Wapping is on the north bank of the River Thames. The neighborhood is especially known for the Old Stairs, and the Prospect of Whitby pub
The Old Stairs can be found through a narrow alley on Wapping High Street just west of Scandrett Street. This intersection is a ten minute walk west of Wapping Overground station. There are ample amounts of old pottery fragments here as elsewhere on the riverbank. But watch your footing if stone steps are wet.
Area to the right of above picture
Centuries old pottery fragments
River Thames with Shard Building in distance
Prospect of Whitby is a riverside tavern first built in 1520 as a meeting place for sailors, smugglers, cut-throats, and others. The word "prospect" can mean a view of a landscape or an estuary. Here the Thames is an estuary (river with tides).
The only part left of the earliest pub here is the 400-year-old stone floor
Current interior, Prospect of Whitby
Very few pubs have such a device
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Sights on the river
Secured barge and boat that patrols for pirates on the River Thames :)
Looking across the river
Located in Covent Garden the museum was designed by William Rogers in 1871. A second site in Acton is not always open to the public. The collection was started decades ago by the London Omnibus Company to preserve retired buses. Today the site includes buses, trains, and taxis (entrance fee).
Early coach on rails pulled by horses
Later motorized bus
More modern-looking bus
Early train for mass transportation
Ladies car on train
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Double-decked designs
Taxi
Opened in 1816 the canal links the Thames River with the connected canal system beyond London. Like other canals in the UK, Regents Canal was built to transport grain and other needed things to villages, towns and cities. When railroads and trucks took over this service the canal could have been remade as a train line. It wasn't. Today, Regents Canal is used for leisure and in some cases as housing on moored canal boats.
Floating restaurant on Regents Canal
Next to canal
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Dual locks on Regents Canal
A narrowboat is less than 7 feet wide, 70 feet long, and steered with a tiller rather than a wheel
Bridge over canal; towpath on left was for horses pulling barges
Service vehicle
House with view of the canal
Some narrowboats are for private use and others for public use
One of Regents Canal's terminuses is at Limehouse Boat Basin
From a different angle
Center of focus at Limehouse
Two ways to get around, boat or bicycle
Barton Swing Aqueduct, photo courtesy of Google Earth
You can get from Limehouse Basin to the Barton Swing Aqueduct using Britain's interconnected canals of which Regents Canal is a part. The aqueduct near Manchester carries the Bridgewater Canal across the Manchester Ship Canal. When the aqueduct is swung open, larger boats and ships can pass in the wider passage alongside it and when the aqueduct is swung closed smaller boats can pass across it (as in the photo). The picture also shows a swing roadway bridge (top of photo). The Barton Swing Aqueduct is the only one of its type in the world.
The museum was opened by King George V in Crystal Palace at Sydenham Hill in 1920. Today it uses five locations, three of which are in London, including the Churchill War Rooms. Photos here were taken at the Lambeth Road location.
Front lawn has massive 15-inch (barrel diameter) guns. The building will be defended :)
Supermarine Spitfire plane; early rocket at top right; crushed jeep at bottom
T-34 tank
Camouflaged car
WWII British Red Cross jeep
"Big" bomb
Firepower
15-inch guns seen from the rear
The wharf is in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets at the confluence of River Thames and Bow Creek (River Lea). It once had the only working lighthouse in London. Today the area is home to artistic and educational endeavors.
One way to the wharf is on the Dockland Light Railway (DLR) to East India station (then 12 min walk)
Entrance to wharf (wall art has changed)
American styled diner on wharf (brought from Georgetown, Massachusetts)
Was once the only lighthouse in London
Longplayer project housed here
Diner and lighthouse
Taxi with metal tree "growing" through roof (recently moved to roof of nearby building)
Knocker White tugboat was built in 1924 at Scheepswerk Lekkerkek, Netherlands
O2 Arena in background; rising tide rings Time and Tide Bell to create a melody
Some get out of sorts more than others
550-tonne Lightship 95 (decommissioned 2003) now a sound-recording studio with an echo chamber
Iron ships built here: Daylight (1838), Magician (1843) and Riji (in service 1847-1952)
Sometimes where there is water there are fish
Hampton Court is a royal palace in the borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its construction began in 1515 and was once owned by King Henry VIII. It houses many works of art.
