Strutting around London: July 2013

The Brunel Walk.

We recently went on a 'London Walk' along the Thames to the Brunel Tunnel. The walking tour took us along the south bank and along the old docks towards the Rotherhithe area and the Isle of Dogs. These docks were East India Company territory and from where voyages of discovery to the new world began. The tour leader recounted how the Thames was once the busiest port in the world with 10,000 boats and 1,000 tall ships using it daily. So dense was the boat traffic that it was said at times you could walk from one bank of the Thames to the other without getting your feet wet.

We stopped at the remains of King Edward III's manor house. Built around the mid 1300's, it was the King's summer holiday retreat. Back then the Thames was dotted with sand banks and reed beds and bounded on both sides by marsh lands. The King's manor house was built on a low-lying island surrounded by marsh land. It was surrounded by a moat on three sides and open to the Thames to the north, giving the King boat access to the island and the manor house. The Crown sold the property and it became a pottery in the 17th century. The building was eventually swallowed up by the warehouses built across the site in the 18th and 19th centuries. Little of it remains today.

Aisha and the ruins of King Edward III's Manor House.

It was from the Rutherhithe area that the Mayflower set sail, bound for Southampton and then The New World.

At the height of the trading years the area must have been alive with pubs. The Angel and The Mayflower are still going strong.

The walk took us into part of the Brunel Tunnel recently opened to the public. The tunnel itself is only occasionally opened for walks under the Thames.

After several failed schemes to construct a much needed tunnel to link the two banks of the Thames, Thomas Cochrane and Marc Isambard Brunel began construction in 1825 using revolutionary new technology - a tunnelling shield. The essential concept is still used today in the form of a tunnel bore. The project was dogged by accidents, flooding, gas explosions and cost overruns. When it finally opened in 1843 it was not wide enough to take the carriage traffic it was meant to. The mere fact that it went under the Thames though, and people could walk 'under water', saw it widely considered to be the 8th wonder of the world. It had, however, cost a fortune to build - £454,000 (about £15 million now) to dig out and another £180,000 to fit out - far in excess of the initial cost estimates. The fact that it could not take carriage traffic meant it was a financial failure. It did become a major tourist attraction, being used as an underwater shopping arcade and 'red light' area attracting about two million people a year, each paying a penny to pass through. It now forms part of the London Overground railway network.

HOT, HOT, HOT in London.

A few days later Mark took the kids into London to do some shopping and to later meet Sally at The Chelsea Physic Gardens. They stopped in at the Houses of Parliament on the way. The weather here had been uncharacteristically hot (see our prattling on about the weather here AND again here). We never thought we would see crunchy, brown grass here! It reminded us of Canberra summer gardens. As we publish this post the news tells us that this July saw the longest spell of hot weather across the whole of the UK since July 2006 with temperatures above 28 somewhere in the country for 19 consecutive days. The highest temperature - 33.5 - was recorded in west London on 22 July. Mind you, our car told us it was up to 35 driving around East Finchley and even 38 in our driveway !

Oxford Street.

crispy, crunchy grass.

Don't think for a moment that it is a posed shot !

Chelsea Physic Gardens.

Chelsea Physic Gardens are 3.5 acres (1.4 ha) in the heart of London, which were established as the Apothecaries’ Garden in 1673. It is the second oldest botanical garden in Britain, after the University of Oxford Botanic Garden, which was founded in 1621.

In 1713 Dr Hans Sloane, after whom Sloane Square is named, purchased the adjacent Manor of 'Chelsea' from Charles Cheyne. In 1722 Sloane leased all this land to the Society of Apothecaries in perpetuity for £5 a year, requiring only that the Garden supply the Royal Society, of which he was a principal, with 50 good herbarium samples per year up to a total of 2,000 plants. The annual £5 is still paid.

The Chelsea Physic Garden quickly became the world's most richly stocked botanic garden. Its seed-exchange program was established in 1682 and led directly to the introduction of cotton into the colony of Georgia.

