London and the Ancient World
Posted on Monday 4 January 2010 by Charles Harvey
Colin Wing’s ride was most erudite. It was a series of stops at statues and buildings in Central London that were based on the architecture of antiquity or in a couple of cases were the real thing. In most cases he had in his folder a picture of the classical original it was based on. The tour included the statue of ‘Achilles’, actually Castor or Pollux, commemorating The Duke for Wellington, the screen by Apsley House, The Duke of York’s column, Cleopatra’s Needle [in reality much older than Cleopatra], the remains of the Temple of Mithras discovered in 1954 and parts of the old Roman and medieval wall near The Museum of London where we had a welcome break for warm drinks. After thawing out we went on to St Pancras Parish Church and, a real curiosity this, an interwar office block in Egyptian style designed shortly after the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb.
Thanks Colin for such an interesting and well researched ride.