We had lunch in the Real Food Market, which has an amazing array of food stalls and quite a few wine and beer stalls which were very inviting, but we sensibly decided to make the most of the sunny weather and have our walk first. The walk started at Waterloo Bridge, which we crossed to get to Victoria Embankment Gardens. We came upon a statue of Henry Bartle Frere. We didn't have a clue who he was, but Wikipedia knew. Henry was a British colonial administrator whose career flourished in India. He had less success as High Commissioner for Southern Africa, being held responsible for a string of regional wars (he was portrayed, unfavourably, by John Mills in the film Zulu Dawn). There is some irony in that he was recalled to London by Whitehall for such reckless behaviour, but is now commemorated by a statue only yards away from Whitehall.
We wandered along the river, behind the Ministry of Defence, past the RAF Memorial before leaving the riverside to walk up to St James Park. We paused for a while to watch a demonstration go by. The demonstration was organised by the 'Campaign against Climate Change'. They were very colourful, loud and very peaceful. A few Metropolitan Policemen told me last year that their favourite campaigners were Greenpeace as they were 'just lovely people'. This demonstration seemed similarly placid and happy.
We walked through Horse Guards to St James's Park, which is always lovely. I work in London and don't spend nearly enough time just being a tourist, enjoying the history and the views. Although we hadn't been going for long, we stopped for a cup of tea and sat overlooking the lake, marvelling at the contrast between the city and its parks. After this our walk took us across the Mall, round Buckingham Palace to Green Park. We passed the Canadian War Memorial. Signs everywhere ask people to respect the memorial and not climb on it. Despite this, two young men were sat chatting at the top of it, and small children were at the bottom, intently studying the green leaves in the memorial. 100,00 young Canadians died in the two World Wars, deprived of the chance to enjoy their youth. I don't think they would begrudge the young men and the children the chance to enjoy the sunshine and the park and to spend a little time on their memorial. There were signs of Spring everywhere, crocuses and daffodils filled the grass banks. Every park was full of people, cycling, walking dogs, taking their children out for a stroll, young lovers walking hand in hand. When the sun comes out, I am convinced we all become better people, happier and more light-hearted.
Our entrance to Hyde Park was through the Queen Elizabeth Gate, also known as Queen Mother's gate, built to commemorate her 90th birthday. The gates themselves are beautiful, forged steel flowers and leaves, the centrepiece of the lion and the unicorn not so beautiful. The Reformers' Tree Mosaic is also in Hyde Park. The tree that once stood there was where many protests took place during campaigns to give all adult men the right to vote. The tree was burned down, but the protests led to an Act of Parliament allowing debates on just about anything at Speakers' Corner and the mosaic is on the site where the tree stood.
We walked up to Lancaster Gate and then round into Kensington Gardens. I was surprised by how natural much of Kensington Gardens is, we skirted round the Italian Gardens, which we had spent some time in last year. Abby isn't keen on them, she says they are too uniform and unnatural, the style much loved by Victorians. We headed for Kensington Palace, part Royal residence, part tourist attraction. From there along the length of the street Kensington Palace Gardens, laughing at our poor knowledge of flags and wondering if the ambassadors and mandarins compete over size of embassies and also if the citizens of each country were happy to pay for the upkeep of such establishments. The Russian Federation had two extremely large houses on that street.
All along the route you are reminded it is part of the Princess of Wales Memorial Walk. I can't say that for me it raised particular memories of the late princess. It is just a very beautiful walk through state owned parks, with amazing views and a perfect pastime for a sunny day in Spring.
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