The Eyes of March

Yes, you read that title correctly – this is about Horseguards' Parade (where they march) and some intriguing markers I have espied during this month of March.
This first appeared on my Substack feed.

Walking across Horseguards’ Parade (possession or not? I say yes) with Chris, a lady who had attended the walk I had just led around St James’s Park* and, as I glanced down at the ground around my feet, I noticed the hint of a number 2 carved into a stone. Ooh. I cleared away the thin layer of chippings with my shoe and, as we discussed what this might signify, we spotted another marker to the left with a number 3 on it. 

How many times have I walked across here and not seen these before?!I say ‘walked’ but in truth I like marching across like a faux soldier, making that marvellous noise on the gravel. Schlerlump di dum, schlerlump di dum. 

Chris had been telling me that she’s a big fan of pomp and ceremony and often visits for changing of the guard and anything happening on or around the parade ground. She was as intrigued by the markers as I was. We decided they must be for the huge events here and surely there must be more of these markers, and so we scoured the ground to the left and right and forwards and backwards. I’d found a sleuthing partner! Aha! 

We found similarly-spaced markers bearing the numbers 3 and 4: 

This view is across the parade ground looking back to markers 2 and 3, Whitehall to the left, park to the right. 

The two pairs of numbers seem to be equidistant of the central line where we found larger grey stones with carved ruts in them that we summised might be used to park gun carriages, but I forgot to take photos of those. Convinced there surely must be pairs of markers bearing the numbers 1/2 at the southern side and 4/5 on the northern side, we hunted further but found nothing. We asked inside the museum. The staff at the counter also suggested that they were probably parade markers. 

I took Chris into the archway that leads to Whitehall and showed her the scratched graffiti that I wrote about here. We said our goodbyes and I returned to the parade ground to again search for more markers. 

 

A shadow selfie. Looks like I’m a bag lady on a beach. 

After five mins of gravelling I found a lonely 6 near the northern edge where the figure is oriented north to south: 

Despite some meticulous foot sweeping action to the 3&4 and back again, a number 5 was nowhere to be found. It must be there. It must be! 

I have an idea is that these mark the corners of the grandstands rather than stop/start points for the troops. I did spot some other intriguing (metal) things in this vicinity, but that can wait for another day. See you soon. 

 

*tours in The Royal Parks - have I not mentioned this? The St James’s Park tour includes pelican feeding and access to Duck Island, and there’s another walk I lead for them in Ken Gdns that concludes with access to the Albert Memorial. Find them here.