Originally this was not on our Birmingham itinerary, but while talking to someone in NZ they recommended this place. A quick trip on the train to Tipton, a short walk and we were there. Although the weather was overcast and rainy (our umbrellas actually had a bit of a workout!) it cleared in the afternoon

This was a fascinating ‘living’ museum. You could wander the streets and enter the houses and shops just as they would have been back in the day. We also had some delicious fish and chips while there, and brought some lollies from the old fashioned sweet shop!

They had a few demonstrations from good old fashioned craftsmen. This guy was a chain maker – very labour intensive. Back in the day it took 6 men to lift one link of the Titanic’s anchor chain!!

We had a ride on a similar bus to the green/yellow one below

Then…….just as I thought we were leaving, Kim found this!!!

Oxford is the stomping ground of many of my favourite authors, notably CS Lewis, Lewis Carroll and JRR Tolkien. After doing some research the night before, we set off to see what footprints these three had left in Oxford!

First up …… Lewis Carroll. Below is Folly Bridge. This is where Lewis set off on a leisurely trip with Alice Liddell and her sister. It was on this trip that the ideas for Alice in Wonderland were born. Alice Liddell was the daughter of a friend of Charles Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll) and she is the ‘Alice’ in Alice in Wonderland (in spite of having short dark hair)

While visiting beautiful Christchurch (one of the 39 Oxford colleges!) We discovered these references to Alice in Wonderland in the great dining hall.

It was interesting to find out more about the real Alice, when we visited a little museum in the town hall.

Next author to investigate was CS Lewis. We found the famous pub where he and Tolkien used to regularly meet to read each other excerpts of their latest works. They called themselves ‘The Inklings’. Unfortunately the pub has been permanently closed since 2020.

Following this we visited the church where CS Lewis was a regular (he also preached there). His grave is also here.

Inside the church there is a special Narnia window. It is very close to the pew where CS Lewis liked to sit. Unfortunately it was hard to get a good photo of the window.

There is also a CS Lewis nature reserve but we only had a quick glimpse of this.

JRR Tolkien– we found out that there were two places he lived in Oxford. At one he wrote ‘The Hobbit’ and at the other ‘The Lord of the Rings’ was published. However, we did not get around to viewing these places so no photos I’m afraid.

This was one of my favourite days! If you are a literature buff, these are must do’s for your visit to beautiful Oxford.

We did an excellent small group tour with Aden, our tour guide, who was dressed as a convict.

Inside the prison…

One of the prisons most notorious inmates. You may remember him.

One of the youngest inmates!

In 1642 the crypt roof caved in and was covered for 150 years. While prisoners were digging(hard labour) the crypt was uncovered! Because of the cold temperature it was used for storing dead bodies before burial.

Oxford was a silent prison in Victorian times, no one was allowed to talk.

16 June 2023

There are 39 colleges in Oxford!! Rather than try to visit them all we decided to spend some time looking at Christchurch in depth with an audio tour.

Lewis Carroll was a math tutor here and many of the characters from Alice in Wonderland were based on people he knew from here.

More on some of the other colleges in future blogs……

We left our BNB around 9 am on another hot London day. We were bound for Paddington Station to get our train to our next destination – Oxford.

A pleasant one hour journey through quaint villages and lush countryside, and we were there. Checked into our accommodation, then headed back into town for lunch at the markets, and then hopped on the hop on hop off bus to see the sights.

We finished off our exploration by having a lovely cool walk alongside the picturesque Thames River.

Tomorrow we visit the castle, prison, and some of the colleges. Watch this space!

Just realised I had missed out on recording a couple of London sights, so here they are recorded for posterity!

The Golden Hinde

The Monument

This was built from 1671-1677 to commemorate the Great Fire of London – 1666. It was designed by Robert Hooke and Sir Christopher Wren (of St Paul’s fame).

We walked to the top, a mere 311 steps!

And last but not least, we walked across the Millennium Bridge

Londoners nicknamed it the “Wobbly Bridge” after pedestrians experienced an alarming swaying motion on its opening day – 10 June 2020. The bridge was closed later that day and, after two days of limited access, it was closed again for almost two years so that modifications and repairs could be made to keep the bridge stable and stop the swaying motion. It reopened in February 2002.

