Friday, July 21, 2006

Thames Trips - 15 & 16 July 2006

Chelsea HarbourChelsea Harbour
Summer is always pleasant beside the Thames. We spent Saturday walking from Putney Bridge to Chelsea Harbour. Then moved away to explore the shops and markets of Fulham.

The London EyeTower Bridge

St Paul'sSt Katherine Docks
Sunday was another lovely day, so we did a hop-on hop-off boat trip from Westminster to the St Katherine docks. The dock area is so pleasant, almost another world within London.

The Tower of LondonPalace of Westminster

Sunday, July 09, 2006

Ironstone Villages - 8 & 9 July 2006

Great TewGreat Tew is a wonderful little collection of ironstone and thatch cottages spilling down a valley below “the big house” belonging to the Great Tew Estate.

Falkland ArmsWe walked around the village, checked out the Falkland Arms, the church with some rather lovely brasses and a beautiful marble monument, and the remains of an old engine house.

Great TewNext unusual spot was Aynho. Unusual in that many houses have espalier apricot trees on their street frontage walls as rent to the Lord of the Manor used to be paid in apricots.

Great TewThe church is very different, looking more like a grand house than a church. Unfortunately it was locked but given the size of the windows must be quite stunning inside.

Brasses at Great TewMonument at Great Tew




The National Trust property for the weekend was Farnborough Hall, reasonably unremarkable from the outside but with the most fantastic plasterwork ceilings and wall panels in some of the rooms. It also boasts a great terrace walk with wonderful views over the valley.

Aynho ChurchCottage at AynhoSunday saw us at Broughton Castle, the set for quite a number of movies and deservedly so. A full moat surrounds the site and some “castle” bits remain around the site of the old drawbridge but the house is from the 1300’s onwards.


Broughton Castle GardenWe were captivated by an amazing bed in the Kings Chamber, you can see a little of it on the web page. It is a fabulous piece of the modern wood-worker’s art.

Friday, July 07, 2006

Entertaining Family- 1 & 2 July 2006

Stonehenge - Photo: A BurtThe visiting family requested Stonehenge, a Cotswold village and Cambridge so that was the weekend plan. After being delayed an hour taking delivery of the people-carrier from the car renter we got off to a late start and headed for Stonehenge. Devizes

Once they had done the audio tour we left Stonehenge to the tourist throngs and headed north to Devizes. One of the visitors had done a Uni project on Caen Hill Lockscanals and locks so we stopped at the Caen Hill Locks, an amazing flight of 16 locks in a row (apparently the largest climb in Europe) and part of an overall set of 29 locks moving barge traffic up and down 73m.

Lacock - Photo: A BurtFrom there we stopped briefly at Sandy Lane, before heading to Lacock. This “film set” village is truly delightful, not even a TV aerial to be seen, presumably the custodians, the National Trust, have banned them.

Castle Combe
The last stop of the day was to provide a taste of the Cotswolds with a stop at Castle Combe. It was deserted as all the locals we clustered around King's CollegeTV screens in homes or pubs watching England drop out of the (soccer) World Cup: a great chance to get some shots uncluttered by people.

Sunday was the chance for our visitors to re-visit old haunts in and around Cambridge, ending the day with a punt on the Cam.
The Mathematical BridgeBridge of Sighs

Friday, June 30, 2006

Regent’s Ramble – 25 June 2006

Regents CanalRegent’s Park Underground station is closing for extended refurbishment so while we still had the opportunity we exited at this station, walked across the park, past the Zoo, to the Regents Canal and followed it down to Camden Market.

Camden MarketBrowsing Camden Market is a great way to make one feel old: all the alternative dressers, Goths, Punks etc with their outlandish clothes and hairstyles; and every second shop seems to be selling something that they would wear but which would look decidedly odd on someone who left their student days behind three decades ago.

The Palace Guard Band ready to playAfter contributing to the local economy in the form of lunch we set off back to the royal precincts to check on the action outside the palace in preparation for the Queen’s Children’s Birthday Party. Furry friendsThe centrepiece was a play based on many characters from English children’s literature. We watched it later on TV and it was quite fantastic, mixing over-the-top pantomime into a fairly simple plot line. It was a superb way to conclude the 80th celebrations. Off to enjoy the party

Docklands Dalliances with Pole Dancers - 24 June 2006

The past dwarfed by the presentSaturday saw us enjoying fabulous weather in the London Docklands area. It is just such a contrast to ‘old’ London with its heritage buildings. Here in the Docklands they have boldly redeveloped the land around the docks that had been left behind when containerisation moved the port area further down the Thames. The Blue BridgeWhat has been achieved since the 80’s is simply fantastic. And yet, the reminders of the past are there with old dock cranes etc scattered around.

The Traffic Light TreeWe started close to one of my favourite sculptures, the traffic light tree, and walked along the Thames path to the southern most point of the Isle of Dogs , with views to Greenwich, then back up the middle alongside the old docks, over to the western side, with views of the Dome, The new, the old, and the waste of moneythen back across the top to our

starting point.

On the mooring rope for a floating restaurant we came across a great example of urban rubbish recycling.Beginning life on a rubbish tip A pair of coots was tenderly raising their offspring on a collection of rubbish. Not quite on the scale of the kids raised on the rubbish tips in the Philippines.

Pole dancersThe reason for picking this particular weekend was a festival that was being held in and around the Docklands area. Street theatreSaturday




was ‘dance in the streets’ day and we enjoyed a number of performances before heading home.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Syon House to Strawberry Hill - 18 June 2006

The courtyard garden at Syon HouseIt was summer: it was sunny; so a stroll from Syon to Strawberry seemed a suitable scenario. After a look around the opulence of Syon House, the London home of the Dukes of Northumberland, we set off along the Thames path walking upstream, away from London.

Messing about in boats on the ThamesAfter about 4 miles we arrived at Strawberry Hill the home of Horace Walpole, son of Britain's first Prime Minister. He, and his 'committee of taste' revived the Gothic look, well before the Victorian gothic era.

It is amazing what you can do with papier-macheAlthough he built on the cheap and said it would not last, the house is still going strong and being restored by a dedicated group of enthusiasts. One example of his money saving which has turned out to be quite propitious is his use of papier-mache to create the ceiling details. In other stately homes such detail is carved wood or plaster work. If plaster details come loose and drop to the floor they will shatter, papier-mache bounces and can be glued back in place.

Transport for London kindly laid on a bus, the 267, to take us back to Syon House to collect our car.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

The Queen turns 80 - 17 June 2006

The Queen and Prince Philip on their way to Horse Guards ParadeWell, she didn't really, but the official celebrations are held in June and marked by the Trooping of the Colour. Rather than watch from Horse Guards Parade this year, we elected to position ourselves at the Buckingham Palace end of the Mall to see the 80th-birthday-balcony-wave.

The Red Arrows blast past overheadWe arrived in time to see Her Majesty leave the Palace on her way to Horse Guards and stayed for the fly-past, ended as usual with the red, white and blue of the Red Arrows