The Brainy One and I recently had the good fortune to be part of a private tour of the Tower of London, which ended with viewing the historic Ceremony of the Keys. Source Footsteps echo in the darkness. The sentry cries out, "Halt, who comes there?" The Yeoman Warder replies, "The keys." "Whose keys?" "Queen Elizabeth's … Continue reading Ceremony of the Keys | Tower of London
Outside the Irish Embassy, August 2018 Like many people who grew up in England's North West, I have Irish ancestry on both branches of my family tree. North and South of the border. Roman Catholic and Church of Ireland. Migration to England in both the 19th and the 20th Centuries. It's something that I've been … Continue reading The Luck of the Irish
Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld: This was a reread from my bookshelf and it's a title I don't think I've ever mentioned before. The premise of this story is quite simple - it's Pride and Prejudice re-imagined for the 21st Century and it is utterly brilliant! Sittenfeld also wrote the excellent American Wife and Prep. The … Continue reading For the Love of Reading | October 2019
Hughenden Manor is one of our favourite localish National Trust properties and having stumbled across their 1940s weekend last year, I was pleased to see that it was being run again in September. This year, with a little forward planning, I wore vintage-style clothing ... the trousers need at least one pocket. (I bought my … Continue reading A Return to Hughenden Manor | 1940s Weekend
Keeping our Summer Check List in mind and the idea of a slow summer, The Boy Child and I spent a hour or so tracking down Freddie Mercury's former home in Logan Place, Kensington ... because, why not? Garden Lodge, 1 Logan Place, Kensington After Freddie's death, the mansion (for that is what is behind the high walls) … Continue reading Slow Summer #4 | Freddie’s House
Keeping our Summer Check List in mind and the idea of a slow summer, some outings have involved simply going to look at one of London's quirkiest buildings. Standing in a quiet square sandwiched between South Kensington tube station and the Victoria & Albert Museum is a rather unusual block of flats. Number 5 Thurloe … Continue reading Slow Summer #3 | The Skinny House
The Palace of Westminster is one of the most recognisable buildings in the world (even when parts of it are hidden under seems like acres of scaffolding). With Big Ben's Elizabeth Tower at one end and the Victoria Tower at the other, its striking façade stretches for 287 metres alongside the River Thames. The palace … Continue reading Tour of the Palace of Westminster
Tucked away in Zone 3, just 15 minutes walk from Ealing Broadway station, is Ealing Abbey. The monastery at Ealing was founded in 1899 and now sits in the heart of a residential area. It was severely damaged by a German bombing raid in 1940 and the restoration was finally completed at the end of … Continue reading Weekday Walk | Ealing Abbey
The Shuttleworth Collection is a private collection of historic aircraft and vehicles based at Old Warden in Bedfordshire. Run as a charity, the Collection is open to the public and runs flying events throughout the summer months. Spitfire In a complete contrast to RIAT, the air shows feature aircraft from World Wars I and II … Continue reading Families Air Show at the Shuttleworth Collection
Keeping our Summer Check List in mind and the idea of a slow summer, several outings these holidays have been to a bookshop. The Boy Child was lucky enough to receive a generous amount of book tokens at Christmas and for his birthday - so many that he still had a fair bit to spend. … Continue reading Slow Summer #1 | Bookshops
