We started our day out with coffee in the atmospheric Crypt cafe of St Martin's in the Fields, moving on to look at the original site of the Eleanor Cross in what was the medieval village of Charing. The site is covered by a statue of King Charles I in what has become Trafalgar Square. Whitehall next, site of the principal government offices since Henry VIII established his court at Whitehall Palace in the 1530s. Under the Empire, many old buildings were replaced by architecturally grandiose ones, such as the Old War Office. Military statues and memorials are a significant feature of Whitehall and the surrounding area. After a stop at Horse Guards we wound our way back to Trafalgar Square via Victoria Embankment and the original Scotland Yard, now a luxury hotel. The second part of the tour took us down to the Water Gate on the original bank of the Thames, along the back of the landmark Art Deco Savoy Hotel and Embankment Gardens to Blackfriars station.
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