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Lynn – Day 2

Lynn – Day 2

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Another hot, sunny day dawned although I wasn't awake to see that part. We went down to breakfast and very nice it was. We both had a cooked breakfast followed by toast and marmalade, of course, then it was time for some serious tourism.

Wherever we went in Lynn we went via The Walks past the Red Mount Chapel. It wasn't because we liked it so much but it was the most convenient route into the old part of the town.

We were headed for St. Margaret's Church, or the Minster as it is known, and Saturday Market Place. King's Lynn was originally two towns so it has two churches, two guildhalls and two market places. We will be seeing the other market place later.

For a parish church the minster is big.


The space on the left where there are some parked cars is Saturday Market Place which is used as a car park when there isn't a market being held.

Parish churches don't normally have two towers and especially towers that large and you can probably see in the top picture that there is a sizeable tower, although not as high, further back over the crossing.

This church also contains the largest monumental brasses in the country dating from the 14th century and the figures depicted must be near life-size. This is one of the pair.

Just south of the minster is Nelson Street and Hampton Court. This is not Hampton Court Palace in London but it is pretty spectacular all the same. The whole building was formed over a period of 300 years.

The South Wing was constructed first, consisting mainly of a 14th-century merchant's hall house and is thus the earliest surviving section.

The West Wing was constructed towards the end of the 15th century, probably as a warehouse which was later converted into a house. The East Wing was also constructed at the end of the 15th century.

The North Wing completed the courtyard a century later.

In the picture above the doorway into this courtyard is visible in the far wall.

Next to the north wall of Hampton Court is St. Margaret's Lane with the 15th century Hanse House, a Hanseatic Warehouse, along one side. The Hanseatic League was a trading confederation which existed from the 13th to the 17th centuries.

Running eastward from the junction of St. Margaret's Lane and Nelson Street is Priory Lane.

St. Margaret's Church, the Minster, was originally part of a medieval Benedictine Priory until the Reformation when the priory was disbanded by Henry VIII but the church was saved as a parish church. Priory Lane includes buildings in the medieval priory range. Note the rather imposing archway.

It was rather nice walking around this area with its old narrow streets because it offered plenty of cool shade.

We walked back past the church to the north side of Tuesday Market where we found the town hall complex which included the 15th century Trinity Guildhall.

The guildhall includes the facade with the doorway in the centre of the picture and the gabled building to its right. The part on the left is the town hall shown below.

The town hall is an extension built in a similar style in 1895. You can see the Guildhall jutting out at the far end.

We were now heading further north along Queen Street and then King Street to see St. George's Guildhall. The largest surviving 15th century guildhall in England.


The guildhall ha since been converted for use as a theatre and the second picture shows the structure of the original roof.

We now travelled the short distance to the larger Tuesday Market Place. As is the case with Saturday Market Place when a market is not beig held this market place is also used as a car park.

The prominent blue and white building is the Dukes Head Hotel and the spire poking up above the rooves to the left is St. Nicholas' Chapel. I think that I can say, without exaggeration, that this is the largest chapel that I have ever seen.

Apparently it can't be called a church because it isn't a parish church and that honour goes to St. Margarets so it must be a chapel. Built in the 15th century it has a very fne porch and some of the best carved wooden angels in the roof that we have seen.



To the south of the chapel by a side entrance to the churchyard was the Exorcist's House. The position of Exorcist in past enturies was one which a Catholic priest could hold as he progressed up the church career ladder. It has a side entrance that leads directly into the churchyard and has the reputation of being haunted.

Behind the chapel is Pilot Street where we spotted these nice timber-framed buildings.


We now headed for the river down Ferry Lane. You won't be able to guess where we're going.


It was a strange looking little boat but eminently suited for its purpose.

Here we are on the other side of the river in West Lynn looking back at the King's Lynn waterside.

We walked along the boardwalk which runs along the bank and had some good views of King's Lynn.


Somewhere back there is where we got off the ferry and we have to walk back again. We had worn our legs down to short stumps by now so that is what we did. We went back to the ferry and went 'home'.

We're off somewhere different tomorrow.

 

Lynn – Day 1

Lynn – Day 1

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As someone, somewhere, had decided to award us a week of summer weather we decided we'd better make use of it before it disappears so we arranged to go to King's Lynn for four days.

