Tag: London

A Quick Drink!

On By CathyIn Throwback ThursdaysLeave a comment

It seems like I’ve tried to file my photographs into some sort of order for ever.

When you’re 54 years old and have been taking photographs since your teens there are a lot of photographs and a lot of filing to do.

What do you do with them though? I love taking photographs and documenting life and memories but (thankfully) social media wasn’t around for my 20’s and 30’s so most of my images from that era are just stored on my Mac. I’ve digitised the hard copy photographs that I’ve got in albums and the negs that I’ve had boxed up that go back even further, back to the days that my parents were in their youth. It seems a shame to leave them hidden so I’m jumping on the ‘Throwback Thursday’ train and I’ll stick a few of them on my blog.

Here’s the first – a very drunken night out that started as one of those legendary ‘quick drinks’ after work, sometime in the late nineties in Bertie’s Wine Bar in Wimbledon.

Cheers.

Meeting Ben

On By CathyIn Holidays and Away Days, Throwback ThursdaysLeave a comment

Back in May 2015 went on a tour of the Elizabeth Tower.

We were on a London Walk (not just for tourists – even though I lived in London for 15 years I found the walks fascinating) and the guide mentioned that if you contacted your MP they could arrange for you to tour the tower. I wrote to our MP, Andrew Smith (who has now stood down from his position as MP for Oxford East) and he arranged places on the tour for us. I believe the tours are only available to UK residents (don’t hold me to that, things may have changed since we went) and they are free to go on but at the moment the tours of Big Ben and the Elizabeth tower have been suspended until 2021 while refurbishment work is being carried out. When the tours are running again it can be a long wait from your request to being offered a date but it was worth it.

We climbed the 334 steps in stages, stopping on each floor for a chance to see more of the mechanics of the bell tower and clocks, including a chance to stand inside of the huge clock faces which was surreal. We got to the Belfry and stood, with earplugs and fingers in ears, next to Big Ben as 3pm struck.

As you would expect security on the tours is tight and you’re security checked before your place on the tour is confirmed, sadly no cameras are allowed in the tower. There were so many photographs I wish I could have taken, especially the amazing view over London from the Belfry but it was nice to enjoy the day without viewing things through a lens for a change.

Exclusive – Man Walks Under Water!

On By CathyIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

We took a trip into London today and did a London Walk through Greenwich, I wanted to see the Ansel Adams Exhibition in the National Maritime Museum and Matt wanted to go for a walk so it was the perfect combination. The London Walks are guided walks with the opportunity to see parts of London you might not think to visit otherwise and learn a little more about the area. Perfect for visitors to the City and a lovely way to spend a few hours on a Sunday.

The Greenwich walk starts at Tower Hamlets with a boat trip down the Thames (best suited for warmer weather) and ends at The National Maritime Museum. There are several options for getting back to Tower Hamlets, or wherever you’re heading to afterwards but if you’re heading back on the tube it’s worth a look at the Greenwich Foot Tunnel

The Greenwich Foot Tunnel runs under the River Thames between Cutty Sark Gardens and Island Gardens, on the Isle of Dogs. It is 1,217 feet in length and approximately 50 feet deep. Its original purpose was to allow south London residents to work in the docks on the Isle of Dogs. It was designed by Sir Alexander Binnie and was opened on 4 August 1902 at a cost of £127,000. The tunnel is lined with 200,000 glazed white tiles. (From The Greenwich Guide – read more about the tunnel.