London - Paternoster Square

Pater noster is latin for “our Father” and is a reminder of the religious influence in this area. 

A number of publishers were located here until World War Two when this area was devastated by German bombs in December 1940 and millions of books were destroyed.  The Blitzed area was extensive but Londoners took great pride that even though St Paul’s did take two direct hits (1840 and 1841) it remained intact.   In the 1960s rather bland offices were built, but were mostly vacant within a decade, and finally this more sympathetic office development arose after 1995. 

Today the financial heartbeat of the city can be felt here since companies like the London Stock Exchange Group, and Merrrill Lynch have all relocated here.   

Stocks were originally bought and sold in the City’s coffee houses and the Royal Exchange (1571), but the first regulated exchange did not appear until 1801.    In 1923 the Exchange was honoured with its own coat of arms with the motto: “My word is my Bond”  (Dictum Meum Pactum).  Digital trading has seen the demise of the open outcry system where traders shouted and gestured in a pandemonium of bewildering, organised chaos.   Less space was needed and in 2004 the decision was made to move here.

Today some of the world’s largest companies have their stocks regulated from here – there are 2,938 companies from over 60 countries.   Their total market value is £3.9 trillion.  Every day over 600,000 stocks are traded which equates to about £4.4 billion daily. 

The Paternoster Column is made from Portland stone, Cornish granite and a gilded copper urn.   It was made to look like columns made by Inigo Jones for the old St Paul’s which Christopher Wren also copied in the new St Paul’s.  

The column cleverly conceals the fact that this is actually part of a ventilation system for the underground car park.   At night time fibre optic cables running up the column bring a flash of light to the square.   The urn on top is a historical reminder that this area has been destroyed by fire twice – in 1666 and 1940.  

This is an excerpt from the FREE tour St Paul's Precincts found on www.obelisktours.co.uk

Lancaster - Three not-so-Wise Men!

Lancaster's Catholic Cathedral has a trio of surprising characters.

First up is Henry VIII.  You'd hardly expect the King who broke the ties with Rome to be featured in a Catholic stained glass window, but there he is.   The reason he's there is because of his connection with some of the Catholic martyrs who suffered under his leadership.  So, from a Catholic viewpoint, this is one monarch whose judgement would be called into question.

Second is a statue of Judas Iscariot - the traitor who betrayed the Saviour.  You can see him in the middle of this scene pointing to Jesus.

And finally, is King Herod - he who slaughtered the innocent children in the hopes that he would kill the baby Jesus.  He is the figure on the left with his foot on a baby.

This stained glass is placed at the entrance to the baptistry - a place for innocence and rebirth.   That is the only time I've personally seem him represented in a church before.

If you fancy a tour of the Cathedral or the religious heritage of Lancaster just let us know.  There is so much to see all around the city.   The city will feature in a series of tours for apps in 2015.
 View www.obelisktours.co.uk to find out more.

London - Temple Bar

The grand gateway of Temple Bar was not built for this location, but, since it was also designed by Christopher Wren it is most appropriate that it ended up here looking across to St Paul’s. 

Originally Temple Bar was built on the site of one of the City’s eight gateways.  It was located where Fleet Street and The Strand meet, so was on the main route towards Westminster.  Records show a bar (probably a chain) being mentioned on that site as early as 1293, and the word ‘Temple’ indicated its neighbour is the Temple law courts.   The bar was replaced with a timber gateway and then this stone structure.

For over four centuries it has been a tradition that the Monarch stops at Temple Bar to gain ‘permission’ to enter the City.  This might seem rather odd, but indicates how Kings and Queens had respect for the powerful merchants of London whose deep pockets might be called upon to support a campaign or war.   It was a wise political move to keep London’s financial power on your side.  

Likewise, the gateway’s royal statues demonstrated the City’s desire to be loyal to their monarch.   The original statues still exist depicting the husband and wife of King James I and Queen Anne of Denmark, their son Charles I and his son Charles II.  In essence, a three generation photo album.  The royal beasts and coats of arms are modern replacements for lost statues.

This gateway, like other London entrances, would impress and scare visitors.  Impress with the fine carvings of Monarchs, and scare by the impaled heads of traitors which were displayed on spikes on top.  The last heads put on here were in 1746. 

