“PEEPS AT LONDON”

Manawatu Standard, Volume LII, Issue 2, 2 December 1931, Page 3

“PEEPS AT LONDON”

ADDRESS TO CITIZENS’ LUNCH CLUB. An informative and poetic address on impressions gained during his recent visit to England, particularly in London, was given to members of the Citizens’ Luncheon Club yesterday by Mr D. W. Low, under the title “Peeps at London.” Mr Jas. Wallace presided and, ere calling on Mr Low to speak, welcomed him back as a member and referred to his good service as a citizen. Previous mention that the speech next week would be on the subject, “Y.M.,” had recalled, Mr Low said, a YLM.C.A. function he had attended in London at which the surprising way in which men from the ends of the earth had met and how easily they had knit together in conversation had impressed him. Westminster Bridge was one of the London sights Mr Low had seen, alongside being the Westminster building? and the new London County Council edifice contrasting new and old styles in architecture. The statue of Boadioea, taking one back to the earliest times in Britain, was placed on the bridge and along the embankment could be seen Cleopatria’s Needle. Adjacent was a memorial to the Belgians who died in the War, these monuments recalling one of Britain s earliest conflicts and her last and greatest struggle. Different landmarks seen from this point were traced by Mr Low —Big Ben, St. Paul s Cathedral and others. Another scene was Westminster Abbey, which was, as already quoted, a “poem in stone.' The speaker alluded to it, as more of a concrete history—a picture in stone ol the history, glory and power of England. To many it seemed that Britain was down and out, but that was not the impression the speaker had received there and he was proud that New Zealand belonged to the Mother Country with all its great achievements and traditions. One was amazed by the size of the Abbey and other features of it, but the greatest impression was that gained by the monuments surrounding one. In the Chapel of Henry VII. he had seen the stalls of the Knights of the Bath, and one of the more recent stalls was that of Earl Jellicoe, the former New Zealand Governor-General. To Piccadilly with its varying interests, there was built the Ritz Hotel on tit© site of the White Horse Cellar —a centre, of social attraction and a posting and coaching inn in the old days. One could picture Hyde Park corner in the olen times with its numerous quaint liostelries and social attractions contrasting with the hurry and bustle of to-day. No. 10 Downing Street, the residence of fifty of Britain’s Premiers, had been visited. It stood in an unpretentious street. Nelson and Wellington liad met there, unknown to each other, while waiting to see a Prime Minister. Palatial buildings were being erected in Fleet Street, the great newspaper centre. Across the way, in Temple Bar, was the scene of the headquarters of the Templars in Crusader days. To-day staid lawyers followed their avocation there. Goldsmith. Johnson and Charles Lamb all had associations with this spot. The Temple Church was an historic spot with memorials to knights of old. Tho buildings of the Temple bore very little alteration today and activities were carried out in rooms far from the palatial style one imagined. Going outside London, Mr Low took his hearers to Stoke Poges and its ancient church of Saxon and Norman associations. The chief interest in the church: was that William Penn, who founded Pennsylvania, was lord of the manor, and the yew tree under which Gray was reputed to have written his “Elegy” was to be seen ill the churchyard. The church also had one of the strangest stained glass windows ever seen.

Back to London, tho speaker continued his narrative, reference being made to the marvellous control of the vehicular traffic. The Bank Corner had been visited in the middle of tho day, at a peak traffic period with tho Mansion House at one comer and tho Royal Exchange at ‘the another. Numerous large banking buildings were being erected at this spot. PICTURESQUE SCENE.

Mr Low also referred to an historical pageant he had witnessed in the new Borough of Barking, a district which dated back to the time of Julius Caesar. It was the oldest fishing port in England and recently had celebrated the granting of its charter as a borough (it was formerly ah urban district). The pageant had depicted history throughout the centuries. A remarkable feature was the designing of the pageant and tlie setting of its time; at the close all those who had participated had gathered before the Mayor and presented him with the charter, the while tlie crimson sun set behind the old abbey in the trees nearby and the assembly raised its unified voice in the hymn “O God our Help in Ages Past.” It was a most impressive spectacle. Macaulay, the speaker concluded, had said that tho New Zealander would some day sit on London Bridge and view the ruins of the city, but to the visitor to-day this was not so—the city was growing anew and it would be manv years ere its glory faded away. On the call of Mr J. C. Young the speaker was accorded a hearty vote of thanks.