london – Page 3 – Neil Baldwin's blog : Warning contains walking, technology, photography, holidays.

London trip to the Canadian Embassy

A few months back I booked tickets to look around the newly refurbished Canadian Embassy, it was on a Friday so we had booked a day off. We got the first off peak train from Berkhamsted, which was packed, Helen reckons it was the first time she had had to stand on a train to London, thankfully it was a fast one so we only had to stand for 30 minutes. we arrived and there was lots of police with guns at Euston so we figured out which bus we needed then got a 73 to Buckingham palace.

We arrived at the palace a little early our tickets were for 12 o’clock so we headed away from the tourists and found a cafe full of builders where I had a cherry tart and an americano they were both very nice. When we went back to the palace there was band outside the palace playing the Happy chart hit from a couple of years ago. Back at entrance C we were allowed into an ante tent where we could wait for the security search. It was not a long wait and the security was swift unlike Luton Airport.

Suitably checked out we headed into the one way tour of the palace, for which a commentary iPod/MP3 player was provided. There were a lot of people going round so it was difficult to get close to the exhibits but we saw enough, and I felt that there was plenty to see, and would recommend it to anyone. Eventually we came to the back entrance where we walked out to an area with a cafe and the palace gardens. We were again in a one-way path to the exit, but we were now allowed to take photo’s. At the exit we signed up for the year long pass as I think it may be useful to return in the winter when there may not be so many people.

Just up the road from the exit we got a bus to Piccadilly then walked to but stopped off at an Italian restaurant chain called Prada where I had a half decent Pescatori Pizza and we shared a bottle of water. Whilst eating lunch I checked the tickets it was from 15:00 till 16:00 we both had it in mind that it was at 16:00. Our plans changed instead of going to an exhibition we thought we would be able to go straight from the exhibition and make it to Euston to get the last train before a wait till 19:00 would be required due to the off-peak tickets we had. We headed to Trafalgar Sq, but we were a little early (there is a theme emerging here), so we dropped into the special exhibition about how good Canada were at detecting Neutrinos and cosmic rays. We had to have our bags x-rayed again before we were allowed in.

Window at the top of the Canadian Embassy

The exhibition was small and we were finished by 14:40 and headed o the other entrance where we met a woman with a clipboard doing security, she was insistent that our names should be on the list before we could be let in, the trouble was the site where I booked the two tickets did not ask for may name it just used the account details I had previously given them. Helen was not on the list, I tried to explain that there was a column for quantity on the form on her clipboard but she was having none of it. A member of the embassy staff intervened and we were let in and the situation explained to the clipboard monitor. We were then scanned and x-rayed again to get into the building for a second time.

View from the top floor of the Canadian Embassy

We sat around for a while and the same member of staff came over and started the tour by first giving us a bit of history abut the building which used to be a gentleman’s club before Canada even existed. The tour was very informative there was a lot of art to see, carpets made from art designs and furniture made from Canadian wood, there was at least one room for each Canadian province. We were lucky that there were no conferences or talks going on so we got to see all the rooms, including the ones on the top floor where we sampled honey harvested that day from the roof top bee hive and then we were allowed on the roof terrace to have a look at the view and take picture of Trafalgar Sq.

Once the tour was finished we headed straight for the tube which Helen had agreed to brave to save time. It was very hot but we did make the 1630 train got a seat and had time to stop for a bottle of water. We got home tired but felt we had had a great day out, it beats going to work!

London Loop – Section 1 – Erith to Bexley

I wanted to keep up the Saturday walking and decided that the London Loop would give me a chance to see some parts of London I have never seen, as it goes around the capital and within the M25, and I usually go to the centre.

Quoting Wikipedia : “The London Outer Orbital Path — more usually the “London LOOP” — is a 240-kilometre (150 mi) signed walk along public footpaths, and through parks, woods and fields around the edge of Outer London, England, described as “the M25 for walkers”. The walk begins at Erith on the south bank of the River Thames and passes clockwise through Crayford, Petts Wood, Coulsdon, Banstead, Ewell, Kingston upon Thames, Uxbridge, Elstree, Cockfosters, Chingford, Chigwell, Grange Hill and Upminster Bridge before ending at Purfleet, almost directly across the Thames from its starting point. Between these settlements the route passes through green buffers and some of the highest points in Greater London.”

