I’m with him… An Extra Special Treat!

This weekend I was extremely lucky and got the chance to visit 10 Downing Street!

Just over a year ago I found out that it was a possibility, I came very, very close but got turned away at the last moment. Finally, this weekend everything lined up and I was allowed through those famous gates.

But how I hear you ask?

Nothing to do with me, unfortunately I’m not that important but apparently my stepfather is. For anyone serving in military or police there’s an often unknown perk to the job, You’re able visit Downing street, get a little bit of the history and most importantly get your picture outside the number 10!

And as you can see, you’re able to drag your family along with you…

Kirsty and the famous door 

Interesting facts from my visit:

Shaky foundations

In the 1700’s the property was given as gift to the first prime minister of the United Kingdom. However instead of accepting it in his own name, he accepted it as the prime minister ensuring it stayed part of history forever.

In fact, it’s very lucky that he did accept it this way – it has cost a lot of money over the years to actually keep the house standing. Unfortunately George Downing didn’t take the due care and attention back in 1600. He built the houses on soft soil with very shallow foundations, which meant that the whole road wasn’t the most stable.  Over the years there has been constant renovations, digging down deeper to try and fix the problem.

Supposedly it would have been cheaper to knock down the whole house brick by brick and the rebuild it than what they actually did, but no one wanted to demolish 10 Downing Street. 

What colour are the bricks of Downing Street?

London used to be very smoggy which turned the bricks of Downing Street black, back in the 60s someone decided to power wash the front of 10 and 11 and they discovered that the bricks are a sandy colour…. Can you imagine it?

Neither could the people in government, soon after they painted the exterior black, and the mortar is hand painted silver. They have to do this every ten years now to ensure it stays its old smoggy self.

Downing Street Sign

IRA bombings

Downing street is still counted as a public right of way however in 1982 the Police erected gates to protect one of the most famous addresses in the world. In 1989 the gates we know today were finally put in place.

This did not stop the IRA bombing in 1991. They had planned to throw mortar bombs over the back end of Downing Street. The night before they marked an X on the road where the transit van needed to stop to make sure they bombed the building. Luckily for us it snowed over night and they couldn’t find the X – and stopped a little short. This meant they only bombed the garden!

Finally and most importantly, they have a cat to chase away mice!