London Day 2 - Imperial War Museum and Westminster Cathedral

Well the most important thing about today was that once again I got my washing done...!!! Not with the same loving care that Fiona and Audrey brought to it, but the little laundromat down the street charged me £17.90, but it's worth it when you're on the road! (I owe you Fiona and Audrey!!!). So now I'm back to all clean again just in time to go to Belgium on my tour.

Didn't have the greatest sleep last night, so woke up feeling a little weary. (I had some door slammers next door, that managed to find doors to slam in the middle of the night!) Was trying to think what I would like to do in London today that I hadn't done before, and it was a conversation with Jess and Karys last night that reminded me that I hadn't seen the Imperial War Museum. We were talking about their Uncle John (Kerry's husband) who absolutely loves museums, and John and I had actually discussed this before I left Perth, so today's visit was in honour of John Thorne!!!!

Imperial War Museum

The day threatened rain, so I thought it was appropriate to do an indoors activity anyway. And I loved it. There were different displays about all the different wars that Britain was engaged in... obviously from a British perspective. I thought their take on Gallipoli was a bit light on recognition of the Australian and NZ involvement and also the mistakes the Brits made in the whole campaign.
But it was perfect timing in terms of ANZAC Day and hopefully I am going to Ypres as part of the tour next week.

Looking up from the ground floor

I thought their WW1 display was excellent. They combined multimedia with many real examples of guns and tanks and the sad use of weapons in this war.
Here's a display that shows how the machine guns worked..

This model showed how the bullets sprayed out.

The Aussies got the occasional mention... but it was all in terms of the Motherland...!!!

They showed some very graphic photos of the mud and the conditions in the trenches...

WW1 Trenches and mud

WW1 Trenches and mud

They also covered WW2 and the effect of the atomic bomb

They also covered modern day terrorism...

See above for explanation

There was so much there, that I've only included a small snapshot of what could be seen. I spent about 3 hours there... then felt a bit weary!

Just a couple more to finish...

These life size planes were suspended from the ceiling

These life size planes were suspended from the ceiling

So... what to do next??? I was feeling a little tired so I tossed up between Westminster Cathedral (Catholic) or Westminster Abbey (C of E). The Catholics won!!!! And actually when I got there I was glad I made that choice, because it wasn't just a tourist attraction, you could tell it was a Church and was nice and quiet and still and I could rest for a while..... In fact they had a little coffee shop in the basement and I was ready for a sandwich. Have to admit I'm a little sick of ham sandwiches or toasted ham and cheese, because my choices are quite limited at lunchtime with my strange stomach...  Anyway I saw Turkey sandwiches, so my eyes lit up...

Butttttttt... you'll never guess the server's response... "Oh sorry, but we don't serve meat on Fridays!!"
I said to him,"But it's not Lent!!!"....  But apparently some obscure Bishop's Conference decided that they wouldn't serve meat in the Catholic Cathedral Coffee Shop on Fridays!!!! So I ended up with a toasted cheese sandwich....  I think it's a conspiracy!

Westminster Cathedral

Inside Westminster Cathedral

So, when I recovered from all that I did a lap of the Cathedral and lit a candle for all my family and friends in the Lady Chapel. Then I was just on my way out and spotted St Paul's Chapel, so I had to stop and light another candle for all my St Paul's friends and students. Expensive visit!!!

By this time I was really starting to wilt, and rain was once again threatening, so I decided to just go back to the hotel (and pick up my washing on the way!)
I'll need to totally repack as I'm going on the Eurostar tomorrow to Brussels. So I'm just going to go nice and gently and take my time and get myself organised for the next leg of the journey.

So... consider yourselves all prayed for, and now we move on to the next leg of the journey.

Peterborough - London

I have to admit I approached today with a little trepidation, because there were lots of variables that may have been out of my control. It was my last day of driving in England and part of me was relieved and part of me was a bit sad, because despite all  the dramas and problem solving, that little car had done me well and taken me lots of places...