On the way home we passed the Chelsea Hospital and this piece of garden furniture caught our eye.

The Chelsea Pensioners are former soldiers, aged 65 and over, who have been injured in service, or who have served for more than 20 years. The concept of special military pensioners and a place for invalid soldiers to live out the last years of their lives was inspired by Louis XIV and his establishment of Les Invalides in Paris in 1670. The Chelsea Hospital, a few streets away from The Chelsea Physic Gardens, was established as a hostel or place of hospitality, as hospitals originally were, by Charles II in 1682. Designed by Sir Christopher Wren, the hospital was still under construction during the reign of William and Mary (see our post on them here). They established the giving of military pensions which continues today. The hospital can house only 300 men and those who can't or don't wish to live there are provided a special pension. Chelsea Pensioners are often present at State and Royal events adding to the 'pomp and circumstance' that the Brits do so very well.

The Vegie Men.

One of the many things we love about East Finchley is the 'village' like atmosphere it has. There are lots of small shops up and down the high road. For the last 25 years Terry has run his fruit and vegie barrow outside the East Finchley tube station. In 2011 his son Darren joined him. We get almost all of our fruit and veg from them.

At the end of the first week of the holidays Will became a 'victim of crime' when his bike was taken from the basketball courts at the local park. He was playing basketball when he caught a glimpse of his bike being taken.

He chased after the man, not a kid, who rode off on it through the park towards the station. He wasn't able to catch the guy, so he went to 'the Vegie men'. Darren went up and down the high road with Will looking for the bike, while Terry called the police. Even the local taxi driver drove around the area searching! The police arrived and drove Will around the suburb in a police car, looking but without success. They brought Will home (much to the surprise of Aisha who advised Mark his son was at the front door with the police!) and we were all resigned to the loss of the bike. 'Oh well', said Will, 'it was getting a bit small for me anyway.'

By pure coincidence, that same afternoon the police who dealt with Will were called to another quite separate incident involving a group of men in the next suburb and found the bike sitting amongst the group. The police recognised it from the description we had given, contacted Mark and a few hours later the bike was returned.

After two and a half years of hanging out at the park, this was the first 'bad thing' that has happened to William, or us. The incident did have a silver lining though - it showed not only Will's ability to handle a scary situation sensibly and confidently, but also the affection the 'Vegie Men' have for Will and the sense of community that exists in East Finchley.

Strawberries

The long wet winter and the late summer we've had seemed to work well for our strawberries. We ended up with a bountiful crop, as well as very good roses.

The Hatfield House Battle proms
The weekend of 20th July had us returning to the annual Hatfield House Battle Proms which are held just an hour or so North of London.

We went last year, but without Aisha who was on a guide camp (see that post here ).This time we took her along and went inside the house.

It was on this property that Princess Elizabeth grew up as a banished 'bastard' daughter of Henry VIII. It was also where she was living when she was told she had become queen and where she held her first Council of State as Queen. The house was not the one that Elizabeth lived in - the Old Palace has all but gone with just one wing remaining, but it has a beautiful hammer beam ceiling and was decked out for a wedding when we were there. Hatfield House is the home of the 7th Marquess and Marchioness of Salisbury and their family. The house that is there now dates from the year Elizabeth died, 1603. It was built by the Cecil family who still live there. At the time it was splendidly decorated for entertaining the Royal Court, with state rooms dripping with paintings, fine furniture and tapestries. It was, as they all are, pretty spectacular and featured in the film Elizabeth the Golden Age. You may remember the black and white chequerboard floor.

The Old Palace

The Great Hall

The remaining part of the old palace.

The main reason we went was to see the Grace Spitfire, piloted by the Australian wife of the Englishman who restored it but died in a car accident a few years after finishing the task. As with last year, it was an awe inspiring experience watching and hearing this magnificent machine flying so close.

The video on the right is of a display by 'The Blade's, a non-jet version of The Red Arrows.

William took these pictures of the spitfire.