And that was London! Still so much more to see though!

Hop on Hop off bus – great way to get an initial ‘big picture’ look of the place

Hop on hop off river cruise – lovely to do on a hot day, and to see London from a different perspective.

We also did the ‘London Bridge’ experience. Unfortunately could not take any photos. This was very spooky – think narrow dark passages with spooky actor’s everywhere, an actor showing how people used to be ‘hung, drawn and quartered etc. We entered this ‘experience’ single file and were told to put our hands on the shoulders of the person in front of us. It wasn’t until we were about halfway through that I realised I was the only one still doing this! I imagine some of this would be similar to ‘Spookers’ (Auckland people will know what I’m talking about).

And finally these cute little creatures who were in many of the parks

And a trip to London by an NZ Postie would not be complete without a visit to The Postal Museum.

The visit started with a trip on the Mail Rail. I had never heard of this before, but there was a network of underground train lines from Whitechapel to Paddington. Traffic congestion in the early 1900’s was so bad it would take hours to get across central London, so a faster way was needed t to get the mail through.

The passenger underground had been developed and was expanding, so they decided to build their own postal underground. It opened in 1927.

The tunnels were about 1•5 metres high, and the trains were driverless electric ones. These have been adapted for tourists, they fit one adult width, and about 4 per carriage and 3 or 4 carriages. They have a round Perspex roof so you get a good view of where you’re going.

There is about 25 miles of track but the section we were on was only about 2 miles.

This was to move the mail that came in from regional trains to the sorting office. It was also used to shift mail from one depot to another.

The system was fitted with flood gates at Liverpool St in case the Thames rose too much, and operated through out the war, even through the blitz.

The central depot was Mt Pleasant in Central London, and this is still the main mail sorting place for the Royal Mail, and it also houses the museum which we went to next. The last train was 2003.

Above ground, mail bags were collected and despatched from moving trains, and in the longer trips there were carriages for sorting the mail while the train was moving. There was an interactive display where you could have a go, while the carriage bumped and jostled about.

The museum was interesting, showing the origins of mail and how it’s changed. In the beginning the receiver paid the fee which the delivery person collected. Then Rowland Hill came up with the idea of stamps to show that delivery was prepaid, and the Penny Black stamp came into being.

Even saw King Charles stamp

Met a couple of guys who work in the sorting division, and they gave us some background and current situation. They are trialing e-bikes for inner city London instead of walking, and also trialing drones to some of the outer islands of Scotland!

Overall a great visit, if any of you Postie’s are ever in London, you’ve got to come and see this fun exhibition.

In Oxford now, and met Geoff the local postie, he parks up the van, walks his mail, then back to the van to move it further on his round. Similar to how some of us did it during Covid, I thought they would have been more advanced for this area as it is detached or semidetached housing so similar to NZ. One of the locals decorates this Post Box depending on the season or current events. Nice!

Overall, same same but different.

While in London it was interesting to spot some of the famous locations from the Monopoly board!

Just quietly, the next two are streets, I took these photos In Bournville!

While we were in London we were lucky enough to attend two Westend shows. The Mousetrap and The Lion King (the latter being a Christmas present for us from our lovely daughters!) Both great shows, and there are so many others on at the same time.

The Mousetrap

This is an iconic play in London’s Westend. It is an Agatha Christie ‘who dunnit’, and has been running for 70 years, the longest running play ever.

It is set in the 50’s, in a recently opened guest house, and of course there is a murder. It only has a cast of 8 and the storyline is easy to follow. The theatre was small and cosy so you felt close to the actors and involved in the story as it unfolded. It was very well done and we enjoyed it immensely. Part of the tradition of the play, is that the audience is sworn to secrecy of how it ends, you’ll have to go yourselves to find out!

The Lion King – was lovely to see something so professional! It was amazing the way the actors depicted the animals (their movements, characteristics etc). The elephant and giraffes were incredible. Because it was a matinee performance, we shared the theatre with a large number of school groups! However, we did not mind at all as it added to the atmosphere.

Some examples of the diverse architecture in London

And statues galore!

Another hot day and this time our main activity for the day was the Tower Bridge experience (covered by our London pass)

We had a great look inside the bridge climbing the 250 steps to the top.