So, on a hot sunny Wednesday, we set off for a 93 mile journey north to north-west Norfolk which took just over two hours and took us through Braintree, Sudbury, Bury St. Edmunds, Thetford, Mundford and Oxburgh. One wouldn't normally go through Oxburgh on the way from Mundford to King's Lynn but we chose the few miles detour because we wanted to see Oxburgh Hall. Built around 1482 Oxburgh Hall is a moated manor which was always intended as a family home and not a fortress as the crenellations are symbolic fortifications rather than actual.

The main entrance and gatehouse is on the opposite side of the view shown above and the house is arranged around a large open quadrangle where the next picture was taken showing the large impressive gatehouse.

The eyesore deckchairs have been provided by the National Trust who must have been desparate for visitors to notice them.

It is possible to go up onto the roof of the gatehouse if you don't mind the climb up the spiral stairway.



The rooms, as one might expect, are pretty impressive as this view of the West Drawing Room shows although one needs to ignore the strange lady at the far end.

The Library is equally impressive.

The Queen's Room is, as you'd expect, quite large.

But off to the left, out of the picture, is another small side chamber and in the floor of this chamber is a small trapdoor which, when closed, blends in with the tiled floor. However, when opened, this trapdoor gives access to the Priest Hole. Because of the Catholic faith of the Bedingfeld family, a Catholic priest may have had to hide within the small disguised room in the event of a raid.

The entrance is just large enough for a person to slip through and this is all that there is inside. I am sitting on one of two benches with the other showing to my left and the brick slope on the far side of the floor is the only way in and out. Calling it a room, even a small room, is stretching the imagination somewhat. Getting in, and out, is not easy and it reminded me of my caving days. When I came out Amanda went in. We both survived.

If the King's men (soldiers) turned up unannounced then any visiting priest would have had to get in here quickly and possibly stay there for a few days. There is no toilet and no light so don't even think about it but it was better than being dead.

On a lighter note there is a very impressive flower border in the grounds.

It was an interesting and enjoyable visit but now we must go onward to King's Lynn. We arrived in King's Lynn at our B&B at around mid-afternoon and settled in then decided to have an initial short exploration leaving tomorrow, Thursday, as our main exploration day for the town.

A short way from our B&B was a public park called The Walks and we knew that within the park was the 15th century Red Mount Chapel. It is unique and no other building like it can be found. It was built to contain a relic of the Virgin Mary but was also used by pilgrims on their way to Walsingham.

Built on instructions from the prior of Lynn the inner core is divided into 3 storeys and there is an additional cross-shaped ashlar building in Ancaster stone on top.

A strange place indeed which Pevsner described as one of the strangest Gothic churches in England.

Moving towards the river to the west end of The Walks we crossed the road into another small park known as Tower Gardens. In this park is the Greyfriars Tower which is all that is left of a Franciscan Monastery. Take no notice of the strange woman at the base of the tower she seems, somehow, to get into a lot of my photographs.


Henry VIII had all such monasteries demolished but the tower at Lynn was left untouched because it was considered to be a useful seamark by sailors entering the town and is still clearly visible on the town's skyline to this day.

You can see from this model just where the tower fitted in.

We moved further towards the river looking for the Tourist Information Centre so that we could get a free street plan of the town. We knew that it was located in the Customs House and eventually we spotted it.

Situated on the edge of Pur Fleet this building started life in 1683 as a merchant exchange but was bought by the Crown in 1717 for £800 and occupied by HM Customs and Excise until their move to a central office at Ipswich in 1989. It is now occupied by the local TIC. Pur Fleet runs into the River Great Ouse just behind the camera.

We'd had enough by this stage so having collected our free street plan of the town we headed back to our B&B. We'll be back in this area tomorrow.

 

A high speed trip.

A high speed trip.

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The high speed railway route from St. Pancras Station in London runs down through Ashford in Kent, under the English Channel, and thence to foreign climes. On its way it also passes through Stratford International Station in Greater London and, as I have mentioned before, the rail route from our local station goes through Stratford on its way into London.

Part of that high speed route can also be used to get to other places in Kent so on Saturday we went, by high speed train, to meet two friends of ours, Ian and Carole, in Kent who live very near Rochester and that is where we all met.

We caught our usual train from our usual station and travelled to Stratford then walked for 10 minutes to Stratford International Station and caught the train to Rochester. The run to Ebbsfleet, the next station, is on the high speed line but it is mostly underground having to pass under the River Thames. We were obviously travelling fast but I've no idea what our actual speed was although these trains have a maximun speed of 140 MPH. It took us 30 minutes to get to Rochester where Ian and Carole were waiting for us at the station.

