Woman in Parliament

Bored by my inability to get everything in the frame,
a uniformed policeman kindly offered to take our photo.

My children are growing up and their interests are taking a more definite shape.  And so are those of their friends.
Dan, who has appeared regularly in this blog, currently has an internship at Westminster.  Nigel and I were completely chuffed to be taken by him on a tour of the Houses of Parliament.
In the House of Commons, we traced with our fingers the places where the despatch boxes had been rubbed shiny by the elbows of politicians.  In the House of Lords, we put on our sunglasses to view the gilded throne of the monarch, so magnificent it is almost camp.  We touched, with our own hands, the dent where Black Rod has damaged the door to the Commons with his vigorous knocking.

Emily Wilding Davison's broom cupboard.

Best of all was Dan's favourite spot  - the broom cupboard where Emily Wilding Davison concealed herself overnight so that the 1911 Census was forced to record that there was a woman in Parliament.
All around us was Puginesque detail, gilded, painted and carved, but we spent the most time photographing one another in the cleaners' cupboard.
Thanks for a wonderful evening, Dan.