Saturday touring the Houses of Parliament

OK – I know that most of you would spend a Saturday before Christmas doing the dreaded shopping but I was up bright and early to meet my friend at Westminster tube station to do a tour of the Houses of Parliament. The first challenge was to find somewhere for a coffee – the nearby Caffe Nero had no seats so we wandered down to Central Hall Westminster where the Wesley Café downstairs provided loads of space and an excellent cappuccino.

The second challenge was to find out where to collect our tickets – our map had given us the impression that it would be easy to find – it wasn’t. Anyway, down some steps next to the Old Palace Yard we found a tiny window in a huge wall and got our tickets. We had been told to arrive 30 minutes early for our tour to allow time for the security checks so had to run across the road to the Cromwell Green entrance. After passing through numerous Police check points we waited on a ramp and were given lanyards onto which our photos were clipped as we went through airport style security.

We were ushered into one of the most impressive halls I have ever stood in – Westminster Hall. We learned later that this was one of the few surviving parts of the original building after the 1834 fire. Even the huge Christmas tree was dwarfed in this massive space. Then, in true tour guide style, we were directed to a line of people waiting in the English language queue to have our tickets checked and meet our Blue Badge tour guide. We chuckled along with some American-Japanese tourists as we were bossed about like school kids and told we couldn’t use our cameras or our mobile phones.

We were hurried along through some incredible halls and galleries which had every surface embellished with ornate paintings and mosaics and every window jewelled with bright stained glass – I wanted to linger and look – but our tour guide was on a mission. Eventually, we stopped in the Norman Porch and our tour began in earnest.

We were told that the Victorians rebuilt the Palace after the fire destroyed the Medieval buildings. Architects would have loved all the references to competition between Charles Barry (the guy responsible for the Portcullis emblem) and Pugin. There were Norman king busts around us and we were told the customs for the Queen’s arrival. While the guide talked I admired the stunning gold mosaics on the ceiling and played a bit of “Count the Dragons”. Then we entered the Robing Room. I loved the Arthurian paintings promoting the key values of Hospitality, Mercy, Generosity, Religion and Courtesy. She explained about the “interfering” Prince Albert who commissioned much of the works and the resultant peeling frescoes. She also pointed out that whilst England (three lions), Ireland (shamrock) and Scotland (rampant lion) were represented, Wales was not.

The Royal Gallery had some nice sofas which looked a bit incongruous with all the formal paintings and décor around them in another large hall. We saw a copy of the death warrant for Charles I and copies of some portraits of the present Queen, her parents and Prince Philip. And here we admired two massive paintings showing victories over the French – Waterloo and Trafalgar. I wondered what the French tour groups would have made of them.

The next room was one of my favourites – The Princes Chamber. Here there were the Tudors and paintings of Henry and his six wives. Then we went into the House Of Lords. My goodness – there was so much gold around a huge throne! We stood by the red leather benches (we weren’t allowed to sit) and heard how the 750 members (the Lords Spiritual and Lords Temple) had been keen to introduce television to proceedings. My friend admired the huge red cushions and the history behind the wool sack. We were directed to look up at the public gallery and then talk a walk into the colourful Peers Lobby.

The octagonal Central Lobby (which we had moved through swiftly on the way in) was another favourite and this time we were allowed to spend some time taking a look at it more closely. Glad to see the Welsh paintings (leeks!) restored the Kingdom on the walls! And then things turned green as we entered another impressive room with fabulous statues of Mrs Thatcher, Churchill, Atlee and Lloyd George. The guide told us the story of the Black Rod and the slamming doors. The tourists loved it.

We stood for a while in the House of Commons “No” voting corridor and learned more about how the law operates – with first and second readings of Bills, the committee stage and reporting stages before repeating the process in the House of Lords and Queen’s Assent. Finally, we entered the House of Commons which felt much smaller than it looks on the TV. The absence of gold and décor is a bit of a contrast to the Lords. We were told there were only 435 seats for the 645 MPs and looked up towards the press and public galleries. I think everyone will be watching TV next Wednesday to see Prime Minister’s Question Time now.

Finally, we returned to Westminster Hall. Our tour had taken around 80 minutes and we were full of history! And all this for just £15 a ticket. It was well worth the money and older children would have found it an enjoyable way to ingest a large chunk of British history. The tourists with us clearly thought it was fantastic.

Having heard about the voting bells, we tested how long it took to walk to The Albert pub on Victoria Street and confirm that it can be done in eight minutes! So we stopped and had a drink there to reflect on our interesting morning before setting off to complete our Christmas shopping.