Today I'm recounting the second part of my walk from Tower Bridge to Westminster on Tuesday 10 March. The first part of the walk is here.
It's part of my exploration of the Jubilee Greenway, a 60km path around London to commemorate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. I started it in January, and I'm actually now one walk away from completing it. I really need to get my blog posts caught up with my progress.
I left you last time as I approached Hungerford Bridge; passing under the bridge brought me to a cornucopia of Jubilee commemorations, all in the aptly named Jubilee Gardens (established for the Silver Jubilee and recently rejuvenated). The Jubilee Greenway shares this section of path with the older (Silver) Jubilee Walkway (they dropped the Silver part of the name in 2002 for the Golden Jubilee) and is marked with a crown on a pole.
Nearby stands the Silver Jubilee Flagpole, a gift from British Columbia.
and there's a sculpture called Jubilee Oracle:
The Royal Air Force memorial stands on the Victoria Embankment, on the opposite side of the river.
I half-crossed Westminster Bridge for a good look at the Millennium Wheel and City Hall
and kept going to capture Boudicca on the far end of the bridge,
before returning to the south side for the South Bank Lion.
I descended the steps from Westminster Bridge to the Albert Embankment, and spotted a Silver Jubilee Walkway decal that hasn't yet been replaced in the rebranding.
The Houses of Parliament dominate the opposite bank and I took a host of photos of them as I wandered along the riverside path
Back on my side of the river, I came across another memorial, one to the members of the S.O.E., the Special Operations Executive, who took on undercover missions in occupied countries during World War II. The bust is of Violette Szabo who was captured, tortured and executed in 1945.
A little further, and I came to the Millennium Tree (an oak), one of 2000 planted by Lambeth Council.
I crossed the road to Lambeth Palace Library, but I didn't make the detour to the Palace itself, something that I do regret, but something that I shall do on a future outing.
I crossed Lambeth Bridge and entered Victoria Tower Gardens, with a great view of the Victoria Tower ahead of me. It was originally called the King's Tower and was built as a fireproof document store after the previous Houses of Parliament burned down in 1834. It was renamed the Victoria Tower in 1897 for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.
I wandered through the gardens, which were swarming with office workers enjoying a sunny lunch break, and passed the Buxton Memorial Fountain. It reminded me of the Burdett-Coutts Fountain that I saw in Victoria Park at the start of this walk (see this post), though this one is older, built in 1834 to commemorate the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire.
Onwards I went, past the Houses of Parliament
past the Jewel Tower, part of the old Houses of Parliament that survived the 1834 fire,
and into the Old Palace Yard, with the next piece of Jubilee paraphernalia, the Golden Jubilee sundial, a present from Parliament to the Queen, designed so that you are the gnomon.
Onwards again, past a statue of George V and the back of Westminster Abbey,
and into Parliament Square. You get a great view of the Clock Tower (now the Elizabeth Tower (since it was renamed for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee)), from Parliament Square.
The square itself is lined with statues of statesmen, but the afternoon sun was in the wrong place for good photos. Most of them were in shadow but I did get David Lloyd-George, British Prime Minister from 1916-1922,
and Abraham Lincoln, US President from 1861 to 1865.
I'll be starting the next section of the walk from here too, so I'll be able to get better photos of the rest of the statues next time out.
For now, I completed my walk with a look at the Supreme Court
and Westminster Abbey.
Next time I'll be walking from Westminster to Paddington.
