London 2

We braved the cold and rainy conditions in search of the oldest church in London, ALL HALLOWS, which was bombed and all but destroyed during the Blitz. It is nestled beside the Tower Bridge and was very interesting, with lots of unusual things to see, such as the model boats, sculptures, and brasses.

 

 

 

This church had a strong sense of community with a collection point for food donations for the homeless of the parish, a personal photo board with names of key people in church life, and friendly people doing tours.

The Crypt and the small chapels underground were especially lovely.

 

 

Next was the TOWER OF LONDON and as we approached the main entry, we saw these animal sculptures representing the lions once kept inside the first walls to discourage unwanted visitors. They were made of chicken wire and were superb.

 

The moat around the castle no longer contains water, but lush green grass used as a bowling green in some places.

This gate, known as Traitors Gate, was thought to be the gate through which Ann Bolyn was taken into the dungeons of the Tower Of London.

 

Gardens outside the walls of the Tower of London with the Tower Bridge in the background.

Walking across Tower Bridge.

Moored not far along the River Thames was HMS BELFAST. It is a permanent museum open to the public. It also provides sleep-overs for groups, eg Scouts, who are interested. There is a self-guided tour which takes you through all sections of the battleship and gives some idea of living and fighting conditions for the crew and officers. There are some realistic displays where models, of dentist and patient, for example, with sound effects, help to bring the scene to life. We went onto the gun deck and experienced a simulation of the six inch guns being fired, all noise and vibration! The boiler and engine rooms are huge with explanations of how things worked. It was fascinating and gave us some insight into our fathers' wartime physical environments, as they both served in the navy, my dad on destroyers and Glenn's on corvettes.

 

Very realistic models.

 

 

Sculpture from the set of The Navigator

 

Thursday 30.5.13

Another cold and overcast day so we opted for some museum amusement.

We caught the underground to London Bridge and walked to FASHION AND TEXTILE MUSEIM which has an exhibition of the work of KAFFE FASSETT - A Life In Colour. I was really surprised by the range of knitwear he has designed and handmade himself. He loves to knit and is very quick. He enjoys being able to knit and talk (don't we all), and the fact that knitting is so portable. He said that he learnt more about how colours work together through knitting than through painting. He aims for vertical movement in his pieces.

One of his cushions with a 'touch me' wall of fabric and knitted swatches behind.

Many quilts were displayed wrapped around boldly striped cylinders.

Tapestry cushion inspired by ceramic urn in foreground.

He also designs and makes colourful tapestries, inspired by vegetables in particular and old china. Other works on exhibit were knitted beanies, decorated with buttons, mosaic urns and panels and large quilts. I found his work interesting.

Further along Bermondsey St. we went into the LONDON GLASSBLOWING STUDIO. It has a stunning display of glass objects in sumptuous colours made by Peter Layton and others. Many of the pieces were exquisite.

Molten glass being shaped and smoothed.

We spent an hour or so watching a blob of molten glass being transformed into an object of beauty as it was put in and out of the furnace, rolled over pieces of broken coloured glass and returned to a state of white hot.... being twirled all the time. Eventually it was finished and put into an oven for cooling over a period of thirteen hours or so. Fascinating to watch.