London Sunday 30 August

Sunday 30 August

London

We went all touristy today. Us, and a whole lot of other people in London for the August Bank Holiday weekend. We did a double decker bus sightseeing tour around London – Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Nelson’s Column, Picadilly Circus, Hyde Park, Knightsbridge, London Bridge, Tower Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge, the Millennium Bridge – lots of bridges. It was a good way to see a lot of places and work out which to come back to.

In the afternoon we went to the Tower of London. Using our London Passes got us into the Tower, avoiding the queues – channelling Anne Boleyn and Sir Thomas More, fortunately we got out again, unlike them. The Tower is a huge complex and has been used as a fortress and castle on that site since Roman times. We thought we’d be there for just a couple of hours, but were there about four and still didn’t see everything. The Crown Jewels were spectacular – some of the diamonds and rubies and sapphires were enormous, not to mention all the smaller ones and pearls and gold that make up the various crowns. On display were the ceremonial orbs and sceptres – so much gold. There was an exhibition of Henry VIII’s armour and weapons, which was surprisingly interesting. People in those days who wore armour and carried swords and lances etc must have been enormously strong, and what about the horses that were covered in armour and carrying the armour covered men.

The Tower buildings are incredible – walls a metre or more thick – and tunnels, and stairs and turrets and rooms that were built almost a thousand years ago in some places, and still standing. It was fascinating to see the places that people in history had lived in. Traitors Gate, and scaffold area were very moving. There is a lovely memorial to all the people who had been executed there – not as many as I thought had been. Usually prisoners were taken to Tower Hill, out of the Tower complex and executed for the general enjoyment of the public and the king of the day, but some “controversial” prisoners, such as Anne Boleyn, Thomas More, Lady Jane Grey, and others were beheaded within the Tower walls, so that it could be done with little public unrest.

The Tower of London is fantastic.

We met up with Mary’s brother, Andy, and his family, Kristin, Lucy, Billy and Declan for dinner. We hadn’t seen them since Christmas day, as they have been living in Wales this year. It was wonderful to catch up, hear about their adventures in Wales and beyond and to see how tall Billy and Declan have become.