As Victorian traffic increased it became a bit of a bottleneck, so it was taken down in 1878 and purchased for use as a grand gateway into the private country estate of Sir Henry Meux near Enfield, Hertfordshire.  

 126 years later (2004) it returned to the city and was erected here.  The Lord Mayor of London along with 14 stone masons pushed open the gates of Temple Bar (weighing 1.2 tons each) and Temple Bar was once again open to London traffic… well, foot traffic.  

This is an excerpt from the FREE tour St Paul's Precincts found on www.obelisktours.co.uk

282 years old today!

Richard Arkwright was born in Preston on the 23 December 1732 and became one of the most important figures in the industrialisation of Britain.   He was the youngest of thirteen children, and for a while he lived in this house located in Stoneygate in Preston

Arkwright House, Preston

Behind the tree!

I like the following descriptions of him.  The writer/ historian Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) wrote:

“Richard Arkwright, it would seem, was not a beautiful man, no romance hero with haughty eyes, Apollo lip and gesture like the herald Mercury; a plain, almost gross, bag-cheeked, pot-bellied, Lancashire man, with an air of painful reflection, yet also of copious free digestion; a man stationed by the community to shave certain dusty beards in the northern parts of England, at a halfpenny each. .....Nevertheless, in strapping of razors, in lathering of dusty beards, and the contradictions and confusions attendant thereon, the man had nothings in that rough head of his; spindles, shuttles, wheels and contrivances plying ideally within the same.....His townsfolk rose in mob around him, for threatening to shorten labour, to shorten wages, - so that he had to fly, with broken wash-pots, scattered household, and seek refuge elsewhere. Nay, his wife, too, as I learn, rebelled; burned his wooden model of his spinning wheel, resolute that he should stick to his razors rather, for which however, he decisively, as thou wilt rejoice to understand, packed her out of doors. O reader, what a historical phenomenon is that bag-cheeked, pot-bellied, much enduring, much inventing barber!.....it was this man that had to give England the power of cotton.” (Hardwick, p 372)

R.S. Fitton (biographer) wrote of him:

The founder of the factory system, he was the creator of a new industrial society that transformed England from a nearly self-sufficient country with an economy based on agriculture and domestic manufacture, into the workshop of the world.” (Hunt 143)

And Arkwright certainly made a pretty penny out of the process. A 1785 newspaper reported:

It is remarkable that the great mechanic, Arkwright, was a barber and a few years ago shaved for a penny. His astonishing machine brought him one year a revenue of £70,000, and though he has lowered his prices to crush his rivals, his profits are yet between £40,000 and £50,000 a year. Universal Daily Register, January 1785

In today's money that would be equivalent to a revenue of £7 million and profits of £4 to 5 million plus. In a period of a few short years he shot to one of the world's wealthiest men. The brilliant Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802) described his inventions as having been productive of greater commercial advantages to this country, and contributed more to the general benefits of mankind in so short a period than any other single effort of human ingenuity. (Aspin, p. 5)

His impact on the industrial world was incredible. Others called the machines 'Stupendous' 'magick'. And it was not just a case of the machines being so much faster they also produced a thread that was "a many times stronger and leveller". This uniform quality of yarn made the weaving so much finer and sought after.

Anyway...happy birthday Richard.

London - Thomas the Becket

Today, 21 December, is the birthday of Thomas the Beckett.  

In 1973 this resin statue of Thomas the Becket (1118-1170) by Bainbridge Copnall was erected outside of St Paul's Cathedral.   The Archbishop is shown falling on the steps in Canterbury Cathedral after being slain by the knights who misunderstood the intent of King Henry II when he complained “will no one rid me of this turbulent priest.”   Although a contemporary biographer claims the king said, “what miserable drones and traitors have I nourished and brought up in my household, who let their lord be treated with such shameful contempt by a low-born cleric.”    The first one sounds better!

Becket was born just a few blocks away from here on Cheapside.  

Liverpool - Titanic

  

Even though the ill-fated Titanic never visited Liverpool it has many connections to the City.  First of its owners were the White Star Line whose main office was in this red and white striped building called Albion House or the White Star Building (built 1898).  The ship was registered here which resulted in the words Titanic, Liverpool being painted clearly on its stern. 

