Covent Garden and the South Bank

21.6.11
Today I went to meet my niece, Katie, for lunch so no guided walk. However, I did some exploring on my own. We had a good lunch at the Kitchen Italia - reasonable prices and tasty food. After lunch we went to Katie's office round the corner so I could see where she worked. Doesn't she look efficient!

Katie had to get back to work so I decided to have a wander round Covent Garden. I did some research on its history and discovered that it was originally the site of a convent - hence 'covent' - and its garden. The area was bought and developed by John Russell, the first Earl of Bedford, in 1552. He employed Inigo Jones to build the elegant Italian-style piazza. Inigo Jones was the first significant British architect of the modern period and the first to bring Italianate renaissance architecture to England.

After the fruit and veg. market was moved in 1974 property developers tried to take over the site and there was even talk of demolishing the market to make way for a road! Fortunately, local residents fought to save it and it was transformed into what it is today.






I decided to cross over the River at Waterloo Bridge and passed Somerset House on the way. William Chambers designed the house in 1775 on the site of an earlier Tudor palace. It had to accommodate the three principal learned societies - the Royal Academy of Arts, the Royal Society, and the Society of Antiquaries - as well as various government offices. In particular, he had to provide the Navy Board with quarters that would reflect the rising importance of the Navy at a time when Britain was almost constantly at war. It now contains three museums, is a venue for concerts in the summer, while the courtyard is turned into an ice rink in the winter.

 

I couldn't resist stopping for some photgraphs on the bridge to give some idea of the views.

Having crossed over I entered the area called the South Bank. Two of the City's newest landmarks are located here - namely the London Eye and the Tate Modern. There are many arts venues here - to name a few: the National Theatre, the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Hayward Gallery. I just wanted to walk along the river and take in the sights. There were some interesting people to see:
                                                                                                                                          

                                    

 I have no idea why they were dressed this way!I took one last look over the River at the Houses of Parliament and decided to take my tired feet home on the River Clipper.