Mayor of London Discovery Trails - Purple Route

Red Bus Wenlock

Having completed the Pink Route on the Mayor’s Discovery Trails we were all eager to see more straight away and so we made the short journey from Covent Garden to Piccadilly Circus to begin the Purple Trail.  The official blurb for this one was "Piccadilly and Oxford Street are the stars of this trail which offers views of the city’s grand architecture and historical squares" and on paper at least it looked like quite a varied route.

Nutty Taxi

Our first Wenlock was immediately outside Piccadilly Circus Station and across the road from Eros, the famous statue at the heart of the square.  We didn’t bother to go and look as it was thronged with people as usual.  Instead we waited patiently to get our picture by the almost equally popular Red Bus Wenlock, perhaps my favourite of the day so far.

Window Shopping

Having bagged the first of the trail so quickly, we set off eagerly down Piccadilly in search of the second.  It soon became clear that Piccadilly is no ordinary shopping street.  All the shops sell only high end and luxury items – even the bakers shops sold macaroons that could only be obtained by those with sizable wallets.  Nearly £2 for a smidgeon of a cake is not what I am used to paying!  Nevertheless we enjoyed window shopping immensely as we walked down to the next mascot on the trail.

Gemstones Wenlock

Gemstones Wenlock probably adequately described the tone of the shopping opportunities along the way and this was quite a brightly coloured Wenlock, with a pattern that was supposed to resemble the various jewels on offer in stores all along the road.  The mascot wasn’t the only gem along here though – we also passed the beautiful buildings of the Royal Academy and the Queen’s Grocer, Fortnum and Mason.  The latter looked a lot of fun with a jaunty looking musical score decoration across the front.

Burlington Arcade

We continued along Piccadilly, sticking our nose into a shopping arcade that was quite interesting looking.  It was tempting to have continued right to the end but was sadly the wrong direction so we continued onward to opposite the Ritz Hotel, where we had to turn right and find the next Wenlock, this one a Queen’s Guardsman, complete with bearskin hat.  Surprisingly we had this one to ourselves, allowing us time to inspect at our leisure.

Queen's Guard Wenlock

Further on we were pleased to find a green space, the first we had encountered on trails for some time, in the shape of Berkeley Square.  The Square was dominated by some very attractive plane trees, so it was perhaps no surprise to see that one of the mascots in the square was named after the trees.  The other though was quite confusing – the plinth and guide said it was called Tyger Tyger Mandeville but the decoration depicted butterflies.  I suspected a  change had been made and a web search suggested that the original one might have been damaged?  I did find one picture in its original colours, but much was being obscured by a repair man.  The replacement artwork was still beautifully done, even if a different theme.

Afternoon Tea Wenlock

We crossed the road from the park and headed around the corner into Mount Street, where we found the next one - a plain Wenlock.  Perhaps a little dull after all the highly decorated ones, but it did fit its surroundings quite well.  We had entered a part of London awash with buildings dedicated to various diplomatic missions from different countries.  Many of the buildings looked very well appointed and expensive to maintain.  The streetscape was absolutely immaculate, with not a spot of grime, let alone litter!  We were now in the heart of Mayfair, the most expensive neighbourhood on a Monopoly board and easy to see why!

We headed for Grosvenor Square on the next block and were amused to see the Canadian and US Embassies face each other across the square, neighbours here in London as well as in North America!  The centre of Grosvenor Square was thronged with people and overseen by the very impressive statue of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, surely one the most famous of America's Presidents.

Boris Bikes

Grosvenor Square had two mascots on the eastern corners.  We saw Afternoon Tea Wenlock first and then Cycling Mandeville, rather fittingly stationed by one of the cycle racks contained the so-called 'Boris Bikes'.  These are designed for short term hire - a scheme that deserves some more investigation by me I think!  Might be a good way to have a look around some more of London in the future.

Roosevelt Statue

The onward route was slightly convoluted but did give us the opportunity to take a look at Bond Street, a very different kind of shopping street to Picadilly, with more everyday shops than its more illustrious neighbour.  It was only a brief flirtation for us though as we headed down South Molton Street.  This was a pleasant surprise - a pedestrianised shopping street with some individual looking shops.  The girls were attracted to a young woman who was blowing bubbles outside a cosmetic shop - she blew them some extra big ones to chase!