Most of the Titanic's crew were from Southampton, but there were Liverpool staff who lost their lives.    These included  John Thompson and Thomas Threlfall as Firemen,  Mr. Pallas as a Greaser,   Henry Ashe, William Carney, Thomas Hewett, Charles Hogg, Thomas Holland, Andrew Latimer, and Thomas Weatherston as stewards,  Elizabeth Leather and Sarah Stap as stewardess,  James Hutchinson as a Vegetable Cook ,  Charles Morgan as a storekeeper, Charles Proctor as a Chef and John Clarke as a Bassist.   Not surprisingly concerned family and friends gathered on the streets outside these offices to hear any news of their loved ones.   Officials read names of the deceased from the balcony.

In 1934 the White Star Line moved over the street to merge with the Cunard Line.  Cunard continued to use the expression White Star Service to highlight their commitment to high levels of customer care.  

   

In 2013 the building was purchased by Signature Living to turn it into a Hotel complete with a Titanic Pool and Spa and a roof top bar and restaurant with World Heritage Views.   You can stay in The Vault Cabin – the very room where the Titanic's plans and documents were stored,  The Lightoller Suite – named after a first class officer, The Molly Brown Quarters – after the unsinkable Molly Brown, The William Hartley Quarters – after the  famous Lancashire bandmaster who played on,  and The Guggenheim Quarters – named after the  Gentleman who returned to his quarters. 

There are many more Titanic connections plus a variety of other rooms named after other White Star Line ships. 

Engineer's Memorial 

When the Titanic struck an iceberg in April 1912 it sank with 1514 souls, and sent shockwaves around the world.  It was the 9/11 of its day, and a century later the tragedy still resonates with horror.  This monument was originally planned as a tribute to the 224 engineers of the Titanic, those often unsung heroes who work deep in the bowels of the ship.  Eventually its scope was broadened as a Memorial to all the Heroes of the Marine Engine Room who are lost at sea.   Admittedly for all those boarding their cruise ships here an Engineer's Memorial sounds less ominous than a Titanic Memorial. 

 When this was unveiled in 1916 it was a pioneering work as there was no British sculpture that recognised the contributions of the working class.

The four nude figures represent Earth, Air, Fire and Water.

Incidentally this was carved by William Goscombe John who also created the equestrian statue of  King Edward VII located in the middle of the Pier Head.

Around the monument you can see World War Two shrapnel damage from exploding bombs.

This is one of the many monuments and buildings to be found in the FREE tour of Liverpool Pier Head found on www.obelisktours.co.uk

London - YMCA Founders

Just opposite the entrance to St Paul's Cathedral, is a plaque commemorating that in 1844 twelve young men gathered inside Drapery House, the home of George Williams, and founded the Young Mens Christian Association on this site. Drapery house no longer exists.  

Initially the organisation began as a prayer and study group, but then focused on providing lectures, reading rooms and refreshments to help young men adjust to the demands of city life. 

The following year they established branches in Manchester and Leeds and by 1851 had stretched as far as Boston, USA.  Their national and international influence continued to grow and in 1873 opened their first YMCA holiday centre on the Isle of Wight.    Twenty five more holiday centres followed and were the inspiration for Billy Butlin’s holiday camps. 

This was followed by the opening of YMCA gyms in America where both basketball and volleyball were invented (1895).    The very first scout groups met in YMCA buildings.   In 1912 the first purpose built hostels began to appear.  It was a YMCA worker who first introduced the poppy as a symbol of remembrance. 

When George died in 1905, aged 83, the organisation had spread to 45 countries with some 707,000 members.  Today there are some 58 million members in 119 countries.  With the Queen as its patron they provide nearly 10,000 beds every night; they run nurseries, childcare, and youth clubs; put around 43,000 young people in training and education annually, counselling over 228,000;  and much, much more.    

Did those twelve men have any idea what they were about to start when they met here in 1844?

George was buried in the crypt of St. Paul’s Cathedral.

This is an excerpt from the FREE tour St Paul's Precincts found on www.obelisktours.co.uk