The glass panels were fun to walk on!

While we were there they lifted tower bridge for a maintenance check. This wasn’t very high, but was still cool to look down on

Kim was fascinated with the engines!

Extra notes for the history buffs……

1800’s – London bridge was getting too crowded with a huge increase in population sometimes taking two hours to cross (Almost as bad as rush-hour traffic in Auckland). It was decided another bridge was needed so a design competition was held. Horace Jones submitted his first design, but this was rejected on the grounds that it was not high enough for ships to pass under. He submitted a second design and this was accepted. Tower bridge officially opened in 1894.

There is a law preventing the bridge charging a fee for boats to pass underneath.

An old tradition but still practiced today, a bale of hay is suspended under the bridge as a visual alert that men are working under the bridge and that there is less room than normal to pass under the bridge.

After this was lunch, then a lovely (and cool) hop on hop off cruise on the river. But that is for another blog……..

This morning we waited for about 30 minutes (luckily in the shade) with the crowd steadily building around us. We were waiting to see the very British institution of the changing of the guard. We had a prime position right at the front of Friary court (at the back of Saint James Palace) next to the fence. Research told us that this was the best viewing spot and it certainly was!

Saint James Palace is where Charles became King. He lives here, as does Princess Anne. We overheard a tour guide saying that Buckingham Palace is basically a P R exercise, and that St James palace is where everything happens.

The band plays for the King, so they face the palace, not the street. Fun fact – Charles selects all the music himself and, after Tina Turner died, the band played one of her hits!

We followed the parade up to Buckingham Palace, perched on a wall,and spent some time watching the ceremony here. Even though it was starting to get very busy now, we managed to get a reasonable view from our spot on the wall.

Next stop was the Royal Mews, with its huge range of carriages and some fancy stables. Below is a small selection of some of the carriages which were on display.

The Gold coach used for the Coronations is completely covered in gold leaf! This was the most stunning coach.

Next stop was lunch at, you guessed it, Wetherspoons! Kim tried a traditional steak and kidney pudding, and Sally had an untraditional Mediterranean salad with roasted vegetables (for all you foodies out there!)

Fuelled up, we continued on to our last stop, the Guards Museum.

Now something for the diehard royalists amongst you!

And that was the end of our ‘Right Royal’ Day!

Today we spent the day exploring the attractions that Greenwich had to offer. A short 15 minute train ride and we were there.

Greenwich is a pretty village (I know, another one!) with all the attractions within walking distance of each other.

First stop was the ‘Queen’s house’ (not what you are thinking). Each room housed different themed paintings. For example one of the rooms was dedicated to war paintings, and many of the others were maritime paintings. The queen never actually resided here, but instead the building was used as an ‘artist in residence’ quarters, and at another stage was a school for orphans of seamen.

Following this we climbed aboard the ‘Cutty Sark’ – a Victorian Clipper, famously known for being very fast and carrying her cargo of tea from China to Britain.

Below is some history on the Cutty Sark for all you history buffs!

Time for some lunch – traditional pub food this time – steak pie/gravy and mash for Kim, with the bread and butter pudding for dessert, and chicken and mushroom pie and mash for Sally with sticky toffee pudding for dessert.

We looked around the markets then had a quick look around Trinity College of London. This held particular interest for me, as I sat the majority of my piano exams through Trinity College. As well as music, they now also have dance and theatre associated with them. Unfortunately we could not get in today as exams were going on, but it was lovely to walk through the courtyard and hear strains of piano, cello music and singing floating through the open windows.

Next stop was the Greenwich observatory. It was now getting really hot, but at least part of the walk was on a cool leafy promenade that cut through a park.

Final stop was the National Maritime Museum. Apparently this is one of the biggest in the world. There were three floors. I decided to give this a miss and sat outside in a relatively cool spot, while Kim had a quick look around, then decided we would return on another day to have a really good look.

We found a walking tunnel that took us right underneath the Thames to the other side. It was a strange feeling walking through it, imagining the Thames directly overhead. Luckily it was watertight and had been for a long time!

Just to mix things up a bit we took the bus to today’s main attraction, St Paul’s Cathedral. Very hot day today – supposed to reach 30 degrees!

