Our first caravan outing of the year was to Abbey Wood Caravan Club Site, a few miles east of Greenwich, and about 11 miles east of central London.
We spent much of our time in Greenwich because there are so many things to do. The bus was every 12 minutes, from Abbey Wood, to Greenwich. Below you can see the Cutty Sark, a British clipper ship. Built on the Clyde in 1869 for the Jock Willis Shipping Line, she was one of the last tea clippers to be built and one of the fastest.
Above the Cutty Sark as she is now - below on fire in 2007**
An excellent job has been done on her restoration, see below.
| Stuart at the Wheel | Master’s cabin |
In the rigging
The Red House is the only house commissioned, created and lived in by William Morris, founder of the Arts & Crafts movement. It was acquired by the National Trust only 10 years ago, the rooms give a unique view of William Morris’ earliest designs and decorative schemes. Its secrets are slowly being revealed, conservation work in 2013 uncovered an unknown Pre-Raphaelite wall painting and a very early Morris repeating floral pattern.
These original features and furniture by Morris and Philip Webb, stained glass and paintings by Burne-Jones, the bold architecture and a garden designed to 'clothe the house', add up to a fascinating and rewarding place to visit.
| The Garden | Dining Room |
Sue in the garden
William Morris printers’ blocks
William Morris textile design
Another day another visit. We needed a clear day for the circular tour via the Emirates Air Line experience, London’s only cable car. It links the O2 and the Royal Victoria Dock.
The Crystal on Royal Victoria Dock contains a permanent exhibition about sustainable development. The site is 18,000 square metres in size at the west end of the dock, using solar power and ground source heat pumps to generates its own energy.
Development at the Royal Victoria Dock
Aircraft taking off from London City Airport.
We were standing in the middle of the Royal Victoria Dock Pedestrian Bridge to take the photo. See below.
The return trip across the Thames was by the Woolwich Ferry
– a free trip for all - cars and lorries included.
The waiting time can be longer than the trip across, about 10 minutes, especially if you are with a vehicle.
From the title you can see this is Part 1. During the 2 weeks we had superb weather and only 5 minutes rain. I took rather a lot of photos so I don’t know how many parts, at the moment, there will be for this ‘London’ blog. Watch this space!
** Not my photo
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