London day out, and how to tell the weather

[mossie]

I have been thinking for some time that I would have a trip up to London to see if I could remember where I went to the Met Office Training School to become a meteorological assistant, to give my proper civil service title. I could remember that it was in Kingsway, which runs between Holborn and The Aldwych, that strange mess of classical buildings which join Fleet Street to The Strand. The main Air Ministry building was there somewhere and they had several blocks in the street. Anyway I decided this was the most likely place but my memory has faded so may be wrong.



Here was the famed "Air Ministry Roof" which was cited in weather forecasts of the time as being the observation point on which the forecasts were based and it was on the roof that the outside instruments were set up which we had to learn to use as we had to make hourly readings from them from whatever Met Office outpost we had been posted to. In addition we had to estimate the height, and amounts, of the different layers of cloud we could see, and recognise the types according to a standard classification. Also the visibility had to be estimated, although various objects had been selected at known distances so a pretty accurate guess could be made. We were also taught to use various other instruments inside, the most notable being the mercury barometer. When pressure readings are given in 'inches", those inches are inches of a glass tube about 2 inches in diameter and 30 odd inches tall, so arranged as to allow the atmospheric pressure to push the mercury up the tube so the height of the column can be read. Not something one wants to break as there would be several pounds of very poisonous mercury rushing round the office, it is not called quicksilver for nothing, as anyone who has played with a little blob of it will know.

We were also taught how to send the results of these observations in a standardised code, which was an International standard, because countries throughout the world exchanged these details and transmit them to our local headquarters by teleprinter. When I subsequently worked at Heathrow, we had a teleprinter room with about 12 of these contraptions clattering away sending us observations from all round the world. i remember at Christmas, the Japanese I think, sent the most elaborate Christmas card by this means. the teleprinter simply produces black print just like a typewriter, so rows of X an O made a picture

What I really remembered was that we used to go across the road to the basement of the old Stoll theatre to a canteen for our breaks. This is now the Peacock theatre, but is closed and being refurbished, Just a glimpse here



From there looking down towards The Aldwych, which at one time had a Tube station, now closed and used for filming and training.



I also wanted to visit the RAF church at St Clement Danes, which is a Wren church standing at the end of Fleet Street, outside stand two major officers, first here "Bomber" Harris. He later commanded Bomber Command and is accused of pressing home the area bombing policy to lay waste to German cities, and he has been criticised for it. Not fair, during the 1940-41 German blitz on London he was serving at the Air Ministry in Kingsway and saw the city burning under the attentions of the Luftwaffe. He was reputed to have quoted the Bible "They have sown the wind, and must reap the whirlwind".



and here is "Stuffy" Dowding who led Fighter Command during the crucial Battle of Britain, and who stopped Churchill from sending more of our squadrons to France during the Nazi invasion of 1940. It was thanks to these two men that the RAF played a significant part in the war.



Here is an interior shot of the church, the dark patches on the floor are the badges of all the squadrons and ancilliary units which made up the RAF. Unfortuneately they are becoming worn and is it not easy to sort out which is which, I was hunting for my old squadrons badges, but couldn't find them, even tough there is a ket as one enters.




.

I hope this is all not too heavy going, I went on to visit Covent Garden nearby, but will add those snaps tomorrow, I am making too many typos now.

[mickthecactus]

Good pictures as ever Mossie.

[mossie]

By now lunch was calling, so I walked to The Strand side of Aldwych to this pub, The Wellington.



A bog standard pub, but a decent pint of Guinness. It also has a very ornate painted ceiling.



and an attractive Polish bar lady, how did you guess I would notice



Leaving the pub, if one looks to the right, you are looking across to Waterloo Bridge while standing outside the Wellington pub in Wellington Street, not the best place perhaps to take your important French client



But I went the other way, up Wellington St and off to the left to Covent Garden, passing this Entente Cordiale pair of establishments, who'd a thought it, a brasserie and a pub, side by side.



I took this couple to be women, but it was only when I got the pic up on the monitor that I realised my mistake. I suppose it is a blue wig, takes all sorts, as they say.