Arriving by boat at Hampton Court Palace
Royal entrance
Interior space at Hampton Court
Gardens area of palace
Even the chimneys are works of art
Colour abounds today
Interesting clock at upper left
View of outside from inside
Device full of useful information; hour hand points to 11:30 AM
Dinner for three?
Chess after dinner?
A more serious moment
Time for bed
Art everywhere
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For skipping in or out unnoticed
Balcony setting for in situ theatre :)
View from above (from ancient helicopter?)
Cafe
Food must be prepared for residents and guests
Rare indoor plumbing for that historical period
This is a street in Notting Hill in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea running parallel with Ladbroke Grove. Its main street-market activities take place on Saturday for antiques, used clothing, vegetables, and other consumer items. It sometimes serves as a setting for movies and televison shows. The nearest Underground station is at Ladbroke Grove on the Circle and the Hammersmith & City lines.
Perhaps you'd like to purchase an old typewriter
Almost bought the gramophone
Boxing anyone?
Collectables and antiques shop
Palm trees grow in London
A bit piqued today?
Is one of the oldest movie theatres in the UK (1910) seating armchairs, front-row beds and back-row sofas
Stop for a gin and tonic in the Distillery at 171 Portobello Road?
Somerset House is a large Neoclassical buliding south of the Strand and north of the Embankment in central London. It was designed by Sir William Chambers in 1776. Today it is a home for arts and learning and has magnificent staircases. It has been a popular film location for big budget Hollywood films, including several Sherlock Holmes porjects.
"Ground level" here is several storeys high
Two of a larger set
Focus magic accomplished with a "tilt" lens
Staircase as an art form
Ditto
Looking up
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Sentiments set in stone in cellar
The bath was once thought built by the Romans, but was built 400 years or so ago possibly as a cistern for watering plants in the building next door. An enterprising person possibly came up with the Roman bath idea to promote using the water for theraputic public bathing. Bath area no longer in use, except for occasional scheduled sightseeing tours originating at Somerset House.
Bath made of Tudor bricks is located at 5 Strand Lane, between the Strand and the Embankment
Bath is 16 feet long, 7 feet wide, and 4 feet deep
Brentford is a town in west London at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames. Its local history can be traced back at least to 54 BC in a battle between Julius Caesar and King Cassivellaunus. The Brentford Dock was built between 1855 and 1859. Water is a big part of the Brentford terrain.
The Beehive, flanked by a Morrisons Supermarket at right
River boating very popular here
For strolling down by the river
Locks
Photographer took his chances walking through today without being challenged
High tide is pretty but Low tide more ineresting
Boats are everywhere in Brentford
Andrew Carnegie was born in Scotland and emigrated to the United States. He made millions and gave away millions, including building numerous libraries all over the world as charity. This one on Boston Manor Road was built in 1903 and is a Grade II protected building
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Pub sign at left; a classy building for selling ice cream at right
The wall has been in London for nearly two thousand years. Most of the wall is gone although bits of it can be found in several areas of The City
Trajan, Roman Emperor 98-117 (near Tower Hill)
Doughnuts at the Roman Wall in London
Sundial near Roman Wall
Museum of London in background
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Trajan perhaps making a point about the future of Londinium
This river runs south of the Thames River, passing through the London Boroughs of Croydon, Sutton, Merton, and Wandsworth
Colours abound today
Near the river
The Crane, a short walk from the river
Deptford Creek
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Nearby river
Fine work not far away
This is a royal residence in the county of Berkshire. Its construction started in the 11th century. Inside its walls is the 15th-century St George's Chapel
The building will be defended
Near train station
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Train station; end of the line
Construction began after 1066. It has at times been a royal residence and at other times a prison. The crown jewels are kept here. One of Henry VIII wives, Anne Bolen, haunts the White Tower, as do Henry VI, Lady Jane Grey and Margaret Pole.
