Secret London Lunch Breaks

On this lovely bright, sunny day, myself and my E.A.A.C., who, after consultation, does not actually mind being known by her real name; Deborah, strolled merrily along to our next bunch of destinations.  Yes, today will consist of a plethora of interesting sights.  Today there was no need to jump in a taxi or on the tube as today's sights are right on our doorstep.  How cool.  Getting away from your desk at lunch, if you work in an office, is a necessity.  If you are one of these people who refuses to do this, please re-evaluate your priorities and get out and blow the cobwebs off!  We recommend it!! So first stop, the 'Charity Drinking Fountain' (also known as La Maternité, or 'Maternal Love') by Aimé-Jules Dalou. (1877-79). It's a bronze sculpture (a replacement of the marble original) with a fountain structure beneath a mixture of grey and pink granite.  Lovely sculpture and interesting to see the old rings on the drinking fountain w...

We decided to keep it simple this time.  Dick Whittington's cat last week was so awesome we couldn't attempt to top it, we would've only been disappointed.  So this week we headed to Cornhill to take in a few of the sights.  Our first port of call was the Cornhill Gargoyles, but on the way we passed a rather interesting sculpture outside St. Michael's Church (St. Michael's being a medieval parish church with a pre-Norman Conquest parochial foundation. The medieval structure was lost in the Great Fire of London and the current church was designed by Sir Christopher Wren between 1670-1677).  The sculpture itself is a bronze angel by Captain Richard Reginald Goulden (a WWI memorial).  The church frontage is very detailed, with many raised faces above the doorway (see pic). From St. Michael's we proceeded eastward along Cornhill and five minutes later, came across the Gargoyles in all their glory!  For you to be as excited as we were at findi...

So the adventures begin with a bang!  On a cold February Thursday, myself and my Equally Adventurous Anonymous Colleague (E.A.A.C.) decided to kick off our 'Secret London Lunch Breaks' extravaganza with a trip to Highgate Hill in Archway, in search of the macabre, grisly sight of Dick Whittington's mummified cat, as one does... (To read more about Dick himself, and the legend of the cat, click here ).  We arrived at the 'Whittington & Cat' in pretty good time in a reliable London taxi (although not particularly good value - it seems our lunch time adventures may need a budget of their own).  Incidentally, the taxi driver seemed to pick up on our enthusiasm about our rather unlikely destination and asked why on earth we were heading away from the slick City of London hip, hop & happenin' bars, to a rather run-down, old-man magnet of a boozer in this bland area of Highgate.  He said he'd been a regular at the Whittington & Cat for some years.  We ...