Now I entered the forecourt to Covent Garden Market, once the main vegetable market for London, but now given over to all sorts of retail, from high end to real tourist tat



I couldn't miss the legs



Here is some of the posher stuff in the North Hall



and a reminder down the end of the all important market pub



But the tat soon became apparent, mustn't be unkind, we all like a souvenir from outlandish places we visit



there are some very quirky shops, a pity this really old fashioned snuff and tobacco emporium is required to have the health message writ large. I thought the Scot had been robbed of his pipes, but in fact he is holding a snuff mill. I hope none of you are familiar with snuff, which is ground tobacco for snorting, almost as you would cocaine. It is powerful stuff and I always remember one up market acquaintance trying to make an impression. he took a large pinch from a friend, and snorted it straight back. The subsequent sneeze cum cough caused him to soil his trousers. Gave the rest of us a good laugh.



There was a nice subtle advert for travel next door



There are lots of opportunities to eat with this pleasant open basement seating



All in all a great place for visitors with a large range of shops

[kerouac2]

I have a lot of comments to make about this really excellent post but they will have to wait for a few days when I get my normal computer equipment back in service after the refurbishing catastrophe.

[mossie]

As an old age perisher I get a free bus pass for use anywhere in England, so I use the bus in London if it is convenient. With the congestion and traffic lights it is not the most rapid method of getting about but I am in no hurry, and it also provides a sightseeing opportunity. I generally go upstairs and get a seat at the front if possible but many visitors have the same idea so it is not always possible. This is my excuse for the odd angles of these next few pictures.

Pity the van obscures to ground floor view of this pub, but note the old 'cigars" sign at the top of the newsagent next door.



Jammed in between more modern buildings is "The Old Cock Tavern'



Here is an oddly named fast food place



'The Bell', being propped up by another nice brick building, again oddly named



As a change from pubs, a weird modern office block



And another with some very strange mullions, and with a much more elegant neighbour just trying to edge into the shot



Now we are close to the monstrosities of the bankers, note the restless cranes as ever crazier buildings spring up, I mentioned cocaine early in this piece, is that what spawns these things?



there are some common sense buildings left behind



But now I have left the crazy metrolops behind and can just catch a fleeting glimpse from the train home



But not out of London yet, there are modern blocks of flats, sorry US, apartments, which are far too tall and slender



So another visit to The Smoke is done

[bixaorellana]

"Just like being there", as you always achieve, Mossie!

That is fascinating about the mercury barometer. Does it still exist? Love the detail about the Japanese & their Xs and Os Christmas card.

It is also a treat to get those pieces of military history, which I doubt seriously I'd have come across elsewhere. Was the RAF church always a church for the military? What a miracle that it survived the war so beautifully.

Were the arches over Covent Market always there, or is that a later addition for when the roof was added? For that matter, were the arches always there & the buildings added later? That basement seating area does seem very pleasant.

All of the pictures in #4 sum up so much of what I love about London -- the different eras of architecture cheek by jowl with each other, some so old it's amazing that they exist and others so out there that ditto. Is the entrance to the Old Cock Tavern below street level?

Looking forward to your next report from the big city.

[patricklondon]

Yes,Covent Garden was always a covered market when it was wholesale fruit and veg.

Incidentally, Kingsway was first developed on top of the preceding Victorian slums with a more or less Imperial theme, with the Australian and Indian High Commissions down on the "wings" of Aldwych and Bush House (until recently home of the BBC World Service, and I think the English-Speaking Union) at the junction with Kingsway. They also built in a tunnel for the trams to cut right under the interchange with the Strand, down to the Embankment. Part of it was converted in the 60s into a road tunnel for cars to come up again on to Waterloo Bridge, but the rest of it's still there, with the tram stop and platforms, and some old signage and adverts (and some recent re-creations, from when it's been used as a location for period films). From time to time, it's been used as a reserve control room for civil emergencies, storage for old government records, and as an exhibition space for art installations as well.

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[kerouac2]

My computer finally came out from its plastic wrap, so I can comment properly.

As Bixa wrote, Mossie you have a knack for reports of "just like being there" and that's what makes your posts so great. You see both the ordinary and the spectacular and never forget the peculiar, the informative, the quizzical and also your own personal interests such as the lovely ladies that you spy around the city. There are the buildings of times past and the new intruders and the cohabitation of them all, strange and/or funny names of various commerces, cityscapes, skylines and a hint of the weather. What could be more perfect?