Yet more Eurostar....

Following my last posting I went in hot pursuit of photos to show some of the building works at St Pancras station. Sadly as there is so much building work going on and closed roads it's hard to get too close so sadly these are just passing photographs.

This is part of what will be the platforms. It is a huge affair and mostly made of glass. After spending a fair amount of very hot and sweaty times inside Lille station waiting for Eurostar to come home on I can only take a guess as to how hot this place will be in summer.....pretty hot I'd say! There is a big "train shed" that was designed by William Barlow (who had worked with Joseph Paxton on the design of the building for the Great Exhibition of 1851). The shed had become very dirty and in need of repair and has now been returned to it's original condition.

Here is a photo of the inside of the shed. It is gigantic! The shed was buit in 1868. It is a single span of just over 243ft and is 689 foot long and is 100ft above ground level.

This photo is taken standing by that lampost in the above photograph. It is the oposite side of the road and you can see the wonderful colour of the bricks used in St Pancras station. This building used to be one of the coal bunkers that were across the road from the station. As far as I know there were 2 of these. One bunker was demolished to make way for the new British Library and the other (above) now is home for some shops. I wonder if they will be knocked down to make way for a new office block or whatever. I hope not!!

St Pancras OLD church

St Pancras OLD church is just behind both St Pancras and Kings Cross stations in London. St Pancras is the most wonderful church and my family considered it to be "our" family church where many christenings, marriages and funerals within our family have been conducted over the years. The stairs of the church in the above photo are in most of the wedding photographs of so many family members. As I child I used to play in the gardens of the church as right at the back of the gardens there was a wonderful swing park. The swing park, now sadly no longer there, was just infront of the back wall over which were the tracks of the Midland railway tracks into St Pancras station. Now days there is a great amount of building work going on as St Pancras is going to be the London terminal for Eurostar. Back in the mid 1800's many of the graves in the gardens were taken up to make room for the new railway and sadly again now more graves have been removed to make way for Eurostar.

St Pancras OLD church is probably the oldest Christian church in England. There has been a place of worship here since around 315 AD. A few years back Camden Council renovated the gardens as they had become a complete mess. There are many famous people buried here too. Joseph Grimaldi the famous clown wass buried here in 1801. The poet Percy Shelly told Mary Wollstonecraft (the author of Frankenstien) that he loved her as they sat at the side of her mothers grave. Sir John Soane, the architect who designed the Bank of England, and his family are buried here in a big mausoleum that was erected in 1816. The design of this mausoleum was thought to have influenced the design of the K2 telephone box. This mausoleum and that of Karl Marx in Highgate cemetary are the only Grade 1 listed monuments in London. The Beatles even had photos taken in the grounds of this church to promote Hey Jude from The White Album. How's that for fame!!

To the left of the church and gardens is now St Pancras hospital. It was once the hospital for Tropical diseases. This has now been incorporated into the nearby University College Hospital that has a wonderful new hospital on Euston road. Just behind this hospital at the turn of the century there was a work house. After the workshouse was shut this building was turned into accomodation for the nurses who worked in the hospital. To the rear of the gardens is the Coroners office still in use today. When we were children we were terrified of going near that building for fear of seeing a dead body..... I dread to think what we must have heard to think it was such an awful place!

If you are ever in this part of London you really must make time to visit. There is so much to see and all within 20 mintues walk of each other: St Pancras station, the British library, the British museum, Regents Park. There are far too many attractions to mention but all equally worth a visit!

The Mayflower in Rotherhithe

I thought that as we were discussing pubs in London I would carry on the theme with the Mayflower in Rotherhithe. Now this is a lovely little pub tucked out of the way in south east London. It is on the banks of the Thames and nestled in between wharfs that were at one time the life blood of London town. Oddly enough, the Mayflower is probably the only pub in the UK that is licensed to sell postage stamps!


The Pilgrim fathers set sail on the Mayflower, captained by Captain Christopher Jones from here in 1620 and ended up in America 2 months later.

The George Inn

Now this is a wonderful place tucked away on Borough High Street, more or less opposite the market. You could easily miss it and it would be such a shame to do that. The Inn is the last remaining galleried inn in London so another reason that you must not miss visiting there. The inn has been on this site since the 17th century. Charles Dickens and Shakespeare were visitors and there are mentions of the inn in some of their books.

Today the inn attracts visitors from all over the world. It is so close to other attractions in the area and it is really a place not to miss out on seeing and having a pint or two in.

Here are 2 photos taken around 1900 and you can see horses were still being used in the courtyard! The National Trust now own the property and as you can see too, there has been a great deal of restoration going on.

