Drink at the Cask Pub & Kitchen

Though from the outside it appears utterly unremarkable, and even the inside is not the most aesthetically interesting pub in the area, the Cask Pub & Kitchen in Pimlico continues to attract drinkers for its wide range of beers on offer and its relaxed atmosphere.


A winner of awards in 2011 from the Publican Magazine, the Great British Pub Awards and the beer obsessives at CAMRA, the pub certainly keeps an interesting range of beers in stock, some of which come at reasonable prices. However, the friend with whom your author visited did wonder if she was getting good value for money when faced with a bill of £13 for a single bottle of beer during a visit last week.

For more on the Cask, see http://www.caskpubandkitchen.com

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

Sit in the Channel 4 Garden

A peaceful enclave sits behind Channel 4's imposing headquarters at 124 Horseferry Road in Westminster, where fig trees and park benches provide a restful diversion for weary Westminster-ites.


The Channel 4 garden is maintained by the media giant and open to the public all year around. When your author popped in last week it was a haven for lunching office workers and naughty schoolkids having a crafty cigarette in a quiet corner.

Information on the garden is scarce, but for more on the building, see http://www.channel4.com/info/corporate/about/our_building

Have lunch at Wesley's Cafe

Whilst your author regularly hears a complaint from visitors that there is nowhere to eat in Westminster, there are in fact quite a few places, though some of them are rather more hidden than others. Though it certainly isn't gastronomic, Wesley's Cafe, in the bowels of Westminster Central Hall, is a functional place to get a bite to eat and a cup of tea without breaking the bank.


The cafe is popular at lunchtime, but refreshingly for this part of town there are enough seats so that when your author dropped in yesterday it was busy but there were plenty of tables free. Thankfully a school group decided to leave just after your author arrived, as well, making lunch a more peaceful experience.

The cafe is open daily until 4pm and the daily lunch special is £4.99. It's just a shame about the UHT milk. For more, see http://www.c-h-w.com/wesleys-cafe/

Sit in St George's Square

A rarity in Pimlico in that it is a green space which isn't behind locked gates, St George's Square is a peaceful place to pass half an hour or so, with plenty of quiet benches around the edges, and the central fountain broken only by occasional noise drifting over from the playgrounds of Paddington Academy.


We are told that the Square was a byproduct of the laying out of two streets in 1839, and by 1843 it had been developed into a formal square, open to the Thames at one end. Today, but for the A3212 which slices through it, it remains much as it might have been when Bram Stoker lived at number 26 until his death in April 1912. To your author, the square is also known as 60p tea square, thanks for the Cabbie's Shelter which sits on Lupus Street at the Northern end.

For more, see http://www.westminster.gov.uk/services/environment/landandpremises/parksandopenspaces/st-georges-square-consultation/

See the flowering of the English baroque memorial

An interesting bronze in the heart of Westminster, 'The flowering of the English baroque' by Glynn Williams is a memorial to the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell, and was unveiled in 1995 by Princess Margaret to mark 300 years since the death of the composer.


Purcell was born just a few streets away in St Ann's Lane, off Old Pye Street in Westminster, and attended Westminster School, before going on to work at Westminster Abbey, so the memorial is one to a local boy who went on to be widely recognised as one of the great composers of his era.

For more, see http://www.londonremembers.com/memorials/henry-purcell-statue

See Formula One cars in Westminster

For the whole of this week, two Formula One cars are parked up on the side of Victoria Street in Westminster as part of a showcase for British manufacturing which is attempting to demonstrate that we British are still relevant to automotive engineering.


Visitors get the chance to see a 2010 Mercedes F1 car which was once driven by a boring man called Nico Rosberg, as well as a Williams F1 from last season and a Le Mans sports car. It's an interesting spectacle for Formula One fans, who will be used to watching the cars process in order round a road in the distance.

For more, see http://bis.gov.uk/news/topstories/2012/Feb/best-of-british-manufacturing

Have lunch at Tachbrook Street Market

Work lunchtimes can be grim affairs, with pre-packaged sandwiches a marker of misery for many, but for those working in and around Victoria and Pimlico who want more from life, Tachbrook Street Market is a great place to start, packed with interesting and affordable stalls covering a number of cuisines.


The street itself is packed with a number of interesting shops, and is at the heart of a thriving community just five minutes from Victoria, making it a great alternative to the supermarkets and canteens of many lunchtimes.

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

Admire Dover House

Recently in the news as the offices of the Secretary of State for Scotland, a job which may or may not have a future, Dover House is the home of the Scotland Office, and whilst it is not open to the public, its impressive portico is a commanding sight on Whitehall.


Built on Crown land between 1755 and 1758, Dover House is still owned by the Crown Estate and leased to the Scotland Office. The building was previously a private residence home to a French ambassador and the poet Lord Byron. The building is entered through a Georgian rotunda, and its offices are often described as the best Ministerial offices on Whitehall.

For more, see http://www.scotlandoffice.gov.uk/scotlandoffice/10184.html

_{^Picture © stevecadman used under Creative Commons^}

Celebrate Diwali on Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square's annual Diwali celebrations kick off this afternoon, bringing a splash of South Asian colour to autumnal London.


From 1.30pm, there will be music, dance, stalls, displays and food to mark to festival of lights which is traditionally a particularly special time for Hindus, Sikhs and Jains around the world.

As well as a food court and free sarees, visitors can expect music from bhangra, Bollywood and urban music performers such as Romy Shay, Ash King and Preeya Kalidas.

