St James's Park

Last weekend I went into London for a look around. This is a very deserted Horseguards Parade.  There were no guards on horseback on duty outside the barracks on Whitehall.

St James's Park was delightful. The borders were still full of colour.

Looking towards a stationary London Eye.

A view in the opposite direction shows Buckingham Palace.

The Mall with the flags of the RAF flying as well as the Union Jack. The flags commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.

Hand feeding the parakeets.

 

Trafalgar Square

It is 6 months since I last visited Trafalgar Square, a place that I would regularly walk through or visit when going to the National Gallery. Just when we thought a little normality was returning, the number of confirmed Covid cases is on the rise and consequently more restrictions are going to happen soon. They already have in certain towns and cities and we are waiting to hear what is going to happen in London. So, on Saturday I decided I would go for a wander around this tourist hotspot and what it was like. I arrived in the Square at about 9.30am having travelled on an almost empty train. Even at this early hour there would be buskers and entertainers setting up ready for the influx of tourists but not today. There was hardly anyone around. I spotted the falconer with his Harris Hawk ready to do a sweep over the Square and keep the pigeons at bay. 

The National Gallery is open to the public but you have to book in advance. To allow for social distancing they have set up the National Gallery cafe outside.

A new exhibit on the 4th plinth in Trafalgar Square complete with its own drone and fly. 

'The End' by Heather Phillipson.

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Amritsar

These photos are from slides that I took when I was in India in the mid 70s. We travelled to the Punjab in the northwest to visit the city of Amritsar. It was one of the most stunning sights I had ever seen. 

Coming from the crowded streets, this was the view that took our breath away. The Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib) is the holiest gurdwara in the Sikh religion.

It is in the middle of a lake where  the worshippers bathe.

Food is prepared and served free to anyone who visits the gurdwara.

These may have been taken inside the temple but not sure. It was such a long time ago.

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Trees glorious trees.

In the absence of a camera I am using my phone which does not have a great camera but it's better than nothing. On my walk in Greenwich Park this week my eye was drawn to the trees. Still in full leaf, it won't be long before they change colour and begin to shed their summer coat.

In the Park is Queen Elizabeth's Oak, the remains of a 12th century oak tree. According to legend, King Henry VIII once danced around this tree with Anne Boleyn, and Queen Elizabeth I was said to have often taken refreshment whilst relaxing in its shade. The tree would have been about 400 years old by then. The tree died sometime in the 19th century but the ivy that had grown up around it kept it upright until 1991 when a heavy rainstorm brought it down.

The oak tree now growing alongside was planted by the Duke of Edinburgh in 1992.

There are numerous magnificent trees in Greenwich Park.