Open House London 2010... and the Pope!

Last weekend it was the London Open House Weekend - two days in which many buildings that are typically closed to the public are open for exploration. Although you could probably guess that from the name. I spent both days wandering around London to see what was out there! In other news, the Pope (yes, the holy father himself!) was in town and I managed to catch a glimpse of him.

Prior to arriving in London, I had no idea about the event and what it aimed to do. Now that i've experienced it, I think it's a fantastic idea! The aim of the London Open House Weekend, organised by group called Open City, is to ensure that everyone appreciates, learns about, and understands good architecture. Given that London is a city rich with culture and history, it's a fantastic place to start up an initiative like this.

Now, the London Open House Weekend actually kicks off on the Friday night with either a 10 or 20 mile walk, beginning at 7pm. I didn't end up going to this as it was too late for me to become involved! Something for next year, perhaps. The Night Hike is actually a walk that supports a charity - Maggie's, a centre for those who are suffering from cancer.

Saturday was the first day where I headed out to experience London Open House. The first stop was the Chartered Accountants Hall. Don't know why I started with the Chartered Accountants Hall... probably because it was on the way to the Bank of England - the Bank being on my 'must do' list. The Chartered Accountants Hall was built in 1890 and was alot larger on the inside when compared to how it looked from the outside! The Chartered Accountants hall has a modern presentation hall with plenty of space and a lectern, but also has an older hall that's quite Victorian - a domed reception hall with a chandelier, a painted wall and even a century-old clock.

Next it was off to the Bank of England. Well not quite. Upon arriving at the Bank of England there was a line along one of the walls of the bank... unfortunately the line wrapped along three of the four walls around the bank. The expected wait to get into the Bank of England was two hours. I didn't wait, but made a mental note to get in early on the Sunday.

The Leadenhall Market, Lloyds of London and the Royal Courts of Justice were waypoints onto Westminster. Some of the notable things along the way included seeing an actual shipping logbook from the HMS Euraylus as part of Lloyds' Lord Nelson Collection, and seeing a clothing demonstration at the Royal Courts (one of the crowd got to don a full Justice's uniform)!

After hopping on a bus from the Royal Courts out to Whitehall it was off to Admiralty House and then the Horse Guards. Nothing too flashy to note here, and that statement is inclusive of the changing of the guard. Upon leaving the grounds of the Horse Guards a crowd started to gather on the main road. Bizzare. On closer inspection it wasan anti-pope rally! Why people would bother protesting the pope's presence is beyond me.

Based on the rally's location it wasn't too hard to guess that the pope was going to appear nearby. After asking around we found out that the pope was indeed going to be present. This was confirmed by the large police presence. The pope was going to move from the Treasury building, past Buckingham palace, up the Mall, and all the way over to Hyde Park.

I set up camp outside the Treasury building where the barriers were to be placed. Best spot. The only caveat for locking down this spot was that I was over an hour early. So just like how I had to wait for the fireworks on Waterloo bridge for the Thames Festival, I had to wait over an hour for the pope to pop out of the Treasury building in the pope mobile.

The wait for the pope passed by slowly, but this was helped by having a chat with a couple of the policemen that were milling about. Found out that the policeman guarding the gate directly in front of me is in the last 100 to be one of the two-dozen or so policemen lucky enough to escort the olympic flame as it makes its way through England in 2010.

Finally, at long last, the pope came out of the Treasury building.... in his trusty popemobile! As the popemobile pulled out of the Treasury building and turned right onto his way to Hyde Park I got a wave from the pope. If not, well... close enough. As the popemobile trundled down the road at a brisk walking pace the pope continued to wave. A few of us in the crowd started running along-side the popemobile hoping to see as much of the pope as possibe. After a brief chase, I gave up and headed on home... as the crowds thickened, limiting mobility. An eventful first day of the London Open House, with a special guest appearance!


After all the excitement on the Saturday, Sunday just couldn't compete. Having said that, Sunday was still an eventful day. I was able to see the Bank of England, made it out to Greenwich, before heading back to City Hall.

Woke up early on Sunday morning to make sure that I could get in and see the inside of the Bank of England. I arrived at 9:45am, just in time for the 10 am opening. Not early enough. By the time I got there, there was already a line.. and it was long. It was 10:45 before I got to the doors of the Bank of England.

Out of all of the open houses, I learnt most by attending the Bank of England. Learnt that the Bank of England was initially a commercial bank not originally owned by the state, is built on top of some Roman mosaics, took over a local parish, has its own internal water supply, and is quite elaborte inside! My pick for the weekend.

After the tour of the Bank of England was complete I had a quick look at some of the currency on display. Knowing that I didn't have too much time to play with (as many of the open houses would have closed by 4pm), I quickly headed out to Greenwich via the DLR - my first ever journey on the Docklands Light Rail.

Why Greenwich? The Old Royal Naval College. No particular reason other than wanting to see where budding young sailors went to train so that they could defend the Empire. Given the importance of the Navy to the British, I thought that it would be a neat place to go.

The Old Royal Naval College is still in use today, in parts... as it's a part of the University of Greenwich. I was a bit late for the tours around the College, so I went for a bit of a wander. Really nice place, although much of the grounds are being refurbished. The Chapel and the Dining Hall are amazing, extremely elaborate... and I imagine outrageously expensive to kit out back in the day.

The Royal Observatory was the next stop on my pass through Greenwich, although the Observatory is usually free. Even though it wasn't a part of the London Open House, I was nearby, so it was still worth a visit. Didn't really have the time to go through all of the bits and pieces that the Observatory had to offer (i.e. the educational aspects of astronomy). Toured the grounds, took a few snaps of the Prime Meridian, then it was back to town.

I finished up my London Open House weekend with a trip to City Hall - the work place of the Mayor of London. The most notable aspects of City Hall are the strange spirally staircase going through the heart of the building, the large satellite photo of London on the floor of the ground floor, as well as providing a nice view of Tower Bridge.

Another busy week comes to an end.