Houses of Parliament

My Meetup groups hadn't anything for today that appealed - the most promising were all-day hikes. So not really, then! When I looked a bit further, at all Meetup groups - the most appealing was, of all of them, the Fill My Weekend group. The one that kicked me out not so long ago, for pointing out that they charged more than the official price for an event (and tickets were still available at the official link). Anyway, they were doing a tour of the Houses of Parliament. Well, hand it to them - they do have some interesting ideas.

The price they were charging was an eye-watering £52. However, on closer examination, it turned out that this was for the most expensive option: a guided tour, followed by afternoon tea on the Terrace. And indeed, if you book this for yourself, it costs £52.50! So, a saving from Fill My Weekend for once then. Mind you, also a tidy profit for the organiser, since he would have got a group booking discount, and it would only have cost him £42 per person. Have to hand it to his business sense.. Interestingly, he has now put "(includes Paypal charges)" after the price on the Meetup page. Good - I seem to have made an impression.

Not only could I not join the group today (having been kicked out) - I wouldn't have wanted to. There's an audio tour option that's quite a bit cheaper, and as for afternoon tea - sod that, I don't even drink tea, and I don't see the value in paying an extra £27.50 to have cake and scones, even if it is on the premises! So I decided to pay the £18 for an audio tour, and go on my own.

I decided to book in advance, but to wait until today, to see how lazy I was feeling. (Last entry is at 4.30.) Today, I woke late and didn't hurry - but the sun was blazing from the heavens, it was a lovely day to be out and about, and I did decide to go. Another advantage of not going with the Fill My Weekend group - they met at 11.30am. I was deciding to go around 3.15pm. Four options were presented to me on the website - 3.40, 4pm, 4.15, and 4.30. I would never have made 3.40, and given that I wasn't yet ready to go, 4pm was looking a little tight. So I booked 4.15. And oh joy! they have Print at Home. So I did.

With the sun brightening all our spirits - there was even a girl on the Tube wearing a coronet of flowers - I arrived at Westminster station just before 4, and was glad I hadn't booked the 4 o'clock tour. So I could relax. The most prominent exit has to be that for the Houses of Parliament, which, handily, was the one I needed. The website had explained that, if you print your own ticket, you can skip the box office and go straight to the Cromwell Green entrance. For that reason, I strongly recommend it - there's not really any problem getting a ticket, certainly for an audio tour - they have plenty of headsets - but there's enough walking and queueing to do at tourist sites. Cut it down for yourself if possible!

Because of the concert I went to recently in the Westminster area, I was very familiar with Cromwell Green. It's not that hard really - the Houses of Parliament (unmissable, they have Big Ben at the corner) occupy a corner beside Westminster Bridge. The Tube station is across the road, Cromwell Green occupies the other side. So the Houses of Parliament are bounded by Cromwell Green, the road onto the bridge, and the river. Therefore, to get to the Cromwell Green entrance, when you exit the station just cross the road and continue along the railings, beside the green, till you come to it.

As ever, the staff at UK tourist attractions are unfailingly courteous. After the ticket check, you proceed through airport-style security - more details on the website. Basically, no sharps, and you have to pass through a metal detector. Unlike actual airport metal detectors, boots are ok with this one. Bags go through a scanner. And then you're through, and schlep over to the desk - where they don't make you wait until the exact time - to pick up your audio guide and a helpful map. that shows your route, as well as seating and photography points. You enter by Westminster Hall, which, along with St. Stephen's Hall - next along - is the only place where you can take photographs. And mine are here.

The audio guide is excellent, drawing your attention to the hammerbeam roof of Westminster Hall, and the sundry curiosities around. In particular, it highlights the sheer size of the room - meant to impress. It's the only part of the Palace of Westminster that actually has that sense of scale - everything afterwards that you'll see feels a bit cramped. As explained on the map, tours have a one-way system in operation, and numbered signs tell you when to start the next section of your audio tour. Up the stairs and to the left, you enter St. Stephen's Hall - dotted with statues of famous orators along the walls, the walls themselves have statues of several monarchs, with tapestries that depict famous moments in British history. I took a seat here, and felt quite uncomfortable with the blast of heat that emanated from the heaters under the bench..

