Tourists in Old London Town

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Part XV

11th June Sunday

We had to be on the coach by 09:45, as we had to catch the Eurostar at the Gare du Nord and this left at 11:30. Naturally we had some latecomers! We got a last look at Paris as we drove through the centre to the train station.

We could not really fault the hotel, it was clean and comfortable and the breakfasts were extremely good and filling.

At the Gard du Nord we just all followed Patrick and went through customs to the waiting area. Linda found a shop selling cheese so she bought some to use up some spare Euros. When it was eaten a couple of days later it was divine. We were disappointed in that there was no Duty Free as such anymore but we had only a few days and we would be at Heathrow. The journey back was uneventful and we arrived back at Waterloo Station on time, collected our big suitcase and we were on the Bakerloo tube line to Kensal Green before too long.

The weather had changed for the better and it was really warm in London, little did we know that we were in for a heatwave in the coming days.

When we got to Kensal Green, Susie (a Kiwi friend of Di’s) with whom we were staying had told us that there were 40 steps up to street level and it was hard going. Poor Howard got lumbered with the big case and Linda had the backpack, holdall, handbag and laptop - so she was fully laden but made it to the top, no problem. A nice couple offered to give Howard a hand, for which he was very grateful and got to the street in no time.

We had also been told there was a pub not far from the tube station and we might like to make a pit stop there…………we did! Apparently the pub had recently been refurbished and boasted a beer garden so we went and sat outside surrounded by our cases. The Mason’s Arms was packed with unlikely looking patrons for such a rundown area of London with some very nice cars parked outside! It was the first time in yeas that either of us had seen people drinking Pimms. There were also jugs of beer, which had not been seen in Britain before - perhaps it is a southern thing and Linda was unaware! Also people had bottles of wine on the table not drinking by the glass. There was a BBQ going to and a World Cup match on the big screen TV. We had a couple of drinks and then gave Susie a call. She was at a friend’s having a few wines and said she would join us at the Mason’s soon.

When Susie came we had a few more drinks and by this time it was getting near the time to find something to eat. We staggered round to Susie’s flat, which was only about five minutes up the road, dropped off the cases and went to the local Persian restaurant for a takeaway. Not eaten Persian before and it was very nice indeed.

Susie lives in a small one bedroom flat just outside the congestion zone in poorer area of town with a lot of ethnic people. For this she pays £645 per month ($1568) and £82 for a monthly tube ticket ($200). This is what you have to do if you want to live alone and not share with other people.
12th June Monday

Today we were “doing” London, so were up early and bought a visitor’s day pass for the tube and first stop was Regent Street and the Tourist Information Bureau to pick up our London Passes which we had bought on the Net before leaving Australia. These Passes give you entrance to all the tourist places and you do not have to queue and, if you do your planning right, can work out very much cheaper.

Found the place easily but then there was one large problem…………………. The paperwork was back at Susie’s in the case!!!!!! Linda had to think very hard as to the date when the Passes were purchased and could not access the computer at home as the information was not on hotmail or yahoo, which can be accessed from anywhere. Near to tears but thinking hard she remembered and the nice man was able to access our details from his database and issue the Passes. Not a good moment for the trip organizer.

As we were close by we walked down to the Mall and St James Park and were in time to see the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards leave St James’s Palace accompanied by the band of the Coldstream Guards, and march down the Mall to Buckingham Palace. There were far too many tourists about so we didn’t stay to watch the Changing of the Guard and carried on our tour down Birdcage Walk. Up until 1828 only the
Hereditary Grand Falconer (the Duke of St Albans) and the Royal Family could drive down here. Then along Queen Anne’s Gate to the tube station, as we wanted to get to Embankment and get the tour boat down (free with London Pass) the River Thames to Greenwich. There was a commentary on board which made the trip very informative and we thoroughly enjoyed our trip, seeing a lot of places and learning a lot too.

We started at Westminster Bridge and went up river a short distance so we could see the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben (the 16 ton bell not the building’s name) a bit closer then we turned around and headed downstream and passed Cleopatra’s Needle on the left bank and under Waterloo Bridge.

Pharaoh Thotmes III first erected this obelisk in Egypt around 1500BC. It was presented to the British people in 1819 in recognition of Nelson’s victory over the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile in 1798.

We got a glimpse of St Paul’s Cathedral - Wrens masterpiece took 35 years to build. Work started in 1675 during the reign of Charles II to replace the old St Paul’s destroyed in the Great Fire of London of 1666. Its 365ft (110m) high dome is slightly smaller than St Peters in Rome. Whilst on the right bank we saw the reconstructed Globe Theatre where William Shakespeare acted in his plays in the original some 400 years ago. Then we were right in front of the New London Bridge. The original, built in 1831 has been in Lake Havasu, Arizona since 1962. They buyer thought he was getting Tower Bridge!!!

