Footprints Of London's Journey of Discovery Around Knightsbridge

Friday marked another opportunity to participate in one of Footprints Of London’s guided walks, this time around the mews and hidden corners of exclusive Knightsbridge in central London.

Our guide for the day was Brian McClory – Brian is an accredited member of the City of London Guides Association and runs a series of guided walks in other parts of London. An ex-black cab driver, he is also a volunteer at several local instutions including Somerset House, the Queen’s House in Greenwich and, strangely enough, you’ll find him at Firepower on Wednesdays.

Our tour started off on the opposite side of the street from the huge Royal Artillery Memorial, surmounted by its artillery piece, next to Hyde Park Corner. From there we headed towards the grand 10 acre Belgrave Square, stopping outside number 49. Built speculatively, this enormous house is one of the buildings that formed part of the grand design for the square by Thomas Cubitt, who laid out the surrounding area for the 2nd Earl Grosvenor (later to become the 1st Marquess of Westminster) in 1820. Starting life as a family home, the building has served several functions over its lifetime although it has not undergone any structural changes since about 1910, making it one of the most authentic buildings on the square. It has been the Argentinian Ambassador’s residence since the 1930s.

Architecture forms quite a large part of Brian’s Knightsbridge tour – other highlights included the Pantechnicon building. This was opened in 1830 as an exhibition space and sale room although it is most well known as a furniture store, a purpose it served until a catastrophic fire in 1873 which destroyed everything but the facade. The building lends its name to the modern epithet for furniture removal vans, pantechnicons, because of the near constant scenes of covered wagons carrying furniture to and from the building in its early years.

Other notable buildings on the tour include Hill House on Hans Place, a very handsome red brick building in the ‘Pont St Dutch’ style which still serves its original purpose as an independent school, and the fine apartments next to Harrods at 12 to 16 Hans Road. The work of two architects schooled in the Arts and Crafts movement, C F A Voysey and H Macmurdo, the first buyers of these apartments would have received a whole package – the designers were responsible for the communal areas and the flats themselves, including everything down to the individual wallpapers, carpets and furnishings.

Another feature of Brian’s Knightsbridge tour is the focus on pubs as the area has three notable hostelries, the most notorious of which is the ‘haunted’ Grenadier that sits tucked away on one of the many narrow, cobbled mews in the area, Wilton Row. Tales tell of the severe beating of a Guardsman for cheating at cards which led to his death on the premises – since then patrons and staff at the pub have reported sudden changes in temperature and objects moving about, and one barman from the 1990s reported having an ashtray fly at his head. Over the years photographs of the pub have also captured the image of a tall, moustachioed gentleman wearing a bearskin peering out of the windows when the building was supposedly empty…

Another two public houses are worthy of a mention – the Nags Head has a very eclectic collection of objects adorning its walls and ceiling including ice skates, garden tools and vintage lamps. Landlord Kevin Moran will also exchange current coinage for old pennies and tuppences which can be used to operate the old machines that you’ll find dotted throughout this small bar, which include ‘what the butler saw’ moving images, bagatelles and more – another quirk of the pub is that no modern technology is allowed inside. People consulting their smart phones are likely to be put out on the street by the rather avuncular landlord! On another mews you’ll find the Star Tavern, a fairly ordinary pub you might think, if it wasn’t for one of the old regulars – the dapper dresser, Bruce Reynolds. Mingling amongst the stars of the era who used to frequent the pub, Diana Dors, Peter O’ Toole and others, his gang sat in a quiet corner of the pub and hatched the plans for the Great Train Robbery of 1963.

Knightsbridge’s fine churches are also part of Brian’s tour. The largest and most impressive of these is St Paul’s on Wilton Place. Built by Thomas Cundy the Younger in 1843 (the then surveyor of the Grosvenor estate) it has several claims to fame. On the exterior is a memorial to the ladies of the World War II Women’s Transport Service (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry – FANY), a group affiliated to the Territorial Army – you might think nothing of this given the number of war memorials that you’ll discover everywhere in London, but several of the names on the monument are deceptive. FANY was a popular cover for female agents of the Special Operations Executive, so several lady spies can be found amongst the names including Noor Inayat Khan who I mentioned on the Londoneer a short while ago. Inside, St Paul’s has some remarkable decorations – being of the Anglo-Catholic tradition, very fine images of the ‘stations of the cross’ can be found on the walls which are separated by beautiful examples of Victorian ceramic art depicting scenes from the life of Christ.

Another Knightsbridge church worth noting no longer serves that purpose – built for the Presbyterian Church of Scotland on West Halkin St in 1830, by 1923 the building had become a private home, that of Lady Caillard. After that it spent time as the Belfry Club, which was popular with RAF officers, and in 1987 it was discovered by Anton Mossiman and it has been the Swiss chef and restaurateur’s main London base since then. Mossiman’s private dining club caters to a very exclusive crowd – Brian told us that it hosted Len Goodman’s surprise marriage ceremony just last week and you’ll note that the exterior also carries a Royal Warrant that features the Prince of Wales’ feathers, as it is Prince Charles’ favourite London restaurant. Before you put it down on the list for birthday treat, you should note that you have to be a member or a guest of a member to eat here, which in itself costs upwards of £650 a year. Then there are the prices of the dishes and wine to consider…

Our two-hour tour included lots of other interesting people and places (not least of which were the secluded cobbled mews which were overflowing with Bentleys, Aston Martins, Maseratis and other status symbols of the filthy rich), but I’ll leave you with just two more to whet your appetite for this particular guided walk. One piece of public art that’s worth pausing for is Water Murmur, by Julian Stocks – a large water jet-cut steel panel, glass sections highlight the course of the Westbourne River, the subterranean waterway that still runs under Knightsbridge. I can’t fail to mention Harrods in closing of course, because the large department store really defines this part of London. Up at the top of the building, the observant visitor will note their motto, Omnia Omnibus, Ubique (latin for everything, everyone, everywhere) to denote their status as one of London’s most important shopping destinations. You might also be interested to know that the store has its own water supply, in the form of three wells, and also produces its own electricity – this supply powers the 11,500 bulbs that illuminate the exterior every night.

Check out Footprints of London’s website for information on all of their guided walks, and if Brian’s specific offerings interest you then you can contact him through his City Ranger Walks website.