Creepy!

Did you know that people LIVE at The Tower of London? How creepy is that?

My beloved recently had the honour of a 'behind the scenes' look around the Tower, courtesy of an acquaintance who is now a Yeoman Warder (all Yeoman Warders are ex Servicemen) and informed me with delight when he got home that he had been taken to 'the Pub' within the walls of The Tower!

The Tower has featured in my life, all of my life. As a London child I was taken to see the Crown Jewels, although I was far more interested in the Ravens. As an adult I drove past the Tower every day for years on my way to work, and at a dinner I was introduced to the Governor and his delightful wife. She did tell me that they had a house there, but for some reason the penny didn't drop that they LIVED there! Well they do. There are little streets of ancient houses with arrow slits for windows and a community, a real community, of those who work at and guard The Tower, their families - even their pets, all inhabiting what I suppose amounts to a village. There is the aforementioned tiny 'Pub', a Doctor, even their own Postman. But here's the thing.... at midnight they are locked behind the great walls. Can you imagine? I'm trying to.

My guess is that during daylight hours it's not unlike living on any military 'patch' (well except that thousands of tourists tramp past your front door every day which must be quite bizarre, especially if you are doing the washing up in your jammies, or trying to have an afternoon snooze) but how weird must it be at night? Locked behind the gates of one of the bloodiest places in British history. Walking back from the pub past the spot where Ann Boleyn was beheaded, knowing that you are feet away from where Guy Fawkes was brutally tortured. I take my hat off to the women who follow their men into that particular village. My imagination is running riot just thinking about it.

Here's a fantastic article from Spitalfield Life about a Day in The Life of a Yeoman Warder:

http://spitalfieldslife.com/2012/01/31/a-day-in-the-life-of-the-chief-yeoman-warder-at-the-tower-of-london/

but what I really want to read about is a day (and night) in the life of his wife!