A pilgrimage across southern England

[malmomike77]

The Tower of London. This is definitely one pace I want to go back and visit.

I went 3 times in the 70's once with school and twice showing family around. Apparently the real Crown Jewels have been moved out and they are facsimiles, although there is nothing official to say it. The tour is amazing in historic terms and the jewels were stunning. Course her Maj has a stack tucked away just in case Jason Statham gets any ideas

[Looper]

I think this was Westminster Palace or Cathedral along here... either way there was a big queue so we didn't go in

I hope these punters checked the price before joining the queue.

KGBGF went to Lahndahn tahn in 2015 and reported that entry to Westminster Cathedral was a pony. Fahkin nora guvnor, you could'a knocked me dahn wiv a fevver. Oi aint paying 25 knicker to look round no church oi says to her.

And neither was she, despite being a widowed zillionaire.

A shame as I would really like to pay respects at the resting places of Newton, Darwin, Dirac and the other great scientists.

[Mendip]

^ Look after yer pennies and the pounds look after themselves!

I guess that's how KGBGF can afford to drive that BMW around... or am I getting mixed up with someone else?

It gets very confusing.

[DrWilly]

Oi aint paying 25 knicker to look round no church oi says to her.

And neither was she, despite being a widowed zillionaire.

Or you could go during mass and join for free

[Joe 90]

Or you could go during mass and join for free

Just wait till the begging bowl does the rounds, those Christian's are Eagle eyed to the tight arse chucking shrapnel in the bowl.
They prefer the crisp sound of notes ,standing orders or naming in thy will.
Fvcking religious charlatans.

[katie23]

@mendip - still enjoying the pics & stories. Thnx for the thread.

The Tower of London is where they kept the famous prisoners in olden (medieval) days, right? I remember there was one deposed king (forgot the name). They kept him there & starved him to death.

@malmomike - I only learned recently (2 years ago?) that Jason Statham was an Olympic diver before he became a movie star. I just knew him as an actor (The Machinist and the ones with Sylvester Stallone, The Expendables).

[DrWilly]

Don’t forget the Fast and Furious franchise and I think he might have been in Trainspotting too

[Happy As Larry]

And finally... The Tower of London. This is definitely one pace I want to go back and visit. We just didn't have time this trip.

When I worked for a time in London in the 80s my office was about 10 minutes from the Tower.
I often used to walk down there, buy a tea from one of the vendors and sit down and gaze at the Tower and give some serious thought to whatever was my work issue of the moment.
One of my strong memories of London.
Definitely worth a visit

[Mendip]

^ The Tower holds some fascination for me but I'm sure it will still be there next time. That and the Greenwich Maritime museum are on my list for a proper visit.


Anyway, we did actually visit two places on our second and final full day in London.

The day started as did the others... slightly overcast with scattered trains, and note that after two nights I still had 2 full inches. The chicken poppers (whatever they are) were a bit dodgy by this point as in between the shadows cast by the trains the sun had shone quite intensely on that window sill the previous day. (is it normal for UK hotels not to have a fridge... or a safe for that matter?)



I managed to get a 'four train' picture before we left, my best effort. Vauxhall Station really is very busy.



^ I think that's the Shard protruding just above the front of the closest South Western Railway train on which I think must have been Platform 8. We also saw the Shard on our open-topped bus tour and the commentator mentioned that it was renovated recently and they found a fox living right at the top. How or why he didn't mention.



This morning we were all meeting up at the Regency Cafe in Pimlico at 10am, thanks to Bonecollector's recommendation a few months ago. Much appreciated.

One mate / colleague was travelling from Southwark and another was staying with his wife in Chiswick but meself and the daughter could just walk over Vauxhall Bridge from our confines. We arrived a bit early... and there was a bladdy queue. (the Regency Cafe is on Regency Street and the daughter tried to claim another pound off me... but I was wise to her ways by this point and pointed out that it's Regent Street, not Regency Street on the Monopoly board. Bloody kids.)



Anyway, despite really looking forward to a fry-up in the Regency Cafe, a queue's a queue and it wasn't moving very fast so we all agreed to try another cafe up the road. I settled for a photo through he window.



This was the table we'd hoped to sit at...



Anyway, I'm sure the Regency Cafe will still be there next time. Google found us the Astral Cafe about 50 yards up the road.



Luvly jubbly, but I forgot the sausages which still slightly annoys me three days later.



And then onward to the Natural History Museum in Kensington, and our first go on the underground of the trip.... the daughter's first ever and my first for around 30 years... an event commemorated by photos.



Here it comes...



The obligatory selfie to send to he wife... much to the daughter's embarrassment.



The museum was absolutely jam-packed and hot as well. We managed a bit over two hours.

A blue whale skeleton at the entrance.



Mammoth (I think)...



A brontosaurus type fossil skeleton.



A Triceratops head in the foreground, with possibly a Tyrannosaurus head behind.



