Back to the UK after 50 years

[OZDUCK]

That walk of yours was almost identical to mine in 2018 as I had to go to the Bank of England to change my £10 notes. But we. ate at the Borough Market with oysters and foie gras included.

Oysters are fine in moderation but foie gras is not for me. It is definitely a 'up market' market.

 

[OZDUCK]

The next day many of us got together for a sort of guided walk around London. It was an ad-hoc one put together by the organiser of the reunion showing us some of the parts of London he likes. We ended up walking just under 20 km for the day.

All of us meet up just outside the Tower.



There were Canadians, English, Germans, Singaporeans and Australians in this group. All linked back to a common ancestry from Ulm (Baden-Württemberg) in the 14th C.





We walked over the Tower Bridge







These plaques were on the footpath - "The named plaques highlight the unsung heroes and workers who built, operated, and maintained Tower Bridge across its history, shedding light on lost professions and past social change"

Just some of them











HMS Belfast with the Sky Garden beyond

 

[OZDUCK]

Further along the South Bank

A mudlark in action



I don't think that there is an actual lark among these birds



The Sky Garden and The Gherkin



The ruins of Winchester Palace - 13thC



Replica of Sir Francis Drake's vessel The Golden Hinde



Formerly an enclosed dock for tea clippers like the Cutty Sark





Where we got the term 'clink' for prisons.





We just rushed by the edges of the Borough Market. The arches still fascinate me.



A refreshment break at the cafes ins Tate Modern.



It is located inside the former Bankside Power Station



A new display was being set up in the Turbine Hall





My wife from a very similar spot in 1976

 

[Jacques Vert]

Back to the town

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We walked under the river via the Greenwich Foot Tunnel. There are numerous signs all through the tunnel stating that bikes must not be ridden but only pushed. The signs were ignored by 90% of the bike riders we saw. A YouTube video I saw explained that because the tunnel is controlled by two different 'councils' on either side of the river who can't agree what day of the week it is the rules and regulations have not be updated for decades. The fine for riding a bike is Two Shillings.

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Apparently it is common for the lifts at either end of the tunnel to be out of order but luckily they were both working on that day

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There was some bomb damage to the tunnel in 1940

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The repaired part of the tunnel is noticeably smaller.

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I walked through the tunnel in 1975 but had forgotten what it looked like; thanks for posting the photos.

 

[OZDUCK]

I walked through the tunnel in 1975 but had forgotten what it looked like; thanks for posting the photos.

No worries - glad to bring back memories for you

 

[OZDUCK]

Onwards

Some military Chinooks flew down the Thames



Decorative lamp post



We then crossed over Westminster Bridge







London Eye



It was very crowded around here. Unpleasantly so in fact.





Westminster Abbey in the distance



We then turned down Whitehall

Some drains on the public purse, sorry VIP's went past.

 

[SYD]

A mudlark in action

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We like a good mud lark!

Where we got the term 'clink' for prisons.

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I’ve walked that Southwark river walk multiple times and never clocked the original “Clink” was there!

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I’ve past that Prison Museum many times but again, didn’t register the significance. Just thought they were borrowing the “Clink” phrase…

Oh well, I’ll hunt it down next time.

 

[OZDUCK]

Continuing down Whitehall

The Cenotaph - erected 1920



Women of World War II Memorial - erected 2005



Entrance to Downing Street






The King's Life Guard





My wife and her uncle in1976.



We were to have a very late lunch in Chinatown so my wife and I requested a short diversion to Trafalgar Square



The National Gallery



Shortly after we arrived in the UK in 1976 we had our photo taken there by a street photographer. We were trying to replicate it and found pretty much the exact spot where we had stood. It was a nice nostalgic moment for both of us. Happily most of the pigeons are gone these day.

Ah the lost hair and gained weight that 50 years bring





(SuePa was kind enough to point out the advertising slogan on the bus behind us when I posted these photos in 'the view from my office' thread earlier on. It was a very apropos one considering my comments about weight gain.)



Saint Martin-in-the-Fields - completed in the 1720's

 

[OZDUCK]

We like a good mud lark!

I’ve walked that Southwark river walk multiple times and never clocked the original “Clink” was there!

I’ve past that Prison Museum many times but again, didn’t register the significance. Just thought they were borrowing the “Clink” phrase…

Oh well, I’ll hunt it down next time.

Happily the organiser had made a point to take us past it.

 

[Flyfrequently]

Continuing down Whitehall

The Cenotaph - erected 1920

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Women of World War II Memorial - erected 2005

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Entrance to Downing Street

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The King's Life Guard

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My wife and her uncle in1976.

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We were to have a very late lunch in Chinatown so my wife and I requested a short diversion to Trafalgar Square

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The National Gallery

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Shortly after we arrived in the UK in 1976 we had our photo taken there by a street photographer. We were trying to replicate it and found pretty much the exact spot where we had stood. It was a nice nostalgic moment for both of us. Happily most of the pigeons are gone these day.

Ah the lost hair and gained weight that 50 years bring

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(SuePa was kind enough to point out the advertising slogan on the bus behind us when I posted these photos in 'the view from my office' thread earlier on. It was a very apropos one considering my comments about weight gain.)

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Saint Martin-in-the-Fields - completed in the 1720's

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Great memories replicating years gone by @OZDUCK - love it!

