London, My London

You may well recognise the Royal Courts of Justice - a grand Gothic style building which was actually built in Victorian times.

The front of the building is often shown on television news, when lawyers and litigants are interviewed during and after a big court case. The 7/7 Bomb Enquiry is one of the most recent cases, and many famous injunction proceedings and divorces have taken place there, including Paul McCartney's divorce. The Appeal of Julian Assange (the Wikileaks founder) was heard there.





If you go through the front door, you will find yourself, after being searched and possibly frisked by Security, in the Great Hall.



And what a hall!

Tiled floor, Gothic arches, mysterious stone stairways winding up into I know-not-where, bewigged and black-cloaked barristers, anxious litigants, court staff, an air of weightiness.

Walk straight ahead until you get to the other end, and there, beyond dark oak panelled barriers, you will find the back door. And then, down a few steps and you will find yourself in Carey Street.

Images: The Royal Courts of Justice - by Diana Grant

This is typical Dickensian London. Charles Dickens studied law before he became a journalist, and would have known the haunts round the Central Law Courts and Lincoln's Inn Fields very well. Portugal Street, with The Old Curiosity Shop, is a stone's throw from Carey Street, and one reason why I love Dickens' book "Bleak House" is because he describes in such detail all the haunts I know so well myself, as a lawyer.

Carey Street has a special meaning for Solicitors - if you say of a solicitor "he's gone to Carey Street", it infers that he has gone to a disciplinary hearing for financial irregularities and has been struck off the Solicitors' Roll (which means he is no longer permitted to practice as a solicitor because he has indulged in conduct unbecoming to the Profession). Solicitors quake in their proverbial boots at the very mention of Carey Street!





Also in Carey Street is one of the most famous Law Book Sellers - Wildys. As well as selling new law books, they also stock second hand law books, a boon to law students, when the average new paperback law book, many of which are required reading, cost about £65 ($85). The entrance is through a little archway which leads to Lincoln's Inn.


Top Image: View of Carey Street from Law Courts - Diana Grant

Bottom Image: Wildy & Sons - ChrsStrl virtualtourist.com

The British Museum houses about 7 million objects and is one of the largest collections of antiquites in the world, with historical and cultural artefacts from every continent - it houses a greater number of Egyptian artefacts than any other country, including articles excavated from Tutenkhamen's tomb, Egyptian mummies, wonderful statues and jewellery, and the Rosetta Stone, an engraved stone tablet which was the key to unravelling the heiroglyphics written in cuneiform.

Image above: British Museum - Wikipedia Commons

Image right: Double headed serpent Mexico 15th-16th century







Image left:Assyrian sculpture, one of a pair of human-headed winged lions guarding the Gates of Balawat



Image right: - a wooden carved griffin

Image below left: - a stone horse








Best of all like most London museums, admission is free, so you can keep returning to your heart's desire.

Images: Internal shots of British Museum - Diana Grant

Me and Paddington Bear

Purely by chance, I had my
Paddington Bear sun hat with me,
so I put it on, and then we looked like twins!

      


                              SUBWAY

A long dark passage leading nowhere and everywhere
Grey stained cement walls in the half-light
Austere and unforgiving
Black rivulets running from the ceiling cracks
Pervasive smell of urine taints stale air
Openings at intervals where daylight glimmers
On upward slopes to uncertain places
Random writing on the wall
A man could sleep here in his box
Ignored by life and death alike
Just the irregular footsteps passing by
Echoing his heartbeat


© By Diana Grant

No list of things to see in London would be complete without mentioning Big Ben, our famous clock over the Houses of Parliament!

Image of Big Ben: H M Cotterill on flickr.com

Image above right: Fireworks at Alexandra Palace

Image above left: Roughly the same view - Alexandra Palace on Fire in 1980.

Alexandra Palace is a Grade II listed building, standing on one of the highest points in London. It was built in 1873 and was to be 'The People's Palace' . It was burnt down almost immediately, and quickly rebuilt.

In 1936 it became the first television station used by the BBC, with a tall radio tower which is still used.

The whole area was purchased and developed between 1896 and 1913 by a builder and developer, James Edmonson, who designed the buildings in the main shopping area, Muswell Hill Broadway, and many of the surrounding streets, giving Muswell Hill a uniquely consistent character and appearance.

Quiet and leafy Muswell Hill is built on one of the highest points in London

Images of Muswell Hill: Diana Grant











Muswell Hill Broadway


Muswell Hill was designated as a Conservation Area in 1974 to protect the area's generally unspoilt character and in 1991 this Area was extended to further local streets

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Just to Wind up this Web Page, Here's a bit of Fun - You Can Get this Paddington Bear Design on a T-Shirt on Zazzle. The wording can be personalized or even removed by you, and you can get the same design on a mug, a button, a bumper sticker, or even a card

Girl's T-Shirt: Paddington Bear by GloriousConfusion
Browse other Teddy T-Shirts