Greenwich
We took a day trip to Greenwich to see the Cutty Sark and Royal Observatory. On my last trip to Greenwich, I discovered the Greenwich Foot Tunnel, that links the Isle of Dogs to Greenwich. It was built to replace the unreliable ferry service that allowed workers to cross the Thames to their jobs on the docks and shipyards. We got off the tube at Island Gardens and walked the 370-meter tunnel to come out on the other side of the Thames and near the great cutter ship.
We took the tube from Greenwich back, though. We wandered quickly through the Cutty Sark, had a spot of tea and a biscuit in the cafe below her belly, then headed through the Old Royal Naval College grounds on our way to the Royal Observatory.
There were things that I wanted a closer inspection of at the Observatory; things that I did not give enough time to on my previous visit. On my last visit, the Red Time Ball was being repaired. This time, we were there to watch its climb to the top of the shaft, then drop suddenly at precisely 1:00 pm. It was rather anticlimactic, but it was still wonderful to see an event that has occurred every day (except when being repaired) since 1833 to help mariners synchronize their clocks – a vital key to their navigation.
To read about my previous trip click the link:
https://adventures.worldnomads.com/members/articles/edit.aspx?i=149122
Ed did not seem too interested in exploring the Observatory further, so we headed back down the Greenwich Park hill to have a snack at the Greenwich Tavern. From there we went to the Maritime Museum. We did not have a lot of time, as it was getting late in the day. We did see enough to whet our desire to come back the next day.
Outside the Museum, along the perimeter of the grounds, sit numerous anchors. I never really thought about how big and heavy an anchor must be in order to hold a huge ship fast. I stood beside a 4 tonnes, 14 x 9.75 foot anchor – it made me look pretty small. There was also a cutter-head dredger that weighed 11 tonnes!
Outside the museum doors is a huge ship in a bottle. It is a 1:30 replica of Horatio Nelson's flagship, HMS 'Victory”, on which he died during the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805. Its details include 80 guns and 37 sails set, as on the day of battle. Inside the museum, we saw the uniform Nelson was wearing when the fatal musket ball hit his left shoulder. The bullet hole remains.
Other interesting features of the museum took us through the history of tea and pepper. For instance, in 1677 over 8 million pounds of pepper was imported. In 1801, 31.5 million pounds of tea was imported. In 1833, the government collected 22.7 million pounds (1.8 billion today) in taxes. The East India Trading Company controlled half a million square miles of territory in India and ruled around 93.7 million people. Lots of facts and figures, but it tells the story of how greed and power brought about wars and slavery.
Britain wanted Chinese tea, porcelain and silk. The Chinese wanted silver, but nothing else the British had for trade. Huge amounts of silver were leaving Britain. To get their silver back, the British started buying Indian opium and selling it illegally in China, but only accepting silver as payment. By 1839, opium sales to China were paying for the entire tea trade. The resulting widespread addiction to the Chinese population was causing serious social and economic problems. That same spring the Chinese government confiscated and destroyed 1400 tons of the drug that were warehoused by British merchants. The merchants were pissed!
Diplomatic relations were already strained because the British thought the Chinese were uncooperative with allowing them only one port, Canton, to be used by western merchants. The war was on! The Chinese finally signed an agreement on 18 January 1841 by which Hong Kong became a British territory. But that was not good enough, the British wanted compensation for the opium confiscated (really??) and the costs of the war, the opening of further ports to international trade and the establishment of diplomatic relations. After more fighting, the war finally ended in August 1842. A treaty was signed allowing the British to “carry on their mercantile transactions with whatever persons they please”. It also committed the Chinese to free trade, including the trade in opium. More ports were available to all traders and the Chinese paid for reparations.
The slave trade was just as bad. This is a brief history of the Triangular Trade Route. Ships would go to Africa, grab a bunch of slaves, take them to America where they would be sold to work on sugar, coffee, tobacco and cotton plantations. The cheap goods were shipped to Britain where they were sold in order to pay for the voyage back to Africa. By the 1820's eight million Africans were forcibly brought to the Americas. In the same period, only 2.5 million Europeans crossed the Atlantic. So if you don't like all the black people in America, blame your plantation owning great-grandpa and his European sugar-crazy relatives.
That said, many Britons were against slavery. They protested not only by signing petitions – with the greatest number of names on one particular subject – with over 400,000 names, but they also abstained from eating sugar. At a time when women had no vote, their kitchen and culinary non-voices played a huge part in the protest.
There were lots of whimsical facts at the museum, as well. For instance, sailors had no formal uniform prior to 1857. However, they wore distinctive loose trousers, checkered shirts, neckerchiefs, waistcoats, and jackets. This doesn't sound too distinctive, except for the fact that most men in Britain wore breeches and stockings at that time. Sailors did not wear shoes on board the ship. However, they did keep fashionable clothing, including shoes, to wear ashore to make an impression.
The regular sailor may not have had shoes for everyday use, but one particular Admiral Rodney had his image sculpted onto the lip of a jug. Now that is egotistical!
The Queen's House
The Queen's House is joined to the Maritime Museum by a long covered colonnade.
The Queen's House was commissioned in 1616 by King James I as an apology gift to his Queen, Anne of Denmark, for swearing at her when she accidentally killed one of his hounds during a hunt. And we think flowers and a night out is a good apology! The work began the following year, but poor Queen Anne died in 1619 and did not see the apology gift to fruition. Henrietta Maria, queen consort of King Charles I, saw to its completion in 1636. Royal families used the house until 1805 when George III granted the House to a charity for orphans of seamen and was used as a school used until 1933. It was then taken over by the National Maritime Museum. Today it is famous for its art collections – most famously Elizabeth I's Armada Portrait, which commemorates the failed invasion of England by the Spanish Armada in 1588. It was the most famous conflict of her reign.
It is a simple looking building, however, due to its position, it speaks of majesty. From the southern side, a grand balcony overlooks Greenwich Park. On the northern side, a wide fine gravelled path, lined with twisted boxwood, leads up to the double curved stairs framing the visitor entry door. The colonnades seem to frame the building, giving the impression of leading to the Queen's House rather than away from it.
Entering the building, it seemed rather drab. We walked through a side alcove that gave a short video history on the design and the architect, Inigo Jones. From that small room, we climbed some stairs and were gob-smacked to see the Great Hall.
It is a perfect cube in shape and has a striking black and white marble floor in a geometric pattern. There are absolutely no wall hangings, thereby drawing the attention strictly to the floor. Once we got past the floor design, we saw the first-floor gallery above us. Further up, the ceiling of the Hall has a square within a square (like a lopsided tic-tac-toe board) with a huge circle filling the middle square and four smaller circles filling the corner squares. From the floor, it looked like exposed wooden beams in a nice pattern and rather plain, but up close it was anything but plain.
