WHITEHALL

 Christmas Day, 2020


        “Whitehall - the most overrated place in London – just extraordinarily dull” Michael Caine

   The name was taken from the massive Palace of Whitehall that was the residence of Kings Henry VIII through to William III, before its destruction by fire in 1698; only the Banqueting House has survived.

     As well as government buildings, Whitehall is known for its memorial statues and monuments, including the UK's primary war memorial, the Cenotaph (above, right).


     Check out the smorgasbord of A-listers on the walls of the Foreign, Development and Commonwealth Office .....



    
     More statues - Haig, Montgomery and Alanbrooke ….

     Field Marshal Douglas Haig was a senior office of the British Army. His name has become synonymous with the madness of the First World War. He was nicknamed "Butcher Haig" for the two million British casualties endured under his command.

    Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery was a senior British Army offices who served in both World Wars. ‘Monty’ has become synonymous with a turning point in World War II when his victory in North Africa was the first significant success for the Allies.

    Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke, was Churchill’s Chief of Staff during the Second World War. Alanbrooke said of Churchill – “Without him England was lost for a certainty, with him England has been on the verge of disaster time and again.... Never have I admired and despised a man simultaneously to the same extent.”

    Alanbrooke’s statue replaced that of Sir Walter Raleigh which didn’t match the scale of the others in Whitehall. The diminutive statue of Raleigh can now be seen in Greenwich. He was hardly the patron saint of healthy lifestyles having introduced fags and chips to Britain.




    The British Union of Vivisectionalists building (left) is now McDonalds.

    The Silver Cross is still licensed as a brothel as no-one has ever got round to revoking the licence granted by Charles I. It doesn’t exactly have glowing reports on Tripadvisor so I think the Red Lion in Parliament Street would be the luncheon option.

    The Trafalgar Theatre was originally The Whitehall Theatre where the popular Whitehall Farces were staged from 1950 to 1966 by actor-manager Brian Rix. Although the critics didn’t think much of them they were the funniest thing on TV at Christmas when I was a kid. Mind you, in those days the only other seasonal highlight was the Christmas movie. This was usually a western in which everyone died of diphtheria because there was no vaccine.

    The Theatre is currently being restored to its original 1930s Art Deco style. The work has been accelerated by the pandemic and it is due to reopen in the spring.

    UPDATE: The Trafalgar Theatre has reopened. The Jersey Boys is running until October 1, 2023.



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