London Zoo

I recently had reason to visit the Zoo and have to say I had a really nice day!
Oddly enough there was a monkey on the loose as it had escaped and it ran right infront of us. Sadly by the time I had found my camera in the bottom of my bag and got it sorted out it had gone. Now that really added extra fun to the day. We laughed even more when it went up the biggest tree in the Zoo and just there it sat. Soon there were helicopters overhead and men with rope nets running about and the whole area was cut off to the public. I don't think he had come down before we left!

As a child I lived very close to the Zoo and so would often visit there. We loved to see the Chimpanzee's tea parties. Every day at 2pm out would come the chimps all dressed in their Sunday best and there they would sit drinking tea with their little fingers cocked up in the air. The party soon used to turn into a bun fight with the chimps throwing cakes and the cups at each other and the audience! As children we used to love that. Now as adults perhaps we can all question if that was right or wrong to do that to the chimps.

The penguin enclosure was a place I would always head for. Sadly no penguins live in it and they are now over in a smaller enclosure. Feeding time was always such a pleasure to stand and watch. The lions and tigers were sadly all fast asleep, probably bored out of their heads. I do think it's sad to see them there and would like to think that they get swapped around with the animals at Whipsnade. That way they would be able to run free and at least get exercise. What a boring life for them!

Sadly I now question if animals as big as those should be captive in such a manner. They have no quality of life and must be bored rigid.

London Zoo is worth a visit and the kids will love it. There are some new enclosures and things to see so make sure you don't miss them!

The Clink!

The Clink!

This is another of Londons little places hidden away that you must go visit or at least walk round the area in is in. It is tucked away near to London Bridge and Southwark Cathederal and also near to Borough market. It is a small museum but it is on the site where there has been a prison of some kind or another since the year 860. At that time there would only have been one small cell. In 1076 punishements were listed and prisoners could expect to have solitary confinement, scourging with rods (sounds painful!) and only bread a water.

The prisoners had the most awful treatment but if they had relations or friends who were well off then they could expect a slightly better time. Jailers were poorly paid themselves and taking money for various things helped them and their families. Candles, bedding, beds etc were hired out to those who were rich enough to afford it. Lighter leg irons were fitted, brothels were allowed to be run from inside the prison to pay for improvements within the building.

Nowdays the prison site has been turned into a museum complete with models of the prisoners and sound effects. Very eerie indeed but well worth a visit but don't take anyone of a nervous disposition along!

Just for you G.S.

Borough Market

Borough Market is the most wonderful place!

From the outside it just looks like some other run down place in London. When you venture inside you are met with the most wonderful atmosphere and on market day the most wonderful smells and sights.

This market was probably the first food market in London. First used as a market as far back as the Roman occupation. The market still trades as a wholesale market every night (except Saturday) from 2am - 8am. Shoppers such as you and I are able to buy the most wonderful things there on Thursdays 11am - 5pm, Fridays 12pm - 6pm and Saturdays 9am - 4pm.

This is the inside of the market after everyone has shut up and gone home. It is full of little open shops all displaying boards offering for sale their wonderful, mostly organic and home grown goods.

Does that sound good or what?!! Cumberland bacon and hams....I really must try those.

As you can see it is a pretty eerie place at night and you can just imagine how it must have been 200 years ago. By day it takes on a competely different feel and is now very trendy and busy. There are now more markets that have sprung up in the streets joining the market and these too are very much worth a visit.

While visiting the market you can of course visit the river Thames as the market is on the rivers bank right at London bridge. Southwark cathedral is also within 5 minutes walk. This cathedral is the oldest Gothic building in London. Sir Francis Drake's Golden Hinde is also within 5 minutes walk along with the Tate Modern and Shakespheares Globe too! The Clink prison is also nearby (more of that later!) and again within walking distance.

A great place to visit for the day...there is so much you can do without travelling too far!

Not London I know but I just have to share this with you!

Lake Windermere at Ambleside!

We have been for a half term break up to the Lake District. For anyone who has never been let me tell you this is the most beautiful place. It has contrasts of complete beauty and then of nature at it's maddest. The actual Lakes are so calming and restful that I think I could sit by the side of one of them all day every day. The mountains on the other hand are something else. Awesome and dead frightening at the same time.

This was taken while sitting on the side of the Lake at Ambleside. I thought it was a complete picture postcard moment so took the photo and was delighted with the outcome. My new camera has been all I wanted and more.

Now this next photo can only tell you of the fear I was about to be met with. You can see in the far background the mountain that we were about to drive up. At the top are the very famous Wrynose and Hardknott passes. To say they are steep is a complete understatement and if I told you I screamed all the way up and then all they way down would you believe me? Trust me, you need to as I did! At some points the car was on three wheels as we weaved our way up the steep and twisty track.