When I was finished there, I put my phone away - photography, as I say, is banned from the rest of the tour. And so into the Central Lobby, between the two Houses. This is the last place with proper public seating, so make the most of it! Lots more statues of monarchs line the walls.. quite lovely, and of particular interest to me. The tour leads you first to the right, towards the Lords' Chamber, through the Peers' Lobby and a side passage, to the Prince's Chamber, notable for a statue of the young Queen Victoria (most of the palace was redecorated following a disastrous fire during her reign) and paintings of Tudor monarchs.

Then you turn into the Royal Gallery. It's slightly confusing at the end, because the audio tour has you continuing into the Norman Porch, but the entrance is blocked off for renovation. Instead, you go straight on into the Robing Room - but you can enter the Norman Porch to the right, the way you would normally leave it. It hasn't anything remotely Norman about it - it's so-called because the architect, who was mad about statuary, wanted statues of all the Norman monarchs in there. Instead, there are busts of very non-Norman people. And a grand staircase, leading down - apparently, this is how monarchs enter for the State Opening of Parliament, then processing into the Robing Room, which has a little throne.

You then return through the Royal Gallery, to the Lords' Chamber. This is where the members of the House of Lords sit, and fabulously ornate - but my first impression was how very cramped it is! Of course, it doesn't help that it's festooned with microphones, conspicuously hanging from the ceiling. The benches are red, and there's a throne at the side where you enter. That isn't used, of course, except for the State Opening of Parliament, and is fenced off from the rest of the chamber. The benches are embedded with some very old-fashioned-looking loudspeakers. The only concession to modernity is a couple of flatscreen tv screens, up in the public gallery.

Returning to the Central Lobby, you then head for the Commons' Chamber, across the other side. Through another passage, and into the Members' Lobby, a similar layout to the Lords'. Markedly less ornate over the Commons' side, I noticed! The Members' Lobby had statues of people with whom the public would be more familiar - Lloyd George, Churchill, Thatcher. I actually didn't notice her until the audio guide mentioned her, and I had a look around. It felt like she'd crept up on me! (Shudder.) Anyway, as in the Peers' Lobby, there was a mail delivery system here - looked more modern here, though - an archway showing damage from when the chamber was destroyed during the Blitz, and a door leading into the Commons' Chamber. A wooden door, with a mark on it, from Black Rod hammering on it all these years for entry!

As with the Lords' Chamber, the tour doesn't enter it directly, but by one of the side passages. The procedure is - if there's a vote, the members of either house shout "Aye" or "No". If not everyone agrees on the vote, there's a division and members have eight minutes to walk through one of these side passages to register whether they approve or disapprove. Traditionally, as the guide explains, the bell to announce a division rings in local pubs and restaurants as well, just in case someone happens to be off-site..

Benches in the Commons' Chamber are green. And the tv screens are smaller. It seemed larger than the Lords', probably partly because it didn't have all those mics hanging from the ceiling! or, indeed, all that ornate tracery on the walls. The loudspeakers were still embedded in the benches, though. Here, you still can't sit on the benches - but you are permitted to sit on the steps, if you can get a spot.

And there we have it! The tour takes you back out the way you came in, and includes bits about various important occurrences, like the extension of suffrage. Interviews are included with Black Rod and others associated with Parliament. The tour took me just over an hour, but I didn't bother with the extras you could select from the audio tour, like extra facts about the artwork, or the suffragettes. I gave in my audio guide and hurried to the gift shop, conscious that it was 5.20 and they might be closing soon. It's a small gift shop, and frankly, doesn't have much to offer - although the boxes of mint chocolates are good value, and I nearly bought one. I did buy a guidebook, for photos of the bits I couldn't photograph myself. Quite a good price, I thought, at £5. There's a café too, but I headed home.

Recommended - although perhaps not if your time in London is limited and you have lots more to see. But for those who want something a bit different, this is really interesting. Open to the public on Saturdays, and whenever Parliament is not in session. See the website for further details.

Tomorrow, I'm scheduled to go on a walk around Wimbledon and Putney, with Ken's Events. We'll see.. I'm still getting used to all this walking, after the indolent Christmas season! On Monday, I'm going to a classical concert in the Purcell Room at the Southbank Centre, to commemorate the centenary of the Armenian genocide. On Tuesday, I'm headed back to Ireland, and on Wednesday going to La Traviata in the University Concert Hall, Limerick, and on Thursday a string quartet in the Limetree Theatre. Which will be the first time I've been there. Staying in Ireland for the weekend.