Part of the Tower
The Tower from a distance
Exterior portion of the Tower
Try scaling this wall
Security detail for Tower
Photographer in silhouette
London is a city of many bridges some of which have a history that goes back centuries. The most famous is Tower Bridge. But many others are just as interesting
Tower Bridge is more often closed than open
Only bridge guarded with warship
Blackfriars Bridge from nearby Blackfriars Train Bridge (protected remnants of older bridge)
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Blackfriars Train Bridge with solar-panels roof and cross-river platforms
Cross-river platforms and Thameslink train spanning River Thames
College and St Paul's seen on the way to Millenium Bridge
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Nearby Millennium Bridge for pedestrians (shown from opposite sides of Thames River)
Stairs down to the river from opposite angles
St Pauls from Millenium Bridge
Present-day London Bridge at low tide (previous constructions were here over the centuries)
Chelsea Bridge in late afternoon
Colourful puddle on riverbank
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Front and rear views of massive Battersea Power Station (being refurbished), near Chelsea Bridge
Art on the river
Built in the late 1800s the bridge illustrates three different bridge designs (suspension, beam, cable-stayed). It is the only bridge in London that has not had its original toll booths (octagonal-shaped) removed. Chelsea is the north side and Battersea the south.
Tolls no longer collected; tourists may not march lockstep :)
Morning boating near bridge
Silhouete of bridge and moored boats
Low tide view from riveerbank next to Albert Bridge
Classic telephone booth on classic bridge
Second of two bridges at this site, this one built in 1887
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Photographer takes bus back to hotel
Next to the bridge
Henry VIII's greatest achievement was bringing the Protestant Reformation to England
Very old
Coffin
Living Room circa 300 AD
Westminster is in central London and includes such historic landmarks as Westminster Abbey, Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, and Westminster Cathedral
Construction began in 1245 (Henry III) and finished in 1745 (available for tourism, daily relgious services, weddings, funerals, and coronations)
Interior courtyard of Parliament at Palace of Westminster
Enthusiastic horse and last of the Warrior Kings, Richard I
Center section of Buckingham Palace on a beautiful day
Buckingham Palace as seen from footbridge in St James's Park in June
Big Ben (name for largest bell and informal reference to clock and tower)
View of 10 Downing Street, from sidewalk with other tourists just beyond
View from sidewalk with long lens
Westminster Underground station
Crystal Palace was a large multistory glass and cast-iron structure built in Hyde Park in 1851. It used a clever modular construction, as seen in the black and white image below. The temporary exhibition featured some 100,000 objects, displayed along a massive floor-space, by over 15,000 contributors. For half a year it attracted more than five million people who came to be informed, entertained, and impressed. A second version of Crystal Palace was relocated in South London's Sydenham Hill. Unfortunately it burned to the ground in 1936. Today all that remains there are a small number of stone remnants.
Sydenham Hill location (Crystal Palace station has wonderful interior staircases!)
Museum building where you can start your tour when open; or you can just walk onto the grounds
Entrance architecture
Remarkable bit of outdoor art
A bit of ancient Egypt
High on the hill
Headless but not homeless
Profile
Something new has been added
Statue fragment
Someone kept his head
Mystery object
Grand staircase leading up from long-ago rail station to a great exhibition
A rail station near Crystal Palace
One of London's historic pubs
The Thames nearby
Near Narrow Street and the Thames
Mascot intending to bring good luck to the neighborhood
Nearby
High tide is pretty but low tide more interesting
Wharf dates to 1878
The following are a random selection of manikins and statues and other artistic life-forms found in London out in public.
London Clowns Gallery at now-unused Holy Trinity Church near Dalston Junction station
The Archer at East Finchley station
Famous British actor of 1930s and 1940s
Creative BnB accommodation at Elephant & Castle railway station? :)
Believe it or not
Old London as seen through time travel device :)
Roof art
On Earls Court Road
Paddington Bear arrives in London (date unknown)
Emperor Trajan makes a point in Latin at the nearly 2000-year-old Roman Wall
Lawn art at Crystal Palace
Has anyone seen Molly Moggs at the Rose
Dr Johnson's favourite cat
