An enquirer asked a few days ago for notes on a walk in the West End and WSestminster, so I settled down and this is what I wrote. As ever, I shall welcome additions and improvements.

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WALKS IN WESTMINSTER AND THE WEST END

To take these walks you need a street atlas: the best for you will be the Superscale Inner London AZ, ISBN 0 85039 139 3, price about five pounds, as it marks the lanes and alleys you need. You can buy it in a newsagents in your arrival airport.

You can start at Green Park station, walk north up Berkley Street, east up Hay Hill, north on Dover Street, turn east into Grafton Street, right again into Albemarle Street, and there is the Royal Institution, with the Faraday rooms, which are the laboratory of Michael Faraday, the next scientist after Benjamin Franklin to work on the properties of electricity. They are open nine to five on weekdays.

Now south on Albemarle Street, west through the Royal Arcade, north on Old Bond Street, window shopping, east on Burlington Gardens, and at once south through the Burlington Arcade. As you enter the arcade can read the regulations: you will see that you must not whistle. In case you are tempted, there is a uniformed beadle to ask you to desist. Both these arcades are for expensive window-shopping.

At the southern end of the Burlington Arcade you turn east on Piccadilly and at once north into the courtyard of the Royal Academy, to enjoy the courtyard, note the doors of the learned societies, look at the small permanent collection of pictures given by painters when they were admitted members, and to see the current exhibition if you like the subject. The café on the ground floor is attractive, and much used by county ladies on their monthly visit to London.

Pretty well opposite the Royal Academy, across traffic-laden Piccadilly, is another arcade, the Piccadilly Arcade, and at the southern end of that you are in Jermyn Street. There I suggest you look for Lewin s outfitters and Paxton s cheese dairy and pop in to see the displays, then walk eastwards to St James Church, a fine church by Christopher Wren, good for lunchtime recitals of classical music.

Walk through the church back into Piccadilly and turn westward. Fortnum and Mason, grocers to Royalty, at 181 Piccadilly, are worth a visit, and if you are rich you can buy a packet of tea. Beyond them, still eastwards, you find the Ritz Hotel, where a cup of tea costs about five pounds, but looking is free.

Next to the Ritz is St James Street, and west off that on Park Place is the Royal Overseas League off St James Street, two fine town houses run as a club. If you ask the club porter he will welcome you to make a short visit. Spencer House is very near, overlooking Green Park. The Spencer family (Princess Di, et al) once lived there in the Season, but have not done so since the thirties. Completely restored, it is a gorgeous miniature palace. The house is open to the public for viewing every Sunday (except during January and August) from 10.30 a.m. - 5.45 p.m. Access is by guided tour, which lasts approximately 1 hour. Tours begin at regular intervals and the last admission is at 4.45 p.m. The maximum number of visitors on each tour is 20.

Drop a little south on St James Street, turn east into King Street, and at number 8 are Christies Auctioneers, usually with a roomful of fine things awaiting auction, which you are welcome to inspect. Nearby are Locks the hatters on St James Street and Lobbs the shoemakers at 88 Jermyn Street, both worth a visit to enjoy the old style, hand crafted, expensive, atmosphere. Each firm has the wooden formers made to the exact sizes of their customers. At the foot of St James Street turn west and you soon come to a guard, in fine uniform and bearskin, guarding St James Palace. You can admire the glitter of his brass and boots. But this is a real soldier, no toy, who may well have served his stint in Bosnia or Basrah. Meanwhile, you will notice a policeman discretely inspecting you: it is correct to say Good morning, officer. Now east again, long Pall Mall. On your right you will find the Royal Automobile Club, and if you ask the hall porter he will happily let you look about the great entrance hall. Many St James clubs have closed, but this one thrives. Further east and you are in Waterloo Place, a grand composition with the Institute of Directors and the Athenaeum marking two corners. I am afraid both are closed to us visitors, but you can go southwards between them, turn west on Carlton House Terrace, and look for the building of the Royal Society, where the hall porter will admit you to see the main hall. Or on Tuesday 23 March at 6pm Sir John Krebs Fellow of the Royal Society, will speak on Risk: food, fact and fantasy, and anybody can go. This takes you to the heart of this fine building.
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Back to the statue of the Duke of York, Frederick Augustus, the second son of George III. (There is a children s song about him: The grand old Duke of York, He had ten thousand men, He marched them all to the top of the hill, And he marched them down again. And when they were up, they were up, And when they were down they were down, And when they were only half-way up they were neither up nor down). At the foot of the Duke of York steps, then on your left, is the Institute of Contemporary Art, even more confusing than the Tate Modern, with a good cafe. Cross the Mall, swing left (south east) past the bandstand, and cross the bridge over the lake. If you have brought a slice of bread from your hotel you can feed Her Majesty?s ducks: she does not mind. They prefer brown bread to white, which gets soggy too soon.


