Anyone who watched a T.V. show in the 60’s called Combat would totally understand!
Walkie Talkie Day!
Imposing building, impressive view!
It’s like a different world up there. We spent about an hour looking at Saturday morning London from the sky.
Pick out the Gherkin.
Walking towards the Thames, we passed the oldest church in London, All Hallows by the Tower, founded in 675AD! Another contrast of the old and the new.
In more ways than one!
We headed to the Maltby Street food market where Katie reckons they make the best cheese toasties in the world. She’s pretty right. Not just any cheese toastie either. How about stilton, bacon and pear chutney? Or chorizo, brie and onion? Heart attack heaven.
We had to line our stomachs ready for the afternoon’s activities- tackling the Bermondsey Beer Mile.
The Bermondsey Beer Mile is basically a ready-made brewery crawl that stretches 1.4 miles under the railway line arches in South London. What a great concept!
The breweries are compact little places tucked into an archway space, each with their own unique character. I think there are 17 altogether. We managed to visit only 3 of them…mainly because the brews were pretty potent!
Katie had to leave us and go wedding dress shopping with her friend Georgia (for Georgia, not Katie), so Chris, John and I bravely soldiered on, with Chris’ mate Zac joining us. Sorry Katie, but I know where I’d rather be!
Zac is a chef and we are going to sample his fare on Thursday!
We met up with the girls back at Angel for dinner. Chris tells me Angel Station has the longest escalator on the entire Underground.
After the Bermondsey Beer Mile, I was ready to believe anything!
Oh well. It had to come. Judi needed to revisit what was her home in 1969.
I was 11 years old in 1969, and for 9 months my family lived at 7 Sutcliffe Close, Hampstead Garden Suburb. I have only wonderful memories of that time. Well why wouldn’t I?
School by correspondence, freedom on the Tube, a pretty nice area to live in with lots of kids in The Close, and all within spitting distance of Hampstead Heath. Oh, and travelling all over the UK. Steam railways and Cathedrals a speciality!
But two local places stood out as being really special to this 11 yr old.
Little Wood.
And Big Wood.
I remember playing in the woods a lot, they were like our backyard really, and regularly taking bags of raw nuts to feed the squirrels. Sadly no squirrels today!
John was very patient as I tried to remember where to go.
After a lot of walking, we found it.
An unassuming house, but so many memories!
Our aim was to get to The Spaniards Inn for lunch, an iconic pub in the middle of Hampstead Heath.
We walked, and walked and walked.
Have to say, lunch was average and overpriced!
Taking the bus back towards the city, we hopped off at the Regent Canal and headed towards Camden.
Nostalgia again of what we were doing not so long ago!
We passed a canal barge that was actually a bookshop!
The canal walk was, well, interesting.
Industrial, authentic, fake, redeveloped and sometimes just amazing. These gasometers had been converted into apartments. Ingenious.
Sometimes you’d think you were in the middle of a city.
And the next minute it was pretty tranquil.
There were several sets of locks and even a marina.
Reaching Camden Locks, we watched a barge go through with critical commentary…
Camden was buzzing.
We headed back to our digs and decided it was time to sample our ‘locals’.
The Thornhill Arms was as real local pub. Warm, happy and cheap!
The Driver was a bit more upmarket, and a lot quieter!
Our original Airbnb host Meg, had suggested on her list of ‘different’ things to do in London, that sitting in on a criminal court case at the Old Bailey was an interesting thing to do. No guts no glory!
As you can’t take any bags into the public gallery, the criminal court had done a deal with the local Travel Agency down the road, that seems to double as a cloakroom!
For 1£ per kg, you can leave your bags in the back room of their office. Nice little earner!
Having deposited our passports, money, credit cards and picnic lunch at some random travel agency, we made our way up Warwick Passage to the public gallery of the court.
There were about 4 groups of cameramen outside, not sure if they were for ‘our’ case.
After a thorough inspection through security, we were ushered up to the public galleries. We had a ‘choice’ of courtrooms and cases- fraud, murder or rape. What a dilemma!
In what I can only describe as a Monty Python moment, we asked the attendant what he’d recommend!
He thought for a second and in his opinion, seriously, he thought we might prefer the rape trial as it was topical, and on the news every night. Hadn’t we seen it? Nope!
