london – 2gocaravanning

During our winter months off from site we had taken a trip in the motorhome to London staying at Abbey Wood CAMC. We enjoyed this glimpse of London life so much that we vowed to return as soon as we could plan it in, it took 8 months but eventually we made it back there to carry on our sightseeing.

A date was booked and after handing the site over to our colleagues we got packed up and set off, but heading for London on a Friday afternoon was not the ideal time to be travelling the M25. The temperature was 32 degrees and as we were heading South the sun was hitting us full on through the windscreen as we sat stationary, occasionally chugging a few feet, then stationary again. Aahh the joys of a journey, but one we knew was the only option to get to our intended destination. Finally the holdups cleared and a short time later we were driving through the gates of the Campsite, after a friendly and efficient check in we set off to find a suitable pitch. Abbey Wood is a surprising hillside wooded oasis, huge trees give dappled shade to many of the pitches and to find some respite from the blazing sun these were where we headed for. After a couple of laps we found our perfect pitch. Our UK numberplate was definitely in the minority here, the location rightly being very popular with overseas visitors seeing the London sights.

After a chilled evening and a peaceful nights sleep the following morning we walked 10 minutes down to the station to catch the Elizabeth Line into the City. Thankfully the weather had returned to normal British summertime and had cooled off sufficiently for it to be a pleasant temperature.

We emerged from the underground at Westminster and shuffled our way through the crowds of people, most having their photographs taken with Big Ben in the background. As part of Steve’s big birthday celebrations I had planned two surprises for the day, the first being a tour of the Houses of Parliament. He does love a good political debate and has listened to Prime Ministers question time for many years, so to see where the action actually happens was going to be a real treat.

A short queue to get through security checks and we were on our way into the Palace of Westminster. The first area you enter is Westminster Hall, a vast open space built in 1097 and almost the only part of the ancient Palace of Westminster which survives mostly in its original form. A magnificent oak roof was commissioned in 1393 by Richard III, the largest medieval timber roof in Northern Europe. In more recent times it has been used for Coronation banquets, veterans gatherings and parades and was also where Queen Elizabeth II lay in state for the public to visit.

After collecting our audio commentry devices we then continued into St Stephen’s Chapel. For seven centuries St Stephen’s was at the centre of the political and religious life of the nation. As part of a royal residence in medieval England, St Stephen’s witnessed the worship of kings and queens and their households. In 1548 St Stephen’s took on a dramatic new role as the debating chamber of the House of Commons. After the devastating fire of 1834 it was repurposed by Charles Barry as St Stephen’s Hall, which is still the public entranceway into Parliament today.

Moving on from St Stephen’s we were guided by our headphones through the many corridors, lobbies, meeting and debating rooms, all lavishly and opulently decorated. The House of Lords with a red theme, House of Commons with a green theme, carpets that made you want to take your shoes off and sink your toes into them. Gold and gilt decoration, artefacts, paintings, furniture, scriptures all recording centuries of our British history. It certainly was an eye opening tour but unfortunately with a no photography rule of the areas after St Stephen’s Chapel.

After 2 hours following the audio tour marvelling at what there was to see and listening to the explanations of each area through our headphones, we arrived back in Westminster Hall. The cafe was located there so we headed in for a cream tea before embarking on the second surprise.

Back on the underground we took the Jubilee line to Bermondsey, an area south of the river. Ten minutes walk from the station brought us to Maltby Street Market, a cobbled lane full of independent food and drink venues housed in atmospheric 19th century railway arches. This exciting street food experience is open at weekends only so we were lucky enough to catch it. After walking up and down a couple of times trying to decide what to go for we made our decision and plumped for the cheese toasties. Obviously not just your average cheese toastie but a mega mouthwatering delight that was created with skill right in front of us as we waited to collect it. You can take the food from the stalls into any of the bars along the alley to have with a drink, or sit outside at one of the many tables available as we did. The atmosphere was buzzing and it was a great place to people watch. It felt very community orientated rather than touristy.

