Standing under the shoulders of giants

A few days ago I was fortunate to be invited on a private behind the scenes tour of the Guildhall in the City of London. Imagine that, me on a tour!

It’s one of a handful of buildings I’ve always wanted to look around that I’ve never properly been in. I did once get a few feet inside many years ago but then was asked to leave, it remains the only building I’ve been thrown out of and I’ve wormed my way in to almost every building going!

A few months ago I did a special Secret Gardens of the City of London tour which you can click on below.

Secret Gardens, lavish lunches.

One thing led to another and I found myself here staring face to knee with two guardians of the City of London, Gog and Magog.

Gog and Magog – The Guardians of the City of London

I’d seen them from a distance before and indeed had previous bumped into their smaller brethren an hour or two earlier.

Gog and Magog come out to play on the Lord Mayors Parade and these two have a history relating to London going right back before the Romans and of course you find Gog and Magog in the Holy Bible. Here though in part they are a symbol of standing up to defend the rights and freedoms of the City of London.

These two were made by the Worshipful company of Basketmakers around 2007. Someone asked whether they could be used like in the Wicker Man and burn someone alive in one but frankly, Rishi Sunak is way too small for them!

Here I am with Gog and Magog so you can get some idea of just how big there are. No wonder London is still going strong after thousands of years.