We had been warned on the eve of our holiday that the kitchen at our hotel was having problems and that we would be having breakfast at The Novotel their sister hotel, just a short walk down the Greenwich High Road. That was fine by us since we liked walking, and I rather enjoyed the walk before breakfast. On the first day I grabbed a window seat that looked over the road towards the charming early nineteenth century Queen Elizabeth College Alms-houses.
Our post breakfast saunter took us across the street and down Langdale Road, along Circus Street and down Royal Hill where there are a line of just my type of shops: a butcher, a green grocer etc. The standard and displays of goods was so enticing and inviting, and how fortunate for the residents to have this.
We also passed through Gloucester Circus, and down Crooms Hill as I wanted to check on the opening times at the Fan Museum so as to be able to return to buy myself a fan. It was a treat to admire all the period houses on our walk. I have since found some interesting historic maps showing the development of the area.
Our first planned visit on Saturday was to the Cutty Sark. In the past few years we have enjoyed visiting different sailing ships from The Mary Rose and others in Portsmouth and SS Great Britain in Bristol. We bought joint tickets for The Cutty Sark and The Royal Observatory. We thoroughly enjoyed looking through the ship at its exhibits and learning about its history. Built as a fast ship for the Tea Trade with China and later bringing Merino wool from Australia, it started it maiden voyage in 1870 and brought back nearly 600,000 Kg of tea.
A quick walk back to the fan Museum to big my fan, before doubling back to select some nice bakes from Gail's Bakery to fortify us ready for our walk up to the Observatory. Again there was so much history associated with Science and developments which allowed Great Britain to 'rule the waves'. Sir Christopher Wren's design of The Octagon or Star Room is functional and exquisite at the same time.
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| Harrison's H1 Clock |
Marine timekeeper, H1 is the first experimental marine timekeeper made by John Harrison in Barrow-on-Humber between 1730 and 1735 as a first step towards solving the longitude problem and winning the great £20,000 prize offered by the British Government. Known as 'H1', the timekeeper is unaffected by the motion of a ship due to its innovative two interconnected swinging balances. It compensates for changes in temperature and has extensive anti-friction devices, meaning it runs without any lubrication. It was the first relatively successful marine timekeeper of any kind and was the toast of London when Harrison unveiled it in 1735.
On hearing we were to visit Greenwich a friend had lent us 'Longitude' by Dava Sobel. Mr S read out passages to me. Inspired by the official prize offered in 1714 to anyone who could solve the problem of finding longitudinal positions at sea, Harrison produced his four famous 'H' timepieces. He helped revolutionise navigation at sea, saving many thousands of lives. The final time piece H4 can be held in the palm of one's hand and was completed in in 1759.
As if we had not had sufficient interesting visits, time was short, and we decided to walk across the park to Ranger's House as we are members of English Heritage. The Wernher Collection housed in the Ranger's House is absolutely magnificent, and would really need several visits to take in all the treasures. Sadly photography is not permitted. English Heritage describes the collection as
' Unique in both its quality and breadth, the Wernher Collection is one of the greatest private collections of art ever assembled in Europe'.
The walks back to the hotel across the park as the light faded was a delight. The weather was relative mild for November, still and with no rain. We caught sight of the city across the river light up.
We had the set menu at Highroad Social, which had a nice evening restaurant vibe with excellent service and good food.
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