We were fascinated. The defence barrister was launching into an attack to discredit the alleged first victim (out of an alleged 10 others). You could feel and hear her anguish, youth and anxiety.
We sat transfixed at the minute detail they were going through, down to counting exact seconds of mobile phone calls, positions of body tattoos, the exact amount of money she had on her that night. On and on it went. Repeating the same information over and over but with a different line of questioning each time to try and catch her out. She was only 21 years old.
His aim of course, was to put holes in her story and doubt in the juror’s minds. And he was pretty good at his job!
Interestingly, the defendant Joseph McCann, had refused to attend court. Not sure how he gets away with that!
We sat enthralled watching the court procedures for about 2 hours. People like us in the public gallery came and went. There were obviously a lot of law students there, taking notes. Believe it or not, we would have loved to have stayed longer, but when the jury took a break, we thought we’d better too. Didn’t want to class ourselves as complete weirdos!
We were now on a mission to find Pete.
When we first arrived in London 6 weeks ago, we’d booked an Unseen Tour where the tour guide, a homeless person, was a no show. We thought we’d give it another go.
Thankfully this time Pete showed up, and we had an exclusive tour of Brick Lane, completely from his perspective.
The Brick Lane area used to be notorious for being the haunt of Jack the Ripper.
This fish and chip shop had taken it on!
Nowadays it is very hip, very multicultural, but still has an underbelly. Pete pointed out 4 buildings within sight of each other that were homeless shelters. In the immediate area there are 4000 beds to accommodate those who need them.
As well as telling us about the sordid exploits of Jack, Pete was very much into street art, so we concentrated on those two features of the area with a bit of history thrown in too.
Had we been wandering on our own we would have missed the lot.
Pete could give us a context of each piece of street art, and which artist he admired the most and why. One was Australian!
The final one he showed us was another Banksy, and was actually a car. Banksy had spray painted it pink, and immediately it became famous.
It is now sited on top of a container with a perspex box around it. Kind of detracts from the original idea I think!
After thanking and saying goodbye to Pete, we stopped at a local middle eastern bakery for a few snacks.
Delicious!
Munching on our tikkas and pakoras, we noticed this sign in the supermarket window.
Summed it all up really!
Our last stop for the day was the Blue Fin Building, just over Blackfriars Bridge, where Katie works.
The afternoon light over the city was gorgeous.
What a groovy work environment!
Relaxing lounges, kitchens full of any food your heart desired, desks that mechanically rise up and lower…..and a spectacular rooftop view of the city.
We successfully embarrassed Katie in front of her workmates, who seemed to enjoy the moment as much as we did!
Another sunny day with blue skies greeted us this morning. Remembering the weather change yesterday, we secretly made sandwiches, hid them in the backpack and crossed our fingers.
My mission this morning was to get theatre tickets at the Leicester Square 1/2 price ticket booth. John’s mission was to get a haircut. Both winners!
I snagged £150 tickets for £45 and John scored a bonus eyebrow trim!
Miraculously, at 10.30am, it was still a beautiful day, so we wandered down to the Thames, crossing over the Golden Jubilee Bridge which landed us next to the London Eye.
Walking up toward Parliament, we then crossed back over Westminster Bridge, passing this wonderful busker. Wearing sunnies!
Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament were having a facelift. From what we could see, they’ll eventually look terrific. Lots of gilt!
We found a good people-watching bench on which to have our picnic, then wandered through the back streets returning to Trafalgar Square. Lots of curious shops around about.
One of my favourite places to go in London is the National Portrait Gallery. It’s good to visit in short bursts, concentrating on one section. Between us, we knocked off the Victorians and Tudors. These are my fav’s.
No1 would be Elizabeth 1 in coronation robes.
Plus a couple of contemporaries, Amy, Ed, Baden and Elton.
The show we went to see was called Come From Away. It was about a town called Gander in Newfoundland, that found itself hosting 38 planeloads of people who were grounded there in the hours after 9/11. USA airspace was immediately closed after the terrorist attacks, and the planes and people told to land at Gander remained there for 5 days. The story follows the emotions of both the townspeople and the ‘outlanders’ over this time, specifically American Airlines flight 49 from Paris to Dallas. We’d actually listened to a ‘Conversation Hour’ with Richard Fidler interviewing the pilot of this plane, Beverly Bass – the first female pilot AA had ever employed. So we knew a bit of the background of this story.