Blowing Bubbles

The two mascots in South Molton Street were a lot of fun.  Mandeville had morphed into a shopper, complete with many bags of shopping while further along the road Wenlock was struggling with many dogs to walk!  The sun had come out again from behind the dark clouds and showed them off at their best.  Shoppers looked at them rather bemused as they passed – we were alone in taking an interest in the mascots.  At the end of the street was a freshly painted phone box and it was only at this point that I realised that all the traditional red telephone boxes in town had had a makeover – they all looked resplendent in their new coats!

Shopper Mandeville

We turned left at the end of the street and continued window shopping as we wandered along to the next mascot in Hanover Square.  Alongside the square were some major works going on for the Crossrail Project; major new rail infrastructure under construction that will massively increase capacity on the railways coming in from the east and west of London as well as provide some new direct routes, notably between City and Heathrow Airports.  The mascot in Hanover Square was appropriately called Builder and was a Mandeville dressed up in a pretty authentic looking rail worker’s outfit.

Resplendent Phone Box

The relative peace and quiet of Hanover Square was soon swapped for the madness of Regent Street.  Twenty years ago on a Sunday this street would have been quiet and all the shops closed but today it was alive with people ‘leisure shopping’.  Regent Street itself always looks grand but this year it has taken on extra importance as it hosts all the flags for the participating nations in the Olympics and Paralympics.  The whole street looked absolutely fantastic with flags strung between the shops across the road the whole way down.

Builder Mandeville

We took the opportunity ourselves to take a break from the walk so that the kids could spend some time looking around Hamleys, one of the biggest toy shops in the World and a place that I still like browsing around!  We spent nearly an hour checking out everything and particularly loved the Lego models of the Royal Family on the top floor!

Regency Street Flags

Back outside we crossed the road and found Groovy Wenlock, a celebration of the Swinging Sixties and nearby Carnaby Street.  It was a phenomenally popular mascot and we struggled to get a shot of it, in contrast to those a couple further back on the trail.  The walk down Regent Street was a bit of a trial to be honest, with many of the shops being completely off limits to look at on account of the enormous crowds hemmed in on the pavements.  The Ferrari shop in particular was extremely popular, although I suspect that the Formula One Car on show in the main entrance wasn’t actually for sale!

The Royal Family

We eventually worked our way through the crowds to the part of Regent Street that sweeps around to Piccadilly Circus.  To me the architecture of these buildings is amazing – they look so grand, especially the way they curve around with the road.  The last mascot was here, Linen Hall Mandeville, a celebration of traditional outfitting in this corner of London.

Groovy Wenlock

From here it was a short walk back to Piccadilly Circus to be reunited with Red Bus Wenlock once again.  This route was one for the architecture fans and perhaps the best collection of mascots that we had seen thus far.  They were certainly a varied bunch, celebrating transport and culture in this part of the West End.  The contrast between the quiet parts of Mayfair and the busy shopping streets of Piccadilly and Regent Street was quite marked and we saw some more parts of London that we would not otherwise dreamed of going to.  Having completed this one we still had enough left in the tank for one last trail and so from here we headed to the Red Route.

South End of Regency Street

Mayor of London Discovery Trails - Pink Route

Tourist Wenlock

After the success of our trip along the Green Route of the London Mayor Discovery Trails a couple of weeks earlier we decided that we would have a stand alone trip to London and try some of the other routes.  We started with the shortest trail, the Pink Route, which took us around a loop including famous sights such as Covent Garden, the Embankment, Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square and Chinatown.

Covent Garden Flags

We started our trail in the Market Hall of Covent Garden.  This is always a favourite haunt of ours when we come to London.  Although I cannot profess to be a keen shopper, even I am interested in the shops here as it is possible to find things that you wouldn’t otherwise see anywhere.  I even profess to finding things I never knew I needed!  The market was, as usual, buzzing with people looking around the market stalls and enjoying the street entertainment.  Most attention was on a magician and these types of act do seem to be particularly popular on the street.

