Oddfellows and Open House London
Each year, several hundred properties in London open their doors to the public for a weekend in September.
On Saturday 18 September, Brother Keith Potter lead a small group on a visit to just a few of the properties open that day.
The trip started at London Bridge and after a short walk we were in London’s Living room at the top of City Hall - offices of the Mayor of London and the Greater London Assembly. From here, there are wide views over the whole of London.
City Hall
View from City Hall
Council Chamber - City Hall
After a thorough inspection of the Capital’s seat of Local Government, we moved on to the Old Operating Theatre housed in the roof of St Thomas’ Church once part of St Thomas’ Hospital.
Old Operating Theatre
Then on through a bustling Borough Market to view the site of the Rose Theatre, now hidden beneath an office block by the side of the River Thames. Once the stage here was trodden by a young William Shakespeare.
After a picnic lunch outside Tate Modern we briefly viewed the site of an extension to the art gallery, before moving on to the Kirkaldy Testing Works. This strange building in Southwark Street houses machines from the 19th and 20th centuries that were used to test iron, steel and concrete. It was a most strange thing to find in an area now surrounded by offices.
Kirkaldy Testing Works
Inside - Kirkaldy Testing Works
Next on our journey was the recently opened Blue Fin Building. Built partly on the site of St Christopher’s House a 1960’s concrete slab, it now house IPC a major publishing house. Up on the 11th floor there is a roof terrace, which again afforded wide views of London.
View from Blue Fin Building
Roof Terrace - Blue Fin Building
St Pauls Cathedral from Blue Fin Building
Crossing the river by the Millennium Bridge, we made our way past St Pauls Cathedral to Smithfield, where the final building to investigate was the new Haberdashers Hall opened in 2002. Off a pleasant courtyard are a number of rooms, some of which probably use furnishings and indeed materials from previous Halls.
Courtyard at Haberdashers Hall
Haberdashers Hall