Over the bridge you carry straight on south to Queen Anne?s Gate, turn east on Birdcage walk, go up the Cockpit Steps, and on your left is the Two Chairmen, an eighteenth century pub that serves an excellent lunch upstairs and good supper downstairs, Monday to Friday. Some Members of Parliament use it. You can ask the bartender for directions to St James Park underground station, and call there to see what they sell in the shop: I like their goods.

Now you need to follow the map closely, for a walk that is short but twisty. From the station go south along Broadway to boring Queen Victoria Street, almost wholly rebuilt after Hitler s war. Go straight over to Strutton Ground, with a fairly good open air market. At the end of that turn east on Great Peter Street, then north on Tufton Street. This ends at a door. Go through, and you are in Dean s Yard Westminster. Archways on your left, that is on the east side of the Yard, lead to Westminster School (which is private, of course), to Little Dean s Yard, and to College Garden, cultivated for more than nine hundred years. On the north side of the yard is the Jerusalem Chamber, a fine fourteenth century room, but seldom open.

If you leave by the gate you used to enter and turn left, east, you are on Great College Street, and can visit the Jewel Tower, one of only two surviving buildings of the original Palace of Westminster, built by Edward III. The Jewel Tower houses an exhibition "Parliament Past and Present" which traces the history of the two houses. Slightly dazed, you find your feet again as you face the Houses of Parliament, also called the Palace of Westminster. If Time Out magazine says there is an exhibition in Westminster Hall you can go to the Strangers Entry door, bypassing any queue (line) and ask the police officer there to let you see the exhibition. The hall is a fine sight of itself, a great medieval hall, brilliantly roofed, with markers of the history of Thomas More, Charles the First, and Winston Churchill. But if you want to see into the Victorian palace you need to be devious. Before ever you fly to London you look at the site of House of Commons Select Committees at http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk, then Commons, then Select Committees, then weekly agenda, and note meetings that will be in committee rooms in the old building (marked in the last column by a room number, not those in modern Portcullis House). Or for the Lords the same first web site, then Lords, then committees, but after that I cannot find my way to notes on where they meet. This time you go to the Strangers entry, and ask to attend that committee. You follow directions to the committee door, slowly, looking about you, and at the door you turn round and walk slowly back to the street. Easy when you know how.

Westminster Abbey opens earlier than most attractions, at nine. Subject to demand and the Abbey being open to visitors, tours leave from the Enquiry Desk in the Nave at the following times in March: Monday to Friday at 10, 11, 2, and 3 (not Friday) Saturday 10, 11, and 12.30. Booking may be made by telephone on 020 7222 7110. The seven pound fee includes admission to the Chapter House, Treasury and Museum. The tour adds to your enjoyment. Next door is St Margaret?s church Westminster, open for visits. For a quiet and beautiful forty minutes you can check the web site and go to Evensong, a service of good music and old prayer.


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I think it worth the detour to greet Queen Boudicca, cross the river (admiring Big Ben and the London Eye), and see the Florence Nightingale Museum in the north end of St Thomas Hospital. She was founder of modern nursing in Britain and the Empire. The museum is open Monday - Friday 10 to 5 (last admission 4pm). and
Saturday, Sunday & Bank Holiday Mondays 10 to 4.30 (last admission 3.30 pm) .

