Tower of London

[jellybean]

Jels and I went for a trip to the Tower of London this evening. It was very interesting. A good time was had by all.

We were taken around by our own personal tour guide who was very entertaining.

[Jelakins]

My chance to write a 'trip' report!!!! LOLOLOL

JB - I just have to say THANK YOU for the invite - it was an awesome entertaining and educational evening!

Your work colleagues are brilliant and I loved the popularity you have with them!!!

[jellybean]

My chance to write a 'trip' report!!!! LOLOLOL

JB - I just have to say THANK YOU for the invite - it was an awesome entertaining and educational evening!

Your work colleagues are brilliant and I loved the popularity you have with them!!!

Thanks - you can write the report.

[ECO]

Hey i don't see any photos!

[Jelakins]

Hey i don't see any photos!

Gotta upload 'em

Just realised that some are on my phone and I can text them over to Photobucket....

You'll probably see something during my lunch break (thats about 4 hours away....)

[jellybean]

4 hours????????????????????????????????????

[ECO]

Hey i don't see any photos!

Gotta upload 'em

Just realised that some are on my phone and I can text them over to Photobucket....

You'll probably see something during my lunch break (thats about 4 hours away....)

4 hours away from what..............New Years Eve? Christmas? The next election? Come on people are waiting!

[jellybean]

Maybe Jels hasn't had her lunch break yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jelakins]

OK OK OK
Doing it now......

[Jelakins]

Some time ago, JellyBean invited Tinks & Me to the Ceremony of the Keys at The Tower of London... free trip to a place I've always wanted to visit, good friends, I ain't gonna say no!!!!

Popped it in my diary and waited......

The day of the Ceremony dawned... and I was really looking forward to the experience even though Tinks had abandoned us for the sunshine in JA... I'd had a chance to read up on the ceremony and noted that it was only a 10 minute thing and wondered what we would do while we waited...

Background: The Ceremony of the Keys is the official closing of the Tower of London which takes place at 9:53pm every night and has done so for the last 600 years....

Heres some of the blurb I found on the internet....

Probably the best known such ceremony is the one that takes place every night at the Tower of London, and has done so in some form or another since the 14th century. At exactly 9.53pm, the Chief Yeoman Warder, dressed in Tudor Watchcoat, meets the Military Escort, made up of members of the Tower of London Guard. Together, the CYW and the Yeoman Warder 'Watchman' secure the main gates of the Tower. Upon their return down Water Lane, the party is halted by the sentry and challenged to identify themselves:

Sentry: Who comes there?
Chief Warder: The keys.
S: Whose keys?
CW: Queen Elizabeth's keys. (identifying the keys as being those of the British monarch as of 2009)
S: Pass Queen Elizabeth's Keys. All's well.

Following this, the party makes its way through the Bloody Tower Archway into the fortress, where they halt at the bottom of the Broadwalk Steps. On the top of the Stairs, under the command of their Officer, the Tower guard present arms and the Chief Warder raises his hat, proclaiming:

CW: God preserve Queen Elizabeth.
S: Amen!

He then takes the keys to the Queen's House for safekeeping, while the Last Post is sounded.


I have to say, the Last Post is one of my fave peices of music....have a listen: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Post

[Jelakins]

While I waited for JellyBean, I thought I would take the opportunity to take a few pics....

This was the view I got of the Tower when I stepped off my train... You can see the White Tower in the background which is currently being refurbished.



I waited for Jude by the river and was able to see Tower Bridge (which really is only a short walk from my office)....



And City Hall where that fine home for a pecker Boris Johnson resides and is currently fornicating without passion up London!!!



This is the entrance to the Tower when your back is to the river:

[jellybean]

Very nice Jels - pictures make London look so good.

[Jelakins]

It turns out that one of JellyBean's work colleagues is married to a Yeoman and lives AT THE TOWER OF LONDON!!!! How awesome is that....

This is the Yeoman (Rod) as he was on the tour.....


And this is a pic I found of him in his uniform.....


Rod is really passionate about the history of the Tower and you could really hear it in his voice as he gave us snippets of stories relating to the tower... using JellyBean to romantise the story of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn's first meeting...

Here is a pic of Anne's first view of the Tower when she entered from the Thames....


Nice huh.....???

Until you realise that immediately opposite is the BLOODY TOWER which is where she was taken to die a few years later!!

[Jelakins]

Rod continued his tour after going thru the gateway at the Bloody Tower and onto Tower Green....

The architecture under the arch was really beautiful....



Unfortunatley I didn't capture a pic of the heavy iron gates which still exist over 700 years after being installed!! Hopefully Jellybean can share her shot???

Once thru the arch, the whole place opens up into such a peaceful scene....


This place leads onto the actual village green area which is where the church is sited as well as the 'priviledged' beheading area....





This is where Anne Boleyn was beheaded... story has it that she was praying out aloud while waiting for the fall of the axe... when it came, it was swift and clean... and her lips where still moving in prayer as her head was held aloft...

[Lillywight]

This is amazing! Thank you for the pictures!!!!!

[jellybean]

I found this article about Rod


http://www.camelotintl.com/tower_site/i ... uelov.html

[Jelakins]

After hearing the gory details of the beheadings at the Green, Rod took us into the church.... where we were told that we were sitting on the bones/bodies of at least 1000 people!!!!

And at least another 100 were buried in the walls.... wow the UK has a really dark history doesn't it!!!

We were not allowed to take personal pictures in the church....

We moved on from there to the bar.... not open to the public, only the Yeomans and their guests... and all men MUST wear a tie to enter....

Inside here Rod was the consumate host... sharing his time equally (although I have to admit that our table got the best of his time!!! I think he quite likes JellyBean )

He told us the story of one of the houses that was used to house people destined for the gallows. They had to be woken up at 5am for execution... this was an every day thing 'cos I guess the British were terrible...!! The family that now live in the house are woken up EVERY DAY AT 5am!!!

Mi - mi wudda garn leff by now!!!! Mi an duppy nuh gree!!

After about an hour we went to see the Ceremony, which upon pain of death we are not allowed to film / record... and it must work because I can't even find one example on the internet!!!

All told it was a fantastic evening - far better than I expected.

JellyBeans colleagues are so much fun....and soooo friendly - far from my colleagues!!!

Thanks so much for the invite JB.... I'll be going back inthe Summer so I can see the jewels and armoury and everything else they have there!!!

[ECO]

Really nice pictures and trip report! At some point I'll have to take that horrible 6 hour flight over the pond to take a tour.

[Jelakins]

Really nice pictures and trip report! At some point I'll have to take that horrible 6 hour flight over the pond to take a tour.

Yes - you should!!!
London is fantastic!

[ECO]

Really nice pictures and trip report! At some point I'll have to take that horrible 6 hour flight over the pond to take a tour.

Yes - you should!!!
London is fantastic!

That's what I hear! I just can't stand the accent over there (no offense but it makes my eyes bleed). I'll have to come when it's cold so I can use my IPOD to dampen the accents if they get to me.