This morning we got up early to head off to Gloucester. We are going to stay with Ron, but also catch up with Melanie and Karen and their families. Just for two nights.
The photo was taken on Friday at the Christmas Market near Tower Bridge.
Year: 2015
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It was a quiet day inside, windy though not cold outside. After two fairly strenuous days we were happy to stay at home doing our stuff on computers. We went to a concert at a local church in the evening. Quite good quality – a good small orchestra, excellent soloists and a passable choir. They did some of the usual carols at the end: In dull jubilo, O come, O come Emannuel, The Shepherds’ Farewell, and then we were invited to join in for Hark the Herald Angels Sing. Stephen was disappointed that there was no supper, just drinks, for which we had to pay.
Afterwards we walked to Sainsburys to do some shopping.
Today is a packing up day as we prepare to go to stay with Ron for a couple of nights in Gloucester. We have been there before, of course, and seen the Cathedral and the docklands area. I am not sure what else there is to do, but we will only have one day, then will catch the coach back here.
We have the address where we will stay in Brandys Nad Labem. Disappointingly it is a boring looking apartment building in a suburban area – not on a street with cafes with old buildings around we had hoped. As Stephen said, it’s best to get our disappointment over and done with now before we go there. We may then be pleasantly surprised.
However, he has plans to do a trip to some other cities and even countries in the four weeks we are there. We can also visit Prague fairly easily. There is an historical centre of the town where we are staying, but we will have to find out how to get there. PLUS, we will have a car for visiting interesting places in the area, if we are brave enough to drive it!
The featured photo is from Friday and the pub is on the street where Grace (Stephen’s mother) was born.
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Today was about going to a talk at the Victoria and Albert Museum in the evening and visiting the place where Stephen’s mother, Grace, was born. We have an address from her birth certificate: 1 Dolben Street, Southwark. She was born in 1911 and we were not sure what we would find in the area.
On arrival at the Tower Bridge station we couldn’t resist having a walk along to the river. We found a Christmas Market and an area with lots of cafes. Clearly we hadn’t gone far enough the previous evening. There were some clouds, but we could see blue sky and it was sunny. A very busy area even on a winter’s day. Still, the mild weather made it easy to be outdoors.
London Bridge in sunshine Then we caught a bus to Southwark to the area where we hoped to find the house. We found the street without difficulty, but could not find number 1. A Royal Mail man was able to clarify that the numbering system for the houses was not logical, with odds and evens on the same side of the street. However, the end of the street where Grace’s family would have lived was blocked off to make way for new buildings.
Looking along Dolben Street toward where Grace’s family would have lived. 
The building that now blocks off the end of the street where her family lived. We spoke to people at the little workman’s cafe. It had been a cafe for a long time and the woman could remember the area being very run down. She said that the Victorian terraces in the area had been torn down to make way for buildings (in the 1960’s) before it was clear that this area would be upgraded and the houses valuable heritage. She also remembered Dolben St before the new building went in. She said it was an old cobbled street.
Stephen looking at the little cafe. The owners of the pub are going to renovate it soon and make it part of the pub. Basically, we came much too late!
Thompson House at the other end of the street was interesting. It looks as though it would have been there when she was born. There was a blue plaque with: Mary Wollstonecraft 1759-1797 on it.
After talking with the people in the cafe we walked back to the main street to catch a bus. After a long wait we chose a bus back to the Tower Bridge station area, then took a bus over the bridge, then the underground. The traffic was very slow indeed and when we changed to the underground it was all so easy. We were able to get a direct line, with a tunnel which goes to the museums in the area, so it was just a matter of following the signs to the V&A.
V&A dining room It is really lovely. I din’t have energy for much, but Stephen went off for a while, then we had a meal in the cafe until it was time to go the the lecture theatre for a talk. Very interesting, about the Anglo Saxon saints, who were the ‘celebrities’ of the time. We thought we might be a bit tired, but it was so interesting that we were enthralled.
As we were leaving, the dining room was abuzz with people, and there was a musician playing a grand piano. There was quite a buzz even at the entry hall with a bar and a DJ playing music. We were able to get direction on getting a bus back to Victoria Station, basically, just go out the front entrance and catch a V1.
We got home at about 9.30 I think.
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I’m a bit behind in posting. I thought I would have time when we were out yesterday to write up our visit to Chesham, but we spent quite a lot of the afternoon getting around on buses. More on that in my next blog. As you read down, something has happened to the paragraphing on this entry and it doesn’t show the spaces. Sorry, as it makes it a little difficult to read.
