There is so much to see and photograph between Trafalgar Square and the Houses of Parliament, that it is easy to pass by many of them – especially statues! However these provide a historical record of key British events and people which do deserve to be remembered and captured. This central area has more statues and monuments then anywhere else in London and they are relatively easy to photograph – and this is just a small sample.
The hard part is finding out who they where and why they were famous – however I have done this for you – see below.
Horse Guards Parade
The area has been used for a variety of reviews, parades and other ceremonies since the 17th century. It is the site of the changing of the Horse Guards daily, and the annual ceremonies of Trooping the Colour, which commemorates the monarch’s official birthday, and Beating Retreat. It was formerly the site of the Palace of Whitehall’s tiltyard, where tournaments were held in the time of Henry VIII.
Whitehall
It is the main road from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Square. Its is at the centre of Her Majesty’s Government and is lined with government departments and ministries such as the MOD, the Scottish office, the Foreign Office, and Her Majesty’s Treasury. Downing Street – the home of the British Prime Minister is just off Whitehall.
Guards Memorial
The Guards Memorial, designed by the sculptor Gilbert Ledward in 1926 and erected to commemorate the First Battle of Ypres and other battles of World War I. To the Glory of God. And in the memory of the Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers and Guardsmen of His Majesty’s Regiments of Foot Guards who gave their lives for their King and Country during the Great War 1914-1918 and of the Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers , Men of the Household Cavalry, Royal Regiment of Artillery Corps, Royal Army Medical Corps and other Units while serving the Guard’s Division in France and Belgium 1915-1918, fell with them in the fight for the World’s Freedom.
Earl (sleigh) Roberts
Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, Bt, (30 September 1832 – 14 November 1914) was a distinguished Indian born British soldier who regarded himself as Anglo Irish[and one of the most successful commanders of the Victorian era.
Viscount Wolseley
Field Marshal Viscount Wolseley, (4 June 1833–25 March 1913), was a British army officer. He served in Burma, the Crimean War, the Indian Mutiny, China, Canada, and widely throughout Africa—including his brilliantly executed Ashanti campaign (1873–1874) and the Nile Expedition against Mahdist Sudan in 1884-85. His reputation for efficiency led to the late 19th-century English phrase “everything’s all Sir Garnet”, meaning “all is in order.”
Turkish cannon
A Turkish cannon made in 1524 “by Murad son of Abdullah, chief gunner” which was captured in Egypt in 1801
Field Marshall Douglas Earl Haig
Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig (19 June 1861 – 29 January 1928) was a British soldier and senior commander during World War I. He commanded the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) from 1915 to the end of the War. Most notably he was commander during the Battle of the Somme, the Third Battle of Ypres and the Hundred Days Offensive which led to the German surrender in 1918
Spencer Compton Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire 23 July 1833 – 24 March 1908), , was a British statesman. He has the distinction of having served as leader of three political parties (in succession- as Leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Commons, 1875–1880; of the Liberal Unionist Party (1886–1903); and of the Unionists in the House of Lords (1902–1903), though the Conservatives and Liberal Unionists operated in close alliance from 1892–1903 and would eventually merge in 1912). He also declined to become Prime Minister on three occasions, not because he was not a serious politician but because the circumstances were never right
Field Marshal HRH George 2nd duke of Cambridge
(George William Frederick Charles; 26 March 1819 – 17 March 1904) was a member of the British Royal Family, a male-line grandson of King George III. The Duke was an army officer and served as commander-in-chief of the British Army from 1856 to 1895. He became Duke of Cambridge in 1850. The Duke of Cambridge made no secret of his view that “arranged marriages were doomed to failure.”
Women of World War II
Women of World War II memorial in Whitehall to commemorate the role of the 7 million women who helped during World War II It was sculpted by John W. Mills
The 22ft-high bronze sculpture depicts the uniforms and working clothes worn by women during the war
Field Marshal Viscount Slim
Field Marshal William Joseph “Bill”Slim, 1st Viscount Slim, (6 August 1891 – 14 December 1970) was a British military commander and the 13th Governor-General of Australia. He fought in both the First and Second world wars and was wounded in action three times. During WWII he led the 14th Army, the so-called “forgotten army”. From 1953 to 1959 he was Governor-General of Australia, an authentic war hero who had fought with the Anzacs at Gallipoli
Field Marshal Viscount Alanbrooke
Field Marshal The Rt. Hon. Sir Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke, 1883 –1963), was a senior commander in the British Army. He was the Chief of the Imperial General Staff during the Second World War, and was promoted Field Marshal in 1944. As chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, Brooke was the foremost military advisor to Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and in the role of co-ordinator of the British military efforts was an important but not always well-known contributor to the Allies’ victory in 1945
FM Viscount Montgomery of Alamein
Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1887 – 1976), often referred to as “Monty”, was a British Army officer. He saw action in World War I, and during World War II he successfully commanded Allied forces at the Battle of El Alamein, a major turning point in the Western Desert Campaign. He was later a prominent commander in Italy and North-West Europe, where he was in command of all Allied ground forces during Operation Overlord until after the Battle of Normandy, and was the principal commander for Operation Market Garden.
London Photo Areas and Routes 