Blackfriars Bridge

This enormous iron coat of arms was displayed at each end of the old  Blackfriars bridge. This was the first railway bridge to be built over the Thames taking trains into the Blackfriars terminus in 1863.
For more information on the present bridge click-here-london-bridge-to-chelsea-bridge to read about Day 3 of my Thames path walk

Lloyds register of shipping

This is the head office of the Lloyds register of shipping. In 1764 they produced the first register of all sea going merchant ships over a certain size (100 tonnes). The hulls were graded by a letter -'A' being the best and the ship's fittings with a number - '1' being the highest. Hence the phrase everything is A1.

Ships remain on the register until they are wrecked, sunk or scrapped. This  register of ships is produced annually.

The friezes around the building have sea nymphs and monsters; sailing ships and maidens holding navigation equipment.

Inner city farm

 This is Surrey Docks farm which is next to the Thames Path. It is close to a large residential area and gives inner city children the opportunity to meet farm animals.

These photos were taken on Day 2 of my Thames Path walk. The writing up of the walk is taking me quite a long time and am finding it difficult to post on both my sites at the moment but now that the tennis at Wimbledon has finished. (Yes Murray won. Yes! Yes! Yes!) I will try and be a bit more speedy.

For more on my Thames path walk click here

 

 

Wimbledon 2013

I have just got home fromWimbledon and am still buzzing. I was there for the semi-final matches of Djokovic vs Del Potro and Murray vs Janowicz. My seat was near the back so I didn't get great photos but I could see quite well and the atmosphere was incredible. I can't believe I've actually managed to see Murray play twice this season. If any of you are tennis fans and saw these matches on TV you will understand when I say they were two fantastics games with unbelievable tension and nail biting endings.

Del Potro congratulating Djokovic at the end of their match.

Murray warming up

 

 

After the 3rd set they decided to close the roof as it was getting dark so we had a bit of a wait before they restarted the match and Murray took the 4th set. By then I had been watching tennis for nearly 9 hours. I was exhausted but elated.

Yarn bombing on Day 2 of my Thames walk

Yarn bombing is a form of street art or knitting graffiti. I have seen it in different parts of the world but on Day 2 of my Thames walk I spotted these trees which had been bombed.

A more sophisticated piece of fair isle knitting adorned this hand rail.

 To follow Day 2 of my walk along the Thames Path click  here 

National Trust #8 Nymans

In the late 18thcent the Messel family bought the Nymans Estate in the Sussex Weald to create their dream home and garden. As well as traditional English flowers they brought plants  from around the world to create this romantic picturesque garden.

In 1947 the house was partially destroyed by fire  with just  the ruins of a gothic mansion left and a few downstairs rooms which had been the servants' quarters.

During the war the building had been used as a school for evacuees from London.

The last of the family to live at Nymans was Anne Messel born in 1902 who was the grandaughter of Ludvig and Annie Messel who had the house built. Looking around the few rooms that remain you see it how it was when she lived there. In the study below you can see the television which she apparently didn't like but bought  so she could watch the Queen's Coronation in 1953. Afterwards she had curtains made for it so it didn't look like a TV.

In the gardens is a beautiful walkway covered with wisteria which was in full bloom.

The rose garden

 Inside the walled garden

Out in the wild garden there were still rhodedendrons in flower.

Walking the Thames Path Day 1

My next project is to walk the length of the Thames from the Barrier to the source, a distance of 180 miles. I will not be doing it at speed nor continuously but more when I feel like a walk by the river. I want to record the walk by photographing it at regular intervals along the way and then posting them. As the posts might be quite long I have decided to put this walk onto another blogsite:
62andthenext10pathways
 My first walk was quite an easy one as I had to drive to the Thames Barrier which meant I couldn't walk that far as I had to return to collect the car but from the next stage onwards I will be able to use public transport and not have to retrace my steps.

This is the start of the Thames path or the end depending on which way you want to walk. Most people seem to start at the source and finish here but I like to be different.

The river is approximately 500 metres wide at this point and it is here the Thames Barrier has been built to protect London from flooding.

Please go across to visit my other blog to follow the rest of today's walk.
 
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