Walking out of the station we crossed a road or two and very soon found  ourselves in High Street.

You can see that the town was expecting us because of the bunting hung across the street. A short distance along and we came across this building – notice the legend just above the doorway in the second picture.


The building is late 16th century and was once a town house but has been converted to three shops. This building was used by Dickens as the model for Pumblechook's home.

The Kent countryside near Gad's Hill Place, Dickens's last home, is the setting for Pip's childhood in Great Expectations, and Rochester is the model for the 'nearest town'.

Mr. Pumblechook was charged with escorting Pip to Miss Havisham's house for the first time. Because of this, Mr. Pumblechook believes forevermore that he had a big hand in helping Pip to his fortune.

A little further on we saw Eastgate House dating from around 1590.


The second picture is the rear view showing the Swiss Chalet, where Dickens wrote some of his greatest works, which was given to him by the French actor Charles Fechter and it arrived on Christmas Eve 1864. It was originally located opposite Dickens' house on Gads Hill.

There are two rather dubious looking Dickensian characters sitting on the wall and some even more dubious characters over to the left. Amanda on the right, Carole in the centre and Ian on the left. This is the middle of June and you'll notice that we are all wearing jackets. We are still waiting for a proper summer.

Leaving Eastgate House we hopped up Crow Lane to the Vines. The Vines used to be the vinyard of the local monks but now it's a small park and a very nice one.

Just opposite the Vines in Crow Lane is Restoration House where Charles II stayed on his return to England in 1660 to be crowned (the restoration of the monarchy). The building is the amalgamation of two medieval houses.

We left the Vines at the far end and emerged into Minor Canon Row. These Canons are not the BOOM BOOM sort but the eclesiastical sort, you understand, and they needed somewhere to live so this row of 7 Georgian townhouses were built for them between 1722 and 1735.

Walking round the corner at the far end and we get our first view of the cathedral.

It didn't take us long to get to the west end and the main entrance where we went in. Entrance is free.

There are more photographs of the interior but you'll have to wait for those to appear on the main web site.

Back in the High Street we stopped for lunch in a nice little restaurant called the Atrium with plenty of wooden beams. Service turned out to be a bit slow but the food was very nice. Well, of course I had the Chocolate Truffle Torte for dessert – I mean, do I look silly?

Whilst we were having lunch we could see, out of the window, this building across the street.

It was the Poor Travellers' House dating from the late 16th century. It was endowed under the terms of Richard Watts' will of 1579 providing a night's board and lodging for six poor travellers. More pictures will appear on the web site later.

A little further along High Street next to Two Post Alley is this rather interesting Tudor building and it really is that wonky.

You may notice a small bit of the castle beyond the end of the alley.

The weather was deteriorating by this time with a very strong wind so we went for a quick look at the castle and I managed this photograph in a quick flash of sunlight.

It looked very impressive but we didn't want to hang around in this weather so we'll have to make a return visit.

Ian and Carole took us back, in their car, to their house for some tea. We had strawberries and cream with some coffee and walnut sponge to follow which was very nice indeed. I'm desparately trying to make you envious here; I hope it's working.

When it was time for us to leave Ian and Carole drove us back to Rochester Station where we caught our train to Stratford and thence another train home.

Rochester was a very pleasant town packed with interest and just 40 minutes from London making a nice day trip destination.

 

This really was Nasty.

This really was Nasty.

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A strange thing happened this week – we had a weather forecast for 5 consecutive sunny days! Not sunny all day every day but to have 5 partly sunny days in a row this summer is a miracle. However, Wednesday was one of the days where the sun was forecast to shine all day, in certain places, so we decided to make use of it.

We set off on our journey to one of these certain places and our route took us very near a small hamlet that we just had to visit.

Nasty is a pretty little hamlet in Hertfordshire and our very short visit did convince us that Nasty is nice. We do have some very odd village names in England but I think that this one wins the prize. Our next destination is in the same county.

So onward to Hatfield, Hertfordshire, where Hatfield House was the primary purpose of our trip. There is a free car park and a number of those familiar brown road signs, which generally signify places of interest, pointing to Hatfield House so that, once you are in Hatfield, it should be easy to find.