The wooden beams were carved into an almost herringbone pattern and completely covered in gold leaf. Each space within the herringbone had a small rose carved. At the crossbeams, larger roses were carved. The ceiling itself looked like it was covered in a whimsical wallpaper. In fact, it was hand drawn and each whimsical wisp was gold leaf, as well. The walls were painted in the same pattern. From far away, it was not even noticeable, but up close it was gorgeous.
Huge windows overlooked the Thames. Queen Mary had asked that the Royal Naval College did not block her view of the Thames, and the request was granted when Sir Christopher Wren designed the College buildings. The promenade between the buildings now frames the view.
Just off from the Great Hall were the famous Tulip Stairs. Looking up, the delicate spiral staircase seemed to draw us up into the sky through the circular glass window in the ceiling. This is the first unsupported spiral staircase in Britain. Each tread is cantilevered from the wall and supported by the stair below. The ornate wrought iron is formed into tulips (but more likely lilies – the royal flower of France and a nod to Henrietta Maria) and is painted smalt blue. It was striking against the stark white walls and steps.
The remaining rooms were filled with beautiful works of art. There were paintings, sculptures, pottery, and relics of everyday items. One such item was the Chatelaine. Every lady in waiting was an expert in needlework and this utility belt also doubled as a fashion accessory. It was a handy, yet ornate, chain belt that held a thimble holder, pin cushion, potpourri (they rarely bathed) and scissors.
Some of the sculptures were made of wood and others terracotta. The details were so intricate that the lace on Sir Walter Raleigh's picadil looked like someone had spray painted actual lace. The paintings were just as realistic. The painting of Philip II of Spain looked like actual brocade was glued onto the picture. Not all of the works of art were old, there were modern pieces as well.
The rooms, themselves, were works of art. Some ceilings had beams that were painted a vivid blue and decorated in gold leaf. Fireplaces had ornate figurines accentuating the mantle and side posts.
On the tube back, we took a detour to see the Emirates Air Line Cable Car.
Emirates Air Line Cable Car
Getting off the tube we made our way through a park and some suspended water noodles to find the Greenwich Peninsula Station.
The Emirates Air Line is a gondola cable car that crosses the Thames. It is part of London Transport and used as a commuter vehicle as well as a tourist attraction for a unique view of London. It is one kilometre long and stands at a height of 90 metres. It opened in July 2012, in time for the Olympics, at a cost of 60 million pounds ($104 million CDN) – up from the initial budget of 25 million pounds. Emirates stepped in to help with the cost in exchange for branding the cable car with the airline's name. There 34 gondolas in use at any one time and there is a crossing every 15 seconds. It can move 2500 passengers an hour in each direction. It takes 5 minutes to cross during rush hour and a leisurely 10 minutes in the off-peak times.
After paying our 8 pounds 40, and handed an “in-flight guide” we were instructed to enter the glass capsule as it made its way around. It was similar to getting on a ski-lift but slower. Once the capsule left the boarding area it sped up. There was commentary playing that complimented the guide as to points of interest as well as a brief talk on the gondola itself.
It was a spectacular ride and I was turning this way and that trying to take it all in. We had an incredible view of the London skyline and the snake-like curves of the River Thames. It was interesting to see the busy streets and trains from this high vantage point. It was also impossible to hide the decrepit old dock areas. Because of its close proximity, the O2 stuck out like a giant mushroom. There were sites that piqued our interest for future viewing and other things that we knew nothing about – like the Thames Barrier.
The Thames Barrier is a 520 metre barrier that keeps London from flooding. 10 gates hold back exceptionally high tides and storm surges moving in from the North Sea. Six large gates (weighing 3300 tons each) rise from the river and 4 smaller gates live above the water until needed. The gates are hollow and filled with water when in use. The gates work in pairs, starting from the outside and working in, so as to work in harmony with the flow of the river. If closed all together it would cause a rebound wave back up the river. Nothing is left to chance. If the computer fails, each gate has its own override. If that fails, good old manpower can move the gates. Also, even though there are two arms to move each gate, each arm is strong enough to raise and lower the gate on its own. The entire system can be up in 90 minutes. However, in an emergency, they can be up in 15 minutes. It has been operating since 1982 and has been used 183 times, an average of 5 times a year. Rising sea levels could push that up to 30 times a year. How did I not know about this??
We saw London City Airport that looks like a rectangular island in the middle of the river. We saw old Lyle Golden Syrup Factory and found out they give tours (something to consider on a future visit). Tate and Lyle have been making sugar products for 140 years – which puts them back into the slave days.
Across from the old Royal Victoria Docks were old brick warehouses, with huge silent cranes standing before them. I believe these warehouses have been converted to homes and businesses.
After we looped back to our starting point we disembarked and had a look through the Emirates Aviation Experience. Sticking out of the building was a Rolls-Royce Trent 900 Engine, which is much larger than I expected. Inside the building, the outer shell was stripped away and we could see the working guts of the engine itself. Considering the amount of time I spend on an airplane, I had to be impressed that this is what propels me up and through the air safely. I didn't understand the technology, but I certainly appreciate it!
There was also a flight deck simulator, where we could sit in a pilots chair and be mind-boggled at all the switches, dials and information screens. The buttons and switches completely covered the area in front of the seats and swept all the way over onto the roof above the seat. I could not help but think of our friend Bill, who flies for Air Canada. He actually KNOWS what everything is for.
There was a short video that took us through the life of our suitcase from the moment it disappeared on the conveyor belt to the moment we would collect it at our destination. There are 17,000 meters (17 kilometres) of conveyor belt in the airport. If we check in early, our bag goes to a holding conveyor, 46 kilometres long, that loops at 27 kph, constantly passing a scanner to read the bar code that indicates our destination. At a certain time prior to departure, the system automatically grabs our bag and sends it to the departure gate. Our bag is typically 2.5 kilometres away from your plane when we drop it off at the check-in counter. Upon landing, the bag goes directly to the claims belt and is only 1.4 kilometres long. This is with Emirates Airline, but the system is basically the same in every airport. The bigger the airport, the longer the system, which begs to ask, Why does it take so long for our luggage to arrive when we land in tiny YEG (Edmonton)?
The Air Line ride was interesting and informative. The Aviation Experience was very interesting and very informative. I recommend them both.
Bus Tour
Although I had been on the double-decker bus tour years ago, Ed had never been; so we decided to do the tourist thing and hop aboard. It was a different tour than what I had taken, and sometimes that is a good thing. I got to see some things that I had not seen before. The tour guide seemed to have her standard script, so when we got stuck in traffic she had nothing extra to say about things around us, or interesting stories about the history of London, in general, to keep us occupied and engaged.
However, I did learn that the famous red telephone booths are made of cast iron and that Monument Tube station is named after The Monument that commemorates the great fire of London.