The next stop of the day was just around the corner at Hiver Taproom where we had a cider tasting experience booked. Hiver is an independent beer and cider maker using honey to produce their unique taste and also to support bees and beekeepers across the country. Their taproom and outdoor beergarden are located under Victorian railway arches as part of the Bermondsey Beer Mile. We tasted 5 different ciders accompanied by cheese and crackers whilst listening to a very interesting and amusing talk on the cider making process and how they incorporate honey instead of using sugar in their beers and ciders. By the end of it all plus the drinks we’d had with our toasties earlier we were very merry indeed as we wobbled our way back to the underground and Abbey Wood!

On deciding to go for a gentle activity for Sunday we booked a river cruise from Westminster to Greenwich. Hopping once again on the Elizabeth Line, changing at Canary Wharf to the Jubilee Line we arrived at Westminster Pier to board the Thames River Sightseeing cruise open topped boat. We got prime seats in the sunshine on the top deck and settled in for an hours view of London from a very different perspective.

We cruised along the Thames past iconic landmarks, under famous bridges, spotting centuries old wharfs and the oldest pub on the Thames, The Prospect of Whitby which dating back to 1520 was used by river pirates. There was a very amusing live commentary from the boat skipper giving us interesting facts and stories associated with each of the sights as we passed. He really did bring the river and its history to life, its something we’re so glad we got to experience.

After disembarking the boat at Greenwich we made a beeline for Goddards pie and mash shop. We had been previously on our last London visit and knew it was where we wanted to get our lunch! This was followed by a wander around the craft market and window shopping in the alleyways and boutiques.

The Docklands Light Railway trundled us back to Canary Wharf which never fails to amaze as you gaze forever skyward at the towering apartment and office blocks. We discovered a roof top garden which was a tranquil green oasis of calm far removed from the bustle and noise of the streets and plazas below.

We rounded off our London weekend sitting in the evening sunshine outside the motorhome under the canopy of conker trees, desperately trying to spot one of the dozens of squarking green parakeets sitting in their branches. Maybe next time we will. And there most definitely will be a next time.

After arriving home from our Peterborough and York trip it was time to get ready for Christmas. The cottage was duly decorated and I tried my hardest to get organised with gift buying. I can plan a holiday down to the finest detail more than 12 months in advance but when it comes to Christmas I’m afraid I’m very much ‘just in time’ much to the frustration of my daughter who has everybody’s gifts sorted by the latest end of September!

With Christmas festivities and family gatherings all done we had another motorhome trip planned for over New Year, this time we were off to Henley on Thames, London and Cambridge. We collected Mo from storage on the 29th December, with no delays this time due to weather, and prepared to set off on a dry sunny morning towards Henley. The majority of our gear is left in the motorhome so all we need to pack each time is food and clothes making it a quicker getaway. There are still always some last minute questions though – did we take the towels back after washing? how much coffee was there left in the jar? do we need to restock the toilet rolls? Steve always reminds me that we are not travelling to the moon and everywhere will have shops should we need anything vital, so panic over we go with what we’ve got.

Pitched up at Henley Four Oaks CAMC site we stayed put for the remainder of the day, the following day was dry but cloudy and we walked the 25 minutes into the town. The shops are interesting and plentiful to browse around and the walk along the river has lovely views.

The following day we moved on to Abbey Wood CAMC ready to explore London for the next few days. The site is a wooded area set on a hillside that you would never knew existed amongst the residential streets. It feels quite rural and has bright green parakeets chirping away in the trees. It was New Years Eve, we were not close enough to see the fireworks at the Eye but the pops and bangs started in the vicinity of the site from around 6pm all through to way past midnight so we saw plenty from the comfort of our motorhome and watched the London Eye display on our TV.

The Elizabeth Line is within 15 minutes walk from the site and is an easy ride into the City and then on to the sights so we used this on New Years Day and visited the Churchill War Rooms. It was raining all day so we arrived very wet and soggy but had plenty of time to dry out during the 3 hours we spent exploring the maze of underground tunnels, war rooms and exhibitions. The streets of London were very busy with people and the big clean up was clearly underway from the night before with barriers and road closures being taken down.