Hatfield House is also within easy walking distance of the railway station so could be visited as a day trip from London with a train journey of as little as 20 minutes.

Hatfield House is one of the Treasure Houses of England, a loose association of 10 privately owned stately homes.

http://www.treasurehouses.co.uk

Entering the Hatfield House complex we first came across the Old Palace, dating from 1485. This, the Banqueting Hall, is all that remains of the original Royal Palace of Hatfield where Elizabeth I spent most of her childhood.

We found it to be rather strange because there was a large open door,which you can see in the base of the tower, but no signs of any sort to indicate that visitors are allowed access. There are some notices on the walls of the short passage inside but they are not visible from outside. At the end of the short passage is a barrier forming a small viewing area where one can look at the large and impressive hall.

On the far wall, at window height within the wooden beamed area, are two rectangular panels which we didn't notice at the time but discovered later. These are openings filled with clear plastic sheets which allow viewing from an upstairs room accessible only from the West Garden but that appears not to be signed or mentioned anywhere either.

This is in an area which also contains the restaurant, shops and toilets and which is freely accessible i.e. you don't need to buy a ticket to get in. It is almost as if they feel it should be open to the public but are trying to keep it a secret. Very odd!

Next we decided to visit the West Garden which also gives access to the Old Palace Garden (you need a ticket for this).

Notice that wooden stairway on the left? There is nothing to indicate that it provides access to an upstairs room or that visitors are allowed access at all but another visitor told us about it so we had a look and discovered the viewing panels mentioned earlier which enabled me to take this next picture.

You may be able to see, on the left, the barriers which provide a viewing area down below which we discovered first. Emerging back on to the stairs there is a nice overall view of the Old Palace Garden. Topiary anyone?

We were also beginning to discover that the plan in the visitor guide showed all the paths, even those to which visitors didn't have access and this made navigation a bit of a lottery. A number of times we planned a route using the visitor guide only to be thwarted part the way along and had to find an alternative. They also show a view of the South Front on the first page of their website but don't explain that visitors don't have access to that same view.

http://www.hatfield-house.co.uk

We did find a path down the west side of the house to a viewing platform, which is described as a 'Viewing Bay' in the Visitor Guide, from which I took this photograph but it's not as nice a view as the one on the web site.

We next found our way into another garden which appears not to have a name of its own but which we called, for our own convenience, the Fountain Garden. Did I mention that there is a lot of topiary in the gardens?

That's the west side of Hatfield House shown in the picture. We left the Fountain Garden via this gate and went into the Sundial Garden.

I thought that the gardens, although very formal, were rather nice but Amanda thought that they were particularly good and decided to stay there whilst I went to look round Old Hatfield. Most of Hatfield is recent and of little interest to the tourist but the original small centre still remains next to the Hatfield House Estate.

There isn't much of it and one could easily walk round it in an hour or less but it is worth a look. This old building was in Fore Street

and this view including the Eight Bells Inn was at the bottom of Fore Street looking along Park Street. It is believed that this building existed in 1630 but was first recorded as an inn in 1728.

There is also the parish church of St. Ethelreda dating from the 13th century with a 15th century tower.

That's it really. There isn't a lot as I've said but it is worth a short visit. I went back to Hatfield House to find Amanda and we went to the restaurant for some lunch. It is a nice restaurant with tables both inside and outside and the menu is not extensive but it is adequate. We both agreed that everything was over-priced but the cooked food we had was good. The food, in what I assume were heated trays, was displayed in a glass fronted cabinet but the problem was that it wasn't very hot to start with and by the time we got it to a table it must have cooled further. By the time I was near to finishing I left some of it because it had become cold.

There are also salads, sandwiches and cakes available which, of course, don't need to be kept hot.

After lunch we headed for the house and this is the main entrance in the North Front (you also need a ticket for this).

The rooms were spectacular and particularly so the Entrance Hall for its ceiling and the Chapel for its Jacobean stained glass windows. 'Wait', I hear you say, 'lets stop the waffle and get on with the photographs'. The bad news is that there aren't any interior photographs. The current rule is that cameras cannot be used within the house and that even  includes photographing views outside through the windows. I get the impression that this is done in the hope of increasing the sales of their own pictures but I'm afraid it didn't work with us and I think it will antagonise a number of other people.

Amanda particularly likes wood carvings and was rather irritated that she couldn't record some of the work that she saw. It is unlikely that we will return whilst the 'No photography' rule is in force.