This photo was taken nearly at the top of Wrynose Pass and it seems quite flat don't you think? Trust me, that was just a rare bit of on the level road. Those sheep must be tough and very fit to get up there too!

This photo was taken at the top of Wrynose Pass. That had to be the most beautiful place ever. It was so quiet you could hear the silence. The stream was fast flowing and the water made that wonderful babbling sound. I could have stayed up there for hours but the thought of having to drive back down again filled me with terror! I honestly felt as if I was on top of the world. From the top of the next pass you can see the Irish sea!

At last....the descent! Why is it that the passenger side breaks never seem to work?!

A beautiful place to visit and we will certainly be going back but I think the Passes will get missed out.

London maps circa 1890's

I have been discovering London back in the late 1890's. Some of the areas we now consider affluent were infact very poor places to live back then. I was born and bred right in the centre of London and in an area that is now considered to be very trendy indeed. Back at the turn of the century not only was it a different place it was also very poor. I was fascinated to find this web site that showed maps I had previously seen at the Museum of London but didn't get the time to look at properly.

If you are a Londoner or know different areas why not check and see what it was like back then.

Let me know what you find!

Real deep snow in London!

It's been a while since London has had "proper" snow I can tell you but today it arrived. I didn't sleep too well last night and was sort of on snow watch. No snow at 4.17am but when the dog decided he wanted to go on his morning constitutional at 5.27am there was a white blanket everywhere! It must have really fell down in such a short time.

Here is a snowman built by some children happily playing. Their school was shut due to the snow. Isn't he lovely!

London sort of grinds to a halt when it snows. The tube gets all silly and won't go due to the wrong kind of snow on the tracks. The buses can't get up the hills and motorists will insist on trying to drive their cars up and down very slippery roads! I suppose even here in the green belt of north London we must have had about 5 or 6 inches of snow. Don't know what that is in cm's or even mm's as I have not converted over....I'm still a pounds, shillings and ounces girl!

All this and we have only just (within the last 2 weeks) had the hose pipe ban lifted in this part of London!!

The London Eye

Valentines day fast approaches and I noticed this weekend that the London Eye had gone red! I have to say I was really pleased I had my trusty camera in my handbad so made a slight detour round to the river bank and snapped a few photos for you. The traffic was a nightmare as Stamford street was shut due to a burst watermain...such a joy on any London street but at rush hour on a Friday it was just awful. I don't know if someone has forgotten to take the blue Christmas type lights down from the trees near to the Eye but there they are, all twinkling and bright still and perhaps clashing a little with the red lights of the Eye?

If you have not been on a "flight" on the London Eye then you really should try to go. I wonder why the rides are called "flights"? Probably due to the fact that British Airways are something to do with it all eh! My first "flight" was when the Eye opened and it was such an unseasonally hot day. As the pods are like mini greenhouses we were met with the fact the airconditioning had failed and were told that we could use our tickets and go back another time. The children were so excited that we decided to go on. It was a worthwhile, if not hot, 30 mintues and we all enjoyed the views. We were blessed with the fact it was a very clear day and we could see for miles while we melted. We have since been back several times and have even taken a night "flight" and I have to say that is really, really lovely.

London underground

If you are about to visit London here is a blog that will amuse you. It is about the day to day goings on of the London underground. Now it mostly works but trust me, when it goes wrong it goes wrong in a big way! Snow, hot weather, there being an "R" in the month, in fact anything, can cause the tube to go wrong. It is a very good read so don't waste any time, get off and read it!

Talking of the London underground I just want to tell you about the London Transport Museum here in London. The museum is undergoing major refurbishments at the moment but failing that there is the depot out to the west of London in Acton that has open weekends. I have been along to this and my son was thrilled to see very old trains dating back to the turn of the century and even old buses too. On the open weekends there are many activities going on to suit young and old alike. Check the website for details of the open days!

Unilever House, Blackfriars, London

Unilever house, Blackfriars, London

Now I have a real problem with this building! This is the most wonderful building on the embankment at Blackfriars and at the moment is under going a BIG refurbishment. It used to be the HQ of Unilever products but it seems the building was surplus to requirements and got sold off. I understand it will soon be yet another hotel.

The problem I have is a case of missing statues. There used to be on the front of the building some beautiful statues standing very proud looking out at London. Where are they now? Gone! I only hope that as this is a grade 2 listed building the statues are somewhere being restored and will soon be back in place looking wonderful!

