On the Buses - Ding Ding! Unlike adults, who find buses a slow way to reach a destination, children can just enjoy the journey and the destination is a bonus. So, instead of paying a whopping amount to travel on ‘tourist’ bus tours, take advantage of an iconic London red bus for a fun day in the capital.
If you do plan a day using London’s buses or if you use the underground to get into London, get yourself an Oyster card or bus pass in advance. Children under 16 travel free, although teenagers may need a photo card. Speak to you local underground station for lots of help and advice on the cheapest way to travel.
One great way to really get the kids interested is to use the old ‘Routemaster’ buses with a driver and conductor to get a ‘old fashioned’ view of London - the number 15 Heritage Routemaster takes you on a journey from Tower Hill, through the Square Mile and to the heart of the West End. Pick up the number 15 from Tower Hill, right by the Tower of London and opposite Tower Hill underground station.
If you want to, you can just stay on the bus all the way to Trafalgar Square or hop on and off and catch some sights along the way. The first stop could be Cannon Street Station where you can take a short walk north (away from the river) up Walbrook Street to the Bank of England. Built in 1734 by John Soane, the building has no windows at street level, and contains the gold reserves of seventy or so central banks around the world – but ironically, not Britain’s, which are kept in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The bank has a free museum, where children can enjoy quizzes and hands on exhibits, including a 13kilogram bar of gold that they can handle. The museum is open Monday to Friday, 10am to 5pm – more details can be found at www.bankofengland.co.uk.education/museum.From here you could walk along Poultry and Cheapside, or take the number 25 to St Paul’s Cathedral. (Or, if the children insist, walk back to Cannon Street, jump back on the Routemaster and alight right outside St Paul’s.) St Paul’s Cathedral, built in 1710 by Sir Christopher Wren, is topped by an enormous lead covered dome that’s second in size only to St Peter’s in Rome. The Cathedral does charge to enter, but you can’t blame the ‘credit crunch’ – it has charged entrance fees since1709, even before the cathedral was finished!
Next stop on the bus is just off Fleet Street, home to Britain’s first daily newspaper back in 1702 and by the 19th century all the major national dailies had their offices and printing presses in the Fleet Street area. On Fleet Street, opposite the Royal Courts of Justice and the junction with Fetter Lane there are numerous little alleys leading to Middle Temple. This area has been the hub of the English legal system since the 13th century and the Inns were established to allow lawyers to eat, sleep and study English law. Even today, every aspiring English barrister must study at one of the four Inns – Inner Temple, Middle Temple, Lincoln’s Inn or Gray’s Inn. Try finding your way through one of the alleys to step into a tranquil oasis, a million miles from Fleet Street and all the traffic fumes.
It’s fun just to wander the alleyways and see bewigged barristers walking from court and take a peek through the windows and passageways or, you can have a look in the Temple Church originally built in 1185 by the Knights Templar. (Any Da Vinci Code fans will recognise the church as it features in both the book and the film.) Although much of the church was destroyed in the Blitz, the original round church modelled on the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem still stands with its marble effigies of medieval knights, magnificent stained glass window and unusual gargoyles around the base of the roof. The church is a working church and is not always open to the public – check out their website to avoid missing out www.templechurch.com
Outside the church is a column marking the point where the Great Fire of London was extinguished. It is topped by two knights sharing one horse - a reference to the fact that the Knights Templar were often too poor to have a horse each! Next to the column is the Inner Temple Hall where Mahatma Ghandi studied law in 1888. There are many quirky buildings around the Temple Church – Dr Johnson’s house, where the dictionary was compiled and Prince Henry’s Room, which contains Samuel Pepys curios, to name a few.
On the opposite side of Fleet Street, behind the Royal Courts of Justice is Lincoln’s Inn, which dates back to the 15th Century, and housed famous students such as Thomas More, Oliver Cromwell and Margaret Thatcher. With your back to Fleet Street, head through the gateway in the left hand corner and head towards Lincoln’s Inn Fields. In Tudor times it was a place of execution but is now a small green space for workers to enjoy some fresh air and have an al fresco lunch. If you haven’t bought your lunch with you, you can easily pick up a snack from one of the many sandwich bars in the area and enjoy it here.
On one side of Lincoln’s Inn Fields – farthest from the Royal Courts - is one of London’s hidden gems, the Sir John Soane’s Museum. I have to say it probably isn’t an ideal place for children as it so small and has displays on every surface, so if possible, leave them with an adult enjoying their lunch in Lincoln’s Inn Fields and sneak some time in the museum on your own!
Sir John Soanes, a bricklayer’s son, was the architect of the Bank of England. He designed this house to live in, but also as a setting for his antiquities and his works of art. After the death of his wife, he lived here alone, constantly adding to and rearranging his collections. Having been deeply disappointed by the conduct of his two sons, one of whom survived him, he was determined to establish the house as a museum to which ‘amateurs and students’ should have access. There are surprises in every corner, with false walls opening to reveal another wall of pictures, to a crypt housing the alabaster sarcophagus of Seti 1. The museum is a veritable ‘tardis’ of treasures! I left my two children with my mum in the park but I’m definitely going back on my own to fully appreciate the complete collection. For the full story of John Soanes and the museum check out their website www.soane.org
If your kids still haven’t had enough of the busses, head back to Fleet Street and rejoin the Routemaster and head towards Trafalgar Square and the delights of Piccadilly Circus and Covent Garden.
There are loads of interesting bus routes in London and they can be downloaded from the Transport for London website www.tfl.gov.uk and click on buses or there is a website dedicated to heritage bus routes at
http://routemaster.uuuq.com which has loads of information on route 15, including timetables. This website is in the process of being moved so if you can’t find it check the old website
www.geocities.com/routemasterheritageroute