On arrival we picked up the obligatory audio guide and had a brief look around before joining the free tour. This was taken by Helen, an ex teacher (and it showed!). As usual, these tour’s are excellent value and we got to enter some parts of the cathedral where we couldn’t have gone on our own.

It was designed by Christopher Wren and building commenced in 1675 and it opened in 1710. It replaced the Old St Pauls which was largely destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. There has been a church on this site since 604 AD.

Some of the intricate work inside St Paul’s

The Whispering Gallery was closed, but we took the tour up to the roof, and walked around the top of the dome outside. Had some great views from the top of Saint Pauls over London City.

Many famous people are either buried in the crypt, or have monuments there.

This St Paul’s is the fifth! The fourth was destroyed in the great fire of London- 1666. Apparently the church was getting renovated at the time and the wooden scaffolding caught fire. Christopher Wren designed the current day St Paul’s and it took 35 years to complete! He chose every block himself (from Dorset) and each one is signed. He is buried here – a very simple plaque (which I missed getting a photo of). He did not want anything elaborate, stating that the cathedral itself was his monument.

Other miscellaneous facts…

St Paul is the patron saint of London

Martin Luther King preached here, as did his wife after his assassination. She was the first woman to preach here

The Queen came here regularly for her anniversaries

If a church has a cathedral (Bishops chair) it’s a cathedral

Handel played the organ here – apparently he had no sense of time so the verger turned the clock forward an hour so Handel would leave in time for the verger to close up!

To get married here you need to have a medal yourself or your grandparents have to have had an OBE or something similar (sorry, but that probably rules quite a few people out!)

Churchill had a state funeral here.

Left the AirBnB just after 9am to catch the underground for Westminster Abbey. Mild day, just right for walking! On arrival at the Abbey we quickly passed through security then waited in line for about 20 minutes before entering the historic Abbey. We picked up some audio guides and spent about 2 1/2 hours wondering through this beautiful church – so much to see!

A small sample of some of the myriad of intricate sculptures within the Abbey

Many tombs here of famous kings and queens, and memorials to other important historical figures.Unfortunately it was quite hard to get good photographs of the tombs, as most of these were raised up on pedestals

We were lucky enough to attend a small service inside the shrine of Edward the Confessor. Very special. Unfortunately taking photos here was not allowed.

Below is a selection of photos from the inside of the Abbey

A definite highlight of the Abbey is Poet’s corner.

The Chapter room housed some extremely old paintings on the walls (some had worn away with age) as well as information regarding various Coronations.

The Abbey is definitely worth a visit- heaps to see. We got in using our London Pass (£29 per person without the pass). Also pays to get there at 9am before the crowds.

9am start again, this time setting off to The Tower of London. Lovely warm day today.

Once inside (and going through the usual security checks etc) we headed straight to view the Crown Jewels (knowing from research that this can get very busy). We were amazed at the number of different crowns. Each crown is made individually for each monarch, and then the jewels and trimmings are added (something we had not realised). The monarch’s don’t actually own the crowns, they are just custodians.

There were also many other treasures – sceptres, swords, gold serving ware etc. Unfortunately (and understandably) photos were not allowed.

Next we grabbed some headphones for a self guided audio tour. We explored the interior of many of the buildings, as well as finding out a bit more about the grounds. Below are some of the highlights.

Some images/ videos from the exterior

We also enjoyed a delicious (and surprisingly well priced) lunch here, and later in the afternoon visited the Shard (but that is for another post).

If you are thinking of visiting the Tower, give yourself plenty of time – we spent about 5 hours there!!

Graeme very kindly dropped us at Chelmsford station around 9am to catch our train to London (a short journey of around 50 minutes). First stop before boarding the train was breakfast (at Weatherspoons of course!). Avocado muffin and hot chocolate for Sally, and Vegetarian breakfast with hot chocolate for Kim. Sally left a memento here – her passport and credit cards – but we didn’t miss them for over a week until NZ House got in touch and told us someone had handed them in!

We arrived at Liverpool Station (interesting to see my first station from the Monopoly board!) around 10am, dropped our bags at a storage place, then boarded the Hop on Hop off bus to do some exploring, and to get orientated. There was a chilly wind but the sun came out and everything warmed up later in the afternoon.