You’d wonder how they could make a musical out of a story like that! But they have!
Newfoundlanders have a unique language, and this is how the show came by its name.
We loved the show. No dazzling set changes. 12 cast members who doubled up as both plane passengers and Gander townspeople. All shapes, sizes and colours. Very simple. I cried at the end! And they received a standing ovation.
Oh my goodness. No wonder the Poms whinge about the weather!
We woke up to brillint blue skies and sunshine.
John, inspired by one of his favourite TV shows New Tricks, thought an outside pub meal by the Thames at a New Tricks venue close to Hammersmith, would fit the bill.
By the time we arrived, it looked like this!
No matter, we sampled the beer at the Rutland Arms. A very nice Speckled Hen.
Then popped next door to the Blue Anchor. Good choice.
Delicious food and a great view, even in the rain.
Celery and Apple soup plus some grilled sardines filled the void and we happily watched the world go by for an hour or so. Imagine our astonishment to see this!
Are you up for it Jen and Grahame??
Down the Thames??
I wanted to see the Cenotaph in Whitehall that had been the focus of the Remembrance Day Ceremony yesterday. We met this little fellow along the way in St James Park.
I get such a buzz around this part of London. So many icons within a small area.
The wreaths at the Cenotaph looked like they’d been there a lot longer than a day, with all the Autumn leaves partially covering them.
Alongside this homage to peace, the anti-Brexit campaigners were in full force.
Good on them! We agree!
Bus home for a DIY pizza. Top deck front seat of course!
For once it was not so sad saying goodbye. We knew we would be seeing the Fenners in a month’s time, so it was simply a massive ‘thanks’, and lots of hugs and smiles all round.
A quick journey from Chippenham on a very fast train found us back in London in 85 minutes!
Much as we do when caching, the search for our Airbnb key began.
Specific instructions told us we’d find it across the road from the flat, around the corner to the right and on a fence.
Found it!
They were obviously doing Airbnb undercover!
It didn’t take us long to unpack and trash the place!
John settled in straight away. It was a choice of watching Jeremy Corbin or Pointless. Some might say they are one and the same!
We’d made contact with our special guest and arranged to meet him with Katie and Chris at London Bridge. Luckily we got the front seat on top of the 17 bus!
True to form, our Godson Robert arrived wearing his signature Rabbitoh’s merchandise. Only this time, he added a touch of Christmas! Very Bridget Jones!
Robert is in the UK participating in, and adjudicating University debates at Oxford and Cambridge. We’re so proud of him!
We had a slap up Portuguese meal that reminded us of Petersham (but wasn’t as good)!
Adjourning to The George pub nearby, it was great to catch up, soaking in the atmosphere of the Parliamentary Bar.
Mike and Kate took us to the nearby village of Laycock for Sunday roast at The Red Lion today. The yorkies were huge. The sky was blue and the sun was out! Couldn’t ask for more.
Laycock is fairly famous as…yes, you guessed it…the film set for pretty much every period drama ever made in England.
Specifically, Pride and Prejudice, Cranford, Downton Abbey and more recently, Harry Potter.
First mentioned in the Doomsday book, somehow this quintessential English village has managed to survive intact.
I loved the crooked houses and thick slate on the rooves.
Two of us were sensible.
And two of us were silly.
As we walked around the village, all we could think of was that once again, we have the National Trust to thank for its preservation!
We spent the afternoon with the Smith family, Mike’s sister, Sue brother-in-law Tim and their kids Lauren and Sarah. They had all come out to Australia for the wedding; the girls with their partners, footloose and fancyfree.
What a difference 18 months makes! Babies everywhere!
Theodore has joined Sarah and Darren, with Lauren and Rob proud parents of twins Alainah and Tallulah. It was very noisy and very busy.
Theodore has just turned one, and the girls are 10 months. Little Tallulah (with the big beautiful eyes) had been taken to hospital by emergency ambulance 3 times this week with a virus and pneumonia. She was wolfing her dinner down so hopefully she’s on the mend.
It was so good to see them all!
Thanks Nick, Kate and Mike for your hospitality, generosity and kindness. We had a great weekend!