I was up early as it would take just short of 2 hours to get to Write the start of the Loop. I comfortably made the 08:11 to Euston, and managed to get a free parking space. One of the good things about the walk is that it is accessible from stations within zones 1-6 which means a London Travelcard will cover it, so the cost would be at most £300 if it takes 15 sections, I would hope to improve on that by covering more than 10 miles on my section breakdown.

I got the Northern line to Bank then got a bit lost finding the right exit for Canon Street station, so had a 20 minute wait for the train to Plumstead. I filled the time playing Pokemon Go and I must say London is a treasure trove of Pokemon. I got on the long and very empty train, and whilst sat in an empty carriage I heard a phone go off. As there was no one on the train I tracked it down answered it, the man on the other end asked where I was, and I agreed to stand outside the carriage so that he could retrieve it for a passenger who had reported it lost. My good deed for the day done and it was only 09:27!

Whilst on the trin I was able to catch Pokemon whan we stoppped at stations, it was a good job I bought my extra capacity battery with me as it is a real drain on batteries. At Plumstead we had to get off the bus and use a replacement bus service which took us to Erith. It was not exactly at the start if the path but it was good enough for me being just a few hundred yards away.

The path keeps to the river Thames for a while and it felt like familiar territory, then followed the river Garent and then the river Cray, it seemed to be a very industrial area with industrial units and a lot of waste recycling. The patch was on a raise embankment and quite isolated I saw two cyclists and one walker in the three miles by rivers.

London Loop – If the bidge is not high enough dig down

The path follows the river Cray for quite some distance most of it through green areas and some it urban. In Crayford I cam across a parade of shops including no less than three barbers. I decided it was a good place to stop and got my self a portion of chips and a litre of water, then sat in a grassy area and listened to a gospel singing in a nearby building.

There was a lot of wildlife on the route I had already seen lots of gulls but failed to see and waders on the Thames mud, the odd Kestrel and the best of all was a Kingfsiher that was heading my direction only to turn around in mid flight really close by.

I had been checking Pokemon every so often and was getting lots of points, as well as lots of water based characters, not something you get around Aylesbury much. I eventually came across Hall Palace where some kids and dogs were making the most of the hot weather and paddling in the river Cray. Hall Palace it self is an independently run historic house which looking at it’s website looks quite interesting it even has Pokemon looking topiary bushes. EventuallI hit a busy dual carriage way where the signing was not great but I eventually found the path around and under to avoid having to cross the road.

The heat was really getting to me by this point so I decided to do the official first section rather than stretching it further as had been my plan. That will be one of the challenges doing the London Loop because public transport is all around it will be tempting to jump on a bus or train when I have had enough. On the Thames walk I was always walking back to my car and had little options for stopping early. I will however also have the option to carry on further if i’m feeling good.

Eventually I got to Bexley which appeared to be an affluent town, with lots of expensive cars in the traffic. I opted for the bus rather than the train as I wanted to see how good it would be for catching Pokemon. It turns out to be very good, if you get the timing right there is a Pokestop every few hundred yards and characters appear just as often. I knew I had to change buses to get to Euston and in front of the bus I was on was a 108 which went to Euston, I took the chance to jump off the one I was on and get on the 108 but it left before I had a chance to get on it. I waited for the next bus and got off at North Greenwich and decided it was getting late so I got on the Jubilee line and then the Northern line to Euston.

The 15:54 from Euston was air conditioned which was a real relief from the heat I had experienced all day. My experience of the first day (excluding the heat) was good and I do plan to complete the whole circuit despite the time it takes to get to the starting points, and then getting back.

The National Trust Living Tradition London Bus Tour

Quite a few weeks back I signed up for a tour of some buildings around London in a vintage London bus. I put it in the diary then forgot about it, till Helen the diary supervisor reminded me. I eventually found the tickets hidden away in the back of a draw, where I had put them after printing at time of booking. The tour kicked off at 10:30 but registration and hopefully chance to grab an upper deck seat, began at 10:00.

Google maps suggested that the 08:45 from Berkhamsted would give us plenty of time to spare. We managed to grab a free parking space, the train left on time, and we got seats at a table, however the man sat next to Helen was tapping away on the table all the way to London I could tell it was annoying her, but it made a change I’m normally the one to be reprimanded.

