Theme: Francis Drake, his life and deeds

3.Theme: St. James Park in London.


St James's Park is a 23-hectare (57-acre) park in the City of Westminster, central London. It is at the southernmost tip of the St James's area, which was named after a leper hospital dedicated to St James the Less. It is the most easterly of a near-continuous chain of parks that includes (moving westward) Green Park, Hyde Park, and Kensington Gardens.^[1][2][3]
The park is bounded by Buckingham Palace to the west, the Mall to the north, Horse Guards to the east, and Birdcage Walk to the south. It meets Green Park at Queen's Gardens with the Victoria Memorial at its centre, opposite the entrance to Buckingham Palace. St James's Palace is on the opposite side of The Mall. The closest London Underground stations are St James's Park, Green Park, Victoria, and Westminster.
The park is Grade I listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

Features

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Audio description of St James's park by Alison Steadman.

Duck Island Cottage has a long history and is now the headquarters for the London Parks & Gardens Trust
The park has a small lake, St James's Park Lake, with two islands, West Island and Duck Island, the latter named for the lake's collection of waterfowl. A resident colony of pelicans has been a feature of the park since a Russian ambassador donated them to Charles II in 1664. While most of the birds' wings are clipped, there is a pelican who can be seen flying to the London Zoo in hopes of another meal.
The Blue Bridge across the lake affords a tree-framed view west towards Buckingham Palace. Looking east, the view includes the Swire Fountain to the north of Duck Island and, past the lake, the grounds of Horse Guards Parade, with Horse Guards, the Old War Office and Whitehall Court behind. To the south of Duck Island is the Tiffany Fountain on Pelican Rock; and past the lake is the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, with the London Eye, the Shell Tower, and the Shard behind.The park has a children's playground including a large sandpit.

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Fashionable people thronging St James's Park, c.1745

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Duck Island Cottage


St James's Park Lake, looking northwest, with Buckingham Palace in the background