We made a huge loop of London and went past the major sights – Trafalgar Square, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Westminster, Parliament, (Big Ben was behind scaffolding), St. Paul's Cathedral and Buckingham Palace, where we got off. Some other sights included the Dunamis sculpture in Park Lane, the Wellington Arch, RAF Bomber Memorial, the Ritz Hotel, the mounted guards, and 17 Fleet Street, a house that survived the 1666 fire.
We took a few pictures in front of Buckingham Palace and the Victoria Memorial before heading through Green Park to find the Hard Rock Cafe we had passed earlier on.
Ed had his heart set on a Hard Rock t-shirt. This is the original Hard Rock Cafe and had lots and lots of memorabilia from artists like Eric Clapton, Pete Townsend and Elton John. Surprisingly, Ed did not want to have lunch at the cafe, which I thought would be amazing.
I walked to the nearby RAF Bomber Command Memorial. It is a relatively new memorial, unveiled in 2012 to commemorate the 125,000 men who served in Bomber Command. Bomber Command was formed in 1936 and played a critical role in WWII. Nearly half the men, who were really only teenagers, lost their lives. Their sacrifice contributed to the victorious outcome of WWII.
It is a stark marble-like two-walled structure, with white pillars on the other two sides. Inside stand seven bronze statues of bomber soldiers depicting various roles – pilot, 3 gunners, navigator, radio operator and engineer. It was quite moving, with their sombre faces looking down at me.
Walking back to the Hard Rock Cafe, I had to pass through a tunnel to cross the street. On the walls of the tunnel were inscriptions on the history of various landmarks in that area. For example, the name Piccadilly derives from the early 17th century “picadils”, the large lace collar that was in vogue at the time. The area was home to noblemen and businessmen. Legend had it was named Piccadilly because of a landowner who made a fortune selling picadils.
After the Bus Tour, we made our way to the Adelphi Theatre to see Kinky Boots. It opened in September 2015 and this was its final year. It is a whimsical musical about a struggling shoemaker who befriends a flamboyant drag queen who complains that fetish footwear is made for women and not men. The struggling shoemaker takes a last-ditch attempt at saving his business by catering to the unique drag queen market. I'm not sure Ed cared for it, but I loved it.
The next day we went to Tower Bridge.
Tower Bridge
On 30 June 1894 Tower Bridge opened, over budget but at no cost to the taxpayer. How was this possible? The answer lies in a mysterious symbol that you'll notice appearing everywhere - on the tablets proclaiming the opening of the Bridge, on its flags, and often combined with the crest of the City of London Corporation. The symbol of the mysterious organization belongs to the Bridge House Estates. Part of the City of London but unknown to many, it has existed over many hundreds of years, long before the Tower Bridge was even imagined, silently working in the background.
Construction of London Bridge began in 1176 and was completed 33 years late, in 1209. In 1282, forward-thinking King Edward I (1239-1307) issued a Royal Charter that established the Bridge House Estates to care for the management, prepare for the inevitable maintenance and repairs, and set up financing for the possible rebuilding of London Bridge.
The Bridge House Estates original income was from taxes and bridge tolls on London Bridge as well as any fees and penalties paid by the vessels crossing under its arches and the drawbridge in the middle. It also benefited from bequests and the rent from the houses and businesses that stood on it.
The Bridge House Estates employed clerks, workmen and builders, supervised by the Bridgemaster. These workers could also be hired out by other businesses. Over the centuries it became very rich by investing its money wisely, mostly into property.
The Bridge House Mark (or Bridge Mark) has been the symbol of the Bridge House Estates for centuries. Its origins are hidden in the mists of time, but the mark first appears scribbled onto maps and plans in the 1500's. The symbol might have its origin with illiterate masons and carpenters marking materials reserved for the repairs of London Bridge with a few strokes of an axe or knife. Other theories link it to the ancient Chi Rho symbol of the early Christian church and the Roman Empire. Whatever its origins, William Leybourn, Surveyor of the City, gave the mark its final shape in the late 1600's.
One bridge became many and by the 19th century, the Bridge House Estates was in charge of London Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge and Southwark Bridge and from 1886 the Tower Bridge. In 2002 it added the Millennium Footbridge to its portfolio.
The Bridge House Estates still exists as a trust and is administered by the City of London Corporation today. It is responsible for the Barbican Arts Centre, the Central Criminal Court at the Old Bailey and several green spaces including Hampstead Heath and Epping Forest. Its administrative heart beats in Guildhall near Cheapside, the traditional centre of London.
Six City of London committees and sub-committees look after different areas of responsibility of the Bridge House Estates, guaranteeing the survival of its ancient role: Upkeep and maintenance of the four city bridges, operation of Tower Bridge, management of tourist and events elements of Tower Bridge, management of its assets worth 1.34 Billion pounds (thank you, King Edward I), costs, resources and business planning, and grantmaking.
The Bridge House Estates has a long tradition of supporting good causes. In 1995, in view of the surplus built up over the centuries, the City of London decided to establish the City Bridge Trust, which has become the largest independent giver of grants in the Greater London area. It provides around 20 million pounds every year for charitable activities supporting the most vulnerable in society.
The activities supported by City Bridge Trust include money for environmental initiatives, making buildings fully accessible, encouraging volunteering, services for older people, and work with the homeless. The Trust makes grants of various types and sized helping thousand of Londoners every year. Every single ticket sold at Tower Bridge helps to fund these activities.
We took the lift up and walked across the glass-floored walkway then descended on the other side. From there we walked to the opposite bank and entered the museum that showed us exactly how the bridge raises and lowers.
Technology has replaced men shovelling coal to keep the water heated to maintain the steam used to move the pistons.
30 people used to be employed in the engine room every day of the year. It once took 80 men wearing different hats to distinguish their position to maintain and lower the bridge, now it takes 12 with no distinguishing hats. The steam pump engines had 384 valves that had to be constantly monitored. The whole room would smell like sweet oil, which was much preferable to the boiler room that smelled of coal. The bridge used to be raised 20-30 a day, now it is raised only 20-30 times a week. Hand powered levers are no longer used, it is a joystick.
It takes 20,000 litres of paint to cover it. During WWII it was painted battleship grey to disguise it. Although the nearby Tower of London was it 15 times during the Blitz, Tower Bridge was not hit once.
Tower Bridge's Bascule Chambers were built as an operational area to allow for the movement of the Bridge's huge 422 ton counterweights used during Bridge Lifts, this cavernous brick-lined, subterranean space is normally out of bounds for everyday visitors. But, on rare occasions, this space is opened up for public use and provides a spectacular venue of acoustical delight for special events. People sit on the gigantic gear cogs. I mention this because the Bascule Chambers were hosting an event while we were in London this time. Alas, tickets were sold out months ago.