All I can say is that the house is worth a visit.

We set off for home with the intention of stopping briefly in Much Hadham, still in Hertfordshire, on the way. The village, previously known as Great Hadham, stretches for  about a mile along the B1004 road and there are a number of attractive old buildings in the village.

There was also a plant nursery in the village which Amanda wanted to visit and there were a number of plants that she liked. She didn't buy anything this time but it's not very far from us so she could sneak over on her own at any time. :shock:

Another trip accomplished in spite of summer. Would anyone like a Nasty holiday?
 

The Republic of Texas

The Republic of Texas

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Just in case you wondered, the subject heading is relevant and we'll get to it later.

Days where the sun has been out for most of the day have been few and far between this year and, we are told, this summer has been the wettest for 100 years so we couldn't afford to miss the opportunity of a sunny day. We woke on Friday morning to a clear sky and made preparations to go to London. Having arrived at our local railway station a good ten minutes before the train was due to leave we thought that we had plenty of time until, that is, we saw the queue for the ticket office. We have never seen such a long queue here. Normally we wouldn't expect to see more than 3 people queuing at most and very often there is no one waiting at all. We assumed that it must be people going to the Paralympics as Stratford is the last stop before Liverpool Street Station. Our train was due to depart at 09:23 and we were worriedly watching the clock as we moved all too slowly towards the ticket office which we reached about 09:23,  although our train hadn't arrived yet, and bought our tickets. The train came in about two minutes late – phew!

The train stopped at Stratford and the Olympic Park didn't seem to be very busy at this time of day and we continued to Liverpool Street Station arriving about 10:20. On the western side of Liverpool Street Station there is a row of doorways each of which has a bus stop by it and one of those buses is the number 11 which we were going to catch.

The No. 11 is quite a good sightseeing route so we went to the upper deck and found a seat at the front. The bus leaves Liverpool Street Station along Sun Street, crosses London Wall into Old Broad Street and thence along Threadneedle Street to Bank. From there we go down Victoria Street, fork right into Cannon Street and eventually pass this:

Do I need to tell you where we are? I don't think so.

Along Ludgate Hill, Fleet Street and past the Royal Courts of Justice:

Along Strand to Aldwych where we got off. The bus goes on to Fulham Broadway via Trafalgar Square and Westminster which would be the last of the sightseeing route. Who needs a tour bus?

We now walked north up Kingsway, turned right into Portugal Street then eventually left into Portsmouth Street which runs up towards Lincolns Inn Fields. The building in Portsmouth Street that we came to see was this:

The Old Curiosity Shop with its jettied upper storey and wooden beams dates from the 16th century and is probably the oldest shop in central London. It has been suggested that this was the inspiration for Dickens' novel but there is no evidence to support this idea. Made using the wood from old ships the building miraculously survived the the Great Fire of 1666 and the bombs of the Second World War.

From there we walked through the side streets and made our way towards Trafalgar Square passing through Covent Garden Market on the way.

There were two noticeable differences compared with when I was here last. There are Olympic flags suspended under the roof (no surprises there) and there seemed to be few people. When I was last here it was positively seething.

We eventually entered Trafalgar Square at a point right next to St. Martin-in-the Fields. As it was now 11:00 we decided to go into the crypt cafe for some coffee. There are also toilets down there and there is nothing to stop you walking in off the street and using them like public toilets. However, as we discovered, there is a prominent notice in the toilets which explains that it costs £32,000 annually to maintain them and although they have no objection to you using them in that way they do hope that you will either buy something in the cafe or shop or at least leave a donation in their donations box. Pretty generous I thought.

We left Trafalgar Square via Pall Mall and part way along Pall Mall we had a look in the Royal Opera Arcade. Just ignore the strange woman looking in the window.

Where Pall Mall turns into St. James's Street we saw the main gate of St. James's Palace which is the gatehouse from the palace of Henry VIII and is, of course, Tudor.

We turned up St. James's Street and on the corner of St. James's Street and Pall Mall we saw this old shop.

Berry Bros. & Rudd is one of Britain's oldest wine and spirit merchants and in 1698, the building dates from that time, opened its doors for the first time at 3 St. James's Street, London and it still  trades from the same premises.

Note the alleyway on the left-hand side. That is Pickering Place and at the far end is a small very attractive courtyard. This is the view down the passageway with the courtyard showing at the far end. The timber construction of Berry's old shop can be seen in the wall.