Whether you cross the river or no, I suggest you go north along Whitehall. First, if you are a fan of early James Bond, you can stand on Parliament Square and look at the north side, the Treasury. On the first floor is a row of windows two of which I have identified as those for M s office. On the square itself is a good statue of Churchill. Just north of the Treasury building and south of the Foreign and Commonwealth office is King Charles Street, and under the steps at the far end of that are the Cabinet War Rooms, bombproof, for running the British part of the war against Hitler, well worth an hour or more. Open daily 10 to 6, last admission 5.15pm. Back on Whitehall, note the Cenotaph, memorial to the fallen of two wars, and to the west the entry to Downing Street. North again, and on the east side of Whitehall is the Banqueting House, open Monday ? Saturday 10 to 5. This is the only part left of the former Palace of Whitehall, and the place in front of which Charles the First was hung, at the start of our republic. It did not last long, we brought the new king back, and having made our point left it to you and the French to follow up later. North again, and you see the horse guards, protecting the Queen from anybody confused enough to think this a good way to rush the palace.

Whitehall ends on Trafalgar Square, a large set piece. Just in front of you is the statue to Charles I, king and martyr, behind that Nelson?s column. To the west is Canada House and to the east is South Africa House, where Nelson Mandela on his state visit stood to greet the huge welcoming crowds (My goodness, what a day that was: I for my part went to his welcome in Brixton). Up the steps to the north is the National Gallery, with such a number of paintings that the only sensible thing is to choose three rooms and go to see them. The gallery is open daily 10 am to 6 pm, Wednesday until 9pm. Behind that gallery to the east is the National Portrait Gallery, good for a view of our history since about 1450. The Gallery is open Saturday - Wednesday: 10.00 - 6pm and Thursday - Friday: 10.00 - 9pm. They offer good public talks, so before you leave home you can read http://www.npg.org.uk/live/lecindex.asp to see whether they have anything to interest you during your stay.
Opposite that is the post office, with a good and queue-free counter at the far end for buying commemorative stamps from a range of good designs, just the thing to improve postcards home. South of that, in turn, is the church of St Martin in the Fields, with good lunchtime music and poor evening music. In the crypt they serve meals at moderate prices, but to my kind there is better value 300 yards east at the embankment end of Villiers Street, a place called Gordon s Wine Bar.

North of the post office you are on St Martin s Lane, and at number 89 is the Salisbury. A note rightly says glittering cut-glass mirrors and old-fashioned banquettes, plus lighting fixtures of veiled bronze girls in flowing togas, re-create the Victorian gin-parlour atmosphere in the heart of the West End. Theatregoers drop in for homemade meat pie or salad buffet before curtain. Wes Fowler added: Dates from the mid 19th century and is notorious for the bare-knuckle fights that were held there in that era. It s a stunning pub and you may find it filled with theatre people.

West off St Martin s Lane is Cecil Court, for interesting bookshops and print dealers

East off the lane is the Lamb and Flag at 33 Rose Street. Wes Fowler said: This one is really old, being one of the few wooden structures to survive the Great Fire of 1666. It was once known as the "Bucket of Blood" because of all the fights that broke out in it. It was also one of Charles Dickens? favourite pubs.

Then just north of the Lamb and Flag is Stanfords shop for maps and books, good for window shopping on floors on two levels. Their stock is large and their staff are helpful and well informed.

And here I end, very near Leicester Square tube station.

Ben Haines, London
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Ben, Thanks so much for posting this...it was truly wonderful and delightful to read. I wish I had had it when I was in London last week, although I did visit some of the places mentioned. I cannot imagine London Walks being any more informative than this. Cheers!

Ben, your proposed walking tour of London was fascinating and I plan to print it out to use as a (partial) guide when I'm there in April, however one correction - Charles I was beheaded, not hung.

Yes of course: sorry and thanks.

Ben

Ben,
Printed and filed for our trip to London in March.
Thanks so much,
JoeG