So I packed up the cases and loaded the car and set out for  Standsted airport, where I had arranged to drop off the car. I had deliberately chosen somewhere out of London and somewhere where I could get to London easily.

Today's route Peterborough - Stansted Airport

The things that were bothering me were things like ...

•  I had to remember to fill the car up with petrol
•  I had to go to an ATM
• Would I be able to find the car rental returns easily at Stansted
• How would I manage my heavy cases
• How would I get them onto the train
• How would I manage going to the toilet with my cases (always a worry!)
• How would I get from Liverpool St Station to my hotel in Earls Court

 I shouldn't have worried, because for once I had a day without drama... can this be possible...???

There were no "services" (eg petrol) on the road between Peterborough and the Stansted turn off, so I had to do a little diversion to find the petrol to fill up. You should have heard little GMaps squeak!!! But it all turned out OK and I handed the car back intact (thank you Jesus!!) and the nice young Avis man, loaded my cases on the shuttle bus that took me straight to the terminal. Found an ATM inside and it worked!!! 😊
Also found the disabled toilet so I could take my bags in with me!!!

I had a couple of extravagances today, but they were all in the cause of making the journey easier...

Have to admit I booked a Business ticket on the train, because I wouldn't be sure of how I would manage my cases... needn't have worried in retrospect, but it certainly made life easier!

My luggage enjoyed first class

Me on the train!

Liverpool St Station

The next extravagance was getting a cab from Liverpool St to Earls Court. I probably could've done it via the Tube, but I wasn't sure how the stations would go with steps versus lifts etc... and looking back, I'm glad I made that choice. But the trip across London took 45 mins. I couldn't believe how chockers the traffic was! But it was interesting to see where things were "on the top". I usually have travelled London via the underground and had no idea where things were in relation to each other. Usually I've just popped up out of the Tube and gone to a specific place, without realizing where it was in relation to other places...

Anyway, I arrived safely at my hotel and got myself organised.

What to do next...???
I knew I was meeting Karys and Jess - 2 nieces of my friend Kerry  in Perth who are now living in London. So I had a couple  of hours...

On Saturday, I'm taking the Chunel to Brussels and I was a bit wary of whether I could get to St Pancras by the Tube. So I thought I would  do a dry run today, without the cases, to see if I could manage with the cases.  And I discovered I could. There are enough lifts and ramps  so that I can hopefully manage the cases via the Tube route on Saturday morning.

So, once I'd done that  I thought I would  hop off at Leicester Square and see if I could manage to squeeze in a show whilst I was in London. But alas and alack, they don't do matinees on a Friday, and I really didn't want to be wandering around London in the night, so that was the end of that theory.

In the meantime, I wandered through Leicester Square....

Leicester Square

Leicester Square

It was a funny feeling to be walking through a public place in London... I have to admit I was  a bit wary of the potential for something to happen. I was just conscious that any public place in London carries that potential for an incident, so I was just keeping an eye on what might go on around me....

Anyway... I hopped back on the Tube and back to my hotel in Earls Court, where I met with Jess and Karys for dinner in a little pub called The Blackbird. It was lovely - both the pub, and meeting the girls and talking Australian things!!!

Jess, Karys and me.

So, on a day when I was expecting drama and the unknown, it actually turned out OK...!!! In fact I had a lovely day.

Wattle Wanderings are certainly full of the unexpected!

Banks and Bletchley Park

The saga of the bank was dominating my thoughts this morning. Fortunately I had arranged with Jo last night to come over today and see if I could get things sorted. As mentioned in the last post her place was only 38 minutes away and when I woke up this morning the sun was shining brightly. So I actually had a most delightful drive through the Leicestershire countryside to get to Jo's place in Whissendine.

So I got into her secure internet and changed my Uk sim for my Australian sim but alas and alack, nothing worked and I even discovered they had removed my operating account from my Netbanks page. So there was nothing for it but to ring them up.

The Commonwealth Bank had actually sent me an email yesterday with a number to ring that would accept reverse charges... Two little problems - it had to be from a landline and it  actually didn't work.
When I went through the process and rang that number they said that number doesn't accept this kind of call. Fortunately Jo still had a landline, but how many people these days only have mobiles.

