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sally_maria) wrote2016-08-20 07:51 pm
sally_maria) wrote2016-08-20 07:51 pm
Entry tags:
Trip to London
I've had the week off this week, and decided it was time to get round to taking Dad to see the Docklands Light Railway, something he has talked about, but never got round to doing. (Well, not since about 1997, anyway.;-D)
As that seemed a bit of shallow thing to hang a day trip on, I went looking for things to see and found the Museum of London Docklands, in one of the old warehouses still standing near Canary Wharf.
ETA: Should have fixed the photos now.
My grandfather worked for the Port of London authority for most of his working life, as a ledger clerk, mostly at Millwall Dock but some of the time at West India Dock, probably in the building next door to the museum, so there was a definite family interest. In fact, when Dad mentioned the connection to one of the staff, he said that they held the PLA archives, and that if we emailed the archivist they could see what information they held on him. Even without that connection, though, I'd recommend the museum to anyone interested in London's social and economic history - there was a lot of fascinating stuff there.
On our way to the DLR we had been confused by the station naming - allegedly it starts at Bank, but the only way that it was signposted was along a subway from Monument... Since we'd originally gone to Monument, and walked along the street to Bank, as the easiest way of getting there, it was mildly frustrating to have to turn round and go back again. On the other hand, we did get to see the Bank of England, the Royal Exchange and the Mansion House - and a statue that caught my attention.
James Henry Greathead, creator of the tunnelling shield that made the deeper Tube lines possible. (You can keep your kings and your generals, give me a statue with an unusual hat any time. :-D)
After leaving the museum we decided that we had time to head to Greenwich, and at least see the Cutty Sark. In fact, we spent 5 minutes or so sheltering from the rain in the gift shop, a kind of glass affair around the hull at her stern, but decided that we didn't have enough time to do her justice and left her and the Observatory etc for another time. It did dry up enough for me to get a couple of pictures, though the sun didn't fully emerge from the clouds until we were in the coach on the way home.
As that seemed a bit of shallow thing to hang a day trip on, I went looking for things to see and found the Museum of London Docklands, in one of the old warehouses still standing near Canary Wharf.
ETA: Should have fixed the photos now.
My grandfather worked for the Port of London authority for most of his working life, as a ledger clerk, mostly at Millwall Dock but some of the time at West India Dock, probably in the building next door to the museum, so there was a definite family interest. In fact, when Dad mentioned the connection to one of the staff, he said that they held the PLA archives, and that if we emailed the archivist they could see what information they held on him. Even without that connection, though, I'd recommend the museum to anyone interested in London's social and economic history - there was a lot of fascinating stuff there.
On our way to the DLR we had been confused by the station naming - allegedly it starts at Bank, but the only way that it was signposted was along a subway from Monument... Since we'd originally gone to Monument, and walked along the street to Bank, as the easiest way of getting there, it was mildly frustrating to have to turn round and go back again. On the other hand, we did get to see the Bank of England, the Royal Exchange and the Mansion House - and a statue that caught my attention.
James Henry Greathead, creator of the tunnelling shield that made the deeper Tube lines possible. (You can keep your kings and your generals, give me a statue with an unusual hat any time. :-D)
After leaving the museum we decided that we had time to head to Greenwich, and at least see the Cutty Sark. In fact, we spent 5 minutes or so sheltering from the rain in the gift shop, a kind of glass affair around the hull at her stern, but decided that we didn't have enough time to do her justice and left her and the Observatory etc for another time. It did dry up enough for me to get a couple of pictures, though the sun didn't fully emerge from the clouds until we were in the coach on the way home.
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