Ceridwenscauldron

I mentioned seeing the Wonderstuff at the Marquee in a recent post, well this is Balaam and the Angel the headline act that night.

I loved this band they did brilliant covers of Rock n Roll, Teenage Kicks, Rain, Paranoid, I Feel Love and As Tears Go By

I had a lunchtime meeting at the South Bank today so on my way back to the office I thought why not see what's going on on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square. As you know Antony Gormley (him of the Angel of the North) has got his One and Other performance art project running there for 100 days where 2400 people will have an hour on the plinth to do whatever they like.

This woman seems to be having a picnic, be that as it may I think its a great idea not least in that it will get people out and looking at and thinking about things. So I thought why don't I pop back here from time to time, look at what's on the plinth and compare it to some of the other statuary in the square and in London in general. Its an opportunity to observe and learn not least for me.

So here we go - this is George IV, otherwise known as Fatty George in his time, he occupies the third plinth in the Square and it was originally intended that his brother William IV (AKA the Sailor King or Silly Billy) should go on the fourth, but the cash ran out which is why it is still vacant.

Moving on from the Square and around the back of St Martin's in Adelaide Street is Maggi Hambling's rather fine statue of Oscar Wilde.

Poor old Oscar is definitely looking up to the stars from his gutter but sadly people keep nicking his bronze gasper.

Moving into Charring Cross Road on the way back to the office, just by the National Portrait Gallery, there is this rather fine memorial to Nurse Edith Cavell

Nurse Cavell was put up against the wall and shot by the Germans in 1915 for helping allied soldiers escape from occupied Europe. Moving around the side of the NPG is this fellow.

Sir Henry Irving was the first actor to be given a knighthood back in 1895 so its kind of fitting to find a statue to him at the foot of Theatreland. Now what I find fascinating about Irving is that Bram Stoker, who used to work for him, used him as the basis for Dracula, which I suppose gives some idea of the theatrical presence of the man.

Another of Theatreland's characters is this fellow

The good old Master Brewer - he's been here for as long as I can remember.

Next stop was Cambridge Circus, I love this building and somehow even this giant stiletto outside the Cambridge Theatre isn't out of place

Just over the road is a Pizza Hut but I wonder how many people notice this splendid Art Deco clock

just above the corporate fascia, I think its a real gem.

Now turning back towards the Cambridge Theatre I was greeted by a huge pall of smoke drifting across the road.

It turns out that a building in Dean Street was ablaze so I returned to work via Greek Street passing on by the Gay Hussar.

Now I have yet to eat here but it is supposed to be one of the best Hungarian restaurants in London (if not the world). The founder Victor Sassie was half Swiss and half Welsh, but trained in Budapest (where he worked for MI6 during the Second World War) and married a local girl. The Hussar used to be the watering hole of choice for the Labour Party, back when they believed in socialism, and has loads of caricatures of the likes of Aneuran Bevan, Michael Foot, Barbara Castle and George Brown on the walls. George Brown was once chucked out for being pissed and groping a lady customer, but its place in history (and infamy) was assured when Tony Blair was offered the leadership of the Labour Party there after the death of John Smith in 1994

Look

an old London Routemaster just like my grandad used to drive.