"For most of its history, Downing Street was accessible to the public. There had always been some security at Number 10 but it was minimal: a police officer standing guard. The front door has no keyhole on the outside. A second officer is on duty in the entrance hall to open it for the Prime Minister.

Gates were installed at both ends of the street during the premiership of Margaret Thatcher due to terrorist threats. On February 7, 1991, the Provisional IRA used a white van parked in Whitehall to launch a mortar shell at Number 10. It exploded in the back garden, blowing in the windows of the Cabinet Room while Prime Minister John Major was holding a Cabinet meeting. Major moved to Admiralty House while repairs were completed. Because of this actual attack, heavier security measures were imposed, if not always visible."

But it's pretty cool you could right up to the door until 1992, I remember going to peep with my parents as a kid.

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Now the only horse shit around Downing Street is what politicians talk, so they're just decorative now.

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The design changes every year, my favorite was the glitter one circa 1998.

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