The Tower

The Tower of London

Not a place you want to visit unless it is for a short jaunt through a very historic complex.  Anne Boleyn came for a visit and we all know how that turned out.  

The Tower is actually a castle and residence of the royal family.  The official name is Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London.  

This is the "Tower"

 If you try to penetrate this fortress you will be pelted with nasty stuff being catapulted at you, or perhaps one of the kids playing around it will bite you on the ankle.  That takes you inside but you still have that great wall to scale.









If you make it over that wall, how are you going to get through the gate?  Not sure my left arm would make it through there, let alone my body.  I'm thinking that the guide told us that the gate was original to the Tower.

Ahhh, you made it into the grounds proper, but oops, now you have to deal with the guard.  Give it up, no way are you getting to the crown jewels without being tortured or beheaded or imprisoned for life.  

This sentry is a silent guard.  He stands outside a building that has residences and therefore does not do the foot stomping turns other guards do.  Notable "tenants" in this residence hall were Anne Boleyn and William Penn (more of him in a moment).

William Penn was imprisoned after ticking off the Bishop of London with a tract he published, "The Sandy Foundation Shaken".  The tract was a last resort after a dispute with a Friends Society on whether Friends "owned one Godhead subsisting in three distinct and separate persons."  .  The conclusion of the work gave great offense to the Bishop and an order was procured from the government for Penn's imprisonment in the Tower.  

After some time in the prison he was offered the choice of recanting his statements or spending his life in prison.  He refused to recant his beliefs and resolved to die in the Tower.  He wrote a letter to Lord Arlington, the Secretary of State, stating he was illegally imprisoned without trial or conviction and was basically jailed because of a difference of opinion.  

It worked and he was released, but the discharge came from the King, through the intercession of his brother, the Duke of York - later James II.

These are the non-silent guards who slam their feet down on the pavement making a loud noise when they do a three point turn.  The first I saw of the one in back he was standing so perfectly still I thought he was a cardboard statue for kids to take a picture with instead of a live being.

Some miscellaneous shots throughout the complex.

Tower Bridge in the background.

One of the six ravens on duty at the Tower.  The seventh, and backup raven, is kept caged in case he is needed.  There is a superstition that if the ravens leave the Tower of London the Tower AND the kingdom will fall.  King Charles II was the one that believed the warning he received and put the protection order on them.  His astronomer, John Flamsteed, wasn't happy since the ravens messed up his studies in the Observatory in the White Tower - probably literally.

The ravens (in 2017 there was Jubilee, Harris, Gripp, Rocky, Erin, Poppy and Merlina - not sure if these are the same bunch).  They have their primary and secondary flight feathers trimmed but are all able to fly but why should they when they have a comfortable home and dinner served by the Ravenmaster.  If you join them for dinner the menu will include mice, chicks rats and assorted raw meats - if you are lucky you will get a special treat of a biscuit soaked in blood.  Yum!

The ravens have been dismissed because of "conduct unbecoming to Tower residents".  One example is Raven George, dismissed in 1986 to the Welsh Mountain Zoo - conduct unsatisfactory, therefore service no longer required.  His crime?  He wanted to fly but with the clipping of one wing he was basically grounded.  Ravens are known to be intelligent beings, and George was crafty as well.  He learned to climb the fire escape, perch high on a wall and glide down.  In 1981 he went AWOL and was found at a pub and forced to return to duty.  But alas, he didn't conform to the rules and five years later was sent to Raven Siberia after destroying five TV antennas in just one week.

Hugine and Jackie were in love in 1995 and got all riled up during mating season and were never able to settle down.  Again "conduct unbecoming to Tower Residents".  

The only photo I could get of the crown jewels.  Photography is strictly prohibited.  I've never seen Queen Elizabeth in person, but she looks to me like a small woman.  A small woman that wore 18,000 pounds of gold, jewels and whatever for her coronation.  I just don't see how she did it.  The cloak alone had to weigh a couple of hundred pounds easily, the sphere another 50-60, then the crown and the scepter and all the lesser bits and pieces.

So your buddy King Henry III, back in 1235, is getting married.  You don't want to get them a toaster, towels, or a blender for a gift, after all he is a king.   That was the conundrum of Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II who finally settled on 3 lions as the perfect gift.  King Haakon of Norway followed suit in 1251 and sent a polar bear.  The poor bear was chained by his ankle close to the Thames River so he could swim and catch fish.  These were followed by an African Elephant, tigers, kangaroos, camels, alligators and many other exotic, to Londoners at the time, animals.  The first zoo in London closed its doors in 1831 and the animals moved to Regent's Park. 

Kendra Haste fabricated 13 sculptures depicting these animals out of only layers of painted galvanized wire atop steel armatures.  The sculptures will remain on view through 2021.  These are just a sampling - I did not see the elephant or lions which are fabulous from the images online I have seen.

 

and of course that poor Polar Bear that just breaks my heart.

I was going to add the sail away but think we will keep that for another post.  Hint:  Very emotional and moving and fabulous and wonderful and well done.  

Bye!