For more, see http://www.diwaliinlondon.com

_{^Picture © SPakhrin used under Creative Commons^}

Admire One Great George Street

The building which will next year act as the non-accredited media centre for the Olympic Games has an interesting history. Originally constructed between 1910 and 1913 for the Institution of Civil Engineers - who still remain in the building today - its position at the heart of Westminster life has led it to bear witness to a number of interesting events.


Most famously, it was at One Great George Street that the charter which established UNESCO was signed in 1945, but it was also here that Labour held manifesto launches in the lead up to its election win in 1997. The building also acted as a venue for the presentation of the Butler Report into the intelligence used to justify the Iraq War gave its findings in 2004 and, thanks to the Film London Partnership, it has also had a career as a film star, with crews from productions such as Ghandi, In The Loop and Bridget Jones - Edge of Reason using it as a location for shoots.

But the building is also important as part of the day to day churn of the Westminster news cycle. As a press conference venue, for example, it was here that Michael Schumacher and Road Safety Minister Stephen Ladyman MP came together for a Rally for Safer Roads in 2007, which probably held the headlines for about thirty seconds, and it is downstairs at the Brasserie One restaurant that journalists meet top politicians and their spinners for lunchtime briefings to grease the wheels of the media machine.

For more on One Great George Street, see http://www.onegreatgeorgestreet.com/

_{^Picture © Copyright Stephen Craven and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence^}

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

Visit the Buxton Memorial Fountain

Often forgotten in an area full of memorials, The Buxton Memorial Fountain stands in Victoria Gardens, just South of the Houses of Parliament. It was constructed in 1834 to celebrate the emancipation of slaves in the British Colonies.


Designed by Samuel Sanders Teulon, the fountain was commissioned by Charles Buxton MP, son of anti-slavery campaigner Thomas Fowell Buxton, and originally stood in Parliament Square.

When, in 1949, the Government put forward a scheme to redesign Parliament Square, the fountain had to be moved, and following a campaign by the Anti-Slavery Society, it was moved to the Gardens in 1957.

For more information, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buxton_Memorial_Fountain

Attend the SouthWestFest

News reaches your author that a festival kicked off yesterday in a place called 'South Westminster'. Though it seems pedantic to suggest any more accurate terms to describe where it is being held, the first clue is that it is being organised out of the Pimlico Resource Centre.


Today, there's a Festival Gala Day - held partly in Pimlico's St George's Square and partly in the Pimlico Academy - as well as a Carnival procession around the streets of Pimlico, and last night saw the staging of a Pimlico Proms.

The Festival lasts for two weeks, ending with the St Saviour Pimlico Summer Fair, on Saturday 9th July, and a production of Shakespeare's 'A Winter's Tale' back in St George’s Square, at the heart of Pimlico.

It all begs a question about where this festival is actually being held. Your author knows of another place in Westminster beginning with a 'P', but is having trouble placing 'South Westminster' in the A to Z.

Still, for more on the festival, see http://www.southwestfest.org.uk/

Watch Wimbledon in Cardinal Place

It's rare that your author simply reproduces a press release he has been sent, but he was in dire need of an early night last night, so let us examine the new screen which has been erected for the summer in Cardinal Place, Victoria.


The owners of Cardinal Place, Land Securities, are celebrating summer with free live screenings of Wimbledon until Sunday 3rd July, followed by films until Thursday 7th July, complete with deckchairs and strawberries.

So if the weather turns out good, and you can't make it to SW19, this could be an alternative. For more, see http://www.greatbritishsummer11.com

Learn about the Supreme Court

In the basement of the Supreme Court on Parliament Square, is an exhibition open to the public, with information about the work of The Supreme Court and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.


The Court is housed in the Middlesex Guildhall building, a Grade II* listed building which was converted for the Court at a cost of £59 million, and opened for business in October 2009. You can also watch court hearings upstairs, but more on that another time.

For more information, see http://www.supremecourt.gov.uk/visiting/exhibition-whats-on.html

Admire Boudica's chariot

Boudica was the ancient queen of the Iceni, famous for leading an uprising against the Romans which saw London sacked and burnt to the ground.


A huge bronze statue of her driving a chariot, designed by Thomas Thorneycroft, now stands on Westminster bridge amongst the throngs of tourists and burger vans which Westminster City Council inexplicably permits at the centre of a world heritage site.

For more information, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boudica

_{^Picture © Zyllan used under Creative Commons^}

Celebrate St George in Trafalgar Square

If you're an Englishman, and you're feeling suitably patriotic this afternoon but not feeling like the pub, there is good news. Trafalgar Square is hosting a concert to celebrate the day of our patron saint.


The day features World in Motion drummers, opera tenors, West End stars, young musicians playing classical, gospel, big band and pop, and the best of buskers from around London. There are also to be tunes from folk guitarist and former Green Day tribute band member, Newton Faulkner.

It's all free and goes on from 1pm until 6pm. For more information, see http://www.london.gov.uk/stgeorges

_{^Picture © John Pannel used under Creative Commons^}

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

Gaze up at the Duke of York Column

Central London's other column may not be as famous as the one that stands in Trafalgar Square, but it is just as imposing, standing over 120 feet tall and topped off by a bronze statue of the Duke which itself is 14 feet in height.


However, surprisingly few Londoners seem to know where to find the Duke of York Column, which has towered above Carlton Gardens beside the Royal Society, surveying the Mall and St James' Park, since 1833.

Many might even question who he was, although they will almost all know a rhyme about this 'Grand Old Duke Of York, who had 10,000 men'. So, next time you are in the area, take a look up at the statue of Prince Frederick, Duke of York, hero of the French Revolutionary Wars, and remember his story.

For more information, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_of_York_Column