What if I told you that this isn’t Big Ben? And it’s true. This isn’t Big Ben. You
cannot see Big Ben in this picture.
And the reason you can’t see big ben in this photo is just one of the thousands of
quirky facts and myths about london. Now when you sprinkle these stories into your visit
here, your holiday, your sightseeing trip, they make your experience come alive.
For example, can you see what makes this Savoy Hotel entrance a one of a kind in the UK?
Why is it that this building on Fleet Street has influenced the happiest day of your life?
And what on earth is going on inside this real life Dr Who Tardis and why are you not
allowed to enter? And of course if this isn’t Big Ben. Then what in the name of Price Harry
is it?
And sorry to interrupt but there’s probably something else you should know. In this video
I’m also going to include 2 stories that are totally made up, fabricated facts just
to spice things up a little. That’s 10 truths and 2 lies. Can you guess which are the real
and which are the fake London facts? Find out at the end of this video.
Welcome, we make travel movies from around the world, along with our home town of London.
This is Suitcase Monkey, why Big Ben isn't Big Ben and a whole lot more.
The savoy is one of Londons most famous hotels. But look a little closer at its entrance and
you will notice something very strange. Can you see it?
It has one of the few roads in the UK where you can legally drive on the right hand side
of the road. Which as anyone watching from these countries will know, is the wrong side
of the road.
People of course are used to driving on the left here, so yeah, even whilst filming, this
crazy Englishman is officially driving on the incorrect side of the road and going round
this roundabout backwards.
Now there are a few theories as to how this might have come about. a classic, is that
back when a horse and carriage were the norm, the lady would traditionally sit behind the
driver and therefore, if they exited on the right, they would be able to step off right
in front of the hotel entrance. Or it could just be that the driver would be waiting on
the right hand side of the cart so would be closer to greet customers as they left the
hotel. Either way, the road is private since it leads to nowhere, so The Savoy can literally
do what it likes.
The London Underground was the worlds first underground railway station, being built in
1863. This simultaneously explains why it is both excellent and shit at the same time.
The very first tunnels carried passengers between Paddington and Farringdon and was
run by Metropolitan Railway.
That same section of tunnels also now form part of the Circle, and Hammersmith & City
routes, but technically the Metropolitan is the worlds first underground line.
So if you ever find yourselves travelling through these stations, you are experiencing
the oldest transport network of its kind.
It’s believed that a worldwide wedding tradition started life right here in Fleet Street. The
appropriately named St Brides Church has a steeple that climbs into the sky and is thought
to be the inspiration behind the tiered wedding cake. The
story goes that an 18th century pastry chef fell in love with his boss’s daughter. Wanting
to make a grand gesture, as well as impress his future father in law, he saw St Brides,
matched that with his culinary skills, and bam, the tiered wedding cake was born.
The letters NHS today stand for the national health service. But the initials originally
stood for Norman’s hearty strawberries. Originally a fruit stall ran by Norman Heart,
he was based in Borough Market.
The NHS as we now know it began in the 1940s and for 7 confusing years, those 3 little
letters stood for 2 totally different services, a bit like what happened with the WWF. The
government eventually had to buy out normans hearty strawberries. The final straw came
when a large number of sick patients joined the NHS waiting line, but were disappointed
to receive what was admittedly, a perfectly ripened fruit. Norman soon went out of business.
While wandering through London, keep an eye out for 1 of 900 blue plaques dotted around.
These state a point of interest, and usually that a person of note has lived or worked
there. For example Benjamin Franklin lived not too far from Charing Cross at 36 Craven
Street. But you can also find Freud, Mozart, Hitchcock, Hendrix, Lennon, and the guy who
came up with the names for clouds.
There’s actually an English Heritage app where you can see what plaques are close to
you which can often lead to some interesting finds.
It is surprisingly simple to see the oldest piece of standing architecture in London.
it’s something most people just walk pass without even noticing. This is the original
Roman Wall of Londinium, as it was then called.
Its remaining pieces can still be seen today, scattered around the City, which would have
formed a 2 mile stretch of defence. This section here sits between the Tower of London and
Tower Hill Tube station, but it’s something most people overlook and don’t even notice.
It was built around the 200s, so without even buying a ticket, you can witness something
1800 years old right before your eyes.
However, there is actually something even older in london. Cleopatras Needle sits on
the Embankment side of the River Thames. Now, I’m adding it on an afterthought in this
section, as its only been in the country for 200 years when it was gifted from Egypt. But
it was originally built by the Egyptians in 1450BC, making it 3500 years old.