Flower Market
We all hopped on a bus one Sunday morning and headed to the Flower Market on Columbia Road. The Market started in 1869 as a covered food market boasting 400 stalls. It had a roller-coaster existence but has settled into the Sunday Flower Market hosting about 50 vendors. The second and third generation vendors begin setting up as early as 4:00 am for the 8:00-3:00 hours.
We walked past a few pubs and beautiful wall murals and entered Columbia Road. OMG! The people! It was a normal narrow street, lined on both sides by flower vendors. There were thousands of people. We had to squish past and through people, at times not even being able to raise our arms – which is really difficult when trying to take pictures. I was fearful for the grandchildren. How easy it would have been to become separated from them and they would have been completely lost in the crowd. I told Julian to hang onto me and NOT let go. Whenever I could not feel his tugging hand, I quickly looked down to see him looking terrified of the masses. Len finally boosted him up onto his shoulders. Michaela had taken Freya and waited for us at the end of the street with Ed.
Being fearful for the little ones aside, I loved, loved, loved it! There were flowers in every colour of the rainbow and of every variety. I took loads of pictures to add to my virtual flower garden. The vendors were yelling their prices out in strong Cockney accents, reminding me of the One Pound Fish Man. “3 for 5 pounds! Only 5 quid! Bring some home for the Misses.” I bought a bundle of sunflowers for 4 pounds. I think he was trying to sell off his flowers before the Market ended and he was stuck with them.
At the end of the street, there were buskers playing a washboard, french horn, guitar, and base. They were very lively playing and singing. We stood, watched, listened and danced a bit. I bought a CD. Walking away from the Market, we passed Ravenscroft Park, where a young man was playing very calming techno music. I bought a CD from him as well.
We were not sure if some street signs were gags or for real, but one official looking sign said “Crack Pickup Point” and another said “Give way to Oncoming drug dealers”. Very odd.
A bit of trivia: There is a 2015 movie called Legend about twin gangsters, Ronald and Reginald Kray. The Kray brothers lived near the Columbia Flower Market. In the movie, one of the brothers buys flowers for his girlfriend, which we assume was from the Flower Market. This fits right in with us seeing Bobbies interrogating pickpockets at the Market. With so many people squashed together and always being jostled about, it is pickpocket heaven.
Another bit of trivia: How did Bobbies get their name? Sir Robert Peel (1778-1850) created a police force that was accountable to and protected the common citizen from robbers and thieves. It was hugely successful and the officers were nicknamed after their founder Bobbie (Robert) Peel. For a time they were called Peelers. We know why that name didn't stick!
Leaving the Market we began to head toward home. This time we walked, as the weather had turned lovely and warm. The kids got tired and hungry so we stopped at a small restaurant, the didn't have the greatest of food, but they did have a large fish tank which kept the kids entertained while we waited.
From there we walked over some Canals and made our way to Victoria Park. There we found another market. This one was selling food items where we bought some olives and honey. Further along in the Park, we came to an ice cream truck. There were many, many ice cream trucks in the park, but this one was really clean – which they normally are not. Len felt compelled to compliment the man on his clean truck. He thanked Len then offered the kids a free cone. Well, how can you say no to the kids after they heard that! In the end, the man gave us each a cone then posed for a perfect ice cream man picture.
We came to a playground (there are many within the Park) that had a water feature. Kids could pump water from an old fashioned pump jack and control how it flowed by adjusting flaps in the pipes leading away from the pump. From there, the water flowed into a small creek that joined up with a larger creek that ran from a small pond. The kids stripped off their coats, then shirts, and began to play in the water. Eventually, Freya was down to just her knickers. People in the UK are not as paranoid as North American's. No one seemed to notice our little girl running around in just her underpants because their kid was also running around in underpants.
After the kids were tired of playing, we had some drinks and something to eat in the courtyard of People's Park Tavern before heading home in an Uber.
Kew Gardens
I wanted to go to the Kew Gardens but Ed isn't as interested flowers as I am, and he gets tired of waiting for me to take hundreds of pictures of flowers, so I went alone.
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a botanical garden in southwest London that houses the “largest and most diverse botanical and mycological (study of fungi) collections in the world.” It houses more than 30,000 different kinds of plants. The herbarium contains over seven million preserved plant specimens, collected over 170 years, from around the world. It is a World Heritage Site and is one of London's top tourist attractions.
Royal residences began in 1299. Around 1600 the land around was known as Kew Field. Later into the 1600's Lord Capel John of Tewkesbury extended an existing exotic garden. Future royals expanded and added to the gardens and also built several garden structures, including the Chinese Pagoda. It now covers 132 hectares (330 acres). It is also very instrumental in preserving rare and threatened varieties of plants as well as assisting in forensic cases where plant material is evidence in criminal cases.
It is not just a big park with lots of flowers, there are four Grade 1 listed buildings (buildings of outstanding merit where every effort should be taken to preserve them) and 36 Grade 3 buildings (buildings of some merit where some effort should be taken). It is also located in an internationally significant landscape as a Grade 1 site.
Getting off the tube, I basically followed the crowd past some quaint shops, through a residential area and easily found the Kew Gardens. I qualified for their senior's discount (woo-hoo), took my map of the grounds and entered.
The massive grounds with little paths leading this way and that was not what I was expecting. After wandering a bit, I spotted the Palm House down a path. It is massive! It looked like a glass submarine sitting on top of the ground and surrounded by beautiful lawns and shrubs. It is a long domed structure with a bigger dome rising up and out from the mid-section. I had to stop for a quick look at some of the roses in the garden surrounding it.
Inside, my glasses instantly steamed up from the rain forest climate. The air was humid and almost hurt my lungs to breathe. There was a constant dripping of moisture from the leaves and from the glass ceiling 19 metres (62 feet) above. There were birds chirping also. I was in heaven! I wandered up and down the long aisles of trees, shrubs, and flowers. I stopped to read as much as I could about the various plants, learning about their uses for furniture, medicine, and other things, like shellac. I learned about the scarcity of some plants, the longevity of others, and efforts taken to preserve and protect them. Some trees have become cultural symbols.
There is a huge Jurassic cycad, a type of palm, that is the oldest plant in Kew Gardens. It arrived in 1775 and has been in the Palm House since it was built in 1848. Slowly growing at only 2.5 cm per year, it is a healthy 4 metres long. I say long because it is rather flopped over and supported by stilts to carry its one-tonne weight!
There was a spiral staircase at either end of the highest dome.
I went up and was able to walk the circumference of the dome on a walkway. I was able to look down on the entire area. Amazingly, there were trees that were pushing against the ceiling. I also got a good view of the lake with the Botanical Restaurant across the way.
