There’s Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson on his horse presiding over the square named in honour of the Battle of Trafalgar, which the British won in 1805.

Four lions guard the nearby 145 ft. 3 in.-tall Corinthian-style column (not pictured here) that supports a statue of Nelson at the top.

According to Wikipedia, Edwin Landseer, the sculptor of the bronze lions, is said to have used as a model, a lion that had died at the zoo, but it took him so long to get the pre-sculpting sketches done, that the model lion was beginning to decompose. It is said that the paws of the lions look more like cats’ feet than lions’ paws. I guess he should have worked faster.

The square is a popular tourist attraction, just a short walk from Charing Cross Station in Central London. At the time of this photo, cameras (real ones) were popular among tourists. I didn’t see a single person with a cell phone. At the time, they had only been invented four years earlier.

And the pigeons! I think there’s a good chance that the woman in the checkered skirt, on the left of the photo, had to wash her red top after having pigeons roosting on her shoulders and arms. I suppose the birds were fun to feed, but nowadays when we hear so much about bird flu, I wonder how wise it is to spend time so close to so many birds.  Those poor birds! – Walking around in each other’s droppings as they eat the questionable food the tourists throw their way.

The birds were discouraged from coming there sometime after 2000.  Whether we approve of the methods or not, anti-pigeon wires and regular visits by Harris hawks were used. It is now illegal to feed the pigeons at Trafalgar Square.

What do you think? Is it a good idea to let pigeons congregate in such numbers? People are obviously enjoying them, but….