The City of London

Lord Mayor of London

The Mansion House, the official residence of the Lord Mayor, is in the City. Since the time of Richard Whittington, who was the Mayor of London in 1397, 1398, 1406, and in 1419, the election of a new Lord Mayor of London has been celebrated by a pageant, known as the Lord Mayor’s Show. This is held every year on November 9. On this day the new Lord Mayor rides through the streets of London in his splendid coach, drawn by six horses.

The procession starts in the City and goes past St. Paul’s Cathedral as far as the boundary of the City of Westminster. It crosses the boundary and stops at the Law Courts, where the Lord Mayor is presented to the Lord Chief Justice. The Mayor makes a solemn promise to carry out his duties faithfully, and the Lord Chief Justice hands the Mayor his sword of office. Then the procession continues to Westminster, and returns to the Mansion House, which is the Lord Mayor’s official residence.

Fleet Street

Fleet Street has been the meeting place for newspaper men since the 18^th century, when writers met to talk in its coffee-houses. And up to now Fleet Street is the Street of news.

Fleet Street is now the centre of journalists and newspaper men. Offices of most English daily and evening papers are situated in this street.

Fleet Street is the centre of Britain’s national newspapers. The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Express have their offices here, and The Times, The Guardian and many others are nearby.

Publishing houses of many big foreign newspapers are also there. Fleet Street is busy day and night. It is packed with vans, cars, motorcycles, newsboys every day between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. when the latest news is ready to go out all over the world.

St. Paul’s Cathedral

Everybody coming to London for the first time wants to see St. Paul’s Cathedral. This is the third cathedral with this name that London has had. The two others were burnt down, the first in 1086 and the second in 1666.

Christopher Wren was an architect who had already built many buildings. Now, in 1675, he started on his greatest work. For thirty-five years the building of St. Paul’s Cathedral went on, and Wren was an old man before it was finished.

From far away you can see the huge dome with a golden ball and a cross on the top. The inside of the cathedral is very beautiful. After looking around, you can climb 263 steps to the Whispering Gallery, above the library, which runs round the dome. It is called this because if someone whispers close to the wall on one side, a person with an ear close to the wall on the other side can hear what is said. Then, if you climb another 118 steps, you will be able to stand outside the dome and look over London.

But not only you can climb up, you can also go down underneath the cathedral, into the crypt. Here are buried many great men, including Christopher Wren himself, Nelson and others.

Ceremonies of the Tower

The Installation of the Constable

Since 1932 Constables of the Tower have been appointed for 5 years. They are installed ceremonially early in their tour of office. Seating for invited guests is provided round Tower Green, which is lined on the north, east and west sides by bodies of troops. The Constable selects these from the regiments or crops in which he served or of which he has been Colonel. A military band and trumpeters are on the north side by the Scaffold site. The Yeoman Warders form a half-circle inside the troops, facing south. At the appointed time the constable, accompanied by the Resident Governor and Chaplain, leaves the Queen’s house and takes position in the centre of the Green. The Constable is received with a Royal Salute. Shortly afterwards the Lord Chamberlain, accompanied by two of his staff and the Lieutenant, leaves the Queen’s House and takes position facing the Constable. The Lord Chamberlain carries the gold keys of the Tower, which are received with a Royal Salute. The Lieutenant reads the Letters Patent of appointment, the Lord Chamberlain delivers the keys to the Constable and the Chaplain says a blessing. The Constable, accompanied by the lord Chamberlain and other Tower Officers, inspects the troops, the Chief Yeoman Warder preceding him bearing the keys. On arrival at the entrance to the Queen’s House, the Lord Chamberlain presents the keys of the house to the Constable, who, in his turn, delivers them to the resident Governor and grants him authority to reside there.

Admission of New Yeoman Warders

It was formerly customary for a new Yeoman Warder on arrival to be sworn in in the presence of his fellows. The custom has been revived and at the first opportunity the new Warder is sworn in on Tower Green by the Governor in undress uniform. After the ceremony those present go to the Yeoman Warders’ Club where the new Warder is toasted and replies. The Chief Warder, in proposing the toast, says ‘may you never die a Yeoman Warder’. This goes back to the days when Warders purchased their appointments. If they retired, they could sell to a successor, but if they died in post the vacancy reverted to the Constable’s disposal.