Exiting the Palm House I headed back toward the entrance, on a different path. I came across a small tour guided road train that takes people through the gardens. Realizing that I may not get to see everything by walking from place to place, I opted for the hop on hop off train ride. I got off at the Temperate House.
The Temperate House is the world's largest surviving Victorian glass structure and is twice the size of the Palm House. It is surrounded by huge trees which disguises its size. It also looks more distinguished than the Palm House. Whereas the Palm House looked like a beached submarine, the Temperate House looked like a glass palace.
It contains plants and trees from all the temperate regions of the world, including the most rare and threatened. It plays a key role in safeguarding them. I was in flower heaven! There are over 1500 species of plants from five continents and 16 islands. It was just being restocked after massive reparations to the building, and therefore was not as crowded as the Palm House. It was airy and spacious. It felt like I was walking in an outdoor garden and I just wanted to swing my arms out and dance like Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music.
I took a quick lunch break at the rest area behind the House then walked to the nearby Chinese Pagoda.
The Chinese Pagoda was erected in 1762 by Sir William Chambers as a gift to Princess Augusta. It can be seen towering above the treetops from nearly every part of the Gardens. It is a 10-storey octagonal tower standing at almost 50 metres. Each level is 30 cm narrower than the one below. In true Chinese fashion, each storey finishes with a projecting roof and covered with ceramic tiles. Every roof has a dragon sitting one of the eight corners, making a total of 80 wooden dragons brightly covered in gold gilt and shiny paint.
It was possible to go up the 253 steps for a bird's eye view of the grounds, but I opted not to. Instead, I got back on the train and enjoyed the leisurely ride through the redwood grove, past the water lily pond, past Queen Charlotte's Cottage, past the Treetop Walkway, through the oak collection, and magnolias until I got off at the Orangery deli. Now you may be wondering why I skipped past so much. Basically, I knew I was going to run out of time and I really wanted to check out Kew Palace. Knowing what I know now, I could plan many, many trips back to Kew Gardens and see something different every time.
Kew Palace was built in 1631, atop the under-croft of an earlier building. Most of the original building has not survived. All that is left is the Dutch House. It was a retreat home for King George III and his family. Inside were many old pictures and some artifacts from that time period, particularly items belonging to Queen Charlotte. After she died in her bedroom there, The Palace fell out of favour with the Royal family. It was not a huge Palace and took less than an hour to walk through.
Behind the house was a small but beautiful leisure garden with statues, fountains, and square cut shrubs. It was lovely to walk through. Alongside the garden was a trellised walkway that hinted at various herbs and other plants that were grown there for culinary and medicinal purposes, rather than their beauty. “They were used in cooking to mask the flavour of tainted meat and strewn either fresh or dry in houses to sweeten the atmosphere in an age when hygiene and cleanliness were not considered important.” Quoted from a plaque on the Queen's Garden wall.
Nearby was the Queen's Kitchen. I had to walk down a narrow, bush lined path that took me to a small house with a little garden in front.
This was where the actual vegetables were grown and the food was prepared for the Royals. It was common for the food preparation to be in a different building or certainly in a discrete part of the Palace so as not to disturb the Royal Family or their guests. I was very fortunate that an era attired guide was about to give a talk and tour of the kitchen.
The cooking area of the building was in the basement. This and the high ceilings kept it cool. Large windows could also be opened if necessary. Even with these efforts, it must have been terribly hot working in the kitchen. The oven was a massive affair with the ability to have five spits going at once. The smaller cooking areas had the fire burning in a small oven directly below and resembled a barbecue. Everything was built of brick and once the bricks got hot they must have heated the area to be like a sauna.
Just off from the cooking area was a crockery storage room with various food items stored. Directly across was the Kings bath chamber. This may seem odd, but it was practical. There was an endless supply of hot water. If servants had to pack it to the Palace, it would have cooled considerably by the time they got it there. But considering bathing was actually considered unimportant, I doubt it was used a lot. Further along was a wine storage area – a true wine cellar.
I decided to make my way slowly back toward Victoria Gate, taking pictures of all the flowers along the way, when I came across the most unusual structure.
The Hive is 17 metres tall and is constructed from 170,000 aluminum parts and has1000 LED lights. It is a massive rendition of a beehive. The entire structure is triggered by real bee activity. There are vibration sensors on an actual beehive at Kew. The vibrations are sent in real time to The Hive. The lights go on and off according to the activity within the beehive. Signals from the real beehive trigger noise gates at particular thresholds, activating sounds from a pre-recorded library created when human musicians improvised to a live feed of beehive sounds in the key of C, the same key that bees buzz in. It sounds like a soft symphony.
In an area below the Hive were pillars where one can put a wooden stick in your teeth and press it to a sensor which converts the sounds of the real beehive to vibrations that travel directly to the skull. This is how bees communicate. There are about 20,000 bees at Kew.
I went inside the Hive and just sat on the floor and marvelled at the experience. The next time I go – and there will be a next time – I want to go in the evening so I can see the lights better.
At this point, I could not have been happier. I was fully prepared to leave Kew when I came upon the Princess of Wales Conservatory. This conservatory is low to the ground to get maximum use of the sun's energy. It has 10 computer controlled micro-climates. The cooler climates are situated on the outer edges of the building and the hotter, tropical areas are toward the middle, where the heat is conserved. Although I was getting tired, I could not resist one last chance at seeing more flowers. There was everything from cacti to water lilies and orchids to carnivorous plants. It was designed with lots of stairs taking me from one section to the next. By the time I finished walking through, I was truly tired and decided it was time to head home.
I will definitely return to Kew, to explore the areas I did not see and to re-explore some of the areas that I fell in love with. It is easy to see why this is one of London's most popular tourist spots.
Brighton
The day after I went to Kew Gardens we hopped a train to Brighton. I had been to Brighton previously but Ed had not. I remembered it to be a lovely beach town and thought it would be nice to go again.
We got off the train and made our way to the Brighton Pavillion, the seaside retreat for King George IV. It is a grand building that needs to be seen slowly to appreciate all the intricate details that Georgie Porgie put into it to impress everyone. I won't repeat the details here. To read about my previous triphttps://journals.worldnomads.com/irenecabay/story/128157/United-Kingdom/Brighton Needless to say, I was impressed all over again.
Ed wanted to head to the Pier. It was very windy and quite cold. Ed was very glad I encouraged him to wear a warm jacket, as I remembered it being cold from before. We walked to the end of the Pier, with hellacious waves crashing beneath us. We could feel the Pier vibrate from the crashes. The beaches were near empty.
Since it was chilly we headed to a pub for a beer. From there were wandered around The Lanes until we came to Druids Head Pub, built in 1510. I had eaten there before and we ate there again.
We popped into the Choccy Woccy Doodah chocolate shop to see their magnificent chocolate sculptures. They are much too beautiful to eat! But then again, they are chocolate....
