Glimpses of London

Sunday, July 20, 2014
London, England, United Kingdom

Before leaving the canal boat in Whitchurch, we made a side-trip by car to the beautiful walled city of Chester which began in the year 79 as a Roman fort . For a quick over-view of the present city and its historic sites, we chose to walk the footpath along the top of the ancient walls; the full circuit measuring nearly 2 miles. We stumbled upon the Shropshire Canal below us and walked down to take a closer look. A narrow boat descended the first of five huge, deep, staircase locks which were cut out of solid rock. Had I seen these locks before venturing on our trip, I would have had second thoughts! This one made ours look like baby-locks.

Chester has preserved several medieval buildings, but what caught our attention were the distinct black and white half-timbered buildings and "Rows", two-tiered medieval galleries now home to some of the best shops in the city.  We spied the best surprise of all-- a “Cheshire Cat” tucked away into a brick section on the wall, adding a bit of whimsy to Chester's ancient past.

Back at the “Ware-House” (aka Catherine & Nigel Ware’s home in Wimbledon), our London headquarters, Andrew scoured the internet for interesting and obscure landmarks and museums allowing us to discover a slice of London history overlooked by the casual tourist . He also navigated us through the oftentimes perplexing "Tube” system of train lines connected by miles of pedestrian tunnels and stairways.

Our trip in Wales left us curious about how the canal system developed years ago. We were lucky to find The London Canal Museum located on an old back-stretch of Regent’s Canal. Although small, it’s packed with excellent displays and models. It gave us insight not only into London's canal system, but also documented the city's 19th century ice trade. The museum building was built specifically for storing blocks of ice shipped over from Norway! You can see one of two huge wells that had a capacity to store 750 tons of ice.

This inspired Carlo Gatti, an enterprising and ambitious Swiss-Italian immigrant who arrived in London in 1847.   His ice cream venture was not an immediate success. Gatti then hit on the idea of selling Penny Ices served on small glass “licking plates” (the description of which I’ll leave to your imagination) . These plates became a health hazard so Gatti solved this problem by serving his Penny Ices in waffle shells. This caused a sensation - it was the first time that ice cream had been sold at a price affordable for ordinary people.  http://www.canalmuseum.org.uk/

Also along the Regents Canal is the Ragged School Museum. This museum unfolds the fascinating history of Dr. Thomas John Barnardo’s dedication to help “waifs and strays…to feed, clothe and educate them”. His legacy continues today as a charity providing local support in counseling, fostering, adoption, education, and services for children, young people, and their families. http://www.raggedschoolmuseum.org.uk/

The museum guide was a treat! Not only did he share his vast knowledge of the Ragged Schools and Barnardo Homes, but he also had a gift for slipping into a heavy Cockney accent. He delighted in translating the rhyming words and tried to explain what it all meant ...I couldn't understand a thing he said!
 
We walked down the Regents Canal towpath to Limehouse Basin where 19th century cargo ships unloaded coal, bricks, and other building materials onto canal boats. Today it serves as a marina for beautiful canal boats and expensive yachts.

The Museum of London Docklands beckoned us to pay a visit—BUT IT’S FREE! The museum is outstanding. It takes you on a fascinating ride through history from Roman times to the futuristic Canary Wharf development.  It’s well worth a visit if you’re ever in London. In the meantime, check out this website: http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/docklands 

Drawing us back to the day-to-day life of London were the old markets, some of which were specialized such as the flower market and Petticoat Lane’s clothes market. Perhaps the most intriguing was Brick Lane because of its ethnic foods and stalls selling everything you don’t need. Boroughs, Spitalfields, and Backyard Alley markets drew large crowds enjoying food, music, and shopping .

 “Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside…” Brighton is an iconic tourist destination. It began as an exclusive seaside get away for the extremely wealthy, but with the arrival of the railroad Brighton became accessible to everyone. Its historic past includes King George IV’s Royal Pavilion (c.1787), an ostentatious example of excessive consumption. The star attraction for us was the pebble (ouch!) beach and pier filled with families and visitors enjoying carnival rides, fairway attractions, and typical fair foods. We were fortunate to be there on a warm and sunny day!

Don't forget to scroll down for a mini-slide show.
For more photos of London please click the link below for London Album #1 of 2:
https://picasaweb.google.com/104590044281989964656/20140720LondonAlbum1?authkey=Gv1sRgCP2cx56r4avVaA#

 Here's the link for London Album #2 of 2:
https://picasaweb.google.com/104590044281989964656/20140730LondonAlbum2?authkey=Gv1sRgCMfQmMD43O3KHQ#

 
Stay tuned for the next TravelPod from CANADA!   

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