Pearly King Harvest festival and other London, United Kingdom Things to Do Tips

It amazes me how quiet this event is from a tourist turnout perspective. It appears to be almost unknown to tourists, yet the ones that accidentally stumble across it appear a bit bewildered and fascinated in equal amounts! If you want London pageantry, this is about as good as you get, and the even better news is that it is free and also you get direct access to the participants. Not only do you get to see Pearly Kings, Pearly Queens, Princes and Princesses, you get to see a whole raft of Lord Mayors (although unfortunately Ken Livingstone always seems to have something better to do). You get the London Town Crier. Chelsea Pensioners, Shire Horses, Donkeys and lots of little carts. You also get numerous self-styled London personalities.

I would highly recommend a visit to this festival. It tends to be around Mid-September. If you want to know more, try the following website:

http://www.pearlysociety.co.uk/events.htm

The event I refer to above is the Pearly Guild Harvest Festival.

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Address: may vary, see website specified
Directions: In 2005 it was at the Guildhall.
Website: http://www.pearlysociety.co.uk/events.htm

These days, most people associate Chelsea with Englands (currently) most successful Football Team. However A Chelsea Pensioner is NOT something ex-Chelsea players become when they get old (I can't see Frank Lampard or John Terry joining their ranks...). Chelsea is an area in London (a rather well to do area as it happens). The Chelsea Pensioners are old soldiers who live together in an Old Soldiers Home (unsurprisingly based in Chelsea). As with the Town Crier, they are part of London's heritage and you can often see them at ceremonies such as Trooping the Colour or the Pearly Kings Harvest Festival.

The Chelsea Pensioners live in the Royal Hospital, Chelsea. The building itself was designed by Sir Christopher Wren in 1682.

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Address: Royal Hospital, Chelsea
Directions: Sloane Square Tube
Website: http://www.royal.gov.uk

In days gone by, before there were Public Address Systems and microphones and News Programmes on the TV, the way news was spread about a large town/city was to have a Town Crier who went through the town with his bell shouting out the proclamation he had been tasked with telling the population.

This is the current London Town Crier. I believe he has been in the role for several decades (he did tell me exactly how long, but I have forgotten the precise figure). Of course his role is pretty much just ceremonial these days, but is part of the pageantry of London that is still kept alive that many people may miss. The best way to see him is to either get lucky (I have seen him a few times), or to try and find an event he attends (such as the Pearly Kings Harvest Festival).

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Address: Wherever he may roam
Directions: Listen for the bell...
Website: http://www.royal.gov.uk

Very good views but at a price. The wheel turns so slowly that at a distance it appears not to be moving. Even if you don't go on it (it certainly isn't cheap!), it is well worth seeing, and if you go to see Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, it is just across the River Thames from them, with Westminster Bridge conveniently located to take you between the two.

The wheel itself is sponsored by BA (That's British Airways), so when you go to buy a ticket, they refer to your trip as a "flight". It's partially accurate I suppose...

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Directions: From Big Ben, look across the River Thames and you can't miss it.

There's probably not much of an introduction needed to these. Big Ben is the large clock, and the Houses of Parliament are the rest of the building. They look quite good at sunset from across the river as they are very well lit and it is the best time to photograph them.

These were of course the buildings that Guy Fawkes tried to blow up in the Gunpowder Plot which resulted in Fireworks night being celebrated in Britain every November the 5th with lots of fireworks and bonfires. An integral part of this is burning the dummy of a man who is supposed to be Guy Fawkes.

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Address: Parliament Square, SW1
Directions: Westminster tube
Website: http://www.parliament.uk

Tower Bridge is probably the best known bridge in London. In order to accommodate large boats passing through, the lower section between the two towers will lift up. This of course will stop any traffic from using the bridge. When the bridge was first built (1894), there were many boats using the River Thames and the bridge had to be raised and lowered over 1000 times a year. These days with the demise of shipping to London, it is only around 100 times per year.

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Phone: 0 20 7626 3065
Address: Tower Bridge Road, EC3/SE1
Directions: Tower Hill or London Bridge tubes
Website: http://www.towerbridge.org.uk

Nelson's Column was built in 1843 to honour one of Britains greatest naval tacticians Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson. Trafalgar Square used to be famous for its pigeon population and a popular passtime was buying seeds to feed the pigeons who would land on anyone who would feed them. These days feeding the pigeons has been banned as they are a health hazard, and the population has diminished.

Another popular thing to do in Trafalgar square is to climb the bronze lions that are seated around Nelson. You can also get your picture or caricature drawn there by one of the countless street artists that congregate there.

As a final point of interest, check out the statue plinth that would be to the far left of the square as you see it in the attached picture. Sometimes it is empty, and sometimes it holds the work of a guest artist - this changes frequently and as far as I know there are no plans to put a permanent display on it.

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Address: Trafalgar Square, WC2
Directions: Charing Cross or Leicester Square tubes

A classic British icon is the red BT phone box. These days they aren't so much used to make phone calls (as most people have mobile phones), but are more used by tourists to see how many people they can fit inside and take a photo of it...

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Address: All over the UK
Directions: This one was along Whitehall near Parliament Square.

The wildlife in Saint James' Park is incredibly tame as they are fed all day long by tourists and people passing through. It is therefore possible to get good photos without the need of a telephoto lens. This lactating squirrel was taken from a distance of around 1-2 metres away and was happily taking food out of peoples hands.

Note:- Grey Squirrels are not a native British animal, they were imported from America, and being much more aggressive than the native British Red Squirrel, they have pretty much driven the Red Squirrels out of the whole of England. There are just a few pocket of them left. Recently conservation efforts are aiming to help the Red Squirrel get a toehold back in England.

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Directions: St James's Park tube

Although the Punk Revolution in the mid to late 1970s is all but a distant memory to many, the Punk phenomenon was very much a London born thing. Famous Punk bands of the time were the Sex Pistols, the Buzzcocks, the Clash, the Stranglers and the Damned. Most of these were names designed to be a bit shocking in their day (they sound a little tame these days). The look was designed to shock too. Torn clothes, bondage trousers (normally only available from a sex shop), T-shirts with offensive slogans related to the Queens Silver Jubilee (which was 1977) and hair that was either brightly coloured or styles in a Mohican style (or both!).

As a British phenomena, a Punk is a great thing to see in London (although rather hard to find these days). I spotted this one outside the Tower of London one day, and went and had a chat with him. I asked if I could take his picture - it turned out is was a small business for him. So I paid him one pound and took as many pictures as I wanted. I was trying to get some of the Tower of London in the background, without reducing him too much in the shot. Whether you can tell this though is another matter...

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Address: Pot luck I'm afraid.
Directions: This shot was at the Tower of London