please empty your brain below
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I went round the Banqueting House on an open day some years ago. It must rank very high on the list of London buildings that influenced subsequent architecture.
Sprout Eater | 16.04.24 - 7:34 a.m. | #
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Ah yes. The former Whitehall Theatre that for many years was home to the then famous Whitehall Farce series of plays.
The phrase "like a Whitehall Farce" was for many years used to describe a farcical situation but, probably inevitably, a lot of people came to think it originally referred to examples of government incompetence.
Pedantic of Purley | 16.04.24 - 7:36 a.m. | #
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The Scottish Office and the Welsh Office were replaced by the Scotland Office and the Wales Office after devolution, for reasons which I'm sure were fully explained at the time.
Martin | 16.04.24 - 7:51 a.m. | #
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Lord Alanbrooke. (‘nee’ Alan Brooke). Not ‘Alan’. Largely thanks to him the street signs aren’t in German.
David B | 16.04.24 - 8:02 a.m. | #
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David B, I don't think so. With the exception of Alsace-Lorraine (which was a special case) Hitler showed absolutely no interest or inclination to force the German language onto occupied territories. One suspects that the attitude was that German was a superior language reserved for the superior race.
For example, as far as I am aware no attempt was made to introduce German or bilingual street signs to the Channel Islands when that was occupied during WW2.
Pedantic of Purley | 16.04.24 - 8:14 a.m. | #
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At Downing Street, was there any sight of Larry the cat?
leuconoe | 16.04.24 - 8:16 a.m. | #
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Half of Richmond House was indeed built in the 1980s, but the other, and rather grander half dates from the 1820s. One consequence is that that none of the floor levels align, making for a very convoluted route from the modern entrance to the ministerial offices in the older Terrace for anybody with limited mobility. That was particularly unfortunate when one of those offices was occupied by the minister for disabled people.
Marek | 16.04.24 - 8:29 a.m. | #
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Pedantic of Purley: this is angels on a pinhead stuff, I know, but Eastern European cities - Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia (as was), Slovenia and others were flooded with Adolf Hitler Straßes and Platzes. And I’m with David B re Alanbrooke - he stood up to Churchill when required, and was a strategic mastermind.
Philip | 16.04.24 - 8:39 a.m. | #
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Das ist in der Tat eine sehr alte Kastanie.
David B is apparently not aware that the Brits speak and have spoken a bastardised form of German for about 900 years now.. Named after the Angles who came from what is now Schleswig-Holstein. All 'English' base words are German. From Mum & Dad to House, Bread and Water.
As for the war. I think Joe Stalin & Frank D. Roosevelt had more say in that matter, especially after the Brits were kicked out of Europe at Dunkirk in 1940.
Steve | Homepage | 16.04.24 - 9:51 a.m. | #
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In addition to cheapest fish 'n' chips, Walkers is probably the best "pubby" pub in that area. I often meet people there for convenience. The fish fingers are generous and £10 less than the full fish supper.
Chz | 16.04.24 - 9:56 a.m. | #
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The Horse and Guardsman used to be a Wetherspoon, Lord Moon of the Mall, which would have served the cheapest fish and chips in the street.
Mikey C | 16.04.24 - 10:03 a.m. | #
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A Francophile pedant writes: Lord Alanbrooke was né (rather than née) Alan Brooke, not being female/feminine.
Betterbee | 16.04.24 - 10:20 a.m. | #
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Betty Boothroyd's fundraising for the memorial passed me by at the time, but it's a good tribute to her. Reading today's blog while half asleep I did though initially assume she'd used money from winning I'm a Celebrity, which would have been even better.
Andrew S | 16.04.24 - 10:59 a.m. | #
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We've lunched twice some years apart in Whitehall. Both times demonstrations passed by. Does anyone take much notice of the cause?
Andrew Cee | Homepage | 16.04.24 - 12:08 p.m. | #
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For some reason a Certain Other Website keeps showing me clips of what happens when unwary tourists stand too close to the horses the Admiralty Buildings/Horse Guards. I sometimes wonder if it would make any difference if they got some yellow paint to mark out a "keep clear" zone.
Autolycus | Homepage | 16.04.24 - 12:54 p.m. | #
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Older Streetview shows Cafe de Royale as one of the notorious candy stores that also colonised Oxford Street, allegedly for tax-dodging reasons, so maybe the re-brand and drinks machine are fig-leaves to try and thwart Westminster’s clean-up campaign.
After leaving his Whitehall farces behind, serial trouser-dropper Brian Rix went on to have a distinguished charity career. Subsequently, as Chancellor of UEL, he presented a mature student friend of mine with their degree certificate in a splendidly lively ceremony at the Barbican; we were probably the only ones in the auditorium old enough to wonder if he’d provide a risque stage moment as well. He didn’t.
Labourer | 16.04.24 - 2:34 p.m. | #
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Another street I would have put further along the board!
Cornish Cockney | 16.04.24 - 3:33 p.m. | #
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A suggestion for future times you are note- and photo-taking near security people - try wearing a (dirty, if possible) hi-vis jacket/bib; they will probably assume you are there officially and ignore you.
Trevor S | 16.04.24 - 6:04 p.m. | #
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I was in the Banqueting House just this weekend, as part of a tour group. The renovations haven't started yet but it's only replacing some underfloor electrics or something like that. Pre-pandemic it was open to the public every day but the Historic Royal Palaces tour guide said it only attracted about 6 people a day and HRP realised they could make more money just letting it out for private events after their finances were gutted by COVID. The Rubens ceiling is still stunning although close up needs some work, but there's no plans for that currently. Sadly its heyday of the Jacobean masques of the 1620s are long gone.
dncn | 16.04.24 - 10:32 p.m. | #
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When I was a child, the Banqueting House was home to the United Services Museum (perhaps a precursor of the National Army Museum in Chelsea). I remember dusty cases of dioramas with model soldiers and coloured cotton wool stuffed in the muzzles of miniature cannon to represent gunfire, but it had a very dull atmosphere and I think the wonderful Rubens ceiling was covered over; I didn’t see it until years later. Shame if it’s now only visible at corporate functions.
Labourer | 16.04.24 - 11:10 p.m. | #
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It is sad to see how much fortifications have changed the view in some areas. I think these mainly arose from the IRA bombings, and probably bostered by more recent terrorist threats. I remember walking from Whitehall to St James's Park in the days before it was blocked off and excessive security was unnessary.
Rogmi | 17.04.24 - 9:08 a.m. | #
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In the days when Downing Street was still open to the public, there was also access to a wonderfully atmospheric, sloping, stone-flagged tunnel squeezed in under no 10 and the Cabinet Office that led to Horseguards Parade. Halfway down was a gas lamp iluminating two massive doors on right and left, the latter presumably into no 10. As a schoolboy, I was always tempted to knock on it (there might even have been a big knocker) to see what happened, but never dared.
Labourer | 17.04.24 - 9:44 a.m. | #
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I always thought the Department for Net Zero was headquartered on the first building on Victoria Street. Always amuses me that the screens showing the logo of the department are on 24/7... particularly ironic. So I wonder what if any of the department's staff are based at Whitehall?
Another modern 'treat' at Horseguards aside from the TikTok antics is the YouTube channels livestreaming continuously from there in the hope of some 'quality' content of tourists messing with the horses and getting told off.
Never knew the Women of WW2 memorial was not even 20 years old. It's blended into the environment quite well.
matthieu1221 | 17.04.24 - 2:30 p.m. | #
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Wonder why they have fencing around the mid-road memorials? Was not there the last few times I went down Whitehall.
Mary | 17.04.24 - 5:51 p.m. | #
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