Sunny London

Last Sunday my wife had a course in central London so I dropped her off, drove to one of my employers offices on South Bank and parked my car and, as I had several hours to kill before the shops opened, went walking. After the torrential rain of the previous few days, it was clear, crisp and very autumnal - it won't be long before all the leaves are off the trees. An equivalent day in the summer would have seen a layer of haze across the city.

A vew downriver towards St Pauls Cathedral and the famous 'Gherkin'


Another view downstream from South Bank.


Looking upriver towards Hungerford Bridge, the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye - what a fabulous view there must have been from the top of that. I only just thought now I should have gone up it. I've been up a couple of times before, the second time with my wife who hadn't thought it was going to be a half hour ride and was dying for the loo all the way around!


Looking down Victoria Embankment - much of the Embankment was built over the river to house Underground lines.


Looking downriver on the northern end of Waterloo bridge. The RNLI lifeboat station is in the foreground.


Charing Cross Station, one of my favourite looking stations. Hard to believe it was built in 1864 - looks so Art Deco.


In then walked down the Strand to St Mary le Strand. This church was designed by James Gibbs who later went on to create the famous St Martin's-in-the-Fields in Trafalgar Square. It is the official church of the Wren's. The spire of St Clement Danes, designed by Sir Christopher Wren and the official church of the RAF, can be seen in the background.


Furthe down the Strand, just before you reach Fleet Street, are the Royal Courts of Justice, which house the Court of Appeal and the High Court.


The statue of the Griffin marks the site of Temple Bar, the official boundary of the City of London and is the point at which the monarch cannot pass without the Lord Mayor of London's permission. The original stone Temple Bar which was taken down from its site in Fleet Street in 1890 to let traffic pass more freely, now sits in the Paternoster Square next to St. Paul's Cathedral.


Looking uo Ludgate Hill to St Pauls Cathedral, designed of course by Sir Christopher Wren after the original burnt to the ground in the Great Fire of London in 1666.


The southern frontage of St Pauls.


Next to St Pauls, at the top of the City Walkway, is the Firefighters Memorial honouring who gave their lives in Defence of the Realm during World War 2. Subsequently those who have given their lives in peacetime have also been added.


Looking downriver towards Tower Bridge from the Millennium Bridge.


St Pauls from the Millennium Bridge, designed by Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank, as the first pedestrian bridge across the Thames in more than a hundred years. I think it's a beautiful structure, but it did have it's share of problems to begin with which forced it's closure for a period.





A vew from the top of Tate Modern, the modern art gallery


St Pauls from Tate Modern.


Inside Tate Modern. The building used to be a power station and this was the main turbine hall. The structures are The Unilever Series, created by artist Carsten Höller, and is the 7th artwork to fill this space. They are a series of slides from various levels which are free for patrons to use!




Just down the riverbank is a reconstruction of William Shakespeare's Globe Theatre,



The Globe Theatre with the chimney of Tate Modern in the background.


HMS BELFAST, a Town Class heavy cruiser, is now part of the Imperial War Museum.


The forward 6 inch guns are trained on the London Gateway Motorway Services Area on the M1, some 12.5 miles away.


The ship still proudly flies the White Ensign.


Located adjacent to HMS Belfast are the headquarters of the London Assembly, the City Hall. This is another Norman Foster designed building, and I think it looks great.


Tower Bridge is also nearby...


...and the Tower of London is straight opposite.


Tower Bridge was only built in 1894. It still holds the record for the largest bascule bridge in the world, and it's high level walkways were designed to allow the unimpeded flow of pedestrian traffic while the bridge was being raised and lowered.



I stayed in the Tower Hotel with my parents on our first visit back to the UK for 5 years in 1979 when it was first opened. I'm sure it is very nice now, but back then it was an over-priced concrete monstrosity, overun with rats!


HMS PRESIDENT, the London Royal Naval Reserve Unit.


The 900 year old Tower of London. to this day a Royal Palace and houses a garrison to protect it. No, not the Beefeaters who are really only there for the tourists, I mean regular Army with real guns.



Originally called Water Gate, the name was changed to Traitors Gate as it was used for all important prisoners entered the Tower. At high tide of course it is flooded.





The Christmas Market at Covent Garden. Not a patch on its Northern European counterparts!



After walking across much of central London I was tired, so tried the Tube. Unfortunately there was 'planned maintenance' which had shut all the Circle Line, much of the District Line, and part of the Northen and Piccadilly Lines. I wasn't best pleased, and neither were commuters on Monday morning when the works over ran.