"Quickies" 14 - The Globe

On my recent trip to London I went on a walkabout with my camera to see what I could see. London is so big and so old that you never know what you might stumble upon.

This particular part of the city was heavily bombed during World War 2 so that it is a mix of ancient and modern. The ancient sometimes being the bits that the bombs missed and sometimes the bits that the bombs revealed. In this case The Globe is a bit that the bombs missed although it is surrounded by direct hits, revealed by the fact that there are tall glass towers in abundance right next door.

This was an interesting plaque outside, which prompted me to take the photos. My local in Devon is also called The Globe. Although my local does not date from the time of Charles I it is fairly old. What I didn't know was the connection with Portugal. England's ties with Portugal go a long way back and we have been allies for centuries. Our two countries still have the oldest active peace treaty or alliance, ever formed between two nations.

The Anglo-Portuguese Alliance is the oldest alliance that is still in force by political bilateral agreement. It was established by the Treaty of Windsor in 1386, between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Portugal, though the countries were previously allied via the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 1373.

Since the signing of the Treaty of Windsor, the Kingdom of Portugal and the Kingdom of England, and later the modern Portuguese Republic and United Kingdom, have never waged war against each other, nor have they participated in wars on opposite sides as independent states. Wikipedia

Over the road from The Globe is this ordinary looking modern office block which has a great secret which I will explain in my next post. There are abundant clues though, in this post.