Back Home- Tree Clearing Duties

We arrived home on the Friday morning, on the Saturday Lachlan had Bill and I out the front assisting him as he cut down one of the trees in our front yard. While we were away there was a storm that went through Tuggeranong and two of the wattle trees came down. One was rotten so that one was cut down by Lachlan and Derek our next door neighbour and the other neighbours helped clear up as well. Then when we got home we decided that another wattle tree needed to come down as it was on real lean and we were worried next storm might bring it down on the cars. So Lachlan got to work and Bill and I had the job of cutting up all the cuttings and getting them cleared up. Aldi had an electric chain saw on sale on Saturday so I went down and got that, and it well and truly paid for itself along with the telescopic lopper that Lachlan had brought. I am sure it would have cost us at least $1000 dollars to get these trees chopped down but Lachlan was able to get it done which was great. Will miss our lovely wattle trees in bloom in late winter though!

Luna and Jack were out supervising us all!

Last Day in London

Our flight home was at 8:30pm, we had to check out of our apartment at 10am, so I booked a day stay room at the Mecure Paddington just up the road and right next to Paddington Railway Station where we were catching the Heathrow Express. That meant we didn't have to pay to store luggage and had somewhere to relax and shower before heading out to the aiport, it worked well. After checking in we caught a double decker bus up to the Camden Markets. We enjoyed pottering around the markets, got Bill a stylish cap then walked back to Paddington- just over an hour along the Regent Canal. It was a lovely walk and with it being a sunny 14 degrees it was very pleasant and a nice relaxing way to spend our final day in London.

Sightseeing in London

We went wandering around London today. Walked through the lovely Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. Came across swans, squirrels and Alexandrine parrots.

Had a hot drink in the lovely cafe and the Victoria and Albert Museum

Made our way down to the Australian War Memorial at Hyde Park Corner. It was a simple but significant monument. It listed all the names of towns and suburbs that Australian soldiers had come from to join the services. We laid our little Remembrance Cross for Eric Swanson Frost.

We then made our way over to the British Museum to meet one of Bill's online trench map buddies- I should not leave Bill in charge- it was the British Library where we supposed to meet! Of course he had written nothing down ( his father Jim would have been horrified at the lack of planning) and then we couldn't connect to wifi to look up where we actually needed to be. Eventually we did make it to where we needed to be a few minutes late. While the boys talked trench maps and grid references I went to see an exhibition on the Anglo Saxons and saw some amazing old manuscripts, bibles, artifacts and the Doomsday Book! Another great day in London.

Day Trip to Bath

Today we took the train up to Bath from Paddington Station, it was a 90 minute trip. Bath was a lovely Georgian city and we had a lovely day.

First stop was at the Roman Baths- a bathing complex and temple built by the Romans, that lay undiscovered till the 18th century- a fascinating complex and insight into Roman life in England.

Bill went to the William Herschel Astronomy Museum while I went for a wander around Bath.

We then went on a 2 hour walking tour around the city which gave us some insight into the history of Bath- it was excellent.

Had a bit more of a wander before heading back to the station to catch the train back to London then a short walk back to our little studio apartment which has been very comfortable and convenient.

Remembrance Day

What a wonderful Remembrance Day we have had! We started off by heading over to the Imperial War Museum and attended a Remembrance Day Ceremony there. They had a bugler play the Last Post followed by 2 minutes silence and then a musical and poetry performance which was very moving.

Outside the museum they had a lovely cascading stream of lovely ceramic poppies. It was quite stunning.

We had a good spot upstairs to watch the ceremony

Just near where we were standing was a V2 rocket which was used by the Germans to drop bombs, but then was later developed to take satellites into space. Bill's father Jim went to London in 1947 to learn about telemetry from these rockets, so it was a rather significant place to be.

 Me and the poppies

 Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, we spent a couple of hours here just soaking up the atmosphere

In the afternoon we went to see the Peter Jackson Documentary- They Shall Not Grow Old, then we went to Hyde Park Chapel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints  and saw a musical and spoken performance titled Voices of the Great War- it was excellent and a great way to finish our Remembrance Day.

Milston and Figheldean

Today’s adventure took us out to Heathrow Airport to pick up a hire car for the day and heading out to a small village called Milston, which is near Salisbury. Someone on the Great War Forum had identified the photo Eric had taken as that of the Old Mill House at Milston. Bill wanted to visit to confirm if this was the case. We arrived and found the house and yes it was the house we were on the lookout for- Eric had taken a photo of this place around 101 years ago when he was stationed near Lark Hill. We met the current owners of the house who had been there about 4 years. They confirmed the photo and were able to fill us in on how the river had moved near their place and where the old mill had been so that was great and Bill was happy. 

 

The Old Mill House

  

The Avon River

Bill getting in the right position to get his photo

We went for a wander around some of the paths and along the river, it was a pretty spot and as I said to Bill his grandfather would have walked around here 100 years ago! The autumn leaves where lovely, it was a bit showery at times but we were able to do all we needed to. 

From there we headed to Figheldean where we had been before, lots of lovely cottages with thatched roofs. We had our lunch by the side of the road and then went for a walk but it started to rain again, so we took a couple of photos and then headed back to Heathrow to drop off the car and catch the train back to London. A bit wet when we got back, picked up some dinner and headed back to our little apartment. Another great day!

Cambridge

It was my birthday today and I decided we would go to Cambridge for the day. It was a lovely day. Cambridge is such a lovely city. We picked up our pre booked tickets and caught the underground over to Kings Cross. We were in Cambridge by 11am, about an hour on the train. It was a 25-minute walk into the centre of town. We went to the visitors centre and booked a walking tour for 1pm. Then we had a hot drink and worked out our plan of attack. We went to the Greater Mary Church and climbed the Bell Tower and got stunning views of Cambridge, you could see all the lovely buildings and colleges, just stunning.

Just one of the lovely views over Cambridge from the top of the Bell Tower and St Mary's the Great Church.

One of the buskers in the street, this dog was so cute!

Pembroke College

Kings College

 We then went to the Wren Library, that was just stunning and there were some old books on display including AA Milne Winne the Pooh and Principia Mathmatica by Issac Newton- his first edition copy.  We had to turn off our mobile phones so no photos.

Then we went on our walking tour which gave you a greater insight into the city. By then it was getting late, we had a late lunch- it was 5 minutes to 3 c'clock  and when we walked into the café they had a sign up saying half price lunch from 3pm- so we waited 5 minutes and got our meals half price which makes Bill happy!

  Mathmatica Bridge

Then we went for punt ride which gave us more information about Cambridge and some of the famous students and Noble Prize winners. Then it was off to Evensong at 5:30pm in Kings College, the choir was wonderful. We were back in London by 7:30pm, made our way back to Paddington and picked up some dinner from Leons, it was a wonderful day! It is wet and windy outside so nice to be in our warm apartment.

Bridge of Sighs