The summer holidays are here so let's go on a Trafalgar Square Treasure Hunt!
Here are clues to ten letters of the alphabet, all of which are to be found in or around Trafalgar Square. Can you find all ten and then jumble them up to make a word associated with the square?
Letter 1: This bus stop on the east side of the square has a rainbow flag roundel, added in 2017 as part of London's Pride celebrations. But what's the letter on top of the bus stop?
(This is the easiest question in the treasure hunt. It's so easy you can easily discover the answer even while sitting at home. But that's not really in the spirit of the challenge so for almost all of what follows you do actually have to turn up and explore)
Letter 2: Surrounding Nelson's Column are four dodgy lions, two gushing fountains and probably an awful lot of tourists taking photos. But look down for a change at the drains and inspection hatches set into the surface of the square. These were provided by a company in Essex whose name is written in the centre of the drain covers, also in the centre of the metal covers with the diagonal hatching. The company's name is four letters long. What's the last letter in their name?
Letter 3: The grand staircase on the north side of the square was added in 2002 (using stones from the wall that had to be dismantled to build it). One step up from the bottom are a series of brass plaques. These are part of the Imperial Standards of Length, installed in 1876 to allow the public to check the accuracy of their measuring devices. The brass plaques stretching off to the left measure 'feet'. What do the brass plaques stretching off to the right measure? Take the first letter of this archaic unit.
Letter 4: Next to the very centre of London. The capital's first equestrian statue was placed on the site of the original Charing Cross in 1675. It depicts the highly beheadable monarch Charles I and is famous as the point from which all distances to London are measured. The statue now sits at the centre of a traffic island and is surrounded by a ring of five very old bollards. Each of these bollards features four letters of the alphabet beneath a crown. What's the first letter?
Letter 5: The bookstore Waterstones occupies the corner site where once stood The Grand Hotel, a 500-room hospitality behemoth. The shop appears small on entry but a spiral staircase in the centre leads down to a much larger basement. Here are the majority of the fiction books, also a large travel section, a lot of history, a scant few magazines and a decent collection of board games. Look at the subject headings on the wall closest to the till. What's the subject heading inbetween Biography and Fashion? Again, first letter please.
(I'm aware that Waterstones might be closed when you come on this treasure hunt, in which case here's an alternative clue for letter 5. Find the long metal information panel at the foot of Nelson's column, facing the traffic. What's the illustrator's first initial?)
Letter 6: The panoramic plaque outside South Africa House has dulled somewhat since a famous person with a very appropriate name turned up to unveil it in July 1996. The explanatory text points out that the building behind you is the South African High Commission, not the South African Embassy, and was designed by Sir Herbert Baker. The explanatory text was written by a member of RIBA's Design Unit and for this clue you need the first letter of his surname.
Letter 7: St Martin-in-The Fields is sometimes known as 'the church of the ever open door', and has been since the Reverend Dick Sheppard opened up the crypt 24/7 during WW1. Learn more at the church's special 300th anniversary exhibition adjacent to the reasonably priced cafe. For this clue however you need to go into the main church and find the memorial to the Sharpshooters on the back wall. At the top of the third column find the commemorated soldiers whose initials are EJ and PG. What's the first letter of their surnames?
(In case the ever-open church isn't open, head to the Fourth Plinth and find the Trafalgar Square byelaws posted underneath. What's the first letter of the first word in the final paragraph in the first column?)
Letter 8: The National Portrait Gallery occupies a prime spot on the corner of Trafalgar Square and is an excellent way of whiling away an hour. Here are three chances to identify Letter 8. In Room 18, which couple's portraits hang above George Romney (first letter of their surname)? In Room 19, whose portrait hangs to the left of Charles Darwin (first letter of her first name)? In Room 28 whose portrait hangs to the left of Paul Smith (first letter of his surname). No rush, enjoy your look around.
(In case the National Portrait Gallery isn't open, find the marvellously ornate triple-headed lamp standard on the traffic island at the top of The Mall. Which company manufactured it? Take the second letter of the family surname)
Letter 9: The National Gallery is a world-class warren of fine art, but an awkward place to site a clue because paintings sometimes shuffle around or disappear. Van Gogh's Sunflowers, for example, is on loan to Philadelphia until 11th October. Instead find my favourite summery painting, Bathers at Asnières by Seurat, and take a while to admire the spotty composition. Then check out the explanatory text alongside, stop at the end of the first paragraph and note down the last letter of the last word. That's letter 9.
(In case the National Gallery isn't open, find the entrance to the Canada Gallery and look for the warning sign by the lift platform to the right of the door. It's in two languages. The English version starts with D, how does the French version start?)
Letter 10: Finally head to the corner of Cockspur Street where a well-photographed red phone kiosk stands near the steps up to Canada House. Open the door, steel yourself for the inevitable smell of urine and make a note of the box's phone number. We're interested in the ninth digit, immediately before the '87' at the end. Translate this digit into a letter using the code A=1, B=2, C=3, etc. And we're done.
You should now have ten letters, and all you need to do is jumble them up to make a word associated with the square. Simply email that word to me (the address is at the top of the right hand column on the blog) for the chance to appear in this celebratory winners box.
The first three solvers of the Trafalgar Square Treasure Hunt
1) 2) 3)
Please don't post your answers in the comments box, nor reveal any of the individual letters, because nobody likes a show-off who ruins the fun. And happy searching.
