Memories of The Monument

The Monument, the worlds tallest free standing stone column at 202 feet re-opens after some major refurbishment work. Before the "eye" it was the way to see London. Now the viewing gallery is well protected, but many years ago it was not. Just the railings between you and the tarmac 200 feet away.

The monument was built as a memorial to the Great Fire, which so nearly destroyed London in 1666.

When I visited in the early 1960's I just a child, maybe 6 or 7. I remember being excited at the prospect of visiting London, and also keen to go up the (seemingly never ending) spiral stair case.

"NO RUNNING"

Of course we would count the steps, but after a few hundred, and probably some corrections in the 70's and 80's we soon lost count. Apparently there are 311. Ever onwards, ever upwards, it was dingy, I would say now, but then, that didn't matter. The top was getting closer, so just a few more steps for my tired legs.

I think this happened during the summer holidays, because I remember Dad being with us, but it could have easily been at Easter. Either way it was not a nice day, and we were firmly strapped into our rain coats.

Just before all of my legs turned to lead we came through the door and out on to the viewing platform. Almost the same second I was caught by a gust of wind and slammed into the little fence around the edge. My mood changed, I looked around and over London, but all I wanted to do now was return to the ground the slow way. I walked around looking out with my back to the wall and was relieved to be allowed to once again enter the darkness, and more importantly stillness of the spiral staircase.