Anyway, I looked at my eftpos card and it had a reverse charge number on it so I tried that and after a bit of mucking around I got through and sorted everything out. But how typical of banks that they send you a number to ring and it didn't work! I hate banks!!!!

So at least I have access to my money. I actually had gone on to both the Westpac and CBA websites before I left, and had entered all my details on the Westpac site, but I could not find that part on the CBA site - in fact I thought it said I didn't need to leave details.... Aaaaaaah well, you live and learn. I suppose I should be glad they at least have their eye on my transactions...!

Jo and me

Jo's house

Anyway, moving right along....

Perhaps it was a fortunate thing that I had to go to Jo's place - oh happy fault as they say at Easter - because it made me change my plans for the day. Originally I had thought I would go over to Norwich, because I was interested in Julian of Norwich and her little hermitage she had built where she bricked herself in for the rest of her life.... I had studied her writings at Clayton in Melbourne with Austin Cooper back in the day when I was studying Theology.

Anyway, that was in the opposite direction, so I was just cruising around in Google Maps last night looking for somewhere within cooee of Jo's place and  my eyes spotted Bletchley Park - home of the famous Enigma Machine that cracked the code in WW2.  I had sort of factored that in as I was originally travelling North, but it went into the too hard basket as I tried to squeeze too much in in those early days.

But it was only one and a half hours from Whissendine, so that became my destination. And I was soooo glad i went - especially on Anzac Day, when I was exposed to so much WW2 history.

Bletchley Park Mansion

At the front door of the mansion.

Once again we were provided with an audio guide and it was wonderfully informative.

I'm sure many of you are aware of the story of Bletchley Park and the role it played in WW2.
In case you would like to know more you can view the Wikipedia  site
Or you may remember the film The Imitation Game

But the real thing was just excellent.

Here are some views of Bletchley Park

Alistair Dennison's Office - He was the boss

They said this place shortened WW2 by at least 2 years.

The library

The huts where the people worked were fascinating. Apparently they used to work really long shifts, in fact they had a UV machine for those you were not seeing any sunlight.
The huts were OK in summer but were full of cigarette smoke and in the winter the coal fires would often smoke the place out, so they had to open the windows and meanwhile the occupants were freezing...

View of huts

Here are some views inside the huts...

Inside the huts

Inside the huts

Hut 8 was especially interesting as this was the hut where Alan Turing worked...

Info about Hut 8

Info about Alan Turing

Alan Turing's Office

Alan Turing's Statue

I stayed for a little explanation of the Bombe machine which was the one which was programmed to crack the code, but it was all a bit much for my poor brain. here's a short video of it in action

By this time, it was after 3.30pm and I knew I had a decent drive home. And bad weather had been forecast, so I was a bit wary of the drive....

And sure enough,,,, I was just negotiating my way out of all those roundabouts  around Bletchley and the heavens opened... not just a little rain storm, but thunder and lightning right above me and buckets of hail. It was almost like a farewell to me, as I give back the car tomorrow. I took the wrong turn off multiple times, then when I found the right road it was closed and had a diversion.... I'm not sure how I actually made it on to the M1 North, but I think it must've been the grace of God...

I was so glad when I made it safely home, I headed straight for the Harvest restaurant next door and treated myself to a beer and read all my emails. Thanks so much to those who are sending through emails and messages and comments... I really love that contact with home, especially after a day battling with the UK traffic.

So, I can't believe the first stage of my journey is nearly over. I've been in UK just on 3 weeks and it's gone so quickly. But when I read back over my blog, I have travelled so far and achieved so much.
Tomorrow I drop my car off at Stansted Airport and catch the train into London where I'm staying for 2 nights, before catching the Chunnel train to Brussels.

Thanks for hanging in with me on the journey. I never feel really alone because so many people are travelling with me.

