Woburn is a picturesque town next to Woburn Abbey, about 45 miles from London. It was the perfect day for a winter walk. We discovered it the town had woken to heavy snow the day before, and plenty of snow had survived the sunshine.
The town itself is full of art and food. We purchased both before walking through the deer park of Woburn Abbey to the Woburn Antique centre and annual art sale.
Last week we walked past huge queues outside the Natural History Museum, both morning and mid afternoon, and wondered what was on. Today we found out (by chance) how to avoid a similar fate. We planned to visit the recently opened Darwin Centre, and booked a timed, free, ticket to the Cocoon. This magical piece of paper allowed us to walk right past the enormously long queue, straight to the security desk. 
The museum, in the true spirit of evolution, has evolved a lot since we last visited, with many new exhibitions. A whole day is only just enough time to very briefly visit every exhibition. Fortunately we had enough time to visit the dinosaur exhibition,before our cocoon time, as after we came out again, there were queues up to the 45 minute marker (and that of course is after the patiently waiting families had survived the long wait outside in the freezing cold). But I guess dinosaurs are a must see for every child.
The best experience in our opinion, was the Attenborough Theatre interactive multimedia presentation of how animals see. This was extremely well done. We joined the other spectators to have a 30 minute rest, but found it really interesting.
The Natural History Museum is an extremely popular attraction with up to 20,000 visitors per day on a weekend, The decision to remove entry charges was clearly a wonderful way to encourage families and others to be inspired by the exhibits, even if they do try to recoup the costs with their exorbitant charges in the cafes and restaurants.
The V&A have a very interesting computer art exhibition at present. Most exhibits are interactive and many reflect the viewer in different ways. The manner of participating ranges from lights mimicking actions, to being able to capture photographs to participate in the exhibit.
The police also have an exhibition of art fraud. This was particularly interesting, as we remembered one of the cases, when a couple of years ago the Greenhalgh family were arrested. The son made the fakes, many with elaborate and convincing provenances, while his parents marketed them for him.
One of the most delightful areas of the V&A is the restaurant/cafe. It is definitely worth taking a coffee break, just to enjoy the wonderful dining area which is entirely covered in ceramic tiles. This tile work is part of the original design of the museum and a glimpse of what the designer intended for the entire building, had funds permitted.
We finished the day at Margate, which rather lacks the appeal of it's neighbours. But tucked away behind the town is a shell grotto, which is interesting to visit. It was discovered in 1835, and no one knew of it's existence before then. There are some theories that suggest it dates back to Roman times, or maybe it was built by a secretive eccentric.
One of the delights of winter is walking on a frosty morning over wet farmland, frozen solid.
with the painted pargetted and timber framed buildings leading the eye to the large, elaborate church, past a very stylish 14th century Guildhall. Behind the village is a windmill, still in working order.
Our 9 mile circular walk turned back at Great Easton, a smaller, but quite charming village, set around a green.
A circular walk from Hammersmith, mostly along the Thames, was very enjoyable, until the camera battery ran out. So after admiring the recently cleaned church in Hammersmith, and the bridge, I was unable to record all the cox eights, out in the early morning, practicing. The river is lined with rowing clubs.
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