Every arrivals weekend 2 of our full-time staff members give a historical tour of the immediate area that we live in called Bloomsbury. Ever heard of the Bloomsbury Group? Yea this is where they met. Our building 99 Great Russel Street? Built by aristocrats back in the 1600's as their house. We live in a very historical area and it's always cool to hear how the area has changed over time. Charles Dickens and Virgina Wolf lived in Bloomsbury. The man to discover vaccinations had a building down the street. And many other scientists, doctors, lawyers, and artists lived in our area. I'm very lucky and what better way to rejuvenate my appreciation than taking a walking tour that makes me stop and think about what I'm looking at. A very enjoyable time.
Dr. David Parkes telling about the history of our building (the cream one in the background)
The building where the man who pushed for the corn tax in parliament lived. There were riots and bricks thrown by the poor who disapproved of this.
Bedford Square. This is right behind our building and the oldest reserved square in London and only accessible to those who live in the square. They get a key when they move into the area. Although it's mostly used for business and colleges now.
The main building for University of London. It houses their library and grad students. It was also taken over by the government during the 2nd world war. And would've been the headquarters of the Third Reich had Hitler been able to take over London. It was the completed right before the war started so he figured "forget Westminster or Buckingham, I'm going to be in the newest, biggest building in London." Too bad it's not the prettiest building!
See that green hut? It's a place for taxi drivers to take a tea break! Not many of them still exist, but they were originally built to encourage horse drawn cabs to stop drinking gin. They were getting drunk and driving around the city. So to encourage getting sober they created these huts for tea time. Genius!
You can see the snuffers on the black archway. As I mentioned a lot of really rich, aristocratic people used to live in this area. And after they would've returned home with their servants they would've snuffed out their torches on the archway so they could use it the next night. Electricity made these obsolete some time ago, but it's cool that some history still remains just right out on the street.
Tavistock Square. This is where Virgina Wolf used to walk around in circles writing. Yep, she actually wrote while walking around sometimes. The site of where she lives is across the street. It doesn't actually exist anymore. It was bombed during the war and is now the site of a hotel, but there is a bust of her located in the park.
Hope you enjoyed a little history lesson around Bloomsbury!