Michael Faraday

Inside the hall the most delicious smells were wafting past our noses as the food vendors vied for our business.  Despite the aromas of German sausages, paella and deep fried delicacies we stayed strong and began our mission to find the 13 mascots on this particular route.  Lunch would have to wait, at least until we had made some progress as after all, it was still only 11am!

Somerset House

We didn’t have to venture far to find the first two mascots (see the entry for the Green Route for a full explanation of what they are and why they are here).  We had one of each mascot in the Market Hall at each end of the building.  Mandeville was a flower seller (which used to proliferate here, but which seem to be fewer in number these days), while Wenlock was painted up as a tourist (which seem to have increased in  number).

Somerset House Mandeville

Our route took us east of the Market Hall towards the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane and we passed the third mascot, which was equally appropriate for the area – the busker.  By now my girls had got themselves into posing mode already and their favourite game was to try and emulate the pose of the mascot statues.  Despite the limited number of poses this would be a game they never tired of!

Cleopatra's Needle Wenlock

As well as the busker statue the show at the Theatre Royal caught their eye as it was Shrek The Musical.  I am sure at some stage we might have to go an watch it, as both girls are big fans of Shrek.  I was rather more interested in the building, although compared to some of the theatres around this was rather a plain looking building.  Further down the road on the edge of Aldwych, the Novello Theatre (showing the Abba Musical Mamma Mia) was a much more elaborate looking building.  In both cases though, the buildings were far more ornate than any current one would be.  It made me speculate about the approximate time that we lost this decorativeness from our architecture.  Personally I blame World War I – architecture has never really been the same since.

Embankment Wenlock

Our next Wenlock was the standard mascot – no extra decoration.  The kids didn't seem to mind - they still posed by it.  We walked down Aldwych and crossed the road when we reached The Strand, heading down towards the Embankment.  

Patriotic Flower Basket

The next mascot was by Somerset House, an old Georgian building that has had a multitude of uses over the years but which now hosts the science stuff.  Outside was a statue of Michael Faraday, gleaming in the sunshine.  My older daughter was thrilled to be photographed by him – she is a big science fan despite her tender years.  I’m not sure she knew who Michael Faraday was, but she definitely knew he was important otherwise why would he have a statue there?

Novel Wenlock

Outside Somerset House was the very pink Somerset House Wenlock.  He was particularly striking in the sunshine, although ominously overhead a very large black cloud came across and blocked further sunshine for the next half an hour or so.  It was a shame for the next part of our walk was through the unsung and yet lovely gardens of Victoria Embankment.  This is a green space I had never previously been to but was pleasantly surprised by the wonderfully cheerful planting (yellow and red/white/blue seemed to be popular colour schemes) and the range of statues of predominantly famous Victorians.  I guess many of them were the celebrities of their day and included Robert Raice (founder of Sunday Schools), Robert Burns and Sir Wilfred Lawson (prominent politician).

London Coliseum

At the far end of the gardens we passed a big area of deckchairs, laid out we assumed for some future show rather than for musical chairs, and a couple of pin pong tables that were well used (perhaps this will be part of the legacy of the Olympics?).  From the relative calm of the garden we were plunged into the more frenetic environment of the street running down the side of Charing Cross Station.  This too seemed to be something of a hotbed of eating establishments and many were already doing a brisk trade despite the early hour.  I guess that the proximity of Charing Cross station helps in that regard.

Medal Tree at Leicester Square

We passed by the front of the station (said to be the very centre of London) and crossed to St Martin-in-the-Fields Church, so called because it was once literally in the fields, between what was once the twin cities of London and Westminster.  It is hard to imagine there being any green space in this part of London now, so built up is it.  At the back of the church was Novel Wenlock and round to the front was Trafalgar Square Wenlock, although this was actually sited in a secluded corner of the famous Square.

Filmstar Wenlock

Our onward route took us past the National Gallery and into Leicester Square.  I hadn’t really appreciated how close to Trafalgar Square it really was before – it’s amazing how little you can appreciate the layout of a city when you travel underneath it by Tube.  Perhaps this was the best part about walking the trails – putting the city into context.

