Photos!


Here's some photos of what we've seen since we've been here:

Royal Albert Hall

The Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences - Opened in 1871 (about 10 years after the death of Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria) it is now mostly used for concerts.




The Albert Memorial




This is the Albert Memorial.  Erected by Queen Victoria in memory of her Consort, Prince Albert, the edifice was opened to the public in 1872, and the stature of Albert installed in 1875.  She really must have loved him!



















Swan in Kensington GardensThis swan, immediately after this photo was taken, looked up at us, spread its wings and started running towards us...needless to say we started running as well - it was very scary!  For some reason the animals in England have got it in for us - we were taking an innocent stroll through Holland Park one afternoon and a squirrel chased us as well.  I suspect that it was used to humans being laden with food earmarked for hungry squirrels, but I didn't think of that at the time - I was too busy running scared!  It didn't help that Liam is pretty much freaked out by most animals most of the time...I should at this time make comment on just how many dogs there are in London and its environs - my goodness!

Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens This is Peter Pan, well at least, the statue of him, deep in the middle of Kensington Gardens, by the Serpentine, near the Italianate Fountain.  It was sculpted in bronze by George Frampton, as a May Day gift from JM Barrie in 1912.  Neither Frampton or Barrie wanted any attention drawn to the figure, and, according to their wishes, it wasn't even given an unveiling ceremony.  The Times however announced its arrival: 

'There is a surprise in store for the children who go to Kensington Gardens to feed the ducks in the Serpentine this morning. Down by the little bay, at the south-western side of the tail of the Serpentine, they will find a May Day gift from JM Barrie, a figure of Peter Pan blowing his pipe on the stump of a tree, with fairies and mice and squirrels all around.

It is the work of Sir George Frampton and the bronze figure of the boy who would never grow up is delightfully conceived.'


 
Peter Pan plaqueAt the bottom of the statue is a plaque: "Peter Pan  The  boy who would not grow up.  Sculpted by Sir George Frampton RA 1860-1928."  There's other stuff written on it but I can't read it!  If you can, drop me a line and I'll fill in the details.









London Phone BoxesHere's the obligatory London telephone box shot, but no police boxes to be found unfortunately, although the kids did have fun imitating Daleks on Westminster Bridge:


Daleks on Westminster Bridge




 



This is in homage to the Doctor Who episode (the William Hartnell years), "The Dalek Invasion of Earth" where everyone's favourite cheese-graters come down from Skaro and plot to disrupt Earth's magnetic core by drilling a hole through the centre of the Earth, and then towing it (for some unknown reason) behind them back to Skaro.

Apparently the Earth's crust was narrowest in Bedfordshire, so naturally they set up their base in London...hence their having been photographed on Westminster Bridge!  Unfortunately we subsequently discovered from the photo that the Daleks were facing in the other direction (ie towards the Houses of Parliament), and were on the other side of the bridge, but that couldn't be helped as there was hording on the other side (as you can see at the mid-right of the photo).  In any case, we'd promised the kids they could imitate Daleks on Westminster Bridge, and so there you go.
Houses of ParliamentJust so you can imagine what Daleks on Westminster Bridge in front of the Houses of Parliament looks like, I've included a couple of photos of the Houses of Parliament for you!  Just squint and maybe you you can see it!  The Houses of Parliament feature the clock tower which houses the bell, Big Ben  Most people would call the clock Big Ben, but it's not.  Big Ben is one of the the five bells in St Stephens Tower, and weighs 13 tons.  It's the one which strikes the hour, and over here in the UK it's heard every night on BBC's news!















Houses of Parliament, different viewHere's another picture of the Houses of Parliament, taken from a different angle.  Originally it was the Palace of Westminster (Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral being close by), the principal residence of the kings of England from the middle of the 11th century until 1512. In medieval times kings summoned their courts wherever they happened to be. But by the end of the 14th century the court in all its aspects - administrative, judicial and parliamentary - had its headquarters at Westminster.

Although the Lords were accommodated in the Palace, the Commons originally had no permanent meeting place of their own, meeting either in the chapter house or the refectory of Westminster Abbey. After the Chantries Act 1547 abolished all private chapels, the Royal Chapel of St Stephen within the Palace of Westminster was handed over to the Commons.

The Commons assembled in St Stephen's until 1834 when the Palace was burned down. This fire destroyed almost all of the Palace except Westminster Hall, the crypt of St Stephen's Chapel, the adjacent cloisters and the Jewel Tower.

The present Houses of Parliament were built over the next 30 years. They were the work of the architect Sir Charles Barry (1795-1860) and his assistant Augustus Welby Pugin (1812-52). The design incorporated Westminster Hall and the remains of St Stephen's Chapel.

The House of Commons Chamber was destroyed in a German air attack in 1941. It was rebuilt after the Second World War, taking care to preserve the essential features of Barry's building - the architect was Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. The new Chamber was completed in 1950.



Return to my Home Page

Go to my Photo Page Index