At Euston we got the Victoria line to the lines namesake, Victoria station then we headed to 20 Grosvenor Gardens, where there was quite a gathering around a green double decker. It was raining lightly and it took an age to get on the bus as they were handing out audio devices and tote bags as everyone got on. It may have been more efficient to load the bus then distribute the devices, but we will never know. Helen and I managed to get a couple of the remaining seats on the top deck just at the top of the stairs on the driver’s side.

The bus is an RMC1543 one of the most popular by all accounts. We first stopped on Bond Street where we all got off and they guide told us about the building belonging to Richard Green the old masters art dealer, who had another building built opposite to sell more modern art from. Then we walked via the Burlington Arcade where the modern floor was of interest. Heading towards Piccadilly other buildings were pointed out. We were then told to buy lunch, I had sushi and a tuna and mustard onigiri, and Helen had a nice looking sandwich. We met back on the bus and headed to the Queen’s gallery attached to Buckingham palace.

A lady from the architects office who designed the Queens gallery gave us a talk about they challenges of designing a wing to fit in with the rest of Buckingham Palace, which had been added to by many over the years. We got back on the bus and headed to our next destination which were some houses in Regent’s Park, on the way we headed up Park Lane which apparently is one of the (if not the only) section of road in central London that is not 30mph, it is 40mph. The bus driver had a go at braking it but even with the run up, taking the bends at speed (relative) he hit some traffic about 2 thirds in and only managed 35 mph. The tour has a history of record attempts they currently hold the record for the number of circuits of the Elephant and castle roundabout in a vintage bus they did that whilst looking at a building on the roundabout.

At Regents park we jumped off the bus and took a look at the 6 houses built on the edge of the park they were all very large and each one was an example of different styles of architecture, e.g. Venetian, Doric, Gothic etc. We all stood outside as the tour guide explained them, we had the curtains twitching on one of them and an armed policeman keep his eye on us from the other. The policeman was keeping an eye on the entrance to Winfield house the the residence of the American Ambassador has the second largest private garden in central London, after that of Buckingham Palace. Helen enjoyed the paparazzi effect.

One of eight houses in Regents park London

We skipped the Camdem Packington Estate as we were short of time so the next and final stop would be the Highbury Gardens, which Prince Charles has some connection to in that after the famous Carbuncle affair, more care was taken over the design of buildings. The development was a combination of housing association flats with low rental for local and shared ownership with 5 year no interest mortgages combined with private ownership flats. All mixed together so that it was not obvious which flats were which. We looked around one of each type and I must say it felt a bit awkward, in fact too awkward for Helen who opted out, however the two where the people were in made us feel very welcome and were proud to show off their homes.

It was a short journey on a full Victoria line tube train back to Euston where we got the 15:54 train back to Berkhamsted. The day was interesting I now have a better feel for the architecture of London but I am not sure I would repeat it unless the subject matter was of real interest as architecture is not really my thing. Having said that the tour was very well organised and the people running it friendly and informative, I imagine it took some organising.

Thames Path – Tower Bridge to Mortlake

Sunday was my opportunity for a walk so I went to bed early for an early start. We got new neighbours on Saturday but we have not really heard a peep out of them yet. I drove to The London Wetland Centre at Barnes and is run by WWT. They have free parking but the sign at the entrance suggested a £10 “donation” would be required if you did not have proof of entrance tickets on exiting, I took a chance, and in any case they do good work so would rather pay them than a car park.

The plan was to walk to Mortlake then public transport my way to Tower Hill then continue where I left off last week. By the time I got to Mortlake I had walked 4 miles, and I realised I may have bitten off more than I could chew. I threw caution to the wind I would see how I got on, and made a note to improve my map measuring technique.

I had a message from a friend last who I had not communicated with for some time, but whom I have known for man years, and we always seem to be able to carry on where we left off. Anyway he had read the blog, yes people do read it and asked if he could join me for a section near Oxford, I jumped at the chance it would be great to meet up again. It would probably be warmer by the time I get that far, and having access to another car would save buses or doubling back.

I splashed out £12.10 on a travel card as I was not sure what i really needed then got the South West train to Waterloo and then the Bakerloo for a stop and jumped on the District line to Tower Hill. I planned on walking for another hourish before a break for lunch.

