It is summer! It is 30 C and we are cautioned by public announcement at the stations: "As the weather is hot, please carry water at all times and get off the train at the nearest station if you feel unwell and ask for assistance". Never get that type of advice where we come from!!
Greenwich, on longitude 0 degrees, straddling the east and west
meridians, was on our list of "to do's". We travelled there by tube and
the Docklands Light Railway. A beautiful cloudless day but hot
travelling on the trains. While we were waiting on the platform at
Canary Wharf we saw a man with a Harris Hawk sitting on his arm. On
asking, his hawk: "Lemmie", was a working bird used to deter pigeons on
the platforms. We certainly have noticed the huge pigeon
population...and people still feed them!
Walking along the streets from the station we passed by shops such as
"Greenwich Book Time" and "The Lost Hour" which had me giggling to
myself.
We walked up to Greenwich Park and had our picnic under the shade of
the trees before we ventured into the Maritime Museum. After all the
museums we have seen recently, this was quite different - open and light
and plenty to do and learn. We took time to watch some of the videos
and I particularly enjoyed the presentation of buoys and lighthouses.
Luke loved the fantastic play area :"Ahoy" and it was hard to drag him
away. The big kids played with him for a bit. He immerses himself into the play acting and costumes so quickly and thoroughly.
From the Maritime Museum we walked up the hill to Observatory Hill to the East/West Meridian line and the Greenwich Clock. This was quite a steep climb but we are used to walking. Even midweek there were people everywhere but as we walked further into the gardens, the crowds dissipated.
The Observatory Gardens are lovely but a bit heat stressed and we wandered around a bit but our energy was flagging. Finally we found a water fountain to replenish our supplies and made it back to Greenwich Village where we enjoyed a packet of ice creams from Sainsburys.
We were all glad to get home but wouldn't mind a fan up here on the third floor and especially for the big kids in their loft.
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| Canary Wharf |
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| Lemmie the pigeon scaring Harris Hawk |
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| Quite a nice sort of job I'd imagine! |
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| Prince Frederick's barge for travelling up and down the Thames |
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| I loved this display of figureheads! |
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| Battle of Trafalgar - Turner |
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| King Henry VIII - Holbein - royal founder of Trinity House |
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| Ahoy! Play area - balancing the ship |
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| Ahoy play area - cooking crab soup! |
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| Return to Australia! |
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| Walk up Observatory Hill, Greenwich |
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| Posing for a photo! |
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| The Greenwich Clock |
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| Mean time - up close! |
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| Straddling Eat and West Meridians - 0 degrees Longitude |
The Observatory Gardens are lovely but a bit heat stressed and we wandered around a bit but our energy was flagging. Finally we found a water fountain to replenish our supplies and made it back to Greenwich Village where we enjoyed a packet of ice creams from Sainsburys.
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| Climbing trees! |
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| Finding peanuts hidden by squirrels! |
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| Tree gnome |
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| Alongside the withering flower beds in the heat. |
We were all glad to get home but wouldn't mind a fan up here on the third floor and especially for the big kids in their loft.
Lovely to see the Falconer and his Hawk - it's an American species and topically used at Wimbledon too
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting! I haven't had a chance to google the hawk yet so now I know! I imagined they might come from the Isle of Harris! The question is why do people keep feeding pigeons?! Luke does his best to chase them whenever he comes across a flock!
DeleteEdward Harris was a wealthy amateur ornithologist who bank-rolled Audubon (the famous American ornithologist) who in turn named the Hawk (and a Woodpecker) after his friend. It is known in much of its range as Bay-winged Hawk (and strictly speaking the name Harris's only applies to the North and Central American race). Don't know why people feed the pigeons - London's flying rats!
ReplyDeleteThanks Rod! You are a wealth of knowledge and it saved me Googling!
Delete