 

[OZDUCK]

On to Chinatown. In the 1976/77 I used to occasionally drive my wife's aunt into here, specifically Gerard St, on a Sunday morning so she could buy various Chinese spices and sauces from the large 'Chinese' supermarkets here. They were unavailable most other places. It was an easy drive in those days and I did well out of it. She was the one who really taught my wife how to cook Singaporean/Malaysian/Indian food. And you can see by my weight gain how well she taught her.



My DIL would love this place











We had a very nice meal there but we were too busy talking and eating to take any suitable photos.

After the meal the tour ended six of us, four Germans and two Australians, split off to go our own way.

There was a large M & M store nearby that to my surprise sold all sorts of merchandise. Our German friends bought leisure ware, plates and all sorts of 'exclusive collectibles'.



It was really busy









Mearby was the Swiss Glockenspiel - the biggest glockenspiel in the UK.

Swiss Glockenspiel – Smith Of Derby

Swiss Glockenspiel, Leicester Square Smith of Derby was asked to design and create the famous glockenspiel clock from a conceptual design. Central to the design was that the clock retained a very strong Swiss identity, but it was also crucial to minimise its bulk and visual appearance in...

www.smithofderby.com

Leicester Square



Mary Poppins Statue - one of many

 

[OZDUCK]

Great memories replicating years gone by @OZDUCK - love it!

Thanks. Preparing this has bought back some good memories for me too.

 

[OZDUCK]

We then wandered off down Piccadilly having lost two of our number who headed off to their hotel.

Piccadilly Circus





Princess Arcade



Piccadilly Arcade





We then cut through The Green Park heading towards Buckingham Palace











The park gates opposite Buckingham Palace



Twilights last gleaming



With even a bit of aviation action











And thus ended what will almost certainly be the last ever full day we will spend in London.

 

[OZDUCK]

The next day we had our train tickets nicely organised to go to Cambridge. Unfortunately there was a major power failure on the line and a number of trains were cancelled including ours. I booked another train which was also cancelled when we arrived at Kings Cross Station to catch it. However we eventually caught the next one and arrived at Cambridge only an hour two later than planned. The power failure had been fixed by around noon. Because we had a bit of extra time we went for a last walk around the area.

Our accommodation in London. My wife thought that it looked like it had originally been built as Nurse's Quarters. She lived in such places when she trained as a nurse at PMH in Perth. There are a number of hospitals nearby.



Nearby street scene



A little bit of history just down Old Brompton Road. The house was destroyed during the Blitz in 1940.




A Primary School (Government) now occupies the site. I am always intrigued by the English practice of putting the Head Teachers name on signs



This walk meant that we were able to spend about 15 minutes at the Brompton Cemetery. It was established in 1839 and is "the first (and only) London cemetery to be Crown property, managed by The Royal Parks". There are a number of famous people there inclucing the famous sufragete leader Emmeline Pankhurst, Dr John Snow - "He is considered one of the founders of modern epidemiology and early germ theory, in part because of his work in tracing the source of a cholera outbreak in London's Soho, which he identified as a particular public water pump." and John Wisden, founder of the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.

Brompton Cemetery - Wikipedia

Brompton Cemetery

The Grade I listed Brompton Cemetery in West London is the well-loved resting place of over 200,000 people and a haven for wildlife.

www.royalparks.org.uk

This was the early name of the cemetery



The reverse shot





There were some lovely shady pathways

The cemetery chapel in the distance





Some of it was overgrown



An ornate memorial





Benjamin Golding MD - "was dedicated to providing free medical treatment to the poor. He also had the brilliant and revolutionary idea of integrating medical schools with hospitals, to ensure people would be treated effectively now and in future. He achieved both aims when he founded the West London Infirmary, which later became Charing Cross Hospital. It was the first hospital of its kind in London."

Dr Benjamin Golding (1793 - 1863)



The grave of Emmeline Pankhurst - leader of the suffragette movement. It always seems so strange to read about the suffragette movement in the UK compared to how women gained the right to vote in Australia and New Zealand.

Emmeline Pankhurst - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

A 'pleasant' surprise for me was spotting the grave of the great Austrian tenor Richard Tauber. A star on stage, records and film in the 1920's to 40's. He was another artist forced to flee his homeland because of the rise of the naz_s. He has long been a favourite of mine. A.P Herbert was a humorist, novelist, playwright, law reformist. Very popular in the mid 20th C. He wrote the "Misleading Cases" series.

A lihk to his performance of "Vienna, CVity of My Dreams

Google Search

Richard Tauber - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[VPS]

There seemed to be foods for every appetite there.I would have loved to have tried some of the food but we had just eaten that unsatisfactory meal. The next day we went through it again with the rest of reunion group. But this was done at a run with no chance to sample the local wares.

I love the Borough Market but it is often very crowded - I didn't know that they sold foie gras there so on my list for next visit.

I think I have visited almost every spot you've been to in London and just loving the trip down memory lane

 

[OZDUCK]

We were originally due to leave via Kings Cross Station but with all the changes ended up using Liverpool Street Station







I thought that with all the cancellations the trains would be full. But instead it was almost empty and we had probably the most comfortable train trip of our holiday - except for a loud mobile phone user who wanted everyone to hear the details of his boring life for about 20 minutes.



No worries about luggage storage here



Pharmaceutical maker. One of the first British manufacturers of cod liver oil. Founded in 1715 and taken over by Glaxo in 1958



A canal scene



And that was the end of our London sojourn.

 

[OZDUCK]

I love the Borough Market but it is often very crowded - I didn't know that they sold foie gras there so on my list for next visit.

I think I have visited almost every spot you've been to in London and just loving the trip down memory lane

Glad to trigger your memories.