The Southbank Centre seemed like a good place for some lunch, egg sandwich and hot chocolate, and evaluate the distance left. It turns out there was another 8 miles back to Barnes further than I ideally would have preferred but doable, that remained to be seen however, but with rests at arcticle points I should be OK. I left the the Festival Hall at 12:40.

You start to leave the tourist crowds behind after the Houses of Parliament, so the walking starts to get a bit easier, I put a spurt on for a bit to get some ground behind me. At the bridge before Battersea I crossed over to avoid a hike in land around the old power station. I upped the pace again though Battersea park where I passed the Peace Pagodas. At the village I was forced in land by a path closure, and took the opportunity to stop for a well earned coffee and carrot cake. The cake was a double portion there was a clear portion line down the centre, however two slices was just too much for me.

After Putney bridge is an area where Londoners go to mess about on the river.There were lots of people in rowing boats and some evidence that sailing went on too. I think there were races going on as there were a couple of launches with load hailers.

Back at the Wetland sensor was obvious that the parking would not be free as you needed a token to get out, so I went to the entrance and purchased one of the £10 tokens. This Thames walk is becoming an expensive task, what with the petrol, coffee stops and the rail ticket today it probably cost me over £50! The total distance today was 15 miles and and managed to fill in a gap I now had a continuous stretch of about 40 miles of the Thames done. Only 140 miles to do.

Thames Path – Woolwich ferry to Tower Bridge

I mentioned in a previous post I am attempting to walk the length of the Thames. Finding I had the day free on Saturday I planned another stretch. I thought I would start at the beginning which I had decided would be the Thames barrage, but when I looked at the map I changed my mind as I had never been on the Woolwich ferry, so I would start there.

The weather threatened rain after 12:00 so I would need an early start to avoid it. I woke up at 07:25, not ideal, had coffee and toast, and left with just enough time to catch the 08:11 from Berkhamsted. It was a fast train, so I did not want to miss it, the lights and everything were with me this morning, and my coffee for the train was handed to me as the rain pulled into the station. The weather was bright and clear with grey sky made of high altitude clouds.

At Euston I got the Northern line to Bank, but not before selecting the wrong southbound platform. At Bank I jumped on the DLR to King George V station where I would start walking.

The Woolwich ferry is not far from the station, although foot passengers are allowed the route on foot is not sign posted, so I just followed the cars. The ferry which is the only free boat trip in London, was on the other side loading, but soon did the crossing to my side. One foot passenger got off with a dozen cars and an artic. I was the only foot passenger to get on with a dozen cars. There were a lot of seats and space below the top car deck, for foot passengers. I found some step leading to the car deck where I could get a view of the Thames.

The Thames Path leaves the river for about half a mile and joins it again at the Thames barrier where ironically the official start of the Thames walk starts. According to the map on the wall it is 180 miles to the source which would therefore take me 18 sections to do if I made sure I did at least 10 miles each time I did a walk. I was glad I did the ferry in any case.

The first section was mainly housing then it became very industrial with sand and gravel dispensing areas. Then fancy apartments followed by the O2, then back to building sites before hitting the edge of Greenwich where I stopped at the Cutty Sark pub for a coffee and a packet of crisps, I was at mile 6.

At Greenwich I used the foot tunnel just because I could, it would put me on the side of the Thames I had not walked for a while. It is hard to keep to the rivers edge on the north bank as some property fronts are private so you end up tacking in and out of alleyways. I’ve noticed that with all the developments going on often a pub on a street corner is left intact, often looking out of place next to modern buildings or vacant lots.

I could see the predicted rain coming by the mist that had enveloped the distant views, so rather than stopping I cracked on, eventually getting sight of Tower Bridge my destination. I stopped taking off in St Katherine’s dock and had a bowl of delicious courgette soup and a coffee. I took my time as my feet needed a rest, and I wanted to update this blog post as the memories were still fresh.

I got on the tube at Tower hill where confusing signs sent you round the houses to the station entrance. I waited ages for a circle line train, then at Liverpool Street they announced issues on the line, then they went as far as Farringdon when they recommended getting the bus. The 63 was due in 20 minutes and I just wanted to get home so I walked down the road and splashed out on a cab for a swift delivery to Euston; £12.50. Things were against me at Euston two I missed a train which left as I arrived, then the next one was cancelled, still I only had a 20 minute wait for a fast train and had time to grab a paper and a coffee.

