London's Vauxhall, Nine Elms and the New US Embassy

WasTrump Right About New US Embassy - London’s Vauxhall and Nine Elms?

Joolz Guides goes to find out in this London Walking Tour of Vauxhall.

New American Embassy in Nine Elms

Donald Trump recently said, “The reason I canceled my trip to London is that I am not a big fan of the Obama Administration having sold perhaps the best located and finest embassy in London for “peanuts,” only to build a new one in an off location for 1.2 billion dollars. Bad deal. Wanted me to cut ribbon-NO!"

The building is surrounded by a moat deep enough to stop a large vehicle while concrete bollards are hidden in hedges. The building itself is encased in 15cm thick bomb proof glass while plastic sails are in place to reduce solar glare.

Nine Elms has for many years been used for industrial purposes, populated by warehouses, scrap yards, garages

Two new London Underground stations to serve the area are also under construction and a pedestrian bridge across the Thames to the north has also been agreed.

There is also a planned Sky Pool in Embassy Gardens so you will be able to swim from one building to another!

Vauxhall Bridge (as seen in Spectre)

Wooden remnants of original bridge 1500 BC 
Oldest in situ structure in london 
Tyburn and Efra and Thames met here so it was a sacred place and was a spiritual bridge.
Bridge between spiritual and material. God and man.
Link between bridges and the sacred still exists. The pope is called Pontifex Bridge builder.

The new Bridge was built 1811 - first iron bridge across Thames and then rebuilt with bronze statues of women representing Agriculture architecture, pottery Local Government, education Astronomy

Name Vauxhall

King John’s Knight Falkes De Breaute. Acquired land here and built a house called Falkes Hall
1857 - Alex Wilson Vauxhall Car founded in Vauxhall Ironworks
Griffin was Falkes do Breaute family coat of arms

Oval Cricket Ground

Opened in 1845
Used to be like an allotment for the Duchy of Cornwall to grow vegetables and sell them.
Leased it for a cricket ground in 1844
1872 - First England v Scotland Rugby match in England AND first FA cup final between Wanderers and Royal Engineers of Chatham. Wanderers won 1 - 0.
1880 first England v Australia match (WG Grace-152)
1882 - England lost to Aus (first time ever they lost at home)
Journalist wrote obituary in Sporting times.
“In affectionate remembrance of English cricket which died at The Oval 29th August 1882. The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia"
When England played in Australia the Aussies gave us an urn with the ashes of a bail.
Ashes kept in Lords.

Harleyford Road Stretcher Railings

ARP - Air Raid Precautions.
Stretchers made to carry people injured in blitz
600 000 stretcher made out of metal for easy sterilisation  in event of gas attack.
Stretcher Railing Society

Spring Gardens

Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens - Opened in 1661 
One of London’s finest entertainment venues
Samuel Pepys and Samuel Johnson came here to see fireworks displays, illuminated fountains and concerts.
19th century famous for Balloon ascents 
1836 Monck Mason, Charles Green and Robert Holland took off and landed in Germany the next day!

Gardens were so famous -  it’s the reason for Russian word for railway.
Russia’s first railways went from St Petersburg to their pleasure gardens at Pavlovsk which were called Vokzal in recognition of these ones in London.
So going to Vokzal became associated with the first ever railways station and they started using the word to refer to any railway station!

Closed in 1859 because - you guessed it- because a haunt for prostitutes.

Vauxhall City Farm also has pigs, geese, chickens and horses.

Opposite is the M.I.6 building as seen in James Bond film SPECTRE where it gets blown up. It is bullet and bomb proof.
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