Open Buildings

I have never been in the back of a police van (OK, we'll ignore that incident with me and my mate, Paul, back in the 1970's). And thankfully, I've never been in trouble with the police (well, let's just forget my official caution from Teesside Constabulary in 1971 for underage drinking). And why am I telling you this? Well, this weekend is the London Open House weekend when many normally inaccessible buildings are open to the public, and we went along to the Royal Courts of Justice for a look round. We watched a demonstration of how a judge is robed by his clerk, in the very same court where such important cases as the divorces of Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas, and Katie Price and Peter Andre, were heard. We looked into several of the other Courts and sat in the Judge's seats, and we went down to the cells and went on board one of the trucks that they use to transport prisoners. Now, call me naïve, but as I've never been in one before, I think I thought they were a bit like the ones you see in the American 'Prison Break' types of film; long benches, metal cages; you get the idea. But no; individual cells along the vehicle, just big enough to sit down in (and no seat belts; apparently people use them to strangle themselves). Really quite chilling; I can't imagine the despair I would feel if I was in that situation.

And what, you may ask, has my picture got to do with all this? Well, another Blipper posted a picture a few days ago that reminded me of Stanley Green, otherwise known as the Protein Man, who was well known in the latter half of the 20th century for parading along Oxford Street in London with his placard denouncing the evils of Protein. Our first visit this morning was to the Museum Of London and here is the famous placard that Stanley used to carry.

A few more pictures from today here if anyone is interested - and includes a steam train we saw on the way down!