Next was Tower Bridge where people could get off to visit the Tower of London and HMS Belfast, but we chose to do that later.

The Tower of London was opened in 1894 and measuring 800ft (240m) between the two towers, which house the machinery for raising the bascules (French for see-saw) (each weighing about 1000 tons) in 90 seconds.

Two massive piers had to be sunk into the riverbed to support the construction; over 11,000 tons of steel provided the framework for the Towers and Walkways. This was then clad in Cornish granite and Portland stone, both to protect the underlying steelwork and to give the Bridge a more pleasing appearance.

Pirates and smugglers were executed at Execution Dock which we passed on the left bank. They were hanged in irons, washed by three tides and then cut down. The bodies of some were gibbeted in an iron cage down river at Tilbury as a warning to others. Infamous Captain Kidd was executed here in 1701.

Then it was the Angel Pub, dating back to the 15th century where the hosts would have been monks from Bermondsey Priory. In the 17th and 18th centuries Samuel Pepys, the famous diarist, and purportedly Captain Cook, frequented it.

There seemed to be a great many pubs along this stretch as next was the Prospect of Whitby. Built in 1520, the name of this famous pub comes from the coal-carrying vessels from Whitby that used to anchor here. Visited by many famous people, including Charles Dickens, Judge Jeffreys and the artists Whistler and Turner.

Canary Wharf and other new developments on a 70-acre site, formerly the West India Docks, are one of the largest civil engineering projects ever under-taken. Startling and innovative architecture have made the area a bustling new financial centre, complete with shops, restaurants and new residential complexes. At 800ft (240m) the tower at Canary Wharf (One Canada Square) is the tallest building in Britain. A walk down Blood Alley among the old warehouses gives excellent views. Cabot Square offers an impressive range of shops, bars and restaurants
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Further back upstream was Katherine Dock built by Thomas Telford in 1826 and designed to handle particularly valuable cargoes such as ivory, tea and silver. Now a commercial, residential and recreational area housing a yacht marina and a number of restaurants. It was one of the first of London’s old docks to be transformed.

The Thames wound its way down to Greenwich and we disembarked and made for the Cutty Sark the fastest and most famous of the tea clippers and the only one still in existence (another free entry with our Passes). She was preserved in Greenwich partly as a memorial to the men of the merchant navy, particularly those who lost their lives in the world wars.

The Cutty Sark was launched in Dumbarton, Scotland (some of Howard’s ancestors are from here) in 1869 and now there is a big drive on for funds to restore the rotting hull. Cutty is Scottish for “short” and Sark for “shift” as the ship is named for the Robbie Burn’s poem “Tam O’Shanter” and one of the witches - Nell - was wearing a short chemise when she grabbed his horse’s tail.

It was now approaching lunchtime so we made for a pub rather than try the eels in the pie and eel shop we came cross - a Londoner’s delicacy which is best left to them we thought….. Our excuse was that it was too hot for a cooked meal!

We needed our lunch as the sustenance it gave got us to the top of a steep climb to the Royal Observatory, home of the prime meridian and Greenwich Mean time where east meets west. The Royal Observatory was founded in 1675 by Charles II specifically to solve the problem of longitude when at sea.

From here we decided to use the Docklands Light Railway - trains without drivers, very efficient and fast - to get to the Tower of London. We could get in here with our London Passes and saw the famous ravens and had a good look around

The Yeoman Warders at the Tower are recruited from the Royal Marines, the Army and the Royal Air Force and must have attained the rank of Warrant Officer, Staff Sergeant or Flight Sergeant. Apparently they are not to be called “Beefeaters’ as it is something of a derogatory term.

It was pretty hot in London today and they were giving water out on the underground. We found the tube station and made our way to Harrods’s, as Howard wanted to see it. We then took a London taxi to Hamley’s the toy shop as we had promised to buy two Paddington Bears from there for a client of Howard’s. it is a remarkable shop with seven floors of toys and the salespeople seemed to enjoy themselves as much as the children. Howard was quite taken with a huge off-road remote controlled car but managed to resist temptation.

Tonight we went to the local Portuguese restaurant in Kensal Green, which was excellent.

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Photos

London Buses on Waterloo Bridge
...St Paul's Cathedral in the background

Tower of London from the River Thames
....and Traitor's Gate

Sir Walter Raleigh's Desk
...at the Tower of London

Guarding the Queen's Representative
...at the Tower of London

Figurehead of the Cutty Sark
Nell holding Meg, Tam O'Shanter's horse's tail

Prime Meridian of the World
Where East meets West