We arranged with Angela to meet on the way to Chesham. Our goal was to visit the gravesite of:
Henry James Robinson – died 1935Emma Robinson (nee Hill) – died in 1947great grandparents of Stephen and Angela.They were both buried in Chesham. At this stage not much is known about them, for example, how long they lived there, and why there is no headstone.Stephen and Angela both wrote to the local council and were sent details about the burials and confirmation of the actual unmarked site.We caught up with Angela and Ray on the little spur line that goes to Chesham. Chesham is on the edge of the Chilterns and quite a long way out of London. Angela suggested a coffee when we first arrived and we were pleased to find that Chesham appears to be quite a prosperous little town with a main street that has been turned into a mall, and all the shops necessary for civilised living, such as Boots, a traditional pub and a Nero’s Cafe. Supermarkets were further out along the main road, as they should be.After coffee and some catchup, we walked up the main street to find the Cemetery. We were talking so much that we walked past the entrance and had to backtrack slightly. We stood at the graveside and took photos of Stephen and Angela. Then we walked further along to a small chapel.Afterward spending some time there, we walked back to the town centre to the pub, and were fortunate to find that the kitchen was still open. The food was very nice indeed, and we enjoyed spending more time talking and getting to know each other better.We have decided to keep in touch a bit more by email.Ray commented that I was taking a lot of photos and it was like being followed by the paparazzi. He does like to tease… I said that I was documenting our visit, not just for us, but for other members of the family, including Lesley. Stephen is used to me following him around with a camera and often poses for me even if it takes extra time. I guess for other people it feels like being ‘watched’. But, I really feel the photos are important.
Showing the photo they were sent by the Chesham Town Council 
Stephen and Angela standing at the back of the gravesite 
The path alongside the site Some other photos of the day have been uploaded to a folder on Dropbox via this link:In the morning we had travelled to London Bridge station rather than our usual trip to Victoria Station, and were intrigued to find it is very modern and pretty much straight under the Shard. We decided to have a look around and have a meal before going home. It was dark, naturally. I did not attempt to take photos. The area is quite old, of course. There is lots of the modern stuff, but also old buildings that are being renovated and made into a fashionable area. We found a Belgian restaurant in the old stables and enjoyed a meal of slightly different food, very tasty with lots of green salad.Then, home. -
Stephen said I should show the tower closeup and from East Croydon – compare and contrast. The top photo shows what it really looks like from the apartment. It is the left hand tower in the photo. UPDATE: we think we have confused the towers. It is probably the right hand tower that we saw at Crystal Palace and my zoomed shot is of the BBC tower.
Note: the tower does’t tilt even if it appears to in the photos.
Tower from East Croydon at 300mm shot on Sony A6000 with Minolta 75-300mm lens. I removed some haze and lightened it in Lightroom, hence the grainy look. 
Tower from closeup using Sony A7RII and Sony Zeiss 24-70mm lens. This has had a little bit of shadow lifting in Lightroom. -
Today we caught a bus to Crystal Palace and took a walk in the park. It wasn’t cold, although the wind could make it feel that way at times. We had lunch of soup and bread at a cafe (we are a bit sick of taking rolls for lunch).
The park seems quite degraded and the features which perhaps date from the time of the actual Crystal Palace are in disrepair. Apart from the rather nice old Railway Station.
We found some lakes and a Dinosaur Park, with workmen doing some maintenance on some of the exhibits. It was quite interesting for us as we kept making discoveries. There is also a farm which appears to be set up as a learning centre for school children. We met some of the walking tiny ponies and goats. The animals looks beautifully kept. I didn’t manage to get good photos, however, especially as I was trying to avoid focusing on the children.
Dinosaur 
Lake with ducks 
On top of the waterfall 
Waterfall 
Ancient Elk? 
Squirrel, of course 
Elegant Railway Station (Crystal Palace) We caught the bus home to a cup of tea and toast with Marmite. I had put on a meal in the slow cooker, so that was our dinner.
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Took a friendly interest in us.
Side of the church
TowersWe took a little walk in the afternoon to reach the church that I photographed from our balcony a few days ago. It is about 100 years old, so fairly new by English standards. It was windy, though not very cold, but uncomfortable to be out for a long time. If you put your curser over the photos and click once, then slide over, you can see the individual captions. They are not exciting photos, but at least I am not recycling from outings on other days.
In the evening we went to see the film of the play The Winters Tale which is being put on by the Kenneth Branagh Theatre group starring himself and Judi Dench. The switch to jealousy in the early scenes was handled well. I had the enjoyable experience of having forgotten that Pauline had hidden Hermione all those years so that when her daughter is reclaimed by her father, she is able to rejoin them. The King has learned his lesson, or so we hope! I found it so moving that I automatically applauded with the audience in the film at the end.
Today, Wednesday, is mixed in terms of weather. We have had some rain, now we have alternate sun and clouds. We are going to go out fairly soon.