And a number of Jurassic sea fossils... I would have been happy to find anyone of these in Lyme Regis a couple of weeks ago.



The most complete Stegosaurus fossil skeleton ever discovered...





And this allows me to repeat my favourite dinosaur trivia fact... did you know that the Stegosaurus was already a fossil when the Tyrannosaurus rex roamed the earth?

The Stegosaurus roamed the Earth during the late Jurassic period, between 156 and 144 million years ago. On the other hand, the Tyrannosaurus rex lived during the late Cretaceous period, about 67–65 million years ago. The T. rex actually existed closer in history to humans than to the Stegosaurus.

And here was a very realistic (I imagine) recreation of the Tyrannosaurus rex that moved and made noises.



Ammonites (just Google it, Reg...)



And a brief explanation of how I found a fossil bivalve at the top of Crook Peak the other day. After all, the Mendips are just a slightly smaller version of the Himalayas.



This was without doubt my favourite exhibit at the museum although I also found it incredibly depressing, as with any modern day extinctions. We are now within the fastest extinction rate of species ever... and guess who's responsible?

That Dodo looks incredibly sad.



I took a second picture of the Dodo to give it some scale against the humans (huge) and unwittingly included the Passenger pigeon... an even later extinction and another very sad tale of a once very numerous species now extinct purely due to man's excesses. I wonder how many more species will be displayed at the 'modern day extinction exhibit' if my daughter visits when she's my age... the black rhino, pangolin, tiger, African elephant, hornbill, any number of reptiles and amphibians... the list is endless.



On that depressing note we left the museum and went our separate ways.



And back to The Rose on the Embankment for me and the daughter...




Three days in London was enough for me. We did plenty and my mission of giving the daughter a taste of a western capital city was accomplished. My hope is that one day she will return to the west for further education and that a few visits to big cities prior will make this a less daunting prospect... but Somerset was calling so back to Paddingon it was.



There's our GWR train (we were lucky with the strike dates). As Mike metioned, fully electric and a smooth ride.



A quick one for the wife! No smile from the daughter, and we were on our way.



A partial view of Isambard Kingdom Brunel's iconic Temple Meads station building in Bristol. I didnt have time to get a proper picture as the train to Weston-Super-Mare was running on time.



That was our train from Paddington, parked up. Interestingly enough, that smart looking chap sitting to the right of my daughter turned out to be the conductor on our next train home. For some reason, by this point in the journey the daughter seemed to take every opportunity she could find to sit a long way from me.



We went south, past Bedminster where my mum grew up. I think that may be Bristol Cathedral in the distance.



And arrived at Yatton, bang on time. We only had a two carriage train but both had seats, no problem.



Although our train journeys went without major problems I sill don't like 'em and much prefer taxis. I was glad to see our train head off into the distance on it's way to Weston-Super-Mare and I hope it's a long time until I get into another.

[DrWilly]

What? I love trains. Madness, sheer madness.

[Mendip]

^ Well, go and stay in Vauxhall Travelodge then... see how you feel after that.

[malmomike77]

@malmomike - I only learned recently (2 years ago?) that Jason Statham was an Olympic diver before he became a movie star. I just knew him as an actor (The Machinist and the ones with Sylvester Stallone, The Expendables).

he was indeed, like a cockney Connery

[malmomike77]

That and the Greenwich Maritime museum are on my list for a proper visit.

Definitely worth a visit and combined with a trip down the Thames, use the water taxi.

[Neverna]

Have you found any rhubarb cider yet?

I had some last week. It was awful stuff. I threw at least half a bottle down the sink. It really shouldn't be called cider at all.

[Mendip]

Coincidentally enough I took the daughter for a walk around the village yesterday evening and lo and behold, we ended up at the local pub.

Sadly the rhubarb cider 'special' was finished and had been replaced with blackcurrant and raspberry, which just didn't seem right to me so I had to make do with a couple of inches. But at least our friend was there... what I'd give to have a local like this within walking distance of our house in Korat. I reckon Maya would love it.

[malmomike77]

Does Mini like Quavers

[Reg Dingle]

^

She seemed to cope with 3 nights in that travelodge alright





Talking of tremors...

[malmomike77]

^medium, medium.....

[Mendip]

^ 10 inches... you sure you're not from the West Country?

[malmomike77]

He'll need them to get over having to sit through the most boring team in the PL labouring to yet another draw.

[Mendip]

Does Mini like Quavers

She does now. My commitment to her education knows no bounds.

[malmomike77]

You pay a lot for air but they are worth it

[armstrong]

My daughter's well into Wotsits, luckily there's a Lazada shop that sells packs after their best before date for cheap.

[malmomike77]

^ she'll remember you fondly, how much was the black permanent marker

[Reg Dingle]

10 inches... you sure you're not from the West Country?

They don't call where me and Cyrille come from, The Black Country, for no reason bro