Before we go into the courtyard can you see that little metal plaque on the wall? Well this is what it says:

It's amazing what one can find in London. And so we go into the courtyard.

Having left the courtyard, and the Republic of Texas, we went a little further along St. James's Street to Blue Ball Yard on the opposite side of the street.

Those buildings, apparently, are stables built in 1742 which have now been converted into living accommodation. I imagine that originally the stables would have been at ground level and accommodation for the staff above.

Further up St. James's Street we came across a modern development called the Economist Plaza. It wasn't really of interest to us but we wandered across it and went down some steps on the other side which were made of some very obviously fossiliferous polished limestone which was absolutely stuffed with fossils.

Having emerged into Bury Street we walked up into Jermyn Street where a little further along we first came to this statue of Beau Brummel.

One of the reasons this statue is here is that Jermyn Street is stuffed with tailors shops and, further along still, we came to this shop.

It is, I have to admit, a rather boring shop but they make and supply my shirts. I thought you might like to know that. :cool: Beau Brummel eat your heart out.

We then went up into Piccadilly and shortly after came to Hatchards Bookshop.

It is known world-wide among those who like books and bookshops and the other reason I mention it is because Amanda's maiden name was Hatchard. You may notice that I'm standing in the road in order to take the photograph and Piccadilly is a very busy road but I managed to take this one picture just before I was run over by a bus.

A few yards along is the Fortnum and Mason department store and opposite is Burlington Arcade. If you have more money than you know what to do with then these are good places to shop.

We walked further west along Piccadilly until we reached Albemarle Street and walked north up there until we reached the Royal Institution.

The Royal Institution is an independent charity dedicated to connecting people with the world of science and this building houses the Faraday Museum. They are most famous for their Christmas Lectures which were started by Michael Faraday in 1825.

Michael Faraday (1791 – 1867) was an English scientist who contributed to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include that of electromagnetic induction, diamagnetism and electrolysis. The Faraday Museum details some of his experiments.

The Royal Institution also has a nice little cafe, where we had lunch, and toilets and if you are lucky enough to visit on a day when there are no lectures being held, as we were, then you may visit the lecture theatre where Faraday gave his first Christmas Lecture.

Impressive!

We moved on further west towards Shepherd Market passing through Berkeley Square on the way but didn't hear any nightingales. :lol: Shepherd Market is a small village-like area with a maze of narrow streets and lanes. Running parallel to White Horse Street is Half Moon Street where the fictional Bertie Wooster (the perfect upper-class Mayfair resident and his faithful valet Jeeves of P.G. Wodehouse's novels) lived.

In the 1920s Shepherd Market was considered to be London's most fashionable and opulent district by the city's bourgeois social elite. Shepherd Market remains a peculiar and curious collection of charming alleyways, eclectic cuisine, 18th century pubs and discreet residences.

Leaving Shepherd market and moving further west we arrive at Hyde Park Corner with the Wellington Arch.

We decide that we will now catch a No. 9 bus to the Royal Albert Hall as our last port of call which we do.

You may notice that the cloud has increased somewhat. It was forecast to increase by about 6:00 PM but it has arrived a bit earlier so the sun is fading fast and so are we. We decide to call it a day and head back to the station first on the No. 9 as far as Aldwych and then the number 23 to Liverpool Street.

We go back through Hyde Park Corner, Piccadilly, St. James's Palace and Pall Mall, Trafalgar Square, Aldwych, Fleet Street and past the Old Exchange thence to Liverpool Street Station and home.

An enjoyable day.
 

The Prospect of Whitby, Captain Kidd and the Town of Ramsgate

The Prospect of Whitby, Captain Kidd and the Town of Ramsgate

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Another Thursday – another trip to Wapping.

Let me explain to our various overseas visitors that Wapping is not pronounced the way it is spelled but instead it's pronounced 'Wopping'. Now that we've got that sorted I'll remind you that at the end of the last report I said:

"Perhaps we'll get better weather next time. We want to do that same walk again to see some things that we missed but I'm not going to tell you what they were and to, hopefully, get some better photographs."

Well we did get better weather, sun all day and temperatures around 70-72F, and we did that same walk again (it was in Wapping) – but with added ingredients. The name comes from the Saxon meaning "the place of Waeppa's people"

So what connection does the title of this post have with Wapping? They are all pubs and they are all in Wapping High Street and they all back on to the River Thames.

