Last week we were working at the Olympic Hockey "test" event but we found some time to go to parts of the capital we had not visited before.
This was our home for the week, Abbey Wood in Bexley.
One of the local attractions - within half a mile of our campsite - was Lesnes Abbey
The Abbey was founded by Richard de Luci, Chief Justiciar of
England, in 1178. It is speculated that this may have been in penance for the
murder of Thomas Becket, in which he was involved. In 1179, de Luci resigned
his office and retired to the Abbey, where he died three months later. He was
buried in the chapter house
When
Cardinal Wolsey suppressed several of the smaller religious houses in the early
16th century to endow his college at Oxford, Lesnes Abbey was one of the first
abbeys to 'come under the axe' in 1525. The buildings had by then fallen into
quite a state of disrepair, with little money available for restoration work,
and this resulted in further neglect. Eventually, the church and claustral
buildings were demolished, and the stones were sold for building material.
The
site was excavated by Woolwich & District Antiquarian Society in 1909-1910. Since
1986, the site has been the property of the London Borough of Bexley. A branch
of the Green Chain Walk passes the ruins on its way from Oxleas Wood to
Thamesmead riverside.
One morning I cycled along the Thames cycleway to Greenwich ...
... passing the impressive Thames Barrier ...
... the O2 Arena
... where I saw the impressive new £60million cable car system which will give
tourists panoramic views over the River Thames. The Emirates-sponsored transport will be the first urban cable car
system of its kind in the UK and will whizz people across the river between
Greenwich Peninsula and the Royal Docks in just five minutes.
The new cable car is due to start carrying passengers in time for the Olympics. Gondolas will glide over cables suspended
between 300ft white pillars and ferry Olympics spectators between two of the
Games venues - the O2 Arena on the south bank of the Thames and the ExCel
exhibition centre in east London.
In Greenwich, I visited the Royal Observatory in Greenwich Park.
Greenwich
is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich
Meridian (0° longitude) and Greenwich Mean Time.
On top of the same hill as the Old Greenwich Royal Observatory is a
statue of General James Wolfe, (1727-59) looking out towards the river. General
Wolfe commanded the British forces at Quebec against the French and won a great
victory, at the cost of his life. He was a resident of Greenwich and is buried
in the parish church, St Alfege's. The statue was erected in 1930 and bears the
inscription "This monument, a gift of the Canadian people, was unveiled by
the Marquis de Montcalm".
Greenwich
Park will host the Equestrian competition at London 2012 - Dressage, Eventing and Jumping.
Then on to the Tower Bridge -
it was built 1886-1894 and is a combined bascule and suspension bridge over the River Thames. It
took 5 major contractors and the relentless labour of 432 construction
workers to build the bridge.
It is close to the Tower of London, from which it takes its name
City Hall - where the Mayor of London has his office
The weather vane on the Old Billingsgate Fish Market building.
The name of this lane indicates the function; the lane led down to the waterside
embarkation point for women working in the brothels (stews) of Bankside.
Queenhithe is the name of a London ward which derives from the "Queen's
Dock", or "Queen's Quay". It was probably a Roman dock (or
small harbour), but known in Saxon times as "Aedereshyd", later
"Ethelred's Hythe". The dock existed during the period when the
Wessex king, Alfred the Great, re-established the City of London, circa 886 AD.
It only became named "Queenhithe" (spelt archaically as
"Queenhythe") when Matilda, daughter of Henry I, was granted duties
on goods landed there.
A
key sequence of the 1951 Ealing comedy, ‘The Lavender Hill Mob’, used this
location for filming. Mr. Holland, played by Alec Guinness, can be seen falling
from a wharf into the Thames and being rescued by two actors dressed as police
officers.
The present St Paul's is the fifth cathedral to have stood on the site
since 604, and was built between 1675 and 1710, after its predecessor was
destroyed in the Great Fire of London. This was the first cathedral to be built
after the English Reformation in the sixteenth century, when Henry VIII removed
the Church of England from the jurisdiction of the Pope and the Crown took
control of the Church's life.
The
original Globe Theatre was built in 1599 by the playing company Lord
Chamberlain's Men, to which Shakespeare belonged, and was destroyed by fire on
June 29, 1613. The fire was caused by an accident with a cannon during a
production of Henry VIII. The theatre was rebuilt by June 1614 (the exact
opening date is not known), but was officially closed by pressure of Puritan
opinion in 1642 and demolished in 1644. The current theatre is based on the
1614 rebuilding, about which more information survives, but with a larger stage
and broader staircases.
The
Millennium Bridge, officially known
as the London Millennium Footbridge, is a steel suspension bridge for
pedestrians. Londoners nicknamed the bridge the "Wobbly Bridge" after
participants in a charity walk on behalf of Save the Children to open the
bridge felt an unexpected swaying motion on the
first two days after the bridge opened. The bridge was closed later that day,
and after two days of limited access the bridge was closed for almost two years
while modifications were made to eliminate the wobble entirely. It was reopened
in 2002.
The
Shard will be the tallest building in Western Europe, its crystalline façade
transforming the London skyline with a mixed-use 310 m (1,016 ft) vertical city
of high-quality offices, world-renowned restaurants, the 5-star Shangri-La
hotel, exclusive residential apartments and the capital's highest viewing
gallery offering 360° views.
The
Clink Prison Museum is built upon the original site of the Clink Prison. The
Prison dates back to 1144 making it one of England’s oldest, if not the oldest
Prison. Owned
by the Bishop of Winchester, The Clink Prison was used to control the Southbank
of London known as “The Liberty of The Clink”. This area housed much of
London’s entertainment establishments including four theatres, bull-baiting,
bear-baiting, inns and many other darker entertainments.
Winchester Palace was the town residence of the Bishops of Winchester from the 12th
century until the Civil War, when it was used as a civil prison. The wall of
the 14th century Great Hall and the rose window, which was first restored in
1972, are all that remain above ground today.
The
original Golden Hinde became famous as the flagship of Sir Francis Drake during
his voyage around the world. The journey took three years - 1577-1580 - with the Golden
Hinde being the only ship to complete the voyage. This reconstruction,
a fully working ship, was launched in Devon in 1973. Since then she has
circumnavigated the globe and sailed over 140,000 miles – many more than the
original. She is now berthed in St Mary Overie Dock.
Southwark Cathedral - the
earliest reference to the site was in the Domesday Book survey of 1086, wherein
the "minster" of Southwark seems to be under the control of Bishop
Odo of Bayeux (William the Conqueror's half-brother)
Borough Market
is
one of the largest food markets in London, and sells a large variety of foods
from all over the world. The
present market, located on Southwark Street and Borough High Street just south
of Southwark Cathedral is a successor to
one that originally adjoined the end of London Bridge. It was first mentioned in 1276, although
the market itself claims to have existed since 1014.
A great time and some sights we had not seen before.
