Celebrate the reopening of HMS Belfast

Despite it actually reopening more than a week ago, this weekend sees a family weekender on HMS Belfast to mark its reopening after six months of refurbishment works after its walkway to the shore collapsed late last year.


We are told to expect simulated gun firings, Arctic assignments, family events, live music and a barbecue, on board a ship which is well worthy of a visit whenever it is open, and a welcome reopening for London.

For more, see http://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/hms-belfast

Watch the Cavalry Memorial Parade

As per advance warning given by Ian and other websites the 88th Combined Cavalry Memorial Service and Parade takes place today in Hyde Park, as it does every May.


The event kicks off at around 10.45am, forming up on the Regimental Marker on the Broad Walk in Hyde Park. We are told to expect music from two marching bands and the saluting of an international golfer.

For more, see http://www.ianvisits.co.uk/calendar/detail.php?uid=18861

_{^Picture © Dave-F used under a Creative Commons license and actually of the trooping of the colour but you get the idea^}

Visit the Guards Chapel

The original chapel at what is now the Wellington Barracks on Birdcage Walk held its first service in May 1838, it was tragically destroyed by a bombing raid in June 1944, in an attack that killed more than 120 people.


Work did not start to rebuild the chapel until 1962, and it was rededicated in November 1963. Though it looks rather plain and modernist from the outside, the interior is very atmospheric, decorated with regimental flags and various memorials. Given the Guards often-demonstrated musical talents, it is probably unsurprising that the chapel also hosts occasional recitals and concerts, and one was just about to start when your author popped in last week.

The Chapel is found at the Wellington Barracks on Birdcage Walk in Westminster. For more, see http://www.guards-shop.com/chapel.htm

Browse at Chelsea Military Antiques

Chelsea Military Antiques' main shop appears to actually be quite a long way from Chelsea, in Whitcome St off Trafalgar Square. It specialises in medals, covering a range of different arenas of conflict, with a strong selection of WWI and WWII memorabilia.


We are told that the shop stocks both British & Foreign Decorations and medals, with some dating back as far as the Napoleonic Wars. When your author visited there also appeared to be helmets and uniforms on sale.

For more, see http://www.chelseamilitaria.co.uk/

Visit the Royal Tank Regiment Memorial

Located on the corner of Whitehall Court and Whitehall Place, in Westminster, the Royal Tank Regiment Memorial was unveiled by the Queen in June 2000. The sculpture was designed by Vivien Mallock, based on a miniature by George Henry Paulin.


It depicts the crew of a Comet tank, used during the Second World War. A plaque explains that each crew consisted of five men - a commander, a loader, a gunner, a driver and a hull machine gun loader.

Your author was introduced to the memorial by John Kennedy, author of the informative London Bollards blog, and is very grateful for this. For more information, see http://www.royaltankregiment.com/en-GB/rtrmemorialstatue.aspx

Drink at the Dial Arch

Opened last year as a Young's pub, the Dial Arch, at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich, is significant for a number of reasons. The Arch itself is a listed structure and was built around 1720.


The Dial Arch and the square in front are significant not only for their association with the Royal Arsenal but also as the foundation spot for the Arsenal Football Club, which began life in 1886 as the Dial Square Football Club for workers from the Arsenal and did not move to North London until 1913.

Inside, the pub has done its best to be loyal to its history, but has more of a bar feel, which is completely understandable. For more, see http://www.dialarch.com

Reflect on the remains of St George's Chapel

St George's Chapel, on Repository Road in Woolwich, was the official chapel of the Royal Artillery Company from its construction in 1863. Originally commissioned directly by Secretary of State for War, Sir Sidney Herbert, it was built to designs by the prolific Irish British Ecclesiastical Architect, Thomas Henry Wyatt.


However, on 13th July 1944, it was hit by a V1 flying bomb and to this day, only some walls and the apse recess above the altar remains, and still holds the regimental Victoria Cross Memorial. There is, sadly, no roof, and this has led to some damage of the remaining mosaics, which efforts are ongoing to try to protect.

For more information, click here.

Find the Cádiz Memorial

In the South Eastern Corner of Horseguards Parade, the Cádiz Memorial commemorates the success of forces led by Wellington in defeating French forces near the Spanish city of Salamanca, and lifting the siege of Cádiz in 1812.


Consisting of a large French mortar 'cast for the destruction of that great port, and abandoned by the beseigers on their retreat', mounted on the back of a winged iron dragon. It was given by the Spanish to the Prince Regent, and mounted on a base constructed at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich in 1814.

For more on the memorials of Horse Guards, see http://www.secret-london.co.uk/Horseguards.html