Barnsley Dearne Valley - Peterborough and Ely

The day started well, with an easy breakfast, pack up and drive to Peterborough where I am booked in for 2 nights. I had plans to stay at Ely, but after an hour's fruitless searching last night, I opted for Peterborough at the Holiday Inn and it seems fine so far. There is a restaurant next door called Harvester, which is a bit like Sizzler's, so dinner is taken care of.

I arrived by 11.30am, but they let me check in OK and I set out for my destination for the day Ely Cathedral.

Barnsley Dearne Valley - Peterborough - Ely and back to Peterborough

The reason I wanted to go to Ely Cathedral, was that quite a while ago I had a chat with my Mercy friend Jan Gray (who is now sadly deceased) and we talked about many places to visit in the UK. Those of you who know Jan would know how vast her knowledge was about anything theological or historical, and Ely Cathedral was high on her list of priorities for me to visit. I had kept those notes we made at Milkd - a favourite coffee shop in North Perth - and so the visit today was for Jan.

One little complication was that the weather decided to break today and rain was forecast.... I can't believe how lucky I've been so far, so I'm not complaining. In fact visiting a Cathedral is quite a good activity for a rainy day! My GMaps, as usual, took me off the beaten track and through the Fens. I'm now in East Anglia - the bit that sticks out like a bump on the lower East of England, and it is renowned for being a flat, low-lying district. There are multiple little channels of water, and there also seemed to be some bigger ones that could've been rivers... not quite sure, as there were no names anywhere.

I couldn't stop to get any pics, as it was raining quite steadily and there were no places to pull in. The road itself was interesting... it was like a raised embankment with drops on either side, and it was a bit like going up and down on a roller coaster!!! It also felt like the old cowboy movies... "Ride 'em cowboy!!!"

Image borrowed from Google images - this is what it looked like!

 So I arrived at Ely and was lucky enough to jag a free parking place very close to the Cathedral.

Ely Cathedral

Ely Cathedral

When I arrived at the entrance there was both good news and bad news...
The good news was Admission was free
The bad news was there was a display of many of the Ely businesses in the main nave of the Church - I have to admit it felt a bit like the buyers and the sellers in the temple. It was quite noisy and chatty and I was really looking forward to the quiet and stillness that these places often provide.

Here's a few pics of the inside...

Choir

The Octagon

Explanation of the Octagon

Ely has connections to Oliver Cromwell

The Lady Chapel was the place I particularly wanted to visit - it was the place Jan had highlighted and when I saw it I realized why....

The statue of Mary is quite unique...

Lady Chapel Ely Cathedral

Statue of Mary

Explanation of Mary Statue

The Mary statue was deliberately made to show Mary  as willing and ready to accept the call which would change her life, rather than the meek and mild submissive image of the Virgin Mary which is common in mainstream images of Mary.

The other thing that was really interesting was that all the plaster statues in this Chapel had lost their heads!!! Not sure if you can see that in the pic below....

Headless statues

Explanation of Headless Statues.

So, even though, it was a bit disappointing when I walked in, the wander through the Ely Cathedral was really interesting in the end.

Now for the daily drama!!!
One of the things I needed to do today was to get some more cash out, as I had paid cash for the my stay on Lindisfarne and although I can use my credit card for nearly everything, it always carries a little conversion rate that makes each transaction more expensive.

I had come prepared with 2 means of gaining cash.... my normal eftpos card with CBA which worked perfectly well last time, and  prepaid card which I had loaded with British pounds...
So I went to the ATM at the Lloyds bank in Ely and tried my eftpos card and it all went through OK until I asked it for £100. Then it spat it back out and as they say in the classics... "Computer says No"!!!
I wasn't sure how much was left on my prepaid card because I had withdrawn cash in Long Eaton to get some Euros for next week.
And I'm really conscious of not checking my banking whilst on an open wifi network.... which for me in hotels is most of the time....
A further complication was I tried to add more money to my prepaid card whilst at Fiona's but it wanted to send me a Netcode text message, and I had swapped my Australian sim for my UK Sim and I didn't know how to swap it back...
Fortunately there was a mobile phone shop in Ely and I went in and explained the situation and they showed me how to simply replace the  Sim. That was one thing that worked ok....

