The Tower of London is a familiar place to me.
Not, I’m happy to say, because I’ve languished in one of the many dungeons, but from annual holidays to London to visit my grandparents when I was a kid. A trip to the Tower was always on the agenda, leading to a well-worn family joke that we had to call the Bloody Tower the Woody Tower to avoid swearing. The joke was all the funnier having been made by my dad, an inveterate curser.
As you can see from the photo below, I can get overwhelmed by too much sightseeing.
I’m still the same today; I love touring galleries, museums and ancient buildings — to a point. Once that point is reached I need to spend time outside, looking at birds, sky and green things, or I get whiney. Just ask Phillip.
That’s how I came to meet the York Ghost Merchant, but that’s another story for another blog post …
A morning at the Tower is perfect for me because I don’t need to go into any of the buildings, having toured them all before; I just spend a few hours on my own wandering the grounds and catching up with Tower ravens I’ve met before and getting to know some of the newcomers.
According to the Tower of London website, there are currently seven ravens living at the Tower — Jubilee, Harris, Poppy, Georgie, Edgar, Branwen and Rex.
On the day I was at the Tower, it seemed to be Poppy, Georgie and and Jubilee’s turn for tourist entertaining duties. I did glimpse a couple of the others, but they were mostly having a quiet day out of the limelight while the three I mentioned were holding court between the White Tower and the Jewel House.
This is the beautiful Poppy, who wears a red leg band.
The first time I met her, back in 2019, she had a bit of a shoe fetish, pecking at the footwear of numerous startled tourists. Five years later, she still seems to like interacting with the human visitors, but with less of a foot focus.
Poppy preening
Above: Poppy pacing and flapping on the Tower parapets. I’m not sure if she was considering flying off to see the wider world, but you can see that her wings are clipped, discouraging longer journeys.
Her Poppyship
Next, I met Jubilee who’s been at the Tower since 2012. I didn’t “meet” him on my 2019 visit so I really enjoyed spending time watching him this year. He wears a blue leg band.
You can see the Jewel House is reflected in his eye and, while it IS the stated role of the ravens to protect all things royal, I can’t help wondering if his mischievous mind occasionally turns to the logistics of a heist. Some of those sparkly things would look mighty fine in a raven’s nest …
When not considering raven larceny, Jubilee likes to show off his contortionist’s skills.
Above: Jubilee takes a few quiet raven moments
Making sure his feathers look their best
Like most of the Tower ravens, Jubilee seems to consider the human visitors just part of the furniture
Jubilee makes an announcement
Jubilee is rarely alone, having bonded with a younger Tower raven, Georgie. She was born at the Tower in 2019 and I heard one of the tour guides mention that she and Jubilee are inseparable.
Indeed, for most of the time I was at the Tower the two of them were not only close together, but also conducting intimate musical conversations. They made their clacking duets frequently while I was there, ignoring the river of human conversation going on all around them.
Georgie wears a pink leg band
She does a little posing for the tourists on her own
Another Jubilee and Georgie duet, this one conducted with the accompaniment of an occasional whistle from a tourist eager for them to turn his way for a photo.
Damn paparazzi!
By now, I’d overheard the tour guides relating the harrowing details of Ann Boleyn’s beheading one too many times, and thought the ravens could probably do with one less photographer vying for their attention, so it was time to say farewell.
I didn’t meet the new Raven Master as he was a bit busy …
I did meet the old Raven Master, Chris Skaife, on my last visit and I’d hoped to chat with him again this time but, unfortunately, it was his day off. Better planning needed for my next trip!
I left Jubilee and Georgie still posing for the tourists … and still in front of the Jewel House.
Keep an eye out for Great Raven Jewel Heist headlines in the near future …
OK, you distract the Yeoman warders and I’ll just swoop in …
I have made a small collection of prints from some of the photographs taken at the Tower of London earlier this year. Let me know if there are others you’d like to see as prints!
SHOP TOWER OF LONDON RAVEN PRINTS >
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