I grabbed some dinner on the way home from Tring Tesco, and Helen and I settled i n for an evening watching Finale of Deutschland 83 and a couple of madmen season one repeats.

London Drizzle

My brother and family were down for the weekend, being northerners they don’t get to London often so a trip was the plan for Saturday. The weather was not good, cold and drizzle. We tried to figure out the best way to buy tickets and figured if we were two familys with one child each we could save £2.80, but at the ticket office we were advised that three adults I a group and an adult with two £1 kids was better and we saved £20!

The 10:15 from Berkhamsted was running 3 minutes late. We walked to Kings Cross to get pictures on platform 9 and 3/4’s. We passed the new Francis Crick institute which will be a research institute for Cancer Research UK. It is a very impressive and imposing building which will be worth a visit when completed. The queues to take photos with the half a luggage trolley were massive, so after queuing for 5 minutes we decided we might come back later. I took a photo for Photoshop purposes just in case. We did the tour of the Harry Potter shop when you could buy all sorts of Harry Potter stuff at inflated prices.

London Millennium Bridge from Tate Modern

We had a planned destination of London bridge and Borough Market, so we found the appropriate bus stop and waited. The bus did not take long to arrive. It was on a diverted route but the 30 minute journey time was not affected. At borough market everyone was hungry but it was too cold to grab a take out. We wandered around and looked for somewhere to eat but the cafes were busy. Google maps came to the rescue and we found a Pizza express.

After a welcome pizza we had a look around Tate modern. There was an installation in the machine room, which was raised beds of earth from different places which had been left under artificial light to see what weeds would grow. It was obvious early days as there were not many weeds.

At Festival hall there was a Roald Dahl event on. We had missed both of it but we stayed to let the kid draw on the big blackboard floor, and watch some of the hand made instruments being used. Next stop was Big Ben where we arrive just a few minutes before 16:00 to hear it chime. We walked up Whitehall and past 10 Downing Street. The guards were marching about at Horse Guards.

In Trafalgar square they were getting ready for the Chinese new year. We popped in to the National Gallery for coffee and a look at some of the more famous paintings. We got the bus to Foyles where I bough ta book about Hacking and Penetration Testing. Then we got back on the bus to Euston, picked up some curries at Waitrose in Berkhamsted then went to bed early after a long day!

Thames Path – Teddington Lock to Mortlake

At loose end I couldn’t figure out what to do this Saturday the weather was absolutely lousy in Aylesbury. When I look at the BBC website I noticed that the middle of the day so I have to plan to walk some of the Thames Path.

The plan was to drive into London and park at ham House the National Trust property then walk down to Teddington by the Lough get the train to Mortlake and then walk back along the Thames Path. By the time I got to ham House the rain stopped, at 11 degrees it wasn’t exactly exactly warm. It took 40 minutes to walk to the station at Teddington, the ticket to Mortlake was £4.20.

Twickenham Bridge with Richmond Railway bridge in the back ground

I got a FitBit for Christmas and it has encouraged me to walk more, so much so that I like to do a 10 Mike walk every weekend. So far I have been pretty successful 4 out of 5 weekends I have done more than 10. Last weekend we were away but I still managed an 8, and one of the weekends I did a 15 miler, which was probably a bit too far, but something to work up to.

On the way to the station I passed the Laboratory of the Government Chemist, I wonder what goes on there? A train came within 10 minutes which was handy, the journey would be a smidge over 20 minutes. The first stop was strawberry hill somewhere I gave never been. Next stop Twickenham, there was no match today, even though the Six Nations starts today, I checked before I set out as I did nothing t want to get stuck in traffic for a match. I could see lots of terraced houses from the train nearly all of them had skylights so as to maximise the expensive properties in this part of London.

The river with easy to find from Mortlake station just follow the streets to go downhill. Passed a brewery on the way now owned by Budweiser I did and acute bridge and then joined the Thames Path for some time it’s a very hard surface with no mud. I had chosen the right side of the river on the other side side properties with Gardens extending right down to the riverbank full stop that meant that the footpath went in land.