We collected our luggage around 5pm and headed for our BnB. This turned out to be very basic (almost a boarding house type arrangement) but the room was fairly large with plenty of storage space, and in Whitechapel so very close to many attractions. Caught up on some admin then popped out again around 6pm for a walk and some dinner.

Caught the underground home

And that was the end of my (Sally) first ever day in London!

When Graeme and his family returned to their respective schools/and work on Monday, Kim and I took the short walk up the leafy lane to catch a local bus to Maldon. This was a pleasant 15 minute ride, passing through some picturesque country roads.

On arriving in Maldon, we checked out Tesco’s (large supermarket franchise) and were really impressed with their huge range of products and reasonable prices. Next up was ‘Weatherspoons’ – a café recommended to us by Graeme. This is a chain and they are all over England. The menu was extensive (covering breakfast, lunch and dinner) and the prices were very reasonable. We got a yummy brunch for £16 (Big Breakfast for Kim and Eggs Benedict for Sally).

Fully fuelled we set off to explore the lovely old village of Maldon on foot.

There were some interesting shops in the High Street!

Next was a walk on the promenade. A nice family orientated area with lots of fun activities (water park, mini golf etc).

Next day found us on the bus again, this time heading for Colchester (one of the oldest recorded towns in England!). This was a very picturesque town with loads of character. We enjoyed breakfast at a different branch of Weatherspoons, explored the castle, looked at the ruins of the old Priory, and had a general look around the town.

Tomorrow we leave Graeme, Liz and the boys and head for our next stop – London.

2nd June 2023

Viewer warning – contains lots of boring content about Kim’s family

2nd June found us getting up at the unearthly hour of 2am to catch the bus from Marselle St Charles station to check in at the airport for our 6am flight to Standsted airport in England! We had only managed to get an online boarding pass for Kim so were a bit concerned that Ryan air would charge us €40 to print out a pass at the airport (which apparently they do!). However everything was fine and the pass was printed for us free of charge.

Although it was early Grum picked us up from Standsted airport and took us back to his place, and we spent the day chilliin’ with his family – Liz, Alex & Lucas. Caught up on family news, went for a lovely walk through the nearby countryside

and back for an early dinner, watched some teddy football and Britain’s Got Talent – one more time -then off to bed for some much needed sleep.

The next morning we were off to Southend-On-Sea to visit places where Kim’s mum had been brought up.

The house in 18 Hamlet Road where Doreen lived after the war

The secondary school Doreen attended is now a primary school with the back half sold off for flats.

Grandma Rice bought 15 Chelsea Ave about 1952

Grandma lived here for 50 years, Doreen and Dex lived here when they were married, Kim stayed here when the family visited in 1979, the place looked relatively unchanged, like most other houses in the street.

A quick walk up to the beach at the top of Chelsea Ave

Fortunately the tide was in, at low tide it is a mile to the waters edge

Next stop was the church where Doreen and Dex were married

Kim met Paul the Postie, they use trolleys that they manually push, about half the volume of a Paxster.

Had a drive along the waterfront to Leigh-On-Sea and ended up at the Cock Inn for lunch.

Back to Rita & Cliffs for a cuppa and a natter, they looked like they had hardly aged and were still in the same house in Hockley.

Back to Grum & Liz’s for a lovely roast meal of slow cooked gammon,

And some more teddy football.

Next day it was off to John Constable country. For the philistines among you, Constable is an English painter famous for painting country scenes like this;

We walked through Dedham, a lovely old 17th century village,

then walked through the fields and down the river to Flatford Mill which has been beautifully maintained. This was part of The Wain that Constable painted.

We had a picnic lunch then wandered back up the river to the car. Lots of people were here enjoying the lovely weather, walking their dogs, paddle boarding, frisbee or just chillin’.

We stopped off at Hayer Bridge Basin, on the estuary near Maldon.

Then back home for tea and watch the final of Britain’s Got Talent (One more time!) https://youtu.be/j5mVIYPG4MA.

And this one. https://youtu.be/91sS72diNAg

We landed in Stanstead near Grums place in Chelmsford, then headed south west:

Then flew home out of Gatwick