The following day it was blue sky and sunshine so we headed back into the City and visited the Piccadilly show room of Lotus to view the 99T F1 car driven by Ayrton Senna to win at Monaco and Detroit in 1987. Senna is a hero of Steve’s so quite alot of time was spent here! From there we wandered through the streets spotting famous landmarks, through St James Park, past Big Ben and to our next venue at County Hall where we had booked to see the Agatha Christie play ‘Witness for the Prosecution’ It was set in the original County Court building and was an excellent venue to stage such a good play.

January 3rd was blue sky and sunshine again so a perfect day to visit Greenwich. After taking the Elizabeth Line we then swopped to the DLR and had a birds eye view rattling along through the spectacular Canary Wharf, through a tunnel under the Thames and emerging in the lovely neighbourhood of Greenwich Village. The shops, houses and chilled vibe felt like a world away from central London as we strolled through the parks and browsed the many independent shop windows. We visited Queen’s House a 16th century mansion which now houses the Maritime art collection aswell as the Tulip Staircase, the first self supporting spiral staircase in Britain. A walk up the hill to the Royal Observatory gave amazing views looking back over the historic Old Royal Naval College and beyond to the impressive skyline of Canary Wharf. The National Maritime Museum is also very interesting to look around but the exhibitions are so vast you need a good few hours to see it all so we barely touched on all there was to see there. A wander on down towards the Thames took us past a traditional pie and mash shop and as it was around lunchtime it worked out ideally to pay it a visit! Deciding which pie to have was quite a dilemma, with single or double mash? with liquor or gravy? I opted for the liquor as it wasn’t likely I’d get the chance to try it anywhere else and was surprised it was a parsley flavour. I never knew that! Steve played it safe with gravy. The whole experience and the traditional shop/restaurant which has been open since 1890 was one we are so glad we stumbled upon. Onwards to the Cutty Sark, built in 1869 it was one of the fastest tea clippers of its time and in its seafaring career made 8 return journeys bringing tea to London from China. It is sited in dry dock on the shore of the Thames and now exists as a museum where you can visit its decks and learn about its history.

Back at the site we were checking the weather forecast and hearing on the news that snow and ice was forecast over the weekend. We were due to travel to Cambridge on the Sunday and although the likelihood of it reaching us in London was quite low we decided it was best to move on a day earlier than planned and miss any potential snowfall or black ice on the roads.

Cambridge Cherry Hinton CAMC is situated in an old quarry and the pitches are laid out in several dead end roadways with some being down slopes, so with more snow and ice potentially on the way we opted to choose a pitch out on top on the level. Except for a brief respite of an hour in which we walked to the local shops it rained almost constantly in daylight hours for our first two days so we watched alot of TV, ate alot of food and played alot of card games!

At last a dry sunny but cold day so we caught the bus into Cambridge. The bus stop is a 10 minute walk back on the main road and whisks you into the city in about 25 minutes. We strolled around getting our bearings, stopped off at Cafe Nero for a hot chocolate and then walked along ‘The Backs’ where the River Cam winds its way behind the Colleges. It was a stunning day giving glimpses of perfectly manicured College lawns, breathtaking architecture and time-honoured traditions. We stumbled upon the Wren Library in Trinity College designed by Christopher Wren in 1676, housing medieval manuscripts, letters of Isaac Newton, Shakespeare’s first folios and A. A. Milne’s original drawings for Winnie the Pooh. Out of all the jaw dropping items there the only ones you couldn’t photograph were the Pooh ones as Disney have the copyright!

And so ended our New Year Adventures. Another trip under our belts, more CAMC sites visited, more leisure time spent in Mo and more amazing memories made.

We shall look forward to re-visiting all these places again as time allows but in the meantime there’s still a whole world out there yet to see.

Catch up with us next time as we finish our wintertime at home and head back to site to open up for the season…..

Tag: london

London Calling

New Year, New Adventures.