Monday dawned clear and warm but the forecast was for rain later so we headed down to the Tour de France route with our fingers crossed. Rain would mean the worry that people would put up umbrellas and obscure our view as the peloton zoomed past and also the fear of more crashes for the cyclists – one of our key riders, Mark Cavendish had already crashed out the day before. Continue reading
Did you know that you can get Tower Bridge raised just for you? All you need is a boat with a tall mast over 30 metres and 24 hours notice and they will do the rest! This was just one of the fascinating facts I found out this week when I visited Tower Bridge. Continue reading
That red double-decker bus just shouts ‘London’ at you! My visitors are very keen to make sure I build a ride on a bus into their itinerary and once on board we head for the top deck and if we can grab a front seat that’s even better. It feels like a proper London experience and is a brilliant way to see the sights for the price of a bus ticket. Continue reading
The humble pea came to the rescue of a city under siege! Back in 1644 during the English Civil War the city of Newcastle was under siege and the people were starving to death when a consignment of Carlin peas came through just in time to keep the city’s population alive. Vicki Cooke, the wonderfully titled Kitchen Garden Keeper, delighted in telling us this story as we stood next to several rows of Carlin peas, which are clearly no ordinary pea! Continue reading
Summer’s coming so it must be time for the Chelsea Flower Show, except the British weather sometimes forgets to keep up! We had a great day out even tho’ there were a couple of mad dashes into the main pavilion to escape the downpours. Continue reading
London’s Design Museum doesn’t often come up on the list of our most visited museums but it’s well worth a look. Located just next to Tower Bridge, it was founded in 1989 by Sir Terence Conran to encourage everyone to appreciate the value of design and looks at all types of design: product, industrial, graphic, fashion and architectural. Continue reading
The Olympic Park in east London is really called the Queen Elizabeth Park as the area moves on from the Olympics but I’m sure most people, including me, will carry on calling it the Olympic Park as it holds such happy memories of the London Games of 2012. Continue reading
George is a popular royal name and we have a potential future King George, baby Prince George, making a big impact on the world. Britain has had 6 King Georges so far and one day he will most likely be number 7! This year London is celebrating all things George as it’s 450 years since George 1st ascended to the British throne in 1714 and started off the Georgian era. Many of the major museums in London are holding exhibitions which are marking this event and it’s a great opportunity to learn more about how the first King George came to the throne and how he and his descendants lived. Continue reading
As many of you will know I’ve been in Africa for 9 weeks working on a voluntary project in Ghana and then joining a tour of West Africa. It was an amazing adventure and I feel very happy that I played my part in building a primary school in a very hands-on way! Our tour took us on the roads less travelled in Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, The Gambia and Senegal and there are many stories to tell about these dusty red roads but they are for another time… Continue reading
If you go to Trafalgar Square in the centre of London you’ll see the instantly recognisable Nelson’s Column, the magnificent 4 lions, the fountains and the National Gallery. You may not notice that there are 4 giant plinths, 3 of which are topped by statues of the classic generals on horseback variety. Continue reading