The best of Chelsea by the people who know - Cadogan

51 | INSIDER | Chelsea, past and present
The Insider’s Guide
to Chelsea, past
and present
National Army Museum
As a long-time Chelsea resident, I think it
must be one of the best places – if not
the best place – to live in London, which
itself is the most vibrant and cosmopolitan
city in the world.
My chief joy is walking round the
streets, squares and places that make
Chelsea a village within a city. The most
special places are the Royal Hospital
Chelsea, which is still doing what it has
been doing for more than 300 years; the
Chelsea Physic Garden; the National
Army Museum, which is brilliant for
children (and, in my case, grandchildren);
and Duke of York Square, which – thanks
to an inspired redevelopment as London’s
newest public square – is a meeting
place for all ages.
Then there are the wonderful churches,
such as Chelsea Old Church, where
my wife and I were married, as was
my widowed mother on her second
marriage. Her mother’s funeral took
place there, which is appropriate as
she did so much to raise funds for its
rebuilding after bomb damage.
Also, there is the chapel at the Royal
Hospital Chelsea – where my ex-soldier
By Sir Michael Craig-Cooper
CBE TD DL, who has lived most
of his life in Chelsea and has
held several important posts
in the area.
Following National Service in
Combined Operations, he was
articled to a solicitor and
undertook many unpaid
voluntary roles in the service
of Chelsea, the Royal Borough
and Greater London. He served
as a councillor for the Hans
Town Ward, during which time
he was chairman of the
Council's Finance Committee
for two years, and then served
as one of the last of the
aldermen. Having served in the
Territorial Army for many years,
he was a deputy lieutenant
for Greater London and the
representative deputy
lieutenant for the Royal
Borough of Kensington and
Chelsea until his promotion to
Vice Lord-Lieutenant in 2005 –
a role he completed in 2011.
He is currently president of the
Friends of the Royal Hospital
Chelsea and is a trustee of the
Thames Diamond Jubilee
Pageant Foundation, as well as
serving as vice president of the
Reserve Forces and Cadets
Association of Greater London
son was married and his two children
christened – Holy Trinity Sloane Street,
St Luke’s in Sydney Street, and many
others I have connections to.
It is a great privilege to live in
Hans Town which, until the reorganisation
of London local government in the
late 1800s, was the oldest secular unit
of local government under its commissioners
outside the City of London.
It was an additional privilege to represent
it on the council for six years and as an
alderman for a further four.
The Wren Chapel at the
Royal Hospital Chelsea