Illegal to eat keyboard I heard and saw a lot more ringneck parakeets than I had thus far on the walk. At the bend in the River Thames became rather choppy and I could see white horses on the River. From the Kew side of the river you get a great view of Syon House and the remains of an abbey. There was a handy bench so I rated for five. Tween the thames path and Q Gardens there is a waterfield haha a 1.0 possible to beat like a portcullis didn’t like it had been put down for some time. Just passed Kew Gardens is the Surrey golf club, then on the right an island called Isleworth Alt. At Richmond lock I crossed the very ornate footbridge, then headed into Richmond in search of coffee.

I settled on a place called Topshop Cafe on the high Street, a strange place. It appeared to be a long established place run by middle Eastern people, judging by the food on the menu. There were hanging plants all around, with that succulent green grass like plant in. In a corner three menu had a large Gaggia coffeeake in pieces and seemed to be discuss how to fix it. My American was strong and bitter typical of middle Eastern preference for the beverage.

I was 7 miles in to the walk but less than three remained, but I had a plan. I would continue on the path, and all pas the ferry to Ham House to take a look a bit further on where I could see a museum marked close to Eel Pie island, which I might also take a look at. I was tired by the time I got to the ferry, but alas it did not seen to be running despite what Wikipedia said as well as the signs on the jetty. There was a light on but no one seemed to be there. I waited five minutes and there was still no sign of life so I decided that i the best bet would be to double back to the bridge at Richmond where I found a cafe under the bridge in an archway. The coffee was better than the last place and the apple cake divine. Whilst day in cafe I took a closer look at a dog tag I had found on the path,it had a mobile number on it so I texted the the number to tell them and offer to post back. I got this polite reply; “Thank you so much. Yes, that’s our Sam. He was out for a run there this morning. Don’t worry about returning, I can easily get a new one – it will probably cost more for the postage! Many thanks anyway.”

I had sore feet for the final mile back to the car and the seats were a welcome relief. I had walked at least12 miles, a good walk. I missed the M4/M25 turn off and had to double back, a theme is emerging! I stopped off a Tesco for dinner and picked Helen up. We were home for the rugby England v Scotland in Murrayfield.

Expensive trip to London

We had not been to London for quite some time, so we had fixed this weekend to be one a day free for us to do a trip to the wildlife photographer of the Year exhibition, landscape photographer of the Year exhibition and a walk showing film locations in London from Russell Square which is free.

We got the train from Berkhamsted then got on a but to Waterloo Station. The bus dumped us at the lower level entrance of Waterloo Helen had a fag then we walked into the station taking as it was clear that there was not any room for a photography exhibition, so we got the escalators up and arrived in the area that I recognises been Waterloo station then up one to the mezzanine where I could see photos. The photo exhibition was excellent quite a mixture of photos some using wide angle lens, as you would expect, and others using telephoto lenses less usual. Interestingly there was quite a lot of processing going on, as well as stitched panoramas and HDR photos which surprised me. It was clear that you don’t need lots of expensive kit however, from reading the captions, I believe every single one of them was taken with a DSLR.

The plan was to walk from Waterloo via the parks and Buckingham Palace to the Natural History Museum, but after we had walked across Westminster Bridge and dodged The Tourists taking selfies I suggested that rather waste time walking we grab a cab to the Natural History Museum because we were running a little short of time and it was close to lunch time.

Taxi journey cost us 11 quid, life’s too short to be taking the underground. There was a queue to get into the museum and I was a bit worried that we may not be able to get tickets will the wildlife photographer of the Year exhibition. Then I remembered you could book online so we tried for 1 o’clock tickets but there were none free, so I tried again for 1:15 tickets and was able to get them by the time we got the front of the queue.

Once we have had a bag check and got into the main lobby of the museum I found a museum helper who was able to direct us to where the cafe was however she was unable to offer advice on which one was less busy. We opted for the restaurant where they have a slightly unusual process where you order your food at the till, pay for it and then get taken to a table to wait for your food. When we were taken to a table I requested a table over in the quiet areas to avoid all the screaming kids in the main area.

