Touring London Part 2

After lunch we boarded the bus and were taken to St. Paul's Cathedral. Its site has been a church or holy ground since the very early years of London. Our guide told us a little about the cathedral and the most memorable story is one about the dome.

When London was destroyed during the first Great Fire of London the cathedral of that time also was destroyed.  It was rebuilt using the plans of Christopher Wren and included the great dome still standing now. But it, too, was almost destroyed in 1940.

Until the 1960's the Dome of St. Paul's Cathedral was the tallest structure of London and during World War II it was the logical target for Germany's rockets and bombs since the government of Great Britain was located in the City of London (and still is for that matter.)

London was hit by blitzes but none as devastating as the one in late December 1940. Christmas had seemed almost peaceful, almost as if there was an undeclared truce. But on December 29, the Blitz returned. Another great fire burned the City of London, even the Cathedral was at risk.  So much so that Winston Churchill sent out a call to all of London to protect the Dome of St. Paul's Cathedral - it must not fall.


Volunteers climbed up to the top of the Dome and literally watched the dome as bombs fell during the night even pushing one incendiary bomb off the dome before it could melt through the lead to the wooden structures underneath.



The layout contains a postcard of a famous photograph taken during a lull in the bombing showing the Dome still standing.  The background paper is by Tangie Baxter and the Union Jack is part of a collaboration by Sahlin Studio for The Lily Pad digital shop.