Kew to Mayfair, Hyde Park

Sadly our sojourn at Kew has come to an end.  We caught the train from Kew Gardens to Victoria Station.  Our next night’s accommodation is at the Grosvenor Hotel.  As we were unable to access our room so early in the day, we left our luggage with the Concierge at the Grosvenor, which is right beside Victoria Station.   We set off to explore Mayfair and Hyde Park.

We started in Buckingham Palace Road, where the Grosvenor is situated, and headed toward Mayfair, not over-considering our route, and the time of day.  We had chosen the option of walking rather than taking the tube after experiencing the crowds on the train earlier.  Busloads of people and hordes of a United Nations of pedestrians were converging on the same route.  Of course it was the time of the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace.  We have observed this phenomenon a couple of times previously and really had no interest in repeating the experience.  However, we were stuck in the crush. A local was heard to say “They should ban this on a Saturday’s”. We did hear the band playing but observed very little of the performance.  The members of the police force both mounted and on foot, were losing the battle with the crowd.

Berkeley Square

Finally breaking free of the crush, we strolled through Green Park and up into Berkeley Street and Berkeley Square.  This proved a shady oasis of huge London Plane trees.  We headed north-east to George Street and Hanover Square.  Our focus here was on the impressive church, St. George’s, Hanover Square, where several generations of my Coates ancestors were hatched, matched and dispatched.  St. George’s was the main church central to where the London and Westminster aristocracy and gentry were known worship.

St. George's Church

The Running Horse Hotel

My Coates family lived and worked in Davies Mews, Grosvenor Square and I was keen to see this small lane where can be found ‘the oldest pub in Mayfair’, The Running Horse.  My ancestor Christopher Coates , gentleman, with a Joseph Hinchcliffe,  took out the lease of the land including the tavern, in Davies Mews in 1738.  Unfortunately, Davies Mews and Davies Street were almost completely blocked off by major roadworks.  The pub, The Running Horse, was open but was very quiet.  They must be losing a lot of business while this work is going on. We had lunch here and received very attentive service because we were the only ones in the pub.  It was a heartening experience. 

A short walk from here was Grosvenor Square which was interesting in the fact that the American Embassy is found here, and there are several statues dedicated to the US.  This was another ‘square’, full of huge plane trees.

Roosevelt Statue in Grosvenor Square

We proceeded to Oxford Street from here where we could see and hear a loud, noisy procession taking place.  It was some sort of protest march , with a rainbow of balloons and protest banners demanding the freedom of Bradley , the US soldier in the Wikileaks case, and freedom to marry.

Marble Arch

The Serpentine, Hyde Park

At Marble Arch, we crossed into Hyde Park.  The day was beautiful and many people were taking advantage of the weather, the sunshine and the space. A large chunk of the centre of the Park was boarded off, getting ready for a musical festival which was to start soon.  This made it necessary to divert around the hoardings, but we finally came to the Serpentine where many people were enjoying themselves on and beside the water.   Doug was taken by the t-shirt of a little boy called Alex. It had written across the front “My Dad’s a genius”.  He wants to get one for our Alex.

Wellington Arch

We visited the Wellington Arch on our way back to our hotel.  It had an exhibition inside on the history of heritage conservation in the UK, which was very interesting, and we were able to climb up to the top of the Arch.

Photo from top of Wellington Arch towards Queen Elizabeth Gates and  Hyde  Pa