Poppies in the Moat

The art installation around ‘The Tower of London Moat’ marked one hundred years since the first day of Britain’s involvement in the First World War. Each poppy represents a British military fatality during the war.

I was lucky to be able to visit the almost complete installation on 8th November.  The sight of the poppies was stunning and poignant.

Tomorrow the poppies will be picked and packed for dispatch to those who ordered them. The proceeds of the sale will be shared between six charities; Cobeso, Combat Stress, Coming Home, Help for Heroes, The Royal British Legion and SSAFA.

• P0ppies being planted during my visit in August
• Photos August 16th 2014
• Photos November 8th 2014

London 2014

I have returned safely from The Tower! This years London trip ran a lot more smoothly that last years trip to London. On arrival we headed straight to the Tower of London. On the advice of the Tower of London website we avoiding using Tower Hill tube station, this meant we had a 10 minute walk from the tube station to The Tower. We picked up our prepaid tickets and admired the poppies in the moat whilst making our way to the drawbridge entry to to The Tower.

When we got inside we walked on the walls, looking out over London and glimpsing poppies through some of the windows. After the walk we took a break for lunch before continuing our tour of things that The Tower of London has to offer.  We gave the Crown Jewels a miss, the queue was extremely long due to increased visitors there for remembrance weekend and to see the poppies in the moat. We did join the shorter faster moving queue to visit the White Tower which is the oldest part of the Tower. It houses the Royal Armories collection.

After our visit to The Tower we continued walking around the moat so we could see more of the poppies in the moat. It was fascinating to see how much the poppy installation had grown since our visit in August. Due to the sheer numbers of people it took us quite a while to make our way around the moat. We got to one of the corners at the front of  The Tower as dusk turned this meant that we were able to witness the Roll of Honour being read. This was followed by a trumpeter playing The Last Post which is always moving to hear.

As the crowds slowly started to disperse we made our way to the other corner at the front of The Tower to see the wave of poppies cascading over the side of the drawbridge. Just as we arrived the heavens opened, it was just like someone had turned on a tap!!. We beat a hasty retreat and made our way towards the tube station whilst trying to locate a cab. We had no luck with a cab due to the sheer numbers of people. On the way back to the tube we experienced rivers of water flowing across the footpaths as the gutters deposited water to the downspouts. Water was also cascading down the steps in the underpasses. By the time we got to the tube station we were absolutely drenched.

We set off on our journey back to Marble Arch where the coach had dropped us off. The journey was beset with delays. At one point we queued inside the underground for thirty minutes before we could get onto the platform. At one point I felt most uncomfortable, there was a mass of people with no exit in site if something should suddenly go wrong. Of course nothing went wrong and every few minutes the crowd surged forward as people got on the tube that had arrived at the platform and more people surged to fill the gap they had left on the platform. We eventually got back to Marble Arch, grabbing as sandwich to eat on the coach as we made our way to the pick up point.  We arrived with moments to spare. A few others were late due to them experiencing similar transport problems. The coach was also a little late due to roads being congested. The coach slowly made its way out of London but as someone pointed out, it was not as slow as it was on last years trip.

The driver of the coach we travelled on last year informed us that it spent six weeks in the Volvo garage where it was found that two pistons had broken through the engine block at a cost of £24.000 to replace!!  OUCH!!

Off to the Tower…

Kitchen W8

On arrival at Kitchen W8 we were offered an aperitif, perhaps we would like champagne? A perfect option to celebrate the birthday of a gentleman reaching a certain age. The food was delicious, the waiter attentive and always asking before pouring more wine. A perfect end to our stay in London.

His Choices:

Her Choices:

Nelson's Ship in a Bottle

By Yinka Shonibare

Shonibare’s scale model of Nelson’s flagship, Victory, is the world’s largest ship in a bottle. The model is rigged with sails, naval ensigns and signal flags shown as they were on the day of the Battle of Trafalgar. The only significant departure from historical reality is the design of the 37 sails, which derives from the brightly coloured patterns of Dutch-was fabric.*

*Info from a sign board next to the ‘ship in a bottle’.

Altazimuth Pavilion Weather Vane

The Altazimuth Pavilion is topped with an unusual weather vane.

It is modelled on Halley’s Comet, as depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry. It was erected in June 1901, a few years after the building was completed but in time for the comet’s return in 1909. There is a clear link with the Observatory’s history since Halley was the second Astronomer Royal, although his famous prediction was made fifteen years before he took up the post. It is not clear why the illustration from the Bayeux Tapestry was used as inspiration, although its shape is ideal for catching the wind and echoes that of the weathervanes of the Royal Naval College down the hill.

The Planetarium

This modern structure placed alongside the old observatory buildings draws the eye. It is only on closure inspection that all is revealed…

The truncated bronze cone covering the planetarium dome. Its form and orientation reflect the local meridian and latitude.

Waste Not Want Not

Astronomia

One of the Royal Observatory buildings is decorated with terracotta tiles and sculptures. Astronomia, a figure representing Astronomy particularly caught my eye.

The terracotta tiles and decorative sculpture are the work of Doulton & Co, of Lambeth. An art nouveau-inspired figure of Astronomia on the northwest side at the bottom of the old staircase is signed `WJ Neatby 1895′. The names of 24 important figures in English, and more particularly, Greenwich astronomy are displayed above the first floor windows. The seven previous Astronomers Royal – Flamsteed, Halley, Bradley, Bliss, Maskelyne, Pond and Airy take pole position with Newton at the cardinal and ordinal points. A cast of instrument makers, clockmakers and others of influential astronomers take up the rest – Wren, Horrox, Adams, Herschel, Sheepshanks, Baily, Simms, Troughton, Ramsden, Bird, Sharp, Graham, Dollond, Earnshaw, Arnold and Harrison.

Each of the windows on the ground floor (except those on the ends of the wings), has a Tudor Rose above them. These are of three slightly different designs, corresponding to the three phases in which the wings were built. At the upper levels, the ends of each wing are highly ornate. A bust of Flamsteed sculpted by J Raymond Smith is mounted above the front door on the north wing. The end of the south wing has a tribute to Queen Victoria. The end of the east wing commemorates the Royal Society and the west wing the Royal Astronomical society.

The Prime Meridian

The Royal Observatory in Greenwich is the home of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and the Prime Meridian of the world.

What is a meridian?

A meridian is a north-south line selected as the zero reference line for astronomical observations. By comparing thousands of observations taken from the same meridian it is possible to build up an accurate map of the sky.

Hemispheres

The line in Greenwich represents the Prime Meridian of the World – Longitude 0º. Every place on Earth is measured in terms of its distance east or west from this line. The line itself divides the eastern and western hemispheres of the Earth – just as the Equator divides the northern and southern hemispheres.

Where is the meridian?

In 1884 the Prime Meridian was defined by the position of the large ‘Transit Circle’ telescope in the Observatory’s Meridian Observatory. The transit circle was built by Sir George Biddell Airy, the 7th Astronomer Royal, in 1850. The cross-hairs in the eyepiece of the Transit Circle precisely defined Longitude 0° for the world. As the earth’s crust is moving very slightly all the time the exact position of the Prime Meridian is now moving very slightly too, but the original reference for the prime meridian of the world remains the Airy Transit Circle in the Royal Observatory, even if the exact location of the line may move to either side of Airy’s meridian.