We wandered a bit more then headed back toward the train station. We were somewhat early so decided to have an early dinner at a nearby pub. Down in the ladies bathroom was a very clever poster. It said if you are on a date and it isn't working out, if you feel you are not in a safe situation or feeling a bit weird “go to any of the staff and ask for 'Angela'. They will know you need some help getting out of your situation and will call you a taxi or help out discreetly, without too much fuss.” How bloody clever is that!! More public houses should have such a service – even in Canada.
The next day we had tickets to see Bat Out of Hell the Musical at the Dominion Theatre. It was all the great music of Meat Loaf – without his great voice – and Jim Steinman. It put all the songs together into a storyline about a girl who falls in love with a bad boy and her somewhat shady father disapproves. There was one scene, sung to Paradise by the Dashboard Light, that ended with the car falling into the orchestra pit (all planned). It was hilarious! The conductor comes out with his baton bent and looking like What the Hell Just Happened? All in all, it was a good performance – bearing in mind no one can sing like Meat Loaf, himself.
Mail Rail
Len told me about a Mail Museum that included an underground railway that was used to move the mail quickly between major postal stations. Wow! I had to check it out the Mail Rail.
Long before Mail Rail, the Victorians had an underground system that could help keep the post moving. Mail first travelled in a 40 mile network of pneumatic tubes about three metres below London's streets. Wheeled metal capsules with rubber air tight flaps carried the letters and parcels from Central Telegraph near St. Paul's Cathedral directly with Parliament, the Stock Exchange, and other important places. The cars ran along rails, propelled by air pressure created by a huge 6.4 metre (21 foot) steam-powered fan. A driver-less metal capsule carrying 35 bags of mail could make the short journey in one-minute travelling at 60 km/h (40 mph). The railway operated from 1863 until 1866 and then again between 1873 and 1874, but the tunnels were later abandoned.
“Not only have letters and parcels been transmitted, through the [pneumatic] tube but also a lady. ..... [She] shot the whole length of the tube, crinoline and all, without injury to person or petticoat.” - The London Journal, 1863
However, London's streets were so congested by 1909 that mail travelled at less than seven miles per hour. A new underground electric railway was proposed to speed up deliveries. Construction began in 1914. After wartime delays, the railway opened in 1927 and ran until 2003. The tunnels were 20 meters below ground and linked major sorting offices directly with mainline railway stations. Specially designed driver-less mail cars just over eight metres long with four containers, each with a capacity to hold about 15 bags of letters or six bags of parcels, ran at up to 30 miles per hour on a 0.6 metre (2 foot) gauge railway.
Mail Rail ran on 440 volts of direct current which was supplied by a third rail, To slow the 30 mph cars at stations, there was an incline and the power dropped to 150 volts. As the train accelerated down a slope away from the station, the power returned to 440 volts again. As many as 18 cars sped around the track at a time. Loading and unloading mailbags had to be done in double-quick time. If a faulty train wasn't moved within 5 minutes the whole system came to a grinding halt.
At its peak, the underground mail cars ran 22 hours a day and carried 4 million letters every day. A dedicated staff of over 200 people took enormous pride in the efficiency of the Mail Rail. They worked in shifts around the clock to keep the system running. From the postal staff to cleaners, railway workers to specialist engineers, the in-house team had every skill they needed. Engineers could build and maintain equipment and track, often with recycled parts, keeping the system running with remarkably few delays and derailments. There were very few repairs that technicians couldn't do on site. 180 mail cars ran on the Post Office railway over its working life.
Underground mail trains had no driver and operated automatically between stations. Postal workers were in charge of each train's route. Each station had its own switch frame in a cabin on the platform to change the points along the line and link up with neighbouring stations. As a precaution, trains only left the station when a postal worker pressed a button and the track ahead was clear. A red light, known as a cherry, showed other postal workers that this train was about to move on.
“In the busy period a train remains at the station for only one minute, and in this period the containers have to be withdrawn and the others for dispatch placed on the cars. Postmen also receive the mailbags from the chutes, conveyors and lifts, and divide the bags for dispatch by the train for their various destinations.... the work is extremely heavy, arduous and intense.... also the work is carried out under exceptional conditions, which vary from station to station and from one part of the station to another.... The physical discomfort is appreciable...” The Post, 2 July 1949
Workers were paid very well. Within a few months of starting, one worker was able to afford a new car.
To mark the railway's 60 anniversary, the underground postal railway celebrated with a new car design and colour, and the whole system was officially renamed, Mail Rail. Soon after, the railway was also computerized. A single control centre ran all the trains from an office nearby in Mount Pleasant, fitted with a bank of monitors, Mail Rail engineers maintained the computer system as well as the tracks and trains. But as fewer letters travelled via London sorting offices closed and centralized. Mail Rail eventually became uneconomical and in 2003 it ceased operations. There have been many ideas as to how to use the tunnel network - from a mushroom farm to an underground cycle superhighway.
Arriving at the Mail Rail location had me buying a ticket in the gift shop then heading directly downstairs to the actual Rail tunnel. I was directed to place any handbags or coats into a locker area then proceed to the Rail car. The Mail Rail cars were converted to tiny passenger cars covered with domed Plexiglas. I was glad I was alone. If there had been two of us our feet and knees placement would definitely have been an issue.
The little train made its way down a former mail track, stopping every now and then for a video history. It was cleverly done! The video projected onto the tunnel walls incorporated actual doors and platforms, making it look like ghosts still at work at their former jobs. In between the video stops, a commentator gave other historical facts. It was about a 10-15 minute ride that brought us full circle to our starting spot.
Exiting the Rail car, I proceeded to their small, but very informative interpretive centre. There were former mail cars, equipment, and lots of placards explaining the former guts and running of the system. There was a storage shelf that was left exactly as it was on the last day of work. It was eerie. There was everything from a shoe, to work notes, to tools – like they just stepped out for lunch, never to return. There was an interactive switching station where I could try my luck at moving the mail cars without delays or incident.
The most interesting to me was the Mail Train Car. The train didn't stop at every station to grab the mail. So how was it collected along thousands of miles of track from hundreds of small towns? Each small town had an apparatus hung along the tracks with a quick release clasp. Letters and parcels were placed in a thick leather pouch and hung out on the apparatus. As the train went zooming past, a bag catching net made of ropes, on the outside of the train, snatched the pouch. The pouch was then retrieved into the Mail Car to be sorted.
No wonder parcels were frequently damaged! They were smashed into the catching net by a train going full speed! Post Office regulations allowed people to send game in the post, including rabbits, as long as they had a neck label and “no liquid was likely to exude”. Remember, this was in the days before plastic. Yuk!
