4 July 2015 - Tate Gallery

Slow Saturday morning, shopping, etc.  We feel as if we have been in London for long enough now, the extraordinary has become ordinary and so we are glad we are moving on Friday.  We are so grateful that we are here by choice.  The kids are missing their own space and a garden. I think we will really appreciate everything about home including school when we get there!

Four out five of us walked to Paddington.  Tim decided to go and see the gallery we saw yesterday with the Duane Hanson exhibition and enjoyed it!  Karl, Luke and I took the train to Westminster and walked past the Houses of Parliament and along the Thames to the Tate Britain Gallery.

Luke and Richard the Lion heart

Two statues which we had not really noticed before, behind the fences at Westminster Abbey were of Richard I (Richard the Lionheart) and Oliver Cromwell.

Richard the Lionheart (1157 - 1189) was one of England's favourite kings apparently.  He was also apparently his mother's favourite son and rather spoiled.  He was well-educated and wrote poems and songs but was also a shrewd leader and known for his skill on the battlefield.  He seems to have conquered many places (or at least tried to) and we remember seeing the route of Richard the Lionheart in regions of France.

Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell (1599 - 1661), was the Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland (1653-1658).  In this role he had the power to call and dissolve parliaments. He was under obligation to seek the majority vote of a Council of State for a grand sum of £100,000 a year!
 
Although he died of natural causes and was buried in Westminster Abbey, his body was then exhumed and he was "posthumously executed", bound in chains and had his head severed. His head was displayed on a pole outside Westminster Hall from 1661 - 1685 and apparently changed hands several times after this!

The Lion (England) and the Unicorn (Scotland)

We have often noted the Lion and Unicorn and intended to investigate what they symbolise!  On the Houses of Parliament there a several Lions and Unicorns. The words the of the nursery rhyme kept coming back to me!  Now I know that the Lion represented England and its traditional enemy, The Unicorn represented Scotland and on the Coat of Arms, they are together and no longer fighting.  I think that was wishful thinking!

"The lion and the unicorn

Were fighting for the crown

The lion beat the unicorn

All around the town.

Some gave them white bread,

And some gave them brown;

Some gave them plum cake

and drummed them out of town" (Roud Folk Song Index 20170)

 It was a day for noticing other statues and things of interest which is always great to do!  We spotted Emmeline Pankhurst in a shady little alcove.

Emmeline Pankhurst - Leader of the Movement for the Enfranchisement of Women

 And then we saw the Buxton Memorial!  Once away from the Westminster crowds, this side of the river is much less crowded than the other side.

Buxton Memorial to Wilburforce and freedom of slavery.

Our destination, the Tate Britain (formerly the Tate Gallery) was not crowded despite it being a Saturday. It is another marvellous free gallery in London, in a beautiful building, and famous for the Constables and Turners and other British.artists from 1500's to the present.  It is built on the site of the old Millgate Prison.

The Tate Britain Gallery

Turner - Richmond Hill

Turner - Self Portrait

Goring Mill and Church

Turner - Chichester Canal

London from Greenwich Park (where we were the other day)

Logsdail - St Martin-in-the - Field

Gainsborough - Giovanna Baccelli

Entrance Hall of Tate Britain

 It was the most beautiful day for taking photos of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.  The gold leaf was glittering so radiantly against the blue skies.  Not everyone who visits London is so privileged to see these sights on days like this.

New (The Eye) New and the Old (Big Ben and Houses of Parliament

Luke had spotted  a playground along Millgate and spent ages playing in the sand and water there with some other kids.  Karl and I sat in the shade and chatted and we arrived back to dinner prepared by Annika and a relaxing Saturday evening watching a movie together.