London Hippodrome

Leicester Square seemed to have medals growing from the trees – rather an interesting art installation but perhaps the nearest that us mere mortals will ever get to being able to obtain an Olympic medal!  We passed the huge and imposing Odeon Cinema and found the colourful and popular Filmstar Wenlock, a nod to the film industry that has viewing headquarters here. 

Spotlight Mandeville

By now, we had worked up something of an appetite and took a relaxed and lengthy lunch break.  On resumption of our walk we passed by the Hippodrome and Haymarket, finding the Spotlight Mandeville lurking behind another theatre.  It was perhaps the hardest one to find on the whole route. 

Chinatown Mandeville

The route continued up through the streets to the west of Covent Garden and skirted Chinatown, where we would find a Mandeville done up in the blue associated with Chinese pottery.  It was perhaps one of the classiest designs on the route.  Finally we made our way back towards Covent Garden and found the last Wenlock (Performer) just along from the Underground Station.  All along the way we looked in some of the windows of shops selling delicious chocolates and cakes.  Although tempting, it was a bit hot for such delicacies and we sadly left them in the windows for others to purchase.

Seven Dials

This was a good appetiser for the day.  Only modest in length (2.6km), the walk actually seemed an awful lot longer such was the amount packed into the route.  We completed quickly and still with lots of energy in the tank for the next route, starting nearby at Picadilly Circus.  For a full view of all the pictures on the route please take a look at my Flickr set at Pink Trail Set

Performer Wenlock

Mayor of London Discovery Trails - Green Route

Rainbow Mandeville

During our trips to the Olympic Games this year we were struck with the incredible atmosphere surrounding the whole of London.  On our last trip we decided to have a tour around the city and get a look at all the decorations, banners and flags that had been put up for the festival.  While plotting where we should go we came upon the Mayor of London Discovery Trails, six routes around the city marked by a total of 82 statues of the mascots, Wenlock and Mandeville, painted to represent different themes of London. 

Union Jack Wenlock Getting Attention

The official blurb for the routes was as follows “Stroll Discovery Trails provided the opportunity to take a stroll along some of London’s most scenic streets. We put together six unique walking routes across the historic city centre that took people on a journey of discovery to the greatest sights and sounds of London. The trails were brought to life by our official Games mascots Mandeville and Wenlock, who highlighted some great photo opportunities. Each Mascot was individually designed, animating the routes in a unique way that captured the spirit of London. A large number of people tried out all of the trails and sent us photos of their favourite London 2012 Games mascot.”

Busy Park

The mascots were rather an acquired taste – many people didn’t warm to the one-eyed representations.  The back-story behind them perhaps explained their appearance, but I’m not sure this was explained very well. According to the associated (fictional) storyline, they were formed from the last girder of the Olympic Stadium. Their skins are made of highly polished steel allowing them to reflect the personalities and appearances of the people they meet. Their one eye is a camera and on their heads are yellow lights symbolizing those of a Londontaxi.

Feisty Goose

Wenlock’s name was inspired by Much Wenlock in Shropshire, England, where the Wenlock Olympian Society held its first Olympian Games in 1850, regarded by some as an inspiration for the modern Olympic games. The five friendship rings on his wrists represents the Olympic rings, and three points on his head represent the three places on the podium. The pattern on his body symbolises the whole world coming to London, and the shape of his helmet is supposed to represent the shape of the Olympic Stadium.

Colourful Beds

Mandeville is named after the Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, which organised the first Stoke Mandeville Games for the first time in 1948, which is considered to be the precursor to the Paralympics. The three spikes on Mandeville's helmet represent the Paralympic Agitos.

Boating Lake

We started with the Green Route, for no better reason than it was completely in Regents Park, and would give our children the opportunity to explore without us worrying about traffic (it was the only traffic-free route).  Due to the vagaries of our bus route we actually entered the Park in the south-east corner, which meant that we would come across the 11^th and last mascot on the route first.