Salutes

Since the invention of cannon, guns have been fired in honour of kings and the great or to mark occasions solemn, sad or joyful. The Tower is one of the oldest saluting stations in the country and one of the first recorded salutes marked the coronation of Anne Boleyn on White Sunday, 1533. There are records of many firings since 1664, when 61 guns were fired on the Anniversary of the Restoration. Between 1795 and 1815 salutes were fired in honour of victories in the Napoleonic Wars, culminating in the capture of Paris. Guns were fired for the Union of Great Britain and Ireland in1800 and for the opening of Tower Bridge in 1894. Royal births have always been celebrated. At funerals minute guns are fired.

Today guns are fired to signalize the birthdays, official and actual, of the Queen, the birthdays of Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and at the State Opening of parliament. Guns are also fired when foreign Head of state visit the queen. In these instances the first gun fires when the Head of state steps on to the platform at Victoria Station. The necessary co-ordination is effected by military radio.

Beating the Bounds

In the days before maps and printing became commonplace and when most men were illiterate, land boundaries were established by stones and other visible marks. To impress men’s minds with their location and to ensure that they had not been tampered with, official perambulations were undertaken. Owners of the land and local officials would take part and so would a priest, since landmarks have biblical sanction. Boys of the locality would also attend and it is said that a boy would be beaten at each mark to impress its location on his mind. Nowadays it is the marks, not the boys, which are beaten.

In modern times the perambulations are made on every third Ascension Day. After a short service in Chapel the procession leaves the Tower by the West Gate. It is led by the Chief Yeoman Warder carrying the Mace, followed by the Chaplain, some of the children of the Tower and choirboys from local churches. Next comes the Resident governor with a small escort of Yeoman Warders accompanied by other officers of the tower and their wives. At the rear come any residents of the Tower who wish to attend. The procession halts at each boundary mark and the Chaplain says ‘ cursed is he that removeth his neighbour’s landmark’. The Chief Warder says ‘Whack it boys’ and the children beat the mark with rods which they carry. By the end of the ceremony there is not much left of the rods.

Tower Bridge

This bridge, built in1894, is still in daily use even though the traffic in and out of the London Wharves has increased to an extraordinary extent during the course of the 20^th century.

Even today Tower Bridge regulates a large part of the impressive traffic of the Port of London. Due to a special mechanism, the main traffic-way consisting of two parts fixed to two hinges at the ends can be lifted up. In this way, the entrance and departure of extremely large vessels is possible, and allows them to reach the Pool of London.

The pedestrian path is closed nowadays.

Down the River Thames

The visitor to London who has a feeling for history, particularly maritime history, should take a boat at Westminster pier and sail down the River Thames to Greenwich.

The trip lasts about forty minutes and takes you through the Port of London. You go past St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Tower of London, under Tower Bridge and into the Pool of London, with the bustle of cranes and ships unloading. Farther on, the view is of grim warehouses, grimy wharves and groups of barges moored in the centre of the river. Then, suddenly, as you round a bend in the river, the scene changes dramatically. You see a magnificent three-masted sailing ship. It is the Cutty Sark. Beyond it you see, set in green lawns, the colonnades and columns, the courts and twin domes of what seems to be a magnificent eighteenth-century palace.

The palace you see from the river was built by Christopher Wren. For nearly a hundred years it has been the Royal Naval College for the higher education of naval officers. In the south-west block is the Painted Hall, so called because of the effective paintings on the walls and ceilings. In another part of the building is the National Maritime Museum. Behind the museum is Greenwich Observatory. The Royal Observatory was established at Greenwich nearly three hundred years ago, primarily for the assistance of navigation, and the zero meridian of longitude which passes through it is marked on the path to the north. Owing to the growing pollution of the atmosphere at Greenwich, the Observatory was transferred several years ago to the country.

Westminster

Westminster is another central and important part of London. Most governmental buildings are situated there. On the left bank of the Thames is Westminster Palace, famous as the Houses of Parliament. It is the seat of the British Parliament. The Clock Tower with the hour-bell called Big Ben is known all over the world.

Big Ben

Why is this bell called “Big Ben”? When the great bell was cast in London foundry in 1858, the question of its name was discussed in Parliament. One member said, “Why not call it Big Ben?”

There was much laughter among the members because the man in charge of public buildings was Sir Benjamin Hall, a very tall, stout man whose nickname was “Big Ben”.

From that time the bell has been known as Big Ben. The bell is 7ft 6 inches high and 9ft 9 inches across the mouth. It weighs 13.5 tons (about the same as two double-decker buses). “Big Ben” is the name of the bell only – not the clock, and not the tower.

---

Дата добавления: 2015-11-16