So, we are all back from London safe and well. I hope you all had a great time? Were your feet aching? Mine were.
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| The yet to be installed Diamond Jubilee Window |
I've posted the pictures to Picasa so follow this link to see what we got up to (well some of it anyway)
https://picasaweb.google.com/splash.womble
We left early on Tuesday morning and drove to Carpenders Park station near Watford and took numerous trains to Forest Hill in the South of London. On the way to the camp site we stopped off at the Horniman Museum and saw loads of weird stuff, a skeleton of a tortoise and a torture chair from the Spanish Inquisition stick in my mind but there was loads to see. Downstairs there was an aquarium with a good selection of fish, frogs and the like. We then walked on to camp through the Sydenham nature reserve, a very slight navigation error by me caused about a mile detour but at least we got to walk past Lord Sainsbury's house, not that we knew that at the time!
The South London Scout Centre is a brilliant site, very clean, tidy and well equipped. Gordon the warden had taken delivery of our Sainbury's order for us. Sainsbury's had thoughtfully substituted much of our value food for premium stuff but unlike other supermarkets charge for the difference, mildly annoying for a home delivery but as we weren't there to complain we were not too happy, still the rice pudding was very nice.
Gordon even managed to sort out a football for us to play on his freshly mowed field. As the sun set we sat round a fire and looked over London, where the illuminated London Eye, Gherkin and the almost complete Shard could be seen.
Wednesday saw an early start to catch the Duck tour at 10-30. This really cool trip visits attractions on land before speeding down the James Bond slipway next to the MI6 building into the Thames where the Palace of Westminster and other buildings can be seen from the water. After the Duck we visited the British museum but a security alert saw scouts evacuated out of different exits, fortunately after a few phone calls we managed to regroup and head off to Hamley's toy store. We finished the day in Covent Garden, watching peculiar people play road cones, dress up as statues, hold one man shows on the road and busk, whilst we sat around drinking hot chocolate.
Thursday started with the highlight of our trip, a tour of the Palace of Westminster arranged by our MP Owen Patterson. Our guide Kevin was brilliant and gave us loads of information about English History, the architects, all the little details of the building, the original Crapper toilets and of course all the silly traditions of the house. Do you know why the MP's always stand with their hands in their pockets and chat amongst themselves during the Queens Speech? Or why the Prime Minister has to lean on the dispatch box during question time?
We also had a vote on the proposal to double homework, fortunately the Noes to the Left defeated the motion by 17 votes. Finally Charis Cameron and Jack Milliband took to the floor and practised leaning on the boxes! Sorry no photos allowed :-(
After a picnic lunch in St James Park and a quick look at Buckingham Palace we visited the Institution of Mechanical Engineers founded by George Stevenson, the guy who made that steam train. Not only do they have the best loos in London but they kindly looked after our bags all day too.
Finally we went on the driverless DLR to see the Olympic Park and drink more chocolate before heading back to the bus.
And Finally....
Of course you know of all the US presidents that have been assassinated but which British Prime Minister was assassinated in the Houses of Parliament? Shame on you!
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