We have been cooking the sort of meals that last us for 3 or 4 nights, either some form of savoury mince, or meat dish in the slow cooker. Nothing very startling, but nice to have when we come home after an outing and don’t want to cook. We just add mixed frozen veggies, some pasta or rice, and are good to go. As well, we have lots of fruit, and, less healthily, creamed honey (which I never eat at home), marmalade, cereal and eggs. I bought some Marmite hoping that it would be somewhat like Vegemite, and I can’t really tell the difference now. I remember not liking it at all in the past. The texture is different to Vegemite, a bit gooey.
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We were tired from being out fairly late on Sunday night. However, I had noticed that one of my walking shoes had worn through on the sole. When I checked at home the sole on the other one was split as well. No wonder I was getting damp feet!
I have another pair of fairly solid shoes, but they are Mary Jane style with open top, not good for wet days.
We went to one outdoor shop where they were having a Black Friday sale. The staff didn’t seem very interested, but I found a padded long jacket for about half price, so we bought that. They did not appear to have waterproof shoes and I was a bit worried about the boots coming up to my ankles as I could have problems when walking with them (based on past experience).
We tried another shop where staff were immediately more knowledgable. I was able to get gore-tex shoes with good tread on the sole and because they are made of material (not hard leather), I am hoping that they will make good walking shoes. Stephen said ‘what about when you go to the opera’, but I don’t think I really care. The shoes are sneakers really, but will people look at my feet?
Anyway, I could always take the Mary Jane shoes in a bag to the theatre if it worries me. I have been worried when out walking in my other shoes that didn’t have any tread left on them.
Because Stephen is usually the subject of my photos I asked him to model the coat and shoes for me for posting here.
We had a call from Stephen’s cousin Ron to say that he was feeling better and would we still like to go for a visit. We worked out that we can go next week for a couple of nights, and that has been arranged. We will go on Monday and return here on Wednesday. That will give us three days to prepare for our coach trip to Prague. We have contacted George (our exchangee) because we still don’t have the address of our next home exchange. We know it is in the town on Brandys Nad Labem somewhere. All has been arranged for Lesley to meet them at our house in Perth to give them keys, etc.
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The big event yesterday was going to a production of The Mikado. Ko Ko is the main character, of course, rather than the hero and heroine. He was played sympathetically by a singer who reminded Stephen of Eric Idle in the role. The production as a whole was slickly done, with extra stuff happening which was good to catch. Of course, it is the music that carries the silly storyline to a large extent, as with most opera.
When we were talking with Matt this morning I realised that he would have enjoyed this particular production because although a lot of the humour was/is verbal there were also visual gags, and he would, of course, like the music. We had a bit of a short session because his iPad ran out of charge. We had a bit of warning, then it went. We said we will catch up next Sunday.
Jane (Stephen’s ‘friend’ from his London days – I’m not allowed to say more) organised the tickets for us and we met at the St Martin in the Fields cafe (where we chatted and drank tap water), before going along to the theatre.
St Martin in the Fields Cafe The theatre apparently dates from around the beginning of the 20th century, and has has extensive renovations over the years, including quite recently. What is particularly nice is that the stalls section is quite small, so even though we were towards the back we were still quite close to the stage. It is an interesting building from the outside and quite beautiful inside.
Outside of the London Coliseum 
Inside the London Coliseum The photos are a bit basic because although I had my camera with me it was snugly packed into my backpack – it was much easier to just use the iPhone.
Afterwards it was dark and wet, so we abandoned a plan to go to the Chinese restaurant near the British Museum and found a nice little Greek restaurant nearby. We enjoyed a mix of dishes at 10 pounds a head (I must find the pound sign on my keyboard), plus a restina to complete the immersion experience. We talked until about 9.45 p.m. about theatre, travel and our personal lives.
Jane decided to travel back to her hotel by taxi and we went along to have the experience of travelling in a London taxi. We have been in the same sort of taxi cab in Perth when travelling with Uber, but it was our first time in England. We said goodnight outside and then caught the bus back to Victoria – getting to see Christmas lights again, and then a train to East Croydon. We had almost no waiting for either bus or train.
It has proved a little difficult to meet up with Stephen’s family here in England for various reasons, especially because of not having a car. However, Jane was prepared to travel to London to meet up, and Angela (Stephen’s cousin from his mother’s side of the family) will meet us in London on Thursday to do some family history exploration.
We, of course, are in Greater London, and can buy slightly discounted all day tickets for travelling to and from London, and then getting around the city. We are tending to choose where to go based on reasonably priced transport options: train, bus or coach.
I’ve just updated my Flickr page with a few more photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/suzii2/