Gumjoy Piccadilly Circus Walk

Piccadilly Circus.

Three sides of Piccadilly Circus are leased from the Crown, which bans advertising signs. The fourth had looser control and adverts made their first appearance here in the early 1900s. Gordon’s Gin was one of the first illuminated signs, in 1923. Sanyo, here since 1980, is currently the longest-running advertisement.
Eros
‘Eros’ is actually his twin brother Anteros, ‘The God of Selfless Love’, sculpted by Sir Alfred Gilbert RA in 1893 to commemorate philanthropist Lord Shaftesbury. The world’s first public aluminium statue - its light weight allowing the pose on one leg, the model was 16-year-old Italian Angelo Colarossi. The archer was originally aimed to bury his shaft in Shaftesbury Avenue.




Criterion Theatre
The whole of the Criterion Theatre, other than the box office, is underground. The art nouveau Criterion Brasserie - now run by Marco Pierre White - is where Dr Watson first heard of Sherlock Holmes:
'I was standing at the Criterion Bar, when someone tapped me on the shoulder...'




While many tourists have their photos taken with the Horses of Helios rearing out of the fountain at the corner of Haymarket, most miss the Daughters of Helios - or The Three Graces - diving from the roof of 1 Jermyn Street above. By the same artist, sculptor and bar owner Rudy Weller, they are made of gold-leaf-covered aluminium.


Trocodero
This was London’s’ most fashionable dining when
J Lyons and Co. opened it in 1896 - the first public restaurant with a wine cellar and the first to let women dine alone. This freize of King Arthur - now in a cinema foyer on the first floor - once graced the restaurant.





Lillywhite's
Lillywhite’s has been selling sports goods since 1863. William Lillywhite introduced overarm bowling to cricket and his son James was the first-ever captain of an England XI, paying for the first test match in Australia in 1877. Look for the bronze plaques of James, playing in top hat, beside the doors.







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Gumjoy Trafalgar Square Walk

King George IV
Look again at this flattering statue by Francis Chantrey of King George IV and you’ll notice he has no stirrups. The king was obese - he was called the Prince of Whales - and he started the fashion of wearing trousers, rather than tight breeches, to hide his weight.

Imperial Measures
Sitting on the steps below the National Gallery to eat their sandwiches, many tourists unknowingly rest their feet on the standard Imperial measures of length, set into the granite paving in brass. Here’s where you can check the length of a perch, a pole, a chain or a yard.


Smallest Police Station
The fountains in the square were installed to stop unruly political demonstrations. Before then, near the foot of Nelson’s Column, the world’s smallest police station (now a cleaner’s store) kept an eye on any crowds. The light on top is not from Nelson’s HMS Victory, as some guide books might tell you.




Sir Henry Havelock
By Behnes (1861), this is the first statue to have been based on a photograph. Major-General Havelock served in Afghanistan, Burma and India where he died of dysentry in 1857.
A ‘Havelock’ is the cloth that hangs from the back of a kepi to protect the neck from sunburn.






Nelson's Column










Centre of London
On a busy traffic island below Trafalgar Square is a statue of King Charles I (looking towards the place he was beheaded). It’s on a site once occupied by Queen Eleanor's Cross (a replica of which is now in front of Charing Cross station) and is the place from which all distances to London are measured.



Sir Charles James Napier
By George Adams (1855). Napier was a veteran of the Peninsular War against Napoleon and of the War of 1812 against the United States. In 1840, fighting in India, he captured Sind - against orders - supposedly sending the news with the double pun: ‘Peccavi’ - Latin for ‘I have sinned’.




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Leicester Square

The Odeon Cinema

Built in 1937 on the site of the Alhambra music hall, this is the largest single screen cinema in Britain and still has an operating Compton organ. The magnificent art-deco auditorium, featuring two naked nymphs, was almost destroyed by ‘modernisation’ in the 1960s but has now been partially restored.

Joshua Reynolds
Reynolds was born near Plymouth in 1723 and came to London to study art in 1740. A disciple of William Hogarth, he also studied in Rome before setting up as a fashionable portrait painter. The first president of the Royal Academy in 1768, he was knighted in 1769 and died in 1792.

John Hunter
A founder of ‘scientific surgery’, Scots-born John Hunter came to London in 1748. As an army surgeon, he developed new treatments for gunshot wounds. Moving to 28 Leicester Square in 1783, his teaching museum - with a kangaroo specimen donated by Captain Cook - became world-famous.

Charlie Chaplin
Unveiled by Sir Ralph Richardson in 1981, this statue is by British sculptor John Doubleday, who made the Sherlock Holmes sculpture at Baker Street tube. Chaplin was born in South London and first went on stage aged eight, touring America at the age of 17 when his talent was spotted.

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