Inside the Mail Car, men would sort the letters into cubby holes according to their general destination. As the train neared a certain area, the letters in the cubby holes were sorted even further to their specific towns. As the train zoomed past that particular town, the leather pouch was tossed out to be used again for the next outgoing mail. It was a full time and stressful job. Obviously, smoking was strictly prohibited.
“We'd get flung around a lot and you were constantly bracing yourself against the lurching of the train. You got used to that, though you never actually liked it! You learned to work around each other, almost like a dance routine."
Postal Museum
After leaving the Rail Mail Museum, I headed across the street to the Postal Museum. This museum covered the history of mail in its entirety. It had a nice little cafe to warm myself on this rainy day, as well as a gift shop.
The very first post to be delivered in Britain was to King Henry VIII and only to Henry VIII. He wanted to keep a closer eye on his kingdom. Each town had to have three horses available for transporting royal letters, both coming and going. The stables used to keep the horses were called Posts, and the King appointed the Master of the Posts to run the system – hence our modern name.
As mail edged away from a Royal only luxury, it was a Post-Boy who delivered the mail. Usually about 14 years old, the post-delivery boy rode for miles on horseback braving robbers and bad weather. They would blow a post horn to let people know they were coming. Robberies were so prevalent, banknotes had serial numbers at both ends to be cut in half and each half sent separately through the post to foil the thieves.
Defend the mail at all costs. The orders for fighting pirates was as follows: “You must run where you can. You must fight when you must. When you can no longer run, and when you can fight no more you must sink the mail” Ships were attacked so often that there was a generous compensation scheme for death or injury – 8 pounds for a sailor's leg, 4 pounds for an eye.
One enterprising man set up the first Penny Post in London in 1680. The government shut him down as illegal. The government then promptly reopened the Post as part of their own service.
Queen Victoria introduced the Penny Black for everyone to enjoy the mail. With people moving hither and yon and wanting to keep in touch with family, the Penny Black helped increase the literacy rate by making it affordable to all.
Postal workers had to look smart when they knocked on the door to deliver the mail. As early as 1793, letter carriers in London received a free uniform with a bright red coat, blue waistcoat and top hat. The eye-catching colours also made it easier for bosses to spot any workers idling in the pub. In 1855, free trousers were included in the uniform. Uniforms were not provided to countryside letter carriers until 1872. The few women postal workers first had a uniform in 1894, with a skirt and waterproof cape.
The Post Office proved to be unknowingly instrumental in changing the culture again in the 20th century. When WWI broke out in 1914, the Post Office was Britain's biggest employer. As men left to fight, tens of thousands of temporary female workers, who had never before worked outside the home, came in to keep the mail moving. Wartime saw a huge rise in letters, postcards, and parcels sent between the home front and loved ones abroad. To cope with the increase, the Post Office built the Home Depot, an enormous wooden temporary sorting office n Regent's Park. At its peak, it handled 12 million letters and a million parcels in a week. The Mail Rail had not been built yet to speed the process up.
At the outbreak of WWI 73,000 male postal workers signed up, some serving in the Post Office's own battalion, the Post Office Rifles, which was formed in 1868. They were engaged in some of the fiercest battles in France. They won 145 awards for gallantry and one Victoria Cross. Of 12,000 Post Office Rifles who went to war, 1800 were killed and over 4500 wounded. I guess there is a history to the term “going Postal.”
The Post Office first installed green roadside posting boxes in the Channel Islands in 1852. Proving successful, the tall, cast iron pillar boxes appeared all over the country. In the countryside, some people thought green pillar boxes were dreary and hard to see, so in 1874 red became the preferred colour. During WWII, pillar boxes were painted with white bands to avoid accidents during black-outs. Some even had their caps painted in a special gas detector paint, to help Air Raid Wardens detect gas during enemy raids.
Until 1965, most stamps still simply showed the monarch's portrait. Only 19 sets of commemorative picture stamps had ever been issued. In the late 1960s it was proposed to remove the Queen's portrait. Today, the larger format stamp, despite the design or image, still has a small silhouette of the Queen, and encourages much greater design freedom.
On display were stamp and coin proposals for uncrowned King Edward VIII and a rare pillar box. As I was taking a picture of the pillar box a lady told me that her small hometown still had one in use. Edward VIII abdicated 326 days into his reign. If pillar boxes bearing EVIIIR needed repairs, the letters were changed to GVIR – King George VI, his brother; our current Queen's father.
It was a very interesting tour of the history of something we took for granted for years. I never imagined what a dangerous job it was for those first letter carriers. Thieves, pirates, cold, wet, and hunger were part of the letter carrier's life. In 1816, a lion escaped from a travelling menagerie and attacked the mail coach horse! Today, with the popular use of electronic mail, the history of the mail service may soon be just that – history.
Rochester
On Sunday before we were to depart, Len suggested that we go to Rochester. He said he had seen the town through the train window on many occasions and it looked interesting. Good enough for me! We took the kids and off we went to Kent on that cold and rainy day.
Rochester has a very long history, with neolithic remains left by Celts, Romans and Saxons. In more recent history it saw the building of the current cathedral in 1080-1130. The Dioceses was founded in 604. The Castle was built in 1087-1089 (recent history is relative in the UK) The Castle, built on a high hill, was built to guard the river crossing. The Cathedral is directly behind it.
The town itself was old, old, old. There was a pub called The Deaf Cat. There were building with plaques dating from the 1500's. Interestingly, one building had a plaque commemorating the 300th anniversary of the founding of the French Hospital for the relief of poor French Protestant refugees. The French Protestant were refugees?? There was a stone horse watering trough in front of a Nail Salon. There were boot scrapers built into the wall on either side of the door of another building. So many practical, everyday things from another era. Julian and Freya had no concept of them.
They were hungry and cold, and tired (not really, but they complained enough that we relented). We took them to an old pub and had chips. We also hoped that the rain might also relent while we ate. It didn't.
We made our way to the Rochester Cathedral. We went in through a side door and discovered there was a mass in progress. We told the kids to talk in hushed voices and walk quietly. Although they did not understand the proceedings, they were quietly respectful and I was very proud of them for it. I didn't understand the special mass, myself. They had a blue sash coming down some steps from the altar, representing water. The parishioners were taking lighted candles to place on either side of the blue sash. One thing that stuck with me were transparent banners hanging from the arches. They were covered in poppies. We really felt like we were intruding so basically made our way to the front doors of the church and went to leave. However, a member of the church came up to the kids and gave them each a big sticker with a bird on it, that said Rochester Cathedral. They were tickled pink.
Directly across the street was the back side of the Castle. A doorway in the wall caught Julian's eye and he scampered off to check it out, only to find it was locked. On the way back he discovered some old tombstones. The kids did not seem bothered at all when we told them the dead people were buried under them.
