We arrived in England a week ago and have hardly drawn breath. Our first 3 nights were at the Highdale B&B in Nailsea, near Bristol. We had timed our trip to join John’s second cousin, Gillian and her husband Bev in celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. Their son Jonathon, wife Rebecca and children Jake and Charlotte were staying with Gillian and Bev. On Tuesday afternoon, the day of their 50th W.A. they had a garden party at their home for about 30 people. It was great that we could be with them to help celebrate.
While in the Bristol area we visited The Great Britain, a ship designed by Brunel and at the time the largest passenger ship built and the first to be propeller driven. Among voyages to many parts of the world it had taken thousands of migrants to Australia in the 19th century. It was salvaged from the Faulkland Islands in 1970 and towed across the Atlantic back to the same dock where it was built in Bristol 120 years before. The restoration work is fabulous.
On Wednesday 23rd we took a train from Birmingham to London making our way back to William Goodenough House near Russell Square where we stayed with Duncan and Rowen for several months in 1981. We spent the afternoon re-aquainting ourselves with the area noting all the changes and development. But fortunately much is familiar. Our unit at WGH has a bedroom, sitting room, kitchen and bathroom – much like before, except much modernised.
Thursday we joined a “London Walk” around the back streets of Covent Garden, hearing from a local guide about the history and development of the area over the centuries. The walk finished at Trafalgar Square near St Martins in the Field Church. We then enjoyed a 40 minute lunch time choral concert in the church – the music of Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell. It was great.
Thursday night we saw ‘The Book of Mormon’. Fabulous musical, very funny. We had booked this before we left home. Just as well as it was ‘house full” – and our seats were front and centre.
Friday morning saw us visiting the fascinating underground Churchill War Rooms at Westminster which were sealed immediately at the end of WW2 and reopened in the late 80′s. On display are the original maps and equipment just as they were left. A museum on the life of Winston Churchill has been added. Highly recommended!
Then on to the Tate Modern. A wonderful piece of architecture beside the Thames River. The collections ranged from early 20thC to very modern. Not all easy to fathom! That night we saw Agatha Christie’s “The Mouse Trap” which has had a continuous run at the same theatre for 65 years!
Saturday was another walk – ‘Brunel’s London’. As we had learnt a little about him at the Great Britain in Bristol we thought this walk sounded interesting. It included a boat trip on the Thames to Greenwich and a visit to The Brunel Museum which included tunnels he built as part of the London Underground rail system. We had a very late lunch with the Director of the museum in a local pub. Late in the afternoon we arrived at St Paul’s Cathedral just in time for Evensong at 5pm.
Sunday we took a canal boat trip from Little Venice to Camden. The boat was one of the original restored cargo boats that moved slowly up the canals100 years ago. Modern canal boats now motor slowly across England. The Regents canal we were on continues to Birmingham, although it can take weeks as the speed limit is 6 miles per hour! A visit to the British Museum in the afternoon.
