Kensington Palace 25oct2024
Another day in the capital city. We had an extra pitstop at Osterley Park on the way up - bacon baps were excellent, but the house was rather dismal and dark. Kensington Palace itself was very regal - some lovely rooms and lots of Victoria memorabilia. The temporary exhibition "Untold Lives" was perhaps a little disappointing, overall we had a lovely day, and the weather was kind until the last 10 minutes.
Brighton 10sep2024
Speaker's House 14aug2024
An excellent day out, but unfortunately the Speaker’s House does not allow photography... 🙁 ...except in the hallway!
The house, which is within the Houses of Parliament, is fine and grandiose, panelled walls and fine furniture, and all the walls in every room are “graced” with portraits of former Speakers. It is a guided tour and lasts about 90 minutes. Unfortunately the tour is really all about the Speakers and not the House. The guide feels the need to tell the life story of each of the portrayed Speakers in each of the rooms, which gets a bit wearing. Visual star of the show was the Formal Dining Room, laid out for a banquet (photo from brochure).
We arrived in London well before the time of our visit, so some of us made a quick trip across the road to the Supreme Court (where photography IS allowed when courts are not in session). The building dates back to early 20th century, but the interior has obviously had a fairly recent upgrade and looks very modern and spruce. The actual courtrooms are very attractive. (An excursion here is being investigated for 2025!)
RNLI Training Centre 04jul2024
Twenty four slightly bleary eyed land-lubbers left Alton at 8.45am on 4 July with Poole as their first port of call. There we were divided in to three groups and given a fascinating 2-hour tour of the RNLI’s national training centre: founded in 1824 by Sir William Hillary (forebear of Sir Edmund) the RNLI now manages 238 lifeboat stations around Great Britain and Ireland (at an annual cost of nearly £200million raised from charitable donations). In addition they travel world-wide offering training to further their mission of saving life. Some of us were left feeling slightly queasy after a spell in a force-4 gale simulator, but most recovered sufficiently to sample the delights of their Riggers Restaurant before the onward voyage to Bournemouth! With a stiff breeze but warm sunshine we variously enjoyed walks along the prom’ and the pier or a visit to the iconic Russell-Cotes Museum & Art Gallery. The combination of its seafront location, eccentric Victorian architecture and stunning collection made for a fascinating afternoon. But all too soon we had to be back on the bus, arriving home at 6.30pm, and ready for a well-earned "sun-downer".