Lets start at the beginning. I'm going to use the same map as last time with our new route added.

Last time we went as far as '2' which we also did this time but we went on to complete a circular route. We started, as last time, from St. Catherine's Dock.

We walked along the same canal – you can see the masts of those two replica sailing ships (No. 1 on the map) sticking up into the sky in the distance.

Then onwards to Shadwell Basin (No. 2 on the map). This time we walked round the north side of the basin past the new housing towards the eastern end of the basin with the tall buildings of Canary Wharf visible in the distance.

At the far end is one of the old lifting bridges and this next picture is taken from the bridge (location 3)  looking back across Shadwell Basin.

We then walked eastward to the edge of the Thames and along the Thames Path for a short way

and came out opposite this.

So what is it?  It is the Wapping Hydraulic Power Station, built in 1890, and was originally operated  using steam and later converted to use electricity. It was used to power machinery across London, using hydraulic power including bridges, lifts and cranes etc. The Tower Subway was used to transfer the power, and steam, to districts south of the river.

It was used as a model for power stations in Argentina, Australia, New York and Europe. When electricity became cheaper it lost popularity and eventually closed. It is now used as a cafe with the tables and chairs dotted around among the old machinery which is a novelty. They serve cups of tea and coffee together with lunch etc.

Pass the oil please.

Opposite the old power station is the first of our pubs – The Prospect of Whitby. No. 4 on the map.

The Prospect of Whitby lays claim to being one of the oldest riverside taverns in London and dates from around 1520 during the reign of Henry VIII. At one time it was one of the most notorious pubs in London being a meeting place for sailors, smugglers, cut-throats and footpads but now it seems to be a pretty nice pub.

It was formerly known as the Devil's Tavern, on account of its dubious reputation and before that it was officially called "The Pelican". The stone steps, alongside the pub and going down to the foreshore, are the "Pelican Steps"

All that now remains from the building's earliest period is the 400 year old stone floor.

In the 17th century, it became the hostelry of choice of Judge Jeffreys, known as "The Hanging Judge, who lived nearby and a noose hangs by a window, commemorating his custom. According to legend, criminals would be tied up to the posts at low tide and left there to drown when the tide came in.

You'll be wanting to see the noose then? Taking our lives in our hands we went down Pelican Steps on the the Thames foreshore to see the riverside view of the pub. Luckily it was low tide otherwise we may have got our feet wet. Possibly even our eyebrows.

You can see Pelican Steps and the noose is hanging from that tall post on the right. There is a better picture of the noose below.

Following a fire in the early 19th century, the tavern was rebuilt and renamed "The Prospect of Whitby", after a Tyne collier, a type of boat, that used to berth next to the pub.

Walking westward along Wapping Wall we went past numerous old wharves now converted to luxury appartments such as Metropolitan Wharf shown here and, after going down New Crane Steps, New Crane Wharf shown below. No. 5 on the map.

Notice that nice sandy beach along New Crane Wharf.

Having walked the length of Wapping Wall we joined Wapping High Street where the old dock buildings have all been renovated and converted to housing and it's been done very nicely. This is a view along Wapping High Street.

Further along Wapping High Street we reach our second pub – the Captain Kidd. No. 6 on the map.

Somewhere around here in 1701 the pirate, Captain Kidd, was executed by hanging on Execution Dock hence the name of the pub. The exact location of Execution Dock appears to be unknown except that it was near one of the local docks or wharves. His remains were gibbeted by the river Thames at Tilbury for more than twenty years.

Execution Dock was used for more than 400 years to execute pirates, smugglers and mutineers that had been sentenced to death by Admiralty courts. The "dock", which consisted of a scaffold for hanging, was located near the shoreline of the River Thames at Wapping. Its last executions were in 1830.

A short rope was often used for exceptionally nasty pirates which meant that, when they were dropped from the gallows, the rope didn't break their neck and they were then slowly asphyxiated. Customarily, these corpses were left hanging on the nooses until at least three tides had washed over their heads.

The Captain Kidd pub was established as a pub only in 1980 but the building itself is 18th century. The entrance visible on the street leads into a small, rather attractive courtyard which then gives access to the pub proper.

A short way further along Wapping High Street we saw yet another interesting warehouse conversion on the corner of Dundee Street.

A little further beyond that we encountered our third pub – the Town of Ramsgate with Wapping Old Stairs next to it. No. 7 on the map.

