Doing the Sights

Fri 14 Jul

Today we are part of a small group on a 'Total London' tour conducted by Premium Tours. Our guide is knowledgeable, humourous, and well-organized. Our tour of the Tower of London was special as we were admitted before the general public and had a 'Beefeater' guide exclusively allocated to our small group. All ex-servicemen, the Beefeaters are officially called Yeomen Warders and have been at the Tower since the 14th century. They all hold the rank of Warrant Officer. Combining their traditional ceremonial role with that of a tourist guide they are extremely entertaining and bring to life the Tower's history including imprisonment, torture and intrigue.

The 'Changing of the Guard' at Buckingham Palace is so much more exciting in the flesh as the colour and sound can be truly appreciated. Our guide positioned us at the 'Australia Gates' to get a close up view of the 'Old Guard' marching away with the band in full throttle. On the way down to the Palace we walked by Clarence House which is now Prince Charles's residence and saw a mini guard change there. Close by we saw the Spencer family townhouse.

A short stroll and bus ride took us to the River Thames where we boarded a river boat and heard an excellent commentary as we cruised up to the notorious 'Clink' area and to the remains of the Bishops' Castle at Winchester. A 'pub lunch' with a pint of Guinness hit the spot and gave us the opportunity to watch a little of England versus Pakistan at Lords on the local TV.

Westminster Abbey is much bigger and more fascinating than we had expected. The architecture is magnificent however, the guides tend to concentrate on the tombs and memorials rather than the physical beauty of the place. For us, the stunning eastern end of the church took the honours. At the extreme east is a beautifully coloured window celebrating the Battle of Britain and overlooking the Royal Air Force Chapel. Coming back down the space is the Tomb of Henry VII and his wife Elizabeth of York. Here is also the Chapel of the Order of the Bath with the banners of the incumbents hanging below a fantastic fan-vaulted ceiling. On the northern side we found the Tomb of Elizabeth I who is interred on top of Mary I. On the southern side is the Tomb of Mary, Queen of Scots. At the entrance to this wonderful part of the building is the Coronation Chair commissioned by Edward I in 1301 and has been used at every coronation since. The 'Stone of Scone' sits in a compartment under the seat of the chair as a not very subtle go at the Scots to indicate their subordination to the English Crown. It is not on view as it seems PM John Major, needing votes to bolster his electoral position in Scotland, had the Stone returned to Scotland on the proviso it be made available whenever a coronation is performed. Politicians...don't you just love them! Edward The Confessor has a special place in terms of the development and construction of the building which started as a Benedictine Abbey in 960. His Tomb is situated at a point behind the Coronation Chair and is raised as it was built upon a mound of soil brought from Jerusalem. The first coronation in the Abbey was of William the Conqueror in 1066.

On busy weekends, tourists queue for up to three hours to take a flight on the British Airways, 130 metres high, 'London Eye'. Our guide has us on board our capsule within 20 minutes and the 14 Pound cost is worth every penny. Donna is not good with heights but after some persuasion she boarded and enjoyed the experience. The views of London during the 30 minute ride are sensational but unfortunately for us, the weather was hot and hazy and we could not get the best of the photography.

We ate at the Club in the evening and reflected on a great day and contemplated tomorrow's trip out of London.

Sat 15 Jul

Our tour today is with Evan Evans and their distinctive red coaches are state of the art. The group is relatively small with 19 on board so we anticipate a good day's, hassle free touring.

Windsor Castle is about 30 miles out of London and there is little traffic on the road. The Castle is the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world. William the Conqueror chose the site high above the River Thames, within a day's march from the Tower of London. Its purpose was to guard the approaches to the Capital. Over the past 900 years or so the Castle has been modified and refurbished as technology improved and as circumstances demanded. The most recent major refurbishing occurred after the devastating fire in 1992 which destroyed an area of 9000 square metres or over a fifth of the Castle.

One of the most impressive elements of the Castle is St Georges Chapel whose construction was begun by Edward IV in the 15th century and completed by Henry VIII. Ten British monarchs are buried here up to George VI whose wife, Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother and daughter, Princess Margaret is buried with him. The Queen uses the Castle as a private home, where she usually spends each weekend, and as a Royal residence for formal duties. At the time of our visit we could not see the State Apartments as Princess Beatrice was to celebrate her 18th birthday in the evening. We did however, visit the Royal Print Room where we viewed drawings by Leonardo Da'Vinci and others...not a bad second prize!

As we left the Castle for Salisbury we passed by Eton School and Ascot racecourse. This is truly a beautiful part of England.

Salisbury Cathedral was, in many respects, the 'raison d'etre' for our trip to England. I became fascinated with the building and the general area after reading Edward Rutherfurd's wonderful epic history called 'Sarum'. Our first glimpse of the impressive outline of the Cathedral against the skyline was all as we imagined. It was built over a period of 38 years beginning in 1220 and is unique in being almost entirely in one architectural style, Early English Gothic. Some key facts about the Cathedral are:

. Britain's tallest spire at 123 metres/404 feet.

. Holds the finest copy of the four remaining Magna Carta documents signed by King John in 1215.

. Houses Europe's oldest working clock dated 1386.

. Britain's largest Cathedral cloisters.

Overall this is a magnificent building demonstrating the extraordinary skills in construction and masonry from the 13th century.

Only eight miles up the road we come to the most outstanding prehistoric monument in Britain...Stonehenge. 7-8000 years ago the area was mixed pine and hazel woodland before becoming downland.

The large stones in the circle are Sarsen stones brought from the Marlborough Downs 30 kms away. The smaller stones, known as Bluestones, are from the Preselic Mountains in Wales some 383 kms away!

The remains today were in use 1000's of years ago. The monument was constructed in three phases:

. 3050 BC...A circular ditch and bank (henge).

. circa 2600 BC...Wooden structure constructed at centre.

. 2500-1500 BC...Stone monument constructed, arranged and re-arranged over almost 1000 years.

This is a mysterious site to visit. The authorities have organized it all quite well with a pathway circling the stones allowing visitors to get as close as 20 metres in places. The site was extremely busy with access from a carpark through a tunnel under the main road. Plans are in place to move the road thus providing a more isolated and quieter setting.

Today's tour provided much to think about on the nearly two hour trip back to London in suprisingly heavy traffic. We decided to eat again at Cafe Uno where the pasta and an Italian red went down well.