The Storming of Parliament...
On Wednesday 13th June 2018, a party of 13 spent the afternoon at Parliament visiting the House of Commons, Mass in the Chapel of the Palace of Westminster, and a tour of various parts where we were allowed access to. Now firstly, I need to point out that photography was not allowed except for inside Westminster Hall and therefore the shots we have are limited but it was a fantastic and exciting afternoon.
Our group, who consisted of our own members, wives, and one schoolboy (who had permission to represent his school), were joined by our Chaplain Father Jeff, and we allowed to witness daily life in Parliament and experience some of what was happening that day.
We were given a tour of Westminster Hall with its history and saw the plaque on the floor marking the place where Saint Thomas More was condemned to death.
We stood in the central lobby between the House of Commons and the House of Lords, saw a bound message being walked from the House of Lords to the House of Commons under instruction of the police guards to keep clear, and we were also allowed to go onto the balcony to view and listen to a debate taking place in the Commons which was quite vocal and heated, and it was good to see the Speaker of the House taking issue with the tone and the aggressiveness of comments exchanged between two opposing MPs at the time.
Once a week at 6pm there is a Catholic Mass, and we were invited to attend this by Sir David Amess MP. The Chapel of Saint Mary Undercroft, which was a beautiful setting to celebrate Mass, was formerly for the Royal household, and it was special that we were able to be there for such an occasion and on the Feast of Saint Anthony of Padua.
After Mass, Canon Pat Browne and Sir David gave us an explanation about certain features in and around the Chapel, including the cupboard just outside the Chapel where a suffragette Emily Wilding Davidson hid herself overnight and later threw herself in front of the Kings horse at the Derby. Here is a link with more information about this:-
We continued the tour which included the terrace and on leaving joined the tube station straight from site without having to go out onto the streets. A quick getaway one could say!