Aaaaaaagggghhhhh.......

So.... my problem solving skills were called into action once again. I think I can solve the problem if I can get into a safe wifi environment, which won't be an option for the next few days.

Butttt... as I was driving here this morning, I noticed the turn off to Rutland, which is close to where cousin Jo lives... it's only half an hour away! So, I got on the phone and rang Jo and I've arranged to go over there tomorrow morning and try and sort all this out. Thank you Jo!!!! 😀

I did have plans to go to Norwich tomorrow but with the rain again forecast, I think this is a more pressing issue - won't be able to stay long without cash!!!

And one last thing.... when I eventually got home from Ely after battling solid rain and peak hour traffic and getting lost again (!!!) there was a notice from the Commonwealth Bank saying there was suspicious activity on my card from the UK.... Hellllloooo !!! There is a number to ring with reverse charges, so I'm going to try that from Jo's place tomorrow....

Thinking of everyone in Oz on Anzac Day tomorrow. My friends from Perth, Barry and Roberta, are in Villiers Bretoneux for the Anzac Day ceremony. Lest we forget...

And thus ends another day in the ongoing saga of Wattle's Wanderings!  At least it's keeping me on my toes!!!

Lindisfarne - Barnsley Dearne Valley

 Had a good sleep, but had to be out of the B&B by 10am this morning, so I was up and about reasonably early. Had to do the usual repack... I'm getting into a bit of a system now. It was great getting all my clothes washed at Fiona's... just means I can start again. Thanks Fiona😃

Here's a pic of my B&B

Bamburgh View B&B

So after I had my breakfast, I took my luggage out to the car (which fortunately I was able to park nearby) and set off for a walk around the island, which I did not have time for last night.

The wind was whipping up off the sea and was bitterly cold. My eyes and nose were streaming (is that TMI??) but the sun was out and when you had the wind behind you it was fine.

Here are some pics I took on that walk... still very lucky with the sunshine!

Another view of the ruins

And another....

Good Shepherd Sunday last weekend - the lost sheep!!!

Dry Dock

View looking back to the village

 The destination for my walk was the Lindisfarne Castle, which has just been refurbished to the tune of over £3 million. It has just been re-opened to the public, but it was not opening today until 12 noon, as the tidal path was not open until 11.40am. As you can see from these photos the scaffolding is still well and truly up..

Info about the Castle

View of the castle

View of the castle

One last view of the tidal effect on the road as I drove out..

Shows where the tide has been

Shows where the tide has been

Shows where the tide has been

  One thing I had to do before I left the B&B (because I needed the wifi!) was to plan tonight's accommodation. I just virtually put a pin in the map somewhere between here and Ely (where I want to stay tomorrow night) and I came up with this Premiere Inn in Barnsley Dearne Valley. I was a little bit wary of accommodation on the roadside of the A1 after my last experience with Days Inn, so this one looks a bit off the road and actually has turned out fine!

Lindisfarne - Barnsley Dearne Valley

Tonight's motel

Not a whole lot to say about the journey. The road started off as a two way road and if you get stuck behind a truck, you just wait... nobody overtakes! Actually it was quite busy with traffic coming towards you, but there doesn't seem to be the road rage that is experienced in Australia. Yet!!!!

After a while the road became dual carriageway, and it was just plain boring driving all the way through. I had to ask Fiona and Dave about a few road rules here... for example when you get the de-restricted  zone, what speed is the maximum, and they told me 70 mph... which is 110kmph.
But when I do that people just zoom past me all the time... I've tried very hard to stick to the speed limit whilst I've been driving here.... you wouldn't believe how demure I've been! But there have been times when I was not sure of the speed limit because it's not always obvious, so I hope I don't come home to a heap of speeding tickets... 😟

Anyway, this motel is fine and there's a bar and dining room attached, so I'm right for the night!

Sweet dreams everybody!