Brick Lane and it's Beigal shops

Many years ago we discovered the Beigal Bake in Brick Lane. It was introduced to us by some friends after a long serious night out clubbing. We immediately fell in love with the place and go there if ever we are passing. Brick Lane is now such a buzzing place that there is always someone or something to watch. Down one end of Brick Lane are as many curry restaurants as you can shake a stick at and up the other end are the 2 beigal shops. Inbetween you have the Trueman brewery that is now a host of things including restuarants and exhibition halls...to be honest I went there a few years back to see The Body exhibition and can't for the life of me remember what else was there. I do know that whenever you drive past there is always a wonderful waft of great smelling food coming out at my nostrils. The restuarants on Brick Lane are all next door to each other and all in very hot competition with each other. They all have someone standing out on the street trying to coax new customers in. It's great fun to watch how they all carry on but a nightmare if driving through as they think nothing of running out into the road to poach a likely looking customer!

As you can see here, the 2 beigal shops more or less next door to each other. That in itself is fun. People who have never been before stand outside not knowing what one to go into. We always go into the Beigal Bake.....ALWAYS! We have never been in the other shop, don't know why either. On a Saturday night, after about 10pm, the next days Sunday newspapers are always on sale outside and this is when the long queue starts to form. It goes out of the shop! I have never seen a queue that long outside the Beigal Shop. We always have either salt beef sandwiches on rye bread or salt beef beigal that are just jam packed with steaming hot salt beef. In fact you could buy more beigals and get another lovely beigal to eat with all the meat that gets put in. They are rediculously cheap too! It seems that this place is a big draw for tourists too as there are always lots of them there. On a good day you could also seem film crews filming too and there have been a few documentaries made about the day to day happenings in the shop.

The whole area has become very trendy indeed despite being rather run down in some parts to being so upbeat in others. It is also Jack the Ripper territory but that is another story in itself. The whole area was originally a Jewish area and now that seems to have changed and favoured by Bangladesh families hence the wonderful food on sale!

I am now dribbling at the thought of a salt beef beigal and might just have to jump in the car and drive over there!

A walk along the embankment

Here is a photo of the Millenium Bridge opened in June 2000. This bridge was designed by Sir Normal Foster of "The Gherkin" fame. The design of the bridge caused some concerns when it was first opened to the public.....it wobbled and it was shut more or less straight away. The bridge reopened nearly a year later after some remedial works to stop the wobbles.

At the North end of the bridge you can see St Pauls cathedral. A very imposing building indeed. Built between 1675 and 1710 and designed by Sir Christopher Wren after the church on the same site was destroyed by The Great Fire of London.

We also walked to the Globe theatre. This is where Shakespeare is said to have given shows of most of his works. The Globe was painstakinly rebuilt and today we are very lucky to able to take a step back in time.

London is so rich in it's history and it's just there for us to take the time to go and visit!!

Tower bridge and the river eastwards to the sea!

Thanks Miss Sunshade, London is a cool place to live most of the time. The decorations in town are just fab but do not come up to the New York shops standards....my friends blog has real great photos.

I think I should post some more photos of London!

This photo is of Tower bridge and taken from Butlers Wharf. You can see in the background to the right of the photo "The Gherkin", the newest most beautiful building in the City now days. It was designed by Sir Norman Foster who has designed many buildings around the world.

This next photo is taken from the same place but looking East towards Canary Wharf. The white building is the Design museum and that is a pretty cool place to go and see all kinds of wonderful things. To the left of the museum is a lovely place to eat but they don't allow dogs so we didn't go in, I just sniffed the air as we walked past.

Now here is the back of the above photo. What used to be the Wharfs where men used to unload all the boats from round the world with very interesting deliveries right up until the early 1960's. There are now lots of posh and fancy apartments. It has become very trendy to live here and there are lots of very nice doggies living in these places too.

This photo is taken facing Canary Wharf with all the new great big skyscrapers in the background. Canary Wharf used to be a derelect place with slums and very poor housing. 25 years ago this all started to change with these great big buildings being built and London City airport being opened. Now this is like a City in itself with several big companies based there and the introduction of a new rail line the Docklands railway too. Housing has also been built and it costs an arm and a leg to move out there but very trendy. The river goes out to sea from here and out to the Thames estuary and the English Channel.

You did notice!

Someone noticed!

Freda...I went to have a nosey at your blog and it would seem I can't, you don't exist. Odd or what?!

Sammy, my dad just lets me sleep wherever I want and that does not always please mum. She has had to go buy a throw for the bed as she has white sheets on it and well, when I get back from the park I'm a little muddy.....

So now I know someone is reading this, here is another photo! A shot of Selfridges on Oxford street with a bus or two infront of it!

I wonder if anyone will notice!

I thought I would post some London Christmas photos....just like my friend Gene is on his blog! Sadly mum isn't very good at taking photos as dad drives through the mad London traffice...she has chopped the H off Harrods but you know where we are!

Testing!

Testing testing testing.....