The Other Mayor of London

Time to catch up with this blogging lark at last. The past few weeks have been rather manic with loads of work in my new job and a trip away. We start with an event from the beginning of the month - the annual Lord Mayor's Show in the City of London.

From the get-go I think it's important to distinguish, for those who don't know, that this has nothing to do with our Uncle Ken. The City, with a capital "C" is the ancient kernel of the large conurbation we now call London. Its Lord Mayor has existed as a civic position since 1189 when King John granted a charter allowing London citizens to elect their own mayor. The charter insisted that while the City was independent, the Lord Mayor should swear allegiance to the monarch. The trip the mayor took from the City to Westminster (the Royal Capital) to swear his oath became more and more elaborate, becoming the "show" we see today. At its heart is still this trip and the Lord Mayor swears his allegiance to Queen Elizabeth at the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand, just over the city boundary into Westminster.

Today's show takes the form of a huge parade said to be the largest unrehearsed parade in the world. In recent years more than 6000 people take part in a parade over 3 miles long over a 1.7 mile-long route. It's one of the best free entertainments London offers and something I've gone along to watch on and off since I first went with my dad over 20 years ago.

This year, rather than paying for a seat on one of the stands we stood with the crowds near the great west door of Saint Paul's Cathedral. I've now decided that this is far preferable - you're much closer to the action and feel far more part of the show. What you loose in terms of feeling your legs after standing around is more than made-up for in atmosphere.

Once the first run of the parade is over there's just time to dash from the main route to the returning route along the Embankment. But again, for a change, we went into the cathedral and up the several hundred steps to the gallery at the top of the dome. There's a fantastic view across the City and you can even still hear the bands playing in the parade down below. One our ears were numb and our legs had recovered from the climb there was plenty of time for a good mooch around the cathedral crypt. There are buried many of the nation's great and good including Admiral Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington and the cathedral's builder Sir Christopher Wren.

To round off the day's free entertainment, the City holds a HUGE firework display. They are let off from a barge in the middle of the Thames, so the banks become crowded well before they start. This year's wind was quite strong but it was still a magnificent display. There is something magical about standing on the south bank and watching fireworks go off over Saint Paul's. At least I wasn't washing ash out of my hair like last year.

Many more photos from the day are available on my Flickr account here.