Lunch was OK I had Falafel Mezze and Helen Pizza. Our timing was perfect the WPOTY exhibition time we had was only a couple of minutes away and just down the corridor. We had pre-booked tickets and were ushered to the front of the queue and straight into the exhibition. The great thing about seeing the exhibition in London is that all the photos are in darkened rooms and are back light, the disadvantage is that it is very popular, so being tall is an advantage. Usually we go view the exhibition in the Tring branch of the Natural History Museum but this year, much the the annoyance of many, they are only showing a sample of the pictures. Once again the quality of the pictures was excellent and some of the lengths people go to to get them, for example camping out in Arctic conditions for days waiting for the right moment.

By the time we had finished viewing the exhibit it was clear that that we would not make the walk rendezvous at 14:00, so we wandered around the side streets of Kensington. We walked down a lot of mews interestingly some of them very high end renovations and some which had not been touched since the 60/70’s. We walked around the edge of The Serpentine in Hyde Park, where the birds and water fowl are very trusting, and I got a few pictures.

Next we decided that we would hop on the bus of tube and head back to Euston but I had lost my travel card so bus was out of the question, and we would have to use the tube. Helen hates the tube, and whilst we were waiting a woman was being hysterical up the far end of the platform, then when the train arrived it was packed, so we gave it a miss. Helen suggested getting the tube in the other direction then changing at another station. We got on the tube but at the first stop Helen decided she had had enough, and we got off and and grabbed a cab to Euston where I bought a one-way ticket to Berkhamsted and we got the next train back.

All in all a very enjoyable day if a bit expensive. For me 1.5 train tickets, a tube ticket and two taxis.

The cosmonauts exhibition at the London science museum

We unexpectedly got a free Saturday when a visit from my brother cancelled because their cat was sick. We one idea we had thought of this as a trip to the London Science museum to take a look at the exhibition of Soviet space programme which up until now has been pretty much a secret.

We were up at a reasonable time and headed to Berkhamsted station, as luck would have we were there with a short wait for the 09:18, or so I thought. I dropped Helen off at the entrance to get the tickets whilst I parked the car. I parked a short walk to the ticket machine but when I got to it there was a sign apologising for it being out of order. The next machine up a flight of steps only took coins and I did not have sufficient coins to make up the £4.20. Back down the steps it was a 100 yard run, (I was running out of time) to the next machine, I popped in a card but the payment failed, then failed for all three cards that I had in my wallet. Helen turned up as I was starting to register to pay by phone, and between us we managed to find the change but the train station as due imminently. I did the 100 yard sprint to the far machine, followed by an eternity entering the handful of coins, then a 300 yard sprint to the car, and back to the platform. I arrived as the train doors opened, so a the effort got us on the fast train and spared us a 20 minute wait. Out of breath I found a seat and settled in the the 40 minute train journey.

Everyone seems to be on the underground go somewhere it was extremely at which Helen doesn’t like. Helen was taken out on the escalators when the lady in front of her who was towing one of those bags with handles wheels stopped as soon as he got off the escalator but left the wheeled luggage behind Helen had nowhere to go. A few stops on the Piccadilly line followed by a couple of Victoria line stop and followed by a third of a mile walk down the tunnel and the pops up white outside the science museum. On the escalators ascend from the underground we saw a man descending with a China plate with a slice of chocolate cake on it, we looked at him confused, he smiled back.

We already have tickets for the cosmonaut exhibition but we have noticed that there was also a Alec Soth photography exhibition going on at the same time as we were early we got tickets for the exhibition and have a look around and even had time for a coffee before we went to the main event.

The exhibition was very good although very popular. Apart from the engineering model, actual space craft, space suits and other equipment there was personal items and other stuff which I think makes all the difference to an exhibition. Helen insisted on a look at the shop before we exited. To spare Helen having to fight her way back to Euston I suggested a cab to the Welcome institute for lunch and possibly a look at the exhibition of coloured mist which had been in the papers. We had lunch and bought a few books from the Waterstone’s. The wait for the mist was 45 minutes so we gave it a miss, and headed across the road to Euston. We only had 5 minutes till the 13:24 departed.

We did battle with the car park at Waitrose and picked up some dinner. Then we went to a metal detector shop in Northchurch as Helen fancied buying one and last night had googled and found to her surprise we had one locally. It turned out it was not a shop but someone’s house, we had to call to make sure we had the right place. We pulled up outside a big house call Northchurch House, which was quite big and old, it was on a sweeping bend between Northchurch and Ashridge. When we pulled up the owner was waiting and the front door and welcomed us into his house. We went through to the large lounge which was half occupied by unsold metal detectors and an impressive light diffuser for taking pictures of products. Helen explained that she wanted to have a go at metal detecting and wanted a mid-range metal detector. He explained what was available then went on to demonstrate a model in Helen price range, he did a really good job because Helen decide to invest.

