London Open House
Bill writes: Once a year, London has an open house, a weekend where you can visit buildings normally closed to the public. This year, for instance, there were over 600 buildings involved. Needless to say, it's important to pick and choose the ones you want. I went to Marlborough House along Pall Mall.
This is where various heads of the different british commonwealth states meet, so there were lots of meeting rooms that looked like miniatures of what you see in the U.N. In back, meanwhile, were formal grounds and another view of the building.
I also stopped by the Long Hall in the Parliament building, which has the finest original hammerbeam ceiling in Europe, along with some great statuary high up in the walls.
In addition, I visited the Customs Office and various other buildings (unfortunately, I didn't keep a list and the web site is gone!). Here are just a couple of pictures to give a flavor.
I'll let Aline write about the chapel in the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children.
Aline writes: Aline writes: Among other buildings, such as several churches, I visited the Royal Courts of Justice – it’s an amazing gothic building as you can see below, but I didn’t take pics inside, so that’s all you get to see. It’s got some beautiful arts and crafts style murals back where the barristers hang out. Their courtrooms are so tiny – I saw the appeals court, and it was much smaller than any US courtroom I’ve seen.
They gave us a little lecture on how things work – how the QC’s (Queen’s Counsels) are seated in seniority order, and how even if there aren’t any senior barristers present, the junior barristers aren’t allowed to sit in the first row, no matter how squished together they are. Then there is the whole standing/bowing thing – the judge bows to the court, the court attendees bow to the judge, etc. And those wigs – made of horsehair, they can last for 100 years and can be bought secondhand. The trails are open to the public, so I might try and attend one sometime.
But the highlight of my open house experience was definitely the Great Ormond Children’s Hospital Chapel. It was a small gem in the middle of a modern hospital – pure Victorian excess of the best kind. It used to be on the second floor, but when they renovated and rebuilt the hospital they moved the whole chapel by boxing around the outside and moving the whole thing down a floor and over several feet. It took two days moving it very, very slowly. It’s still an active chapel, available 24 hours a day for patients, families, and visitors, and there are several services every week. The pews are small, built for children, which is very sweet. As for the rest, the pictures speak for themselves!
This is where various heads of the different british commonwealth states meet, so there were lots of meeting rooms that looked like miniatures of what you see in the U.N. In back, meanwhile, were formal grounds and another view of the building.
I also stopped by the Long Hall in the Parliament building, which has the finest original hammerbeam ceiling in Europe, along with some great statuary high up in the walls.
In addition, I visited the Customs Office and various other buildings (unfortunately, I didn't keep a list and the web site is gone!). Here are just a couple of pictures to give a flavor.
I'll let Aline write about the chapel in the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children.
Aline writes: Aline writes: Among other buildings, such as several churches, I visited the Royal Courts of Justice – it’s an amazing gothic building as you can see below, but I didn’t take pics inside, so that’s all you get to see. It’s got some beautiful arts and crafts style murals back where the barristers hang out. Their courtrooms are so tiny – I saw the appeals court, and it was much smaller than any US courtroom I’ve seen.
They gave us a little lecture on how things work – how the QC’s (Queen’s Counsels) are seated in seniority order, and how even if there aren’t any senior barristers present, the junior barristers aren’t allowed to sit in the first row, no matter how squished together they are. Then there is the whole standing/bowing thing – the judge bows to the court, the court attendees bow to the judge, etc. And those wigs – made of horsehair, they can last for 100 years and can be bought secondhand. The trails are open to the public, so I might try and attend one sometime.
But the highlight of my open house experience was definitely the Great Ormond Children’s Hospital Chapel. It was a small gem in the middle of a modern hospital – pure Victorian excess of the best kind. It used to be on the second floor, but when they renovated and rebuilt the hospital they moved the whole chapel by boxing around the outside and moving the whole thing down a floor and over several feet. It took two days moving it very, very slowly. It’s still an active chapel, available 24 hours a day for patients, families, and visitors, and there are several services every week. The pews are small, built for children, which is very sweet. As for the rest, the pictures speak for themselves!
posted by Bill | 11:19 AM
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