This shows Wapping Old Stairs. Amanda is on a set of stairs that just stop in front of a wall – very useful. The stairs to the right of those give access to and from the foreshore. The Town of Ramsgate pub is just out of the right edge of the picture and you may have noticed part of Tower Bridge showing in the distance.

The Town of Ramsgate was originally known as the Red Cow and then the Prince of Denmark with the origins of the pub claiming to go back as far as 1543.

We went back up to Wapping High Street and, after a short distance, turned onto the Thames Path along the edge of the river.

We eventually reached Readmead Lane which was where we turned off when we started this circuit and so have come full circle. We can recommend this area for some interesting exploring especially if you can manage a day when low tide is around the middle of the day which will enable you to go down some of the old steps onto the river foreshore.

We headed back to Tower Bridge and crossed to the south side of the river, along Shad Thames to Pea Pod for a late (2:15 PM) lunch. We have been here before and on our last visit had Old Guy USA (Jerry) with us.

After lunch we walked west along the Thames until we were opposite the Tower of London where I took this photograph of the White Tower. The last time I tried it was covered in scaffolding.

We went back across Tower Bridge, now heading for Tower Hill Station, and went past these in the Tower of London grounds.

They look remarkably life-like but they are made from multiple layers of wire netting moulded to shape.

So our legs are tired and we are tired – time to go home methinks. We covered an awful lot of interesting history today and we found that when we got home we were covered in it and had to rinse some of it off. :lol:
 

Tudor Turrets and Topiary

Tudor Turrets and Topiary

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(Note: Click on the pictures for a larger version)

Last Thursday it was raining, overcast and gloomy to the extent that I needed a light on in my study to be able to see properly (this is August remember!). Friday dawned with a clear sky and was forecast to be a sunny day. This is English weather.

We took advantage of the good weather to visit a place that we had been meaning to visit for some time – Kentwell Hall in Long Melford, Suffolk. The current owners bought Kentwell Hall when some of it was in a ruinous state and have restored it to its current condition; that of a lived in Tudor mansion.

Long Melford is unusual for a village in that it boasts two Tudor mansions. Melford Hall, run by the National Trust, and this one and, having been to both, we think that Kentwell Hall is the more attractive of the two.

Although both mansions exhibit some similar features, such as the typical Tudor turrets, Kentwell Hall has a notable feature that Melford Hall doesn't have and that is a moat which completely encircles the house.

This is a 'moat of note' in that it contains a lot of Carp and these are MEGA carp. If you touch your forefinger and thumb together to form a circle it will be about the size of the mouths of these fish. They seem to congregate near the bridge at the front of the house and as soon as visitors look over the bridge parapet they come to the surface with mouths agape hoping for food. Carp ain't so dim.

Alongside the moat at the back of the house is some unique topiary.

This is known as the 'Pied Piper Topiary' and one can distinguish figures of people, children and dogs.

To the east of the house is an unusual sculpture made from a still standing tree stump.

This is a 60 foot high storm-damaged cedar sculpted by Colin Wilbourne into his interpretation of the Tower of Babel. An absolutely amazing piece of work.

Kentwell Hall has extensive grounds which include some very attractive gardens.

The Pied Piper topiary shows up well against the moat and the walled garden beyond looks very impressive.

I thought that I would photograph this detail in the walled garden in order to 'urn' my keep only to find that the Pied Piper topiary has sneaked into the background once again.

Kentwell Hall used to have two moats, apparently showing it to be of vey high status, although only part of the second moat now remains. It has, however, been used to good effect as part of the gardens.

The inside of the house is equally impressive and includes the expected such as the Great Hall

and the unusual – duet anyone?

I suppose that this is what must be meant by 'toilet humour'.

We decided to finish by looking around the grounds outside of the gardens. I wasn't the only one taking photographs and Amanda took this one of a couple of old donkeys having a chat. I'm not sure which one has the most untidy hair.

There have been a number of new out-buildings built in the Tudor style and it gives a very good idea of what a Tudor building must have looked like when it was brand new.

Very unlike the Tudor buildings we see today with their warped and twisted timbers. Now you'll be able to return in 500 years for a comparison.

We had a very enjoyable and entertaining time here and would certainly recommend a visit if you are ever in the area. If you want to see more then you'll just have to wait until the new pages appear on the web site proper with even more photographs unless, of course, you pay Kentwell Hall a visit in person before then.