We had to walk completely around the walls in order to gain entry to the Castle. As luck would have it we passed an ice cream stand. The kids immediately were hungry again. We bought them each an ice cream. We also passed a very crooked house. The top of the house was nearly touching the straight house next door. We wondered if it were falling over but then noticed that the windows were actually straight. Later, when we were heading back to the train, we specifically walked between it and the straight house to check it out closer. The door jam was crooked but the door was straight, making it sit lopsided in the jam. In the end, we really couldn't figure out if it was built that way, and if it was, why? And if not, how is it still standing? And being used as a shop?
We walked near the water's edge and saw where the bridge used to be. Then we walked along the vine-covered stone wall until we came to what is left of the Castle and bought our tickets to enter. Inside the Castle, we climbed lots of steps to various levels. Amazingly the kids didn't complain and were, in fact, quite eager to climb.
A personal note here: My grandchildren are growing up in a country that is filled to the brim with castles, cathedrals, historical artifacts, and history. To them, this was just another day out with Daddy and Grandma, whereas children from Canada would be gob-smacked. Yet, these two little ones are too young to appreciate they can see history by climbing old castle steps, whereas children in Canada can only read about it.
One level had a diorama of what the original Castle would have looked like. Also included was a brief history of the castle, the reigning Kings of the day, sieges and besiegers, and subsequent pleasure garden. We made our way to the very top of the 100 foot castle (that is 10 storeys!). The building was in incredible shape. It was not hard to envision someone replacing the timbers to support floors, put up a new roof and Bob's your Uncle, have a working castle again.
We met a man who was with his son and telling him amazing details about the Castle and history. We unashamedly eavesdropped and began to ask questions. He said he was raised in Rochester and used to come on school field trips here. That is why he knew so much. He pointed out areas that were breached in a siege and explained how the Castle defended itself. We were fortunate to run into him.
As we were heading back down to leave, our attention was drawn to some people down in a small room just off from the exit. What was this about? It was the Castle toilet. We couldn't figure out if there was a sort of plumbing system that dropped the waste down via gravity or if it was brought down in buckets. Either way, it was a fairly big space that definitely had to be cleaned out by hand by some poor bloke.
It was getting late, and it was time to head back to London.
London general
When we weren't being tourists, I was being Grandma and Mom. We coincided our visit with Len's birthday. It happened to be a warm sunny day so we had a Barbecue in the back yard.
I took the kids to the park a lot. Julian can ride a two-wheel bike with no stabilizers now. Freya can go unassisted on her scooter. Freya never gets tired of being pushed on the swing. My arms were ready to give out but she kept screaming for more and push higher. Julian rode his bike on the path circling the park. They both went on a zip line that had me laughing. They would jump on (with Mommy's help) at one end, glide to the end where it stopped so suddenly they would almost be jerked off the seat, then rebound to nearly halfway back. They would jump off and pull it to the start point to do it all over again.
Every day I would take them to their respective schools. I would drop Julian off at Barclay's school, then take Freya to Cornerstone Nursery. We would head out for the day and try to be back for me to pick the kids up again. First Julian, with salami and avocado sandwich in hand because he's starving. Then walk over to Freya's nursery and wait, while Julian ate his sandwich, for her class to let out. Once we crossed the two streets to get home, they would race each other to see who could get home faster. It was rather fair because Julian could run faster but Freya always had her scooter to keep up. On the days when we knew I wouldn't be back in time to pick them up, I always got scolded by them. “Why can't you pick us up!?”
The school is protected by a very high steel fence. It has a locked gate that is only open to drop kids off and pick them up. Many times I had to wait for someone to unlock the gate before I could enter. The playground is very small and has only 2 large oak trees with a bench encircling them. There is no grass and the kids play on a kind of rubberized area. It is rather sad, really. No wonder they love to go to the parks.
I let the kids play on my tablet and phone way too much. But isn't that a Grandma's prerogative? Especially when I only see them twice a year? They are growing so fast! As I mentioned, Julian doesn't need stabilizers on his bike anymore. How fast they are growing also hit home when I was taking them to school on the first day. We have to walk past Julian's friend's house. The friend joined us. On the corner of the street is a house with a fish pond in the front yard. Everyone stops to look at the fish, especially the kids. Julian's friend was all excited because they could see over the fence without having to be lifted up. They chatted about how they were big boys now and quite proud of themselves.
Len bought Julian a Labo game. It is part of the Switch computer game. It is all cardboard that has to be assembled into various interactive games. The assembly instructions are viewed on the Switch and easy enough for Julian to assemble himself with minimal help. Once put together, the Switch sits inside the cardboard assembly and creates a virtual reality game. The first assembled item was a toy bug that, through the vibrations of the Switch, actually moved and could be controlled by the other Switch. It had a small camera to see where you were going. Julian put it downstairs then went up to his bedroom to see how far the range was. Len happened to pick up the “bug” and Julian yelled to put it down. Len was asking how did Julian know he had picked it up. Julian was saying he could see him. Len was turning the bug this way and that and asking how. Julian kept yelling to put it down. It was funny.
Another game, that we all enjoyed, was a fishing game. One Switch was part of the fishing rod (all cardboard) and the other was the screen to see your hook in the “water” and the kinds of fish. The deeper you went the bigger the fish. When you caught a fish, the rod actually jerked and you could feel the fish on the line. There was a cardboard reel to wind to get the fish out of the water. IF you got the fish out of the water, it always smacked against the screen then gave you its weight, length and kind of fish. The bigger ones always got away and we could feel the line snap. Julian held the record at catching the biggest. (Beginners luck) It was incredibly realistic and we even played with it after the kids went to bed.
Alfred Hitchcock was born in Leytonstone, very near where Len & Michaela live. The Alfred Hitchcock Hotel is a short walk away. The tube station has murals depicting various Hitchcock themes. Outside the tube station is a large wooden bird feeder with Hitchcock's picture over the trough. There are always dozens of pigeons fluttering about. A very clever depiction of The Birds.
We generally shop at Tesco for groceries. They have a big box of fruit with a sign that says “This fruit is free for kids to eat while you're shopping.” Nice!
There are lots of foxes in London. They have next to no fear of humans and can jump in and out of a high fenced yard like it was nothing. We saw them every day, sometimes just napping on the grass. One evening I spotted two of them on the neighbour's shed roof. They were sprawled out like they were taking in the last of the day's sun, like loungers on a beach. A few years ago, we got up in the morning to see five in the back yard. Cheeky buggers!
The one day that I went on my own to the Rail Mail, Ed went shopping on his own. He came across a guitar shop and went in. There were all kinds of beautiful guitars for sale, most worth tens of thousands of pounds. One guitar had a sign that said: “ASK”. OK, then.....
Alas, our time was up and we had to leave again. It hurts more every time when I have to leave. As I write this, my daughter, Sara, now lives in London, as well. All the more reason for me to visit more often.
