# More of London.....



## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

We had some chums visit from the USA on Saturday (Well, technically they're the parents of one of Mrs WereBo's very close chums, it was the 1st time we'd met 'em :grin

We met 'em in Trafalgar Square outside the National Gallery, I got this close-up of the gallery roof whilst waiting for them.....










Turned round 180 degrees for this one, Looking down Whitehall to Houses of Parliament.....










Unfortunately, there was a lot of construction-work around Nelsons Column, building a stage for some concert, so I didn't get anything of that :grin:

After having a look around the gallery, we decided to take the 'Thames-Clipper' down to Greenwich, mostly cos none of us had ever seen London from the Thames :grin:

View down down-river....











Unfortunately, the ferry had filthy windows, the heating on and no through-air, so I joined the dozens of tourists on the open stern-deck in climbing over each other for the best shots (lots of kids now have nearly flat toes, that'll teach 'em to wear trainers in crowds :laugh

Going past the 'South-Bank Festival Hall Centre', I noticed they had a fun-fair with this thing spiralling up and down....











Next to that is this....











I used to re-spoke my cycle wheels exactly the same way... :grin:










How it works....


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## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

For anyone who likes Shakespeare, the exact replica 'Globe Theatre', on it's original spot....











Back end of the Golden Hinde.... (Hi DF :wave: :grin











Where Boris Johnson (London Mayor and 'Eccentric-Extraordinaire' works....











I 'accidentally' slightly clobbered another tourist around the head for this one......











One of our rare and beautiful old 'Thames Barges'....


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## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

Greenwich at last....











Greenwich was too packed with tourists, so without any further ado, we disappeared to a quiet little cafe for a mug o' tea and munchies. Ray and Ruth (the chums) wanted to visit the Royal Observatory, both being keen amateur astronomers but, most of the park is closed, getting ready for the Para-Olympics. We took the 'scenic route' (long way round :grin and discovered this little gem....










Sadly, it was very dim from the door, and the flash isn't too good for large areas....


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## joeten (Dec 4, 2008)

Was Boris in as his building seems to list to one side lol,the pics are only spoiled by all the crap going on around the buildings the pics themself are great


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## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

The shape of the office block is ideal for Boris, it matches both his personality and his hairstyle.... :grin: - I'm waiting for Adobe (or someone) to devise a good 'Crane-Filter' plugin for photo-software... :laugh:


We finally got to the Royal Observatory and I finally got the pic I've been after since before the Olympics started - Looking down into the Olympic Equestrian-Arena, with the National Maritime Museum behind it and the Royal Naval College behind that all lined up perfectly.....










A pano across London (that wasn't blocked by trees :grin











Where East meets West, the 'Meridian Line'... (Folks were queueing for 15 minutes to stand on the line and have their photo taken, I snuck up and grabbed this over someone's shoulder :angel:











The '*Greenwich Time Ball*', one of the world's 1st public time-signals...... (sadly, in all my years, I've never seen it operating :sigh











I think this is the most beautiful sun-dial I've ever seen, the dolphins tails shadow the 'dial, and the tiny gap where their tails almost touch shows as a bright bar on the appropriate time along the top and bottom - In the observatory 'back-yard'.....











The original observatory in 'Flamsteed House' was known as the 'Octagon Room', the 'Grockles' (Somerset name for tourists :laughwere too numerous to get a good pic of the room, but there's some beautiful clocks set in the wall - Sadly, no matter where I stood, I couldn't lose the reflections and the [email protected]*&ed autofocus kept locking onto the glass fronts :sigh:



















The ceiling....


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## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

By this time we'd lost all track of time (good place to do so :grin so we 'went up a gear' to get around the rest of the displays. Sadly, the rooms were 'mood-lighting' for the displays and the flash got in the way, yet again......

All these clocks were hand-made in the 1800's and still work perfectly
























































5 minutes after leaving the observatory, the heavens opened and it was torrential rain, so much so that vision was greyed-out beyond 50' or so. We made it to the bus-stop (nearest public transport) where I finally flipped and really lost my temper when some bozo thought it funny to swerve towards the kerb and dump a huge puddle over us! I grabbed a couple of coins out of my pocket, threw them and left some dents in his rear-end, If he'd come back all 4 of us were ready to rend him limb from limb :angry:

We eventually ended up is a Spanish Tapas-Bar, just round the back of the Portrait-Gallery where we started, and Ray and Ruth finally understand why us English discuss the weather so much :laugh:


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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

Great photos . . makes me mis London! !


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## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

Thank you Rich, you're always welcome to come and re-visit old memories, if you get the right weekend, you can have a couple of good guides to show you around..... :grin:


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## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

Sounds a good deal . . ! !


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## zuluclayman (Dec 16, 2005)

joeten said:


> Was Boris in as his building seems to list to one side lol,the pics are only spoiled by all the crap going on around the buildings the pics themself are great



ha ha - WereBo, you have developed a list to starboard :smile:


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## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

Hehehehe.... It was rather awkward to get a 'level' picture from the ferry, the water was quite choppy and the boat was pitching around quite a bit - The building does list to one side, though Boris leans at an angle all his own..... :grin:


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## joeten (Dec 4, 2008)

Yeah I saw it on the evening of the closing ceremony it was worse than dad dancing,I would say you might have a touch of the celt in you as you appreciate idiot drivers as much as me lol,those guys new how to build a beautiful but functional machine pity no one takes as much time or care today,well not on that scale


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## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

I don't know of any Scots in my family-tree (still large gaps though), but there's Irish, Canadian and Yorkshire-Dales there, along with the earliest record being a Dutch merchant who came to England in 1127. There's an Entitlement to a 'Coat-of-Arms' somewhere too, but I haven't managed to glean any precise info about that :grin:

What stunned me with those clocks was not only the craftsmanship in actually making all the components, they were almost making-up the design as they went along. 

There was still a lot of the exhibits that I didn't get to see, the workshop where they made all the cogs, plates and springs etc. is still as it was, complete with the original tools, but the room was closed with the lights off so I couldn't get a photo :sigh: - Another time though, along with the exhibits in the newer observatories there :laugh:


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## joeten (Dec 4, 2008)

Be nice to get a look at,and Irish is celtic as is scots and welsh I believe I have all 3 within the family mix so imagine the temper tantrums lol


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