London Calling.

We have been booked to go down to London for a while now. We have a great direct service from Hull Trains that is very cheap and only three hours. It is our wedding anniversary and our daughter now lives in London so we had a dual reason to visit the 'smoke'.

 We stayed at the Holiday In Express on Old Street which we found very good and close to our daughter. From our room it seems that the old warehouse opposite is owned by Russell Brand! There were no  lights on though during our stay.

On Friday evening we walked down to the Barbican Centre as we had been booked into the cinema there to see 'Spectre' the latest James Bond film. It was all a Bond film is supposed to be, lots of action and chases, a little bit of love etc etc. I must confess to not being Bond films biggest fan but a very enjoyable night. For me the star was the Barbican itself. It is a concrete maze but has a feeling of quiet and privacy with many dark and subdued areas. It took many years to build and the theatre etc was built in a dug out hollow to fit it all in the buildings that had been placed around the site. Most of the internal concrete surfaces had been hand tooled to get rid of the smooth look of concrete and this worked very well giving texture and differences to various surfaces. I had never been before but now I want to see what it is like during the daylight. When we walked in there were people queuing for tickets to see Hamlet with Benedict Cumberbatch. When we came out those queuing were joined by theatre goes at the entrance mobbing Cumberbatch as he left. Helen and daughter joined the throng to be rewarded with a close up of the actor that made their night!

The next day we went for a walk, as you do. Close to where we were staying is the Eagle pub that features in 'Up and down the City Road, in and out the Eagle. That's the way the money goes. Pop goes the weasel.' Apparently a weasel as in 'weasel and stoat' means coat and after spending their money they used to pawn them.

The eagle above the Eagle pub that was the nursery rhyme on the building too.

St Luke's Church on Old Street has a very unusual obelisk tower that was designed by Hawkesmoor. He was a contemporary of Wren's and contributed to many of the later's buildings. The building is now used by the London Symphony Orchestra and there are concerts etc regularly.

On our way to the Guildhall we realised that we were near to Postman's Park which has the street Little Britain running next to it.

There are some lovely buildings down Little Britain. I'm not sure it in anyway prompted the comedy radio and television shows though.

Postman's Park is one of the largest parks actually in the City of London. It contains the loggia that house the 'Everyday Hero's Memorial. This is a series of tablets to the self sacrifice of the general public. There are some poignant stories of lives saved and lost and make grim reading. The latest is from 2007. The tile work is also interesting as it changes over the years but it  always high class.

The reason we were heading to the Guildhall was to see the Hedon Mace on display. We live in Hedon which was an important town in the 13th 14th and 15th Centuries but is now a dormitory town for Hull. Our Mace is the oldest civic mace in the country and as it derives from a military weapon mace that was more than likely used at the Battle of Agincourt it was displayed with the stunning Crystal Mace that was give by Henry V to the City of London for bank rolling his war. When the Guild of Mace Bearers process the Hedon Mace Bearer leads as it is the oldest Civic Mace.

The Hedon Town Mace is the Silver Gilt one with the crown at the back! The iron lower end was actually the weapon piece that you used to use. Originally it was used as a weapon to protect the dignitaries but then became a symbol of power that preceded them. It says that it is likely that Henry V came to Hull on his Progress through England following his marriage to Catherine in 1420. He had renewed a charter for Hedon in 1415 , the year of the Battle of Agincourt and on their Progress had left his Queen in York to visit the shrines of St. John in Bridlington and Beverley. As he was to rejoin Catherine at Lincoln it is thought that he crossed the Humber to the Lincolnshire side from Hedon, which was a port, and this is when the mace was presented to the town.

Beneath the Guild Hall are the remains of the Roman Amphitheatre that you can visit. There is lots more to do at the Guild Hall and as we hadn't been before we will definitely return.

We walked through to Piccadilly and called in to St James Church just off to the south of the road. There is a great craft market in the courtyard which mainly hides the outdoor pulpit that is a very rare thing. Inside the carvings etc are lovely above the altar carvings are by Grinling Gibbons. The northern isle of the church was given over to the homeless and it was nice to see that they were fast asleep on the pews snoring their heads off. It seemed a good use of a normally empty church.

Just over the road from the backdoor of St James's is the Red Lion pub. It is one of the finest examples of a Victorian pub still with us with great examples of the deeply etched glass and mirrors. We had a pint and a lunch to fortify us before carrying on our discoveries.

I always make a point of looking up when out and about in towns and cities as at ground level each year brings changes. Above there is less alterations and you can still some gems. I loved these chimney pots that all looked different and would be worth a few bob these days no doubt.

On Marlborough Road is this beautiful bronze monument to Queen Alexandra ( 1844 1925) who had to put up with a lot from Edward VII who was a bit of a playboy. The Bronze was by Sir Alfred Gilbert who created Eros in Piccadilly Circus.

We headed down the Mall and turned off at the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Memorial statues. The bronze plaques below are very intricate and tell the story of the war time London and their frequent visits to their people.

We spent the early evening in Trafalger Square with many others watching the Rugby Union World Cup Final where New Zealand were the worthy winners of a good game.

After the match we wandered some more to find something to eat and ended up passing Covent Garden where we were drawn to the decorations in the Apple Market and the other covered areas.

We then wended our way back to the hotel foot sore but well pleased with our day and the new sights that we had  seen in London.