There was no sign of Paddington Bear, but we left the station exactly on time and made our way down to Wiltshire.
We were excited to be spending the weekend with son-in-law Matt’s parents Kate and Mike, and Matt’s brother Nick. We hadn’t seen them since Jane and Matt’s wedding in January 2018.
It was like we’d only said goodbye yesterday. It didn’t take long to crack the vino and cut the cake for afternoon tea.
We talked and talked, catching up on all the family happenings. The most exciting news is that Kate, Mike and Nick will be coming out to Australia for Christmas this year!!
The Fenners had a busy weekend planned.
Today we headed off to Stourhead Estate, owned by the Hoare family who established the first private bank in England. It was raining fairly steadily, so we headed to the house first.
It’s actually an estate, extensive gardens, a village, church and two pubs! I loved this wooden turnstile at the entrance gate.
The house was built in 1725 in Palladian style (Greco-Roman, symmetrical), and is filled with European treasures collected on various ‘tours’ members of the family made over the years.
A pretty common feature in all the rooms was Chippendale furniture. One of the Hoares seemed to be a patron of Thomas Chippendale and bought up big.
The house was cold, with one of the volunteers taking the situation into her own hands!
There were some quirky features to the house like this painting. Totally dark and indistinguishable, you could only see the painting when the guide held up a torch to it. It was meant to be viewed in the days of candlelight.
And this is one of the chandeliers photographed from underneath. Totally perfect.
But by far the main treasure of the house, utterly and completely priceless, was this cabinet made for Pope Sixtus V in the 16th century. It was prized so highly by the family that a room was remodelled to house it, and was then named…..The Cabinet Room!
Originally an organ, it was converted into a cabinet with 150 concealed drawers. It is made of wood, marble, jade, pearl and semi precious jewels, and is one of only about 3 of its kind in the world.
In a story that seems fairly common in aristocratic families, the lineage that started off with 11 sons dwindled over the centuries until the last family members to own and live in the house had only one child. He was killed in WW1, leaving his parents devastated. To prevent distant rellies getting their hands on the estate, luckily for us, it was left to the National Trust in 1946.
This is Sir Henry and Lady Alda with their only son Henry who was killed in battle. The really poignant thing is that Henry was actually exempt from joining up as he had health issues. But he went to be with his mates.
We had a beaut pub lunch at
then headed for the gardens. World famous. Even I recognised them.
And the rain had stopped!
The sun made a final sudden burst onto the scene, accentuating the light and Autumn colours.
We really didn’t want to leave our Lochside sanctuary. It had been great to have the privacy and luxury of a cottage to ourselves. We took one final pic of the loch that had kept us company for the past 5 days. It had looked different everyday!
One last look at Kenmore on our way out too.
Not many people can boast of having a cannon in their front yard!
And finally…..ahhh
We headed east towards Dundee. Our mate Jim Barrie’s mum and dad were from Dundee, and he thought of it as his spiritual home. He always wanted to go there. Finances and then illness decreed it wasn’t going to happen.
We wanted to visit for him, and for Robert. Our aim was to get Robert a Dundee United football jersey, but after scouring the shops, we discovered you could only buy them at the ground, on game days!
We had a quick look around the central part of the city. It seemed sombre and a bit run down. Interesting sculptures!
Our Loch Tay flowed into the River Tay, and we now crossed it at the River mouth, The Firth of Tay, so many miles away! Looking back to the city, a rainbow appeared. Make of that what you will, but I know what it meant to me!
Having not mentioned film or movie sets for at least 24 hours, it was time for me to give it a final crack at a nearby Outlanders location. The little village of Falkland in Fifeshire, is the location used to depict Inverness in several of the series. It was like stepping back into the 1940’s.
Having only watched Series 1, I’m sure there were a lot more things I should have taken pics of, but I was happy with seeing the main street and Mrs Baird’s B&B (which is actually a pub called The Covenanter Hotel).
Had I been totally tragic, we could have booked in and stayed in Claire and Frank’s room!
It even had a castle, of course!
But our short Scottish sojourn was coming to an end. We’d achieved what we wanted to do in discovering and exploring Glen Lyon. Glenlyon House was a bonus. So was Craigh na Dun!
The car had to be returned, and we needed to get back to our hotel in Edinburgh.
Kanga And Wombats Adventures 