Wellington's view

With the boys off at university I am trying to keep busy so I planned two outings this week - today I went on my second outing, a tour of Apsley House, the home of the Duke of Wellington, which has the best address ever - Number One, London. It was originally built as a red brick house by Robert Adam, but when the first Duke of Wellington bought it after the Battle of Waterloo he had the house re-modelled by the architect Benjamin Dean Wyatt. Today, the current 9th Duke of Wellington still lives there although many parts of the house are open to the public. (Did you know that his son is married to Jemma Kidd, the well known fashion model and make up artist?) The house has the most incredible art collection, in terms of value and significance, and the tour guide told us much about the fascinating history of the house and its contents. Unfortunately no photos were allowed in the house.

We then went over the road - must be the busiest roundabout in the world - to the Wellington Arch. This was originally built in front of Buckingham Palace, and together with Marble Arch its purpose was to form entrance gates to the newly built Buckingham Palace. However it was too big and blocked the view so in 1882 it was moved to its present position. Originally there was a huge statue of the Duke of Wellington on his horse on top of the arch, but this statue was facing the wrong way and the horse did not look like Copenhagen, his horse, so it was subject to much ridicule and criticism. After the Duke of Wellington died, the statue was taken down and a new one was commissioned, which we see today - of the Angel of Peace on the Quadriga, the ancient chariot pulled by four horses. I have also added an extra photo of the view taken from the top of the arch looking over Constitution Hill.

The Arch has five stories and the view from the top is rather good - did you know that from 1886 to 1962 it was used as the world's smallest police station.