Justice was served.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

We had a fascinating morning on another absolutely beautiful day in London. We went to the Old Bailey, the criminal courts for the city of London. Once we went through very tight security we had a 20 minute wait to get into a court room. Interestingly enough, we met a couple from Birmingham, Michigan also waiting. Turns out the wife is a judge on the Federal Bench in Detroit and is trying the case the Federal government has brought against the State of Michigan over its child protective services, a case Lynda follows closely. The judge also knows Maura Corrigan, former Michigan Supreme Court Justice and now head of the Department of Human Services, who Lynda has worked with over children support issues. They are also friends of the Markhams's in Mason. Steve Markham is also a Michigan Supreme Court Justice whose son was in Tim's band once upon a time. Small world. The visitors gallery is actually a small balcony with seats for maybe 15 - 20 people that looks down on the court. We observed parts of two different trials. One of the things we love about the British is how they cling to tradition. All of the lawyers and judges had on wigs, even the women. The judges' wigs were different from the lawyers'. The defendent sat in a closed-in area at the back of the court. The witnesses actually stand in a pulpit like platform off to the side of the court room. The first case was a fraud case. A couple were trying to get a loan against the value of their house. One of the central problems for the couple, in the hour of testimony we heard, was that the couple were providing fake passports. During our time in the court room the deal was never consumated but we assume at some point it was, hence the law suit. The second trial we observed struck close to Lynda's heart. It was a child molestation charge against a doctor. We won't go into the sorbid details. Interestingly, a curtain was drawn around the witness box so the witness and the defendent could not see each other. Once you got by the wigs, it was very similar to an American court room, but fascinating just the same.

After we left the Old Bailey we had lunch at one of the great historic pubs of London, the Olde Cheshire Cheese Pub located on Fleet St. It was refurbished in 1666. Yes, that is the correct date. The ceiling light fixture in the room we were in looked like it had not been dusted since the remodeling! After lunch we went to the Church of St. Brides. It is just a few steps off of Fleet St. and is the patron church for the newspaper guild. The steeple is the tallest of all the churches that Sir Christopher Wren designed. This steeple was the inspiration for the first tiered wedding cakes every made. The church, unfortunately, was destroyed during the first bombing of London by the Germans in 1940. The only good fortune to come from this was the discovery of roman ruins in the crypt, including a portion of original Roman road.

Next we took a bus to Westminster hoping to get into the visitors gallery for either the House of Parliment or the House of Lords. Due to a several hour wait to get into either we moved to plan B, go home. Lynda did catch her second wind when we went by Westminster Abbey Cathedral and she saw the entrance to the Gardens of Westminster Abbey. The gardens are available for rental for events. The St.Margaret's Church Westminster Abbey, right next to the cathedral, was also advertising an availability for weddings. So if any of our granddaughters are interested in an out-of-the ordinary wedding venue, we have a suggestion.

If reading this blog of our days events tires you out as much as it does us actually experienceing it, we suggest the same remedy we use when we get home: a gin and tonic!

Cheers!

P.S. No pictures today as cameras are not allow in Old Bailey so we did not take them with us.