please empty your brain below
Fascinating read, thanks. It's early, but I'm sure it's the purples that start from here.

dg writes: It's not oranges. Fixed, thanks.

Waterhouse | 06.08.24 - 7:10 a.m. | #

Is it really about 50 years ago that I took a young boy, I-Spy book in hand, to find the Imperial Standards of Length?
(Bet you knew I would write this)

DGD | 06.08.24 - 7:24 a.m. | #

I'm baffled that the cafe is long closed. I assume that's a goldmine.

Scott | Homepage | 06.08.24 - 7:58 a.m. | #

A nice read, full of info nuggets and sideways links. My main takeaway: Marmite roast potatoes! I really want to try those, not previously knowing they were a thing.

Frank F | 06.08.24 - 8:47 a.m. | #

Interesting, so they used fountains as crowd control back in the day.

'because Trafalgar Square really is full of outdated relics that ought to be taken down'

Still Anon | 06.08.24 - 9:01 a.m. | #

Reading DGD’s comment brought a smile to my face. We have much to thank your parents for, not least your inquisitiveness.

What was located under the north side before the toilets and café? Was it storage for the gallery or services, that were then opened up?

Were the bylaws transferred to the Mayor of London from the City of Westminster and before that the GLC, LCC etc or did they originate post-2000.

The Asker of Questions | 06.08.24 - 9:09 a.m. | #

I was baffled by The Admiralty describing itself as London's most central pub. By what measure, exactly?

dg writes: Charles I

Mark | 06.08.24 - 9:21 a.m. | #

I was under the impression that there was a serious long-term plan to put Gandhi on the fourth plinth, which would make a nice riposte to the statues celebrating those who fought to subdue India. But apparently I was misremembering this article by Tristram Hunt, and in any case a statue of Gandhi has since been put up in Parliament Square.

Alan | 06.08.24 - 9:29 a.m. | #

I'm baffled by numbering of addresses on Trafalgar Square starting at 57 rather than 1. I wonder if the numbers were retained from a previous road layout.

Andrew S | 06.08.24 - 10:43 a.m. | #

I am very impressed that you have been able to find adequate material and pictures for a fascinating new post, in spite of the self-confessed large number of earlier posts featuring this iconic location.

Malcolm of Kent | 06.08.24 - 10:58 a.m. | #

I have a copy of “London Is Stranger Than Fiction”, a collection of articles from the “Evening News” circa 1950, written by Peter Jackson and illustrated with his own drawings.

He mentions a deep scar in the steps at the base of Nelson’s Column which seemed like the result of a bomb blast.

It was actually caused by a bonfire lit by solders after World War 1 which led to the stone bursting.

The damage has apparently been repaired.

Keith from N2 | 06.08.24 - 12:57 p.m. | #

The Bakerloo tube station should get its proper name back. Since the Jubilee line moved away it is too far from Charing Cross and wrongly suggests it is a suitable place to change between lines.

kev | 06.08.24 - 1:51 p.m. | #

Does the hawk vs. pigeons attraction still occur daily?

matthieu1221 | 06.08.24 - 4:58 p.m. | #

If Q’s laboratory was lurking above Malaysia House, offices in the next block anti-clockwise (the Drummond’s branch of NatWest at 49 Whitehall), were featured for their spectacularly panoramic Nelson-and-lions view as MI5 offices in two of the Bond-antidote films, The Ipcress File and Billion Dollar Brain.

Labourer | 06.08.24 - 6:17 p.m. | #

1277 was 100 years before Richard II could have kept any hawks anywhere. Do you mean 1377?

dg writes: Fixed, thanks.

Jaco | 07.08.24 - 6:08 a.m. | #

I remember the days when there were little kiosks in Trafalgar Square selling seeds to the feed the pigeons.I think I have a photo somewhere of myself as a child with a pigeon sitting on my head.

Andrew | 09.08.24 - 10:01 a.m. | #

There are two pene-exclaves on the Bristol/South Gloucestershire border.

Pitlochry Close, part of Bristol, can only be accessed from Kenmore Crescent in Filton (S Glos). This one is odd as the Scottish-named streets are a Filton thing and Pitlochry Close isn't in Filton. Pitlochry is part of the local school's former playing field.

THe other one is Charlton Common and Siddeley Close, both in Filton (S Glos) but only accessible from Bristol. The nearest part of S Glos to them (except for another pene-exclave at Fishpool Hill) is 1.5 mile away on Southmead Rd at the junction of Kenmore Grove). This wasn't originally an exclave, but when Filton airfield was extended in 1949, Charlton Common (and Fishpool) was cut off from the rest of Filton and Charlton itself demolished! Now with the airfield closed and being built on, this exclave may well disappear soon.

Colly | 13.08.24 - 9:00 p.m. | #











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