A few pounds lighter we headed to Helen’s folks and to test the detector out and watch the rugby world cup semi-final between South Africa and New Zealand. We only had twenty minutes but Helen managed to get her first find and lump of rusty iron, she was really chuffed. I must say the features available since I had a go are amazing you can do all sorts of tweaking to target the types of metal you want to find.

New Zealand won the rugby in a match with a close score but NZ seemed to have the edge.

Hot and sweaty in the city

A few weeks back I noticed that there was a exhibition of photograph at the Royal Geographic Society. In fact it was the Travel Photographer of the Year exhibition. Helen agreed that we should go and see the exhibition and after having mentioned it to A& C they said they’d like to join us so on Saturday they picked us up from the house at about 9:15am so we could get the 9:45 train from Berkhamsted.

We parked up at the usual spot near the back of the station then went to the ticket office and managed to bag ourselves a £7 discount on the usual £20 travelcard tickets. We could not find 4 seats together but by the time we got to Watford and after a couple of changes we ended up with a set of 4 around the table which was perfect. At Euston we got straight on the Underground and after one change got out at Kensington Tube station. We had to walk up Exhibition Road to get to the Royal Geographic Society but on the way we checked Google Maps to find the way there and I noticed that the place is closed on a Saturday.

We decided to go and have a look at the entrance anyway because that was the sole reason for going to London and when we got there much to our surprise the exhibition was open and so was the cafe in the Courtyard behind. Things were looking up. I had seen some of the photos in the Press in the previous few weeks but the exhibition of the whole I must say was excellent. I find it very interesting to see the settings and lenses that the people have used to take the photograph. It was very hot wandering around in the Courtyard which seem to be a sun trap. The hot temperatures were apparently caused by a Spanish plume whatever that is. We took the opportunity before we moved on elsewhere to sit down and have a cold drink in a sunken garden within the Courtyard, where the shade & slight breeze were refreshing after the strong bright sun and heat.

We weren’t sure what to do next so we decided to head off to Hyde Park to have a look around. We wandered up to the Albert memorial that was sparkling in the sunlight. There are a couple of art galleries in Hyde park which is something I was previously unaware of. We visited a couple (choosing the shadier paths to navigate the park) and found that the air conditioning was a very welcome relief from the oppressive temperatures outside which was in the low thirty’s. The exhibitions were quite different; the first was oil character portraits which were well executed. The second was rather more unusual. It was life size figures of people doing ordinary things, a chap on a sit on lawn mover, a lady seated reading, children playing. Some were extremely realistic and Helen sidled past them suspiciously, half anticipating one of them to be a real person who suddenly moves as some sort of modern art interactive installation. They did’nt though.

We managed to mislay one of the party on the subway when she nipped onto a train but we didn’t get there quite in time. We weren’t sure what to do but decided that as we had all agreed to go to Liverpool Street we would get on the next train and hopefully meet up further down the line. The Underground carriages were extremely hot probably maybe 40 degrees so we were very glad to get off the train, where missing A was waiting for us stating for a moment she had felt like a lost child.

C got a little bit geographically challenged when we were wandering around back streets looking for Spitalfields market, but eventually we found the place and wandered in to have a look round. There were lots of street food sellers there, the falafel samples were great but we couldn’t find anywhere to sit so we ended up in a pub restaurant called Smiths and we had some great food. I had a fish finger sandwich in some brown bread which was lovely. The halloumi and avocado salads were much appreciated by the others. Iced cider also went down too with some of the party.

Suitably refreshed we had a look around and had a meander through the market back towards Liverpool Street tube station. It was too hot for shopping which was felt to be a wasted opportunity by the rest of the party. There were lots of interesting shops and stalls which will be visited at a later, cooler date. The rest of the journey home was pretty uneventful. Air conditioned tube (wonderful!) to Euston Square then we had a 20 min wait for a train back to Euston. All in all a good day out with friends despite the extreme temperatures and that we thought the RGS might be closed.