But don’t get too excited folks. savvy reviewers on trip advisor have deemed this impressive
monolith, 4 stars. So y’know, its good… But the Egyptians could have done better.
I mean, not to brag, but the roman wall, built using strong local British materials… That
got 4.5 stars. I’m just presenting facts.
Also overlooked throughout the city, are these Green Shelters. Believe me, now that I’ve
pointed these out to you, you’ll realise you’ve been walking passed one for years,
without ever wondering what’s actually going on inside.
A quick search on Google Maps will show you the remaining 13 green huts, which are now
listed buildings, protected by English Heritage. These tiny huts have provided shelter and
sustenance to black-cab drivers for 145 years. You can ONLY sit down inside however, if you
have passed The Knowledge - This is the test cab drivers must take and it means they’ve
memorised every street, landmark and route in London. So you can’t come in but your
mobile phone might be welcome.
Now they can actually serve the general public as takeaways. So if you do see an open window
hatch, its worth poking your head inside and asking for a classic bacon sandwich and a
cup of English breakfast tea.
Now we all know that Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of my neighbour,
The Queen. A common misconception however, is that the queen is home when a flag is flown
over the palace.
This is not quite true.
There are 2 types of flags to look out for. The Union Flag is flown when the Queen is
away from the residence and it’s specifically the Royal Standard that is flown when the
Queen is present. So if you do visit, keep an eye out for this.
Speaking of the the queen, as per her birth certificate, our monarchs legal surname is
actually Queen.
And yes this means that her legal first name is simply, The. Now, despite the queens official
birth certificate, most people are obviously not able to use these familiar terms, opting
for the more appropriate Her Majesty.
That being said, it is acceptable for close friends to refer to her as Mrs Queen, with
only a select few calling her The.
Did you know that there are 7 noses hidden around central London? noses that are actually
stuck to buildings and form something of a real life treasure hunt.
The first nose can be found as you walk from Trafalgar Square towards Buckingham Palace,
under Admiralty Archway. I myself have walked through this archway a hundred times but would’ve
never noticed if it wasn’t for the internet. The story went that it was originally put
there to mock Napoleon, or even that it was a spare part for the famous statue.
The truth however is a bit more rooted in modern day times. the artist Rick Buckley
installed the noses here and around soho as a peaceful protest against too much surveillance
in the streets. so he was literally putting up noses under the noses of cctv.
And by the way, all these photos are by Katie from Look Up London. Katie is a Blue Badge
tour guide who does both virtual and actual London guided walks so do take a look. I’ll
put a link in the description to Look Up London which lists the streets these noses are found
in, to at least give you a heads start for your own treasure hunt.
Ok, so lets get back to this. why is it that this is not Big Ben? This is not Big Ben,
because Big Ben is actually hidden inside, right about here. This is because Big Ben
is the nickname given to the Bell inside that makes those famous bongs. Its official name
is the Great Bell. The part that people usually refer to as Big Ben is in fact now called
The Elizabeth tower, which is part of the palace of Westminster, commonly referred to
as the houses of parliament. that’s five different names that in todays world are all
pretty much interchangeable. And to a certain extent, with how names and language evolve
over time it is now perfectly fine to refer to this as big ben because people will still
know what you’re talking about. Even though it’s not technically correct.
Now prepare yourself for 3 more fascinating big ben related facts.
For one, the Tower actually leans by 0.2 degrees and has been officially attributed to the
Underground tunnels running below.
When the hour changes twice a year, did you know that it takes a painstaking 5 hours to
correct all 4 clocks.
And you would never guess the method they deploy to keep the clock correct.
in a 2016 interview, Steve Jaggs, who’s responsible for time accuracy, revealed a
surprisingly simple solution. the British penny. He revealed that a bunch of pennies
are placed on the pendulum to speed it up or slow it down down. He said “at the moment
we’ve probably got about 30 pennies on there.’ Which gives a whole new meaning to the phrase
time is money.
No?
Nothing.
Ok…
Now, I mentioned at the start of this video, that 2 of these facts would actually be untrue.
which do you think were made up? I’m gonna put them all on the screen here for you to
make your decision.
Well… for the your own sake, i hope you correctly guessed that normans hearty strawberries
was totally made up as was the Queens first name being “The”. So that means, everything
I said about Big Ben, The oldest Underground Line, St Brides church, the Blue Plaques,
the right hand drive of The Savoy, the old Roman London Wall, Cleopatras Needle, The
Taxi Shelters, Buckingham Palace flags, and the noses around London are all true.
Let me know how well you guessed in the comments below and I hope these little stories will
enhance any future visits you might have to London.
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Until the next one, thanks for watching Suitcase Monkey.