Day 22 – Royal Observatory, Greenwich and Windsor Castle

---

Our Day started with a drive to the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, London. The Observatory lies in Greenwich Park which is huge which lawns, sporting grounds and courts and a great view out over London.

The Observatory is where we get Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and you can stand on the Prime Meridian which is 0 Longitude. There is also an interesting museum on the creation of accurate time and ships chronometers which were critical in determining navigational position before more advanced methods.

An interesting point to note is that we have now stood on both possible Meridians during this trip, the Prime Meridian in London and the proposed alternate in Paris, the Rose Line.

Once we had visited the Observatory we took a drive along the M25 London Ring Road to Windsor Castle. This is the traditional family home of the Queen and Family and is very interesting to wander through. On display here is Queen Mary’s Dollhouse which is huge, includes a garden and garage, has hot and cold running water and working lavatories.

The Royal Apartments are as with Buckingham Palace breathtaking. There are walls full of ancient arms: flintlock muskets and pistols, sabres, armour etc. Windsor is full of wood in comparison to Buckingham palace which is sculpture and ornate stone carved architecture. The carvings of the ceilings, doors, hallways, etc are extremely detailed. Much of the area we viewed was rebuilt after the fires of 1992, although new it loses none of the majesty of the place.

We also visited St George’s Chapel which includes tombs and monuments to many of the Windsors including the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret. Here also lies King Henry the VIII in a tomb under the Chapel.

We stopped in the Crooked House of Windsor which stands “crooked” due to bring built with uncured oak, but also is said to contain a secret passage from the basement which was used by kings for illicit affairs and moving goods into the castle kitchens.

Following a walk through the town of Windsor and the purchase of a few souvenirs, we drove to our overnight stop in Andover.

---