The Arrival of Autumn - 2011

Carol has officially announced the arrival of Autumn here in London. Either that, or in her mystical Weather Lady ways, she has commanded it.








The days are getting shorter and cooler.






Leaves are suddenly all falling from the trees everywhere creating large blankets of gold and amber covering the ground.










We went to the Shoreditch Park one morning as the sun was just starting to rise. It filled the park with the most amazing light.







Everything was bathed in wonderful gold mist.











One can't help but appreciate the leaves all tinged with gold and red.






I've taken tons of pictures of the fall this year, and here are some of my favorites.


















Sadly, autumn being here means that the long cold dark winter isn't far behind. . .

Morning History Walk in Central London

It was another beautiful sunny summer days, and we went on an organized History Walk with Dara down in Central London. On our way there, we saw a new building that bordered an old building that had recently been torn down. It was facinating to see the old fireplaces that once warmed rooms that no longer existed. I suppose that sense of history is one of the things that never ceases to amaze me about London.







We walked with our dogs down to Barbican station, and met up with our guide. Our first stop was at a building built in the 40's, and is a classic example of Art Deco. It is also used as the building where Hercule Poirot lives in the Agatha Christie TV series.


The square facing the building is lined with Mulberry Trees. In the latter 16th century, James I wanted to promote silk production in England and had these trees planted. Unfortunately, these were the wrong type of Mulberry tree, so the silkworms died, and production didn't take off.

We walked on further past an entrance blocked with two barricades. It is said that the traditional barricade was made from a decommissioned cannon with a cannon ball stuck in its end. The design stuck, and to this day, the barricades throughout London have been reproduced based on this design. The one we were shown is reputed to be the real thing.

From there, we walked over to Smithfields Market, which was built in the 1800's and was the main food trading market in Victorian times.





It is a beautiful iron structure with some of the best dragon sculptures in London guarding its entrance.

Smithfields was originally called smooth fields, as it was basically a flat area. It was here that most of the executions took place. Among them was William Wallace of Scotland, who attempted to hold off the English. His story was told in the Academy Award Winning Best Picture Braveheart. Great movie. Evidently there wasn't much attention paid to this spot until the film came out. Now there are flowers and strips of Tartan laid at the base of this plaque all the time. What a little publicity can do. . .



Right next to this is a mixed timber building from the Tudor era. It was covered with brick facing in the Victorian era to modernize it, but recently, the bricks began falling off, and it was decided to restore it to its original appearance. It is beautiful.

We got an explanation of the different types of phone booths in London. There are basically two, and they are made of cast iron. The larger, called the K2, is the original design created by Giles Gilbert Scott in the 1920's, which was inspired by headstones in the old St. Pancras Cemetary. The smaller K6 was introduced as a cost saving measure. Notice the size and fewer window panes.

There is a small statue of a boy on the side of a building. It reminded me of the famous statue in Brussels, which has become the symbol of that city. This one symbolizes gluttony, and stands as a warning. This was where the great fire that destroyed much of London stopped in the 1600's.




There are reminders everywhere of the long history of destruction and rebuilding in London from both the fire and the bombings of WWII.



We stopped to look at St Sepulchre Church. It is a great example of Neo Gothic design. And in front of it. . .






Is a Victorian Drinking fountain that still has the cups connected to it. In the 1800's there was a big push to have clean drinking water throughout London, and these drinking fountains were built and installed throughout the city.






Directly across the street is the old criminal courthouse building - affectionately known as "The Old Bailey".










It is a stunning building that must date back to before WWII, and thankfully was spared destruction somehow. And perched on top is a giant gold statue of justice blindfolded and holding a scale.







I like the classic slogan "Defend the children of the poor and punish the wrongdoer."

Now if we could only get the police to enforce the dog poo laws. . .

Looking back on the Summer of 2011

It's hard to believe that Summer 2011 has come and gone here in London. It's even harder to believe that it actually came at all.




In looking back over the summer, in addition to the fun travel outings we did, we managed to find time to get out and do some fun history walks.








One of our going away presents was a Haunted London Walks book, and one of the walks took us out to Chiswick, which is in West London.




Our friends Michael and Lynn live out there right along the Thames River. These walks in the summer are part History Tours and part Pub Crawl.






We've developed some close friends that like to get out on these weekends and do these walks. And the best part is that we can take the dogs along with us.

One interesting pub stop was at "The Black Lion". A ghost was reputed to have been spotted in Chiswick, and one night, a vigilante thought he saw the ghost and fired a shotgun at it.

Sadly, it was just a poor human bricklayer covered in dust. His corpse was brought to the pub where the vigilante was tried and found guilty of murder. It is said that bricklayer's ghost now haunts the pub and nearby neighborhood.


As we walked on, we came to another location of a grisly death. We came to the spot where the body of John Druitt, one of the men suspected of being Jack the Ripper was found. He had drowned of apparent suicide in the Thames and washed up over here.







There were plenty of creepy signs and graveyards along the walk.





As well as an estate that at one time was used as an insane asylum. It has now been converted into an Institute for the Arts.









Of course, the most famous site in Chiswick is The Fuller's Brewery. They are still a privately owned company, and make some of the best beer in London.







They even make a brew named after the neighborhood. Guess which one I tried. . .






The dogs love these walks as they get to have exercise, see new things, and enjoy an afternoon with us.



















No Summer History Walk is complete without ending at a pub for a late lunch consisting of a summer pie or burger and of course another beer.

The Cliffs of Dover

We left Dover Castle and drove over to the Langdon Cliffs Park - more commonly known as the White Cliffs of Dover. It is only about a mile away from the castle, and can easily be done in conjunction with it.












It was mostly a chance to walk some lovely rural coastline. The views are magnificent. If you look back, you can see Dover Castle perched on top of its hill.





Most importantly, it gave us a chance to walk the dogs before starting the drive back to London.







Radar towers, not unlike the ones that were positioned here during WWII, still stand and are in use today. Radar Towers were used for the first time in WWII to detect incoming German planes.






You can ultimately walk all the way up to an old Victorian Lighthouse. We weren't feeling that ambitious, but instead chose to enjoy only a 30 minute or so walk in along the cliffs. If you go, remember, 30 minutes in means 30 minutes out.








The views and the sheer drop down to the water is beautiful and spectacular. Even Pepper appreciated it.





The cliffs really are just made of white chalk. I found a piece on the ground, and thought about bringing it home, but then my environmental instinct thought better about it, and I put it back.






The whole trail is public property, but they do charge you to park your car in the visitor center parking lot.



Signs everywhere warn about getting too close to the edge, and they warn you to stay back at least 5 feet from it as it is still continuing to erode.




We were feeling a little hungry, but luckily there were wild blackberries growing all along the path. Yummy.





We ended our Dover excursion with a snack at the Dover Cliffs Visitor Center. I had the quintessential British Cream Tea with Scones and, well, Coffee. It was wonderful to sit on the deck enjoying the last bits of sun as the rain began to come in. Yes, our timing was good, and it was time to head home.