Junior Pedalos

So our first mascot was called Rainbow Mandeville and it said on its plaque “My adventures on a rainbow have taken me all around the UK. I've met so many inspirational people and learnt so many things”.  Its design was colourful and striking and immediately struck a chord with the children.  It soon became obvious as we wandered around to the next one that there were many other people doing the same as us.  We had to vary our pace to ensure that there wasn’t a traffic jam for people waiting to get their pictures taken with the statues.

Safari Mandeville

As for Regents Park, this was our first time exploring and we liked what we saw.  The flower beds and planting schemes were in particularly fine fettle and we speculated whether there had been more money spent on them this year, given how many eyes would be on London.  Sadly the Park would not play a part in the Games themselves, rumours of baseball and softball being hosted here were squashed when those two sports were dropped from the programme for London 2012.

Animal Wenlock

The popularity of the mascots was soon apparent when we reached the next one – the very patriotic looking Union Jack Wenlock.  The girls had to queue to get their picture taken!  After this mascot we had assumed that we would get on track and follow the rest of the trail as per the numbered sequence but had not realised that the bridge across the canal-like waterway that we were following was being extensively repaired and was therefore closed.  This proved an annoyance as we had to re-jig the route considerably, passing along the side of the boating lake towards the next available mascot.

Regency Mandeville

We took the opportunity to have our picnic alongside the lake and enjoyed watching the large number of people rowing and pedalling their way around the boating lake.  It made for an exquisite summer scene, something of a rarity this year!  All around the edge of the park the beautiful architecture of the buildings overlooking this green space added a good deal of additional class.  Alongside the lake were large numbers of water birds, from herons to little sparrows, all seeming to be unaffected by the large numbers of people wandering about.  Indeed many of the birds used the people as opportunities and there was much scrounging for food going on!

Birdy Wenlock

After some lunch we pushed on, eventually finding Safari Mandeville next and then Victorian Mandeville at the far end of the Park.  In addition to the mascots the girls were quite fascinated by the antics of the squirrels – there certainly seemed to be plenty of them and most were very busy! 

Photo Opportunity

As we headed on to the next mascot the mood of the Park changed.  Gone were the flower beds and wild birds to be replaced by sports, including incongruously for the summer lots of football.  There were also cricket and baseball games going on and the Park was alive with a competitive yet friendly atmosphere.  Is this what the Olympics are supposed to be inspiring?  I do hope so – it was lovely seeing so many people enjoying the fresh air.

Black Eyed Susans

Our onward route was quite convoluted as we had to double back on ourselves after seeing Animal Wenlock and Regency Mandeville.  As each mascot went by we began to appreciate the thought that had gone into all these mascots and their positioning around the trails.  The Animal one represented the famous London Zoo that sits to the north of the Park, while Regency represented the history of the Park.

Jubilee Gates

From the frenetic sporty part of the Park we curved around through a quiet part of the Park, beloved of swans and small birds only.  There were far fewer people around too, belying its location in the centre of London.  The remaining mascots were found in quick succession; Birdy (which was probably my youngest daughter’s favourite), Rose Garden and Midsummer Night’s Dream (named after the play being staged in the Park throughout the summer).  A short walk around the Inner Circlebrought us to Deckchair and Sherlock (named after the nearby Baker Street location of the famous sleuth). 

Sea of Yellow

By now we were rather hot and bothered and took the opportunity to have an ice cream.  This last part of the Park was possible the best of all.  The centre of the Inner Circle was awash with flowers, especially roses in what I later learned was a famous garden known as St Mary’s Garden.  This part of the garden was also surrounded by some decorative iron fencing and entered via some exquisite gates that had been put here to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of King George V in 1935.  The final jewel in the crown for us though was the sculpture of a gardener made completely out of live plants.  This was a lovely sight to finish with!

Green Gardener

Our first experience of the Mayor of London Discovery Trails was very positive.  The girls loved finding the mascots and we thought they were very imaginative and fun.  We were also pleased that the trail had given us the opportunity to visit the Park, something we might not otherwise have done.  It was such a popular activity that thoughts turned to completing the other five.  A tall task, given that we would be on a limited timetable – all the mascots were due to be removed after the closure of the Paralympic Games on 9^th September. For a full catalogue of the mascots please see my Flickr set at Flickr Green Route