Wandering around London, you see all sorts of things, especially if you look up. We’ve gathered together a few oddities for you and will add more as we stumble on them or are reminded of them.
Tower Bridge chimney
Is this the only bridge in the world with a chimney? Millions of visitors cross Tower Bridge every year but few notice this cast iron chimney painted to blend in with the lamp-posts. It’s a flue for a guardhouse under one of the bridge piers, facing the Tower of London.
Tower Bridge EC1
Tube: Tower Hill
The Panyer Boy
‘When ye have sought the citty round yet this is still the highest ground.’ This alley was once the centre of London’s bakeries - and said (wrongly) to be its highest point. This boy on his breadbasket has been hereabouts since 1688 and now sits just beside
St Paul's Tube Station.
Panyer Alley EC4
Tube: St Paul's
The ‘Roman’ Bath
This lane, down a flight of steps just off Surrey Street, is said to be where Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder plotters met. The bath was once used by Charles Dickens. There’s also the watch house to look out for grave robbers in St Clement Danes church yard. The water comes from St Clement’s holy well.
Strand Lane WC2
Tube: Temple
St Bride’s Church
There’s been a church here since the 6th century and the present lovely one - the church of the press and printing trades - was designed by Sir Christopher Wren. Its greatest claim to fame is its three-tiered spire - Wren’s highest - the model for all wedding cakes.
Fleet Street EC4
Tube: St Paul's/Blackfriars
www.stbrides.com
Thames Lions
These lion heads line both sides of the Embankment, staring out over the River Thames. Their mouths hold mooring rings and it is said that if the lions drink, London will flood. They were sculpted by Timothy Butler for Bazalgette’s great sewage works in 1868-70.
Albert & Victoria Embankments
Tube: Westminster
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Other Oddities
Smallest Cathedral
OK, this is a bit of a trick question but do you know where London’s smallest cathedral is? Ask a cabbie and he’ll tell you: you need to look over the top of Vauxhall Bridge, where this miniature of St Paul’s is being held by one of the lovely statues that decorate each side.
Vauxhall Bridge
Tube: Vauxhall
