took off from then and was perfected in 1940, with help from the Yanks, and was a real lifesaver in the last war. My Americans were so grumpy, they even claimed that it was them that discovered the penicillin but without Fleming they would have gotten nowhere. I was glad to see them disappear through the hotel doors, and yes, you guessed it, no tip again. But I still like most Americans.
*Â Â *Â Â *
Just around the corner is Marble Arch. These were the original gates to Buckingham Palace and there are actually a couple of rooms inside the Arch that were used for the comfort of the gate men. As landau carriages and larger coaches had difficulty getting through the gates the arch was dismantled and moved to its present site at the top of Park Lane. I believe it was replaced with the beautiful marble Queen Victoria Memorial. This enormous work of art was taken from the design of the wedding cake of Albert and Victoria and is known to all London cabbies as the QVM, or more affectionately as âThe Wedding Cakeâ.
*Â Â *Â Â *
If you walk down the Mall, have a look at each lamp post and note the large ship at the top of every street light in the form of galleons. They say that Lord Nelson is supposed to be looking at his ships in the Mall from his column in nearby Trafalgar Square but I think the Admiral is actually looking towards Whitehall. Anyway, Nelson never had any galleons.
We now drive around Marble Arch where we can find a small circular plaque on a triangular pavement. It states it is âThe site of Tyburn Treeâ. This is the spot where public executions were carried out during and after the fifteenth century. The first gallows was set up in Tyburn in 1571. By the eighteenth century a new type of gibbet was used for public hangings called the Tyburn Tree, where they could hang at least three people at the same time. Executions at Tyburn were like a big festival. There was food, trinket stalls, musicians, street acrobats, whores and a whole host of entertainment going on whilst awaiting the arrival of the condemned criminals from Newgate Prison, which was about four miles away.
The procession would leave in a prison cart full of condemned criminals, drawn by a couple of horses. The group would stop at an inn for refreshments such as beer swigging. This was in the St Giles area. The gaolers would have âone for the roadâ but thecondemned were not allowed any drink as they were âon the wagonâ. This is supposed to be where the sayings came from.
When Newgate Prison was knocked down, the Old Bailey was built on the site. There is a pub nearby, The Viaduct Tavern, at the eastern end of Holborn Viaduct, where one can still find remnants of this feared prison. All you have to do is to ask the landlord and he will take you down into the basement, and then down a little deeper. Here he will show you the remnants of five of the original cells of this old gaol. It may be that the condemned men and women were glad of death just to get away from their sadistic, Quasimodo-type gaolers who would beat, rape and rob these poor unfortunates inmates. Can you imagine the hygiene, it must have been hell on earth.
Chapter 25
Nearby is West
In Kingâs Cross Station there is a baggage trolley that disappears half way through one of the platform walls, in line with scenes from the films when Harry and his friends are returning to school. I could plainly see that these people were somewhat disappointed and they said that they wanted to go back to the hotel. So as I was doing my U-turn near to St Maryâs Hospital, I showed them a plaque on the wall stating that Alexander Fleming made the great discovery of penicillin in the room on the second floor in 1928. Some culture dishes had been on the table over the weekend and when they came back days later there were strange growths on the plates. It all took off from then and was perfected in 1940, with help from the Yanks, and was a real lifesaver in the last war. My Americans were so grumpy, they even claimed that it was them that discovered the penicillin but without Fleming they would have gotten nowhere. I was glad to see them disappear through the hotel doors, and yes, you guessed it, no tip again. But I still like most Americans.
*Â Â *Â Â *
Just around the corner is Marble Arch. These were the original gates to Buckingham Palace and there are actually a couple of rooms inside the Arch that were used for the comfort of the gate men. As landau carriages and larger coaches had difficulty getting through the gates the arch was dismantled and moved to its present site at the top of Park Lane. I believe it was replaced with the beautiful marble Queen Victoria Memorial. This enormous work of art was taken from the design of the wedding cake of Albert and Victoria and is known to all London cabbies as the QVM, or more affectionately as âThe Wedding Cakeâ.
*Â Â *Â Â *
If you walk down the Mall, have a look at each lamp post and note the large ship at the top of every street light in the form of galleons. They say that Lord Nelson is supposed to be looking at his ships in the Mall from his column in nearby Trafalgar Square but I think the Admiral is actually looking towards Whitehall. Anyway, Nelson never had any galleons.
We now drive around Marble Arch where we can find a small circular plaque on a triangular pavement. It states it is âThe site of Tyburn Treeâ. This is the spot where public executions were carried out during and after the fifteenth century. The first gallows was set up in Tyburn in 1571. By the eighteenth century a new type of gibbet was used for public hangings called the Tyburn Tree, where they could hang at least three people at the same time. Executions at Tyburn were like a big festival. There was food, trinket stalls, musicians, street acrobats, whores and a whole host of entertainment going on whilst awaiting the arrival of the condemned criminals from Newgate Prison, which was about four miles away.
The procession would leave in a prison cart full of condemned criminals, drawn by a couple of horses. The group would stop at an inn for refreshments such as beer swigging. This was in the St Giles area. The gaolers would have âone for the roadâ but thecondemned were not allowed any drink as they were âon the wagonâ. This is supposed to be where the sayings came from.
When Newgate Prison was knocked down, the Old Bailey was built on the site. There is a pub nearby, The Viaduct Tavern, at the eastern end of Holborn Viaduct, where one can still find remnants of this feared prison. All you have to do is to ask the landlord and he will take you down into the basement, and then down a little deeper. Here he will show you the remnants of five of the original cells of this old gaol. It may be that the condemned men and women were glad of death just to get away from their sadistic, Quasimodo-type gaolers who would beat, rape and rob these poor unfortunates inmates. Can you imagine the hygiene, it must have been hell on earth.
Chapter 25
Nearby is West
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