Little Venice - Anglophile Friday

A month ago today we left for 12 days in England. My brother and his wife, from Denver, met us in Iceland (flight layover) and we flew together from there to Heathrow. You'll be hearing probably more than you want to know about this trip, but I have to do something with the 1500 photos I took, so be forewarned.

On Saturday, September 30, we took the Tube to Warwick Avenue and walked a couple blocks past very expensive housing, across a little bridge to the Grand Union Canal. I've always dreamed of a vacation on a narrowboat, but seeing that area full of those charming, colorful boats was the next best thing. And walking along the canal was a delight.

Actors Timothy West and his wife Prunella Scales have spent vacations on the canals for years, beginning when their sons were young. Prunella Scales, I think, is best known for Upstairs Downstairs, I stand corrected. As Mike and Sal both commented (below), Prunella Scales 'achieved her greatest success on TV as the nosy, shrewish wife "Sybil Fawlty" on the classic John Cleese comedy Fawlty Towers,' (IMDB) and Timothy West is in a different role every time I turn around, it seems. One of my favorites was an Inspector Campion mystery, 'Police at the Funeral.' After the next series of photos, there's a clip of their 'Great Canal Journeys' from YouTube. They made an entire series, one of those things worth watching.

I wonder if there are any homeschoolers among the boaters.
Wouldn't that be fun!

There's that little bridge I mentioned.

It could be a regular traffic jam at times, couldn't it!

And yes, there are an estimated 15,000 people who LIVE on their narrowboats year 'round.

For some interesting information on narrowboat life, here's a fun website:

http://www.wanderingduck.co.uk/blog/uk-canals/living-on-a-narrowboat/

I think that gorgeous shrub is 'hardy fuchsia'
Definitely not hardy to the NW Wisconsin climate.

I have no idea what this variegated shrub is. The leaves are leathery like holly, but not pointy, and the berries are so pretty.

And I just remembered a book that I put on my Wish List probably six months ago, 'Maidens' Trip: A Wartime Adventure on the Grand Union Canal. (And I (I mean 'we') just happen to have an Amazon credit. Yea!!)

From Amazon:

"In 1943 Emma Smith joined the Grand Union Canal Carrying Company under their wartime scheme of employing women to replace the boaters. She set out with two friends on a big adventure: three eighteen-year-olds, freed from a middle-class background, precipitated into the boating fraternity. They learn how to handle a pair of seventy-two foot-long canal boats, how to carry a cargo of steel north from London to Birmingham and coal from Coventry; how to splice ropes, bail out bilge water, keep the engine ticking over and steer through tunnels. They live off kedgeree and fried bread and jam, adopt a kitten, lose their bicycles, laugh and quarrel and get progressively dirtier and tougher as the weeks go by. Maidens' Trip is a classic memoir of the growth to maturity of three young women in the exceptional circumstances of Britain at war."

Let me know when you've moored your narrowboat on the Grand Union Canal and I'll come visit. :-)

 ***

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Anglophile Friday - Fascinating London Walks

London is a great place for walking. I don't know how many miles we put on, but we walked a lot, and I even burned off a piece of cheesecake from Borough Market.

On Sunday afternoon, while my brother and his wife went to the British Museum, Mr. C. and I wandered the streets SSW of St. Paul's Cathedral. What interesting places we found!

Coincidentally, some of the same places were on our ghost walk the following Saturday night.

I love all the wonderful architectural detail!

St. Andrews isn't new, the King's Wardrobe isn't new, Communion isn't new, so it must be that communion at 12:30 on Thursdays is new.

From londonguidedwalks.co.uk:

"King’s wardrobe established by medieval king Edward III – kept ceremonial robes of state, on view just as crown jewels are today.

"The Wardrobe, originally housed within the Tower of London was where (as the name might suggest) King's (sic) kept their clothes, and also armour and treasure. It was moved in 1311 by Edward II to Lombard Street, then later to the site where the group are standing, by Edward III. It's currently a quiet little space populated by a few trees, offices, a hotel and enclosed largely by 18th century houses. 

"In 1604 Shakespeare received 4 ½ yards of scarlet cloth from the Wardrobe enabling him to attend state entry into London of James I. 

"If you have ever read any of Samuel Pepys' diary, the name might sound familiar, as 'The Wardrobe' was the generic name given to the surrounding area and one he mentioned quite frequently. Pepys was a visitor to the Wardrobe on several occasions as he was required to dress the part for attending Court. He must have been one of the last people to visit before the Wardrobe was destroyed by the Great Fire.

"Christopher Wren did have grand plans for the rebuilding of London, much like what had happened in Paris, but his plans were ignored. Much of then known London was rebuilt without any alteration to the original street plan. Houses, this time, were made of brick rather than timber.

"The wardrobe, however, was not rebuilt. In 1709 the office of the Wardrobe was abolished and the garden of the great house was converted into this courtyard."

The Shard, defiantly piercing through the ancient and beautiful. 

Don't ask me why.

The walk was much longer than the portion I'm showing you now, so I guess this is to be continued...

And eventually, I'll get around to starting at the beginning!

***

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