My journey starts at Enfield town station and the realisation that there is a bus replacement service from Gordon hill, my closest overground line. I now have a time frame for getting there. I am out the door at 10am, to get to the town to catch the 10.23 to Liverpool street. I walk at my usual brisk pace and arrive on time. I can’t say it’s a line I enjoy travelling on but, I have a seat and I arrive at my destination without any hassle. I help a young Mum up the stairs with her pushchair and dodge a beautiful Afgan hound in the process and make my way to the Elizabeth line. I pass the escalator with the incredibly tall ceiling, take a photo and luckily, I have two minutes to spare to catch my train.
The Docklands museum was packed, they have a Chinese new year celebration on, something I knew about but had forgotten. However, much to my disappointment, they did not have the model of ‘Nonsuch House’ anymore. A quick scout round the galleries which were not to my taste and on to Greenwich. I found the DLR and ran up the stairs to the West India Quay platform, only to find there weren’t any trains to Lewisham. I could see Canary Wharf platform as it was 100 yards down the line and that did go there. I turned around and walked fast round the pathways, looked up at the tower and found the correct platform and caught the right train with 1 minute to spare. After arriving at Island Gardens, I made my way via a short walk to the Thames. I crossed the river or rather under the river using the Greenwich foot tunnel, about a mile in length and dips at the centre.
I arrived at the Maritime museum after passing the Cutty Sark in all it’a splendour and I asked for the Robert Falcon Scott exhibits. The rather nice young Lady had no idea what I was talking about and went off to look it up for me. Once I had suggested it was part of the Antarctic exhibition, she knew what I was going on about and was able to direct me. I walked through the many galleries, some more aesthetically pleasing than others and found the gallery. I have to say, I was a bit disappointed to see what was on offer. There were a pair of Scott’s snow shoes, his discarded snow glasses, a couple of photos of Scott you can get on the internet with a quick search, a sleeping bag that was used by a member of the Terra Nova crew and a penguin teddy designed by Ponting the photographer to raise funds to pay off the expedition’s debts. I also found the ‘Helios’ exhibition and I am going to take Lucas there so there’s that. I still have a good amount of time left in the day and, there are few other places left to visit on this adventure.
For the first time in years, I have wasted half an hour on a broken down train, well 15 or so minutes and 15 minutes on a detour to get to Tower hill.
Tower hill did not disappoint, it rarely does. I came out of the station and was rewarded with a glorious view of the Tower. I crossed over the road and headed to All Hallows, the oldest church in the city built in 675 AD. It was everything I was expecting, it has an amazing crypt museum, the reason I went there. It details and displays exhibits and models of how Londinium would have looked. After I took some photos, I made my way to London bridge, the site of the old original bridge you can no longer see. It’s about 30 metres from the current bridge on the east side. There is a large church called ‘Magnus the Martyr’ or the Eucharist which would marked the entrance to the old bridge. Inside the church which still stands by the way, you are greeted by a haze of incense and more importantly, a amazing model of the old London bridge. With all the buildings spanning across. I could not see the ‘Nonsuch’ house on there though. I believe the depiction must been from an earlier time.
I made my way on the modern London bridge and got a cool photo taken from the centre of the road. I was caught in between two stations, I opted for Bank and waited for a northern line train to Kings cross. I changed onto the Piccadilly line and got off at Russell square. I climbed 182 steps to get out of the station instead of using the lift. I arrived at the same as the people running past me to catch it. However, by the end of the climb, I was done. The British museum was just round the corner and I took my time to reach it, stopping off to buy some snacks. As I reached the museum, I chose to enter though the side entrance and I had to go pass security, that I thought was a bit weird. Then I saw the items they were looking for and it made sense. Spray paint, knives, hammers.
#notgivinganythingback #notsorry #imreallynot
I was pleased to see despite the time it took to find them, my favourite exhibits, the Sutton Hoo helmet, the Rosetta stone and the Easter Island head. I also took time to see some Grandfather clocks (is that you yawning) and some Islamic art. After that I was finished and I decided to head into the west end, where the roads were closed for Chinese year. I went to a couple of shops but didn’t buy anything. This has been one of my favourite solo adventures and a great way to start off the year. I made it to Liverpool street with 2 minutes to spare, now I am looking forward to a well earned rest.
#Footnote: This is the first adventure I have been able to write in real time. All of the writings were taken down in my notebook on train journeys between destinations.
