Another London thing we’d never done was to go to Greenwich and see the Royal Observatory and the Maritime Museum. Jim and SarahP were interested in doing this as well. It had been a long time since they’d been there, and the Docklands area of London had grown up a lot since then. This was a gorgeous, sunny Spring day, and after breakfast we got things together and set off.
Up at the corner and this time we went South on the 43 bus instead of East on the SL1. Took this down to Highgate, past the very familiar neighborhood of Muswell Hill and Highgate Wood to the Highgate tube station on the Northern Line. Took this down to Bank, where we switched to the Docklands Light Railroad. This is an entertaining, open-air stretch through central London and then the Isle of Dogs peninsula, which is shot through with canals and docks, though we saw no boats there. And as with Boston, London seems to have grown taller and taller in the time I’ve known it. There are huge buildings everywhere, even in what used to be a maritime/industrial part of the city.
We got off at Island Gardens, a couple of stops shy of where we might have detrained, because Jim and SarahP wanted to find the pedestrian tunnel under the Thames, where they hadn’t been for a long time. There was a slight question if it still existed, but it did and after touring the actual Island Gardens for a short time and gawking at the Old Royal Naval College across the river, we climbed down and down the stairs on the North side before the long, sloping walk under the river. Riding bikes is supposedly not allowed there, but there were several scofflaws, and also a dank smell and a few leaks in the walls. This freaked out SarahP a bit and she took off; we other three proceeded at our normal pace but perhaps didn’t find it as romantic an experience as it had been in the past, though the walls didn’t collapse. Whatever, it was kind of fun and popping up right next to the Cutty Sark on a sunny day was even better.
So we wanted to go to Greenwich, but there are several sub-destinations there and some debate ensued about where we were headed. Google maps aided our decision but led us astray twice because of construction. And believe it or not, the place was crawling with people! We’d chosen May for our trip partly because schools would still be in session, but this was a historic area of London on a sunny day in May and Greenwich was an anthill of not only tourists, but also of huge school groups on outings.
It was long, confusing, and hot, but we made our way up Pepys Walk, Lord Nelson Road, and King William Walk to the hill that the Observatory sits at the top of, and at last up to Flamsteed House itself, dodging South Asian tourists hogging the Prime Meridian. We thankfully pushed past everyone and his cousin, and then paid for our entry into the Observatory, though when we got in, we found it infected by a noisy school group in the toilets.
Oh well, things became calmer when they exited, and we snapped a few pictures on the Prime Meridian and then toured the museum. Wow, I loved this place! It started off slow with some interpretation about the astronomers and families that had lived in Flamsteed House, and part of the interpretation stayed on this level and touched simply on time, astronomy, and the timeline of the discovery of how to calculate latitude and longitude. But other parts of the interpretation got very detailed and the stories it told were fascinating to me, especially because I’ve read the Longitude book by Dava Sobel about John Harrison’s ordeal in solving the problem of calculating longitude.
And the absolute highlight of the museum was that they actually had the originals of Harrison’s clocks on display! I was just tingling with fascination seeing these. The other three saw me geeking out and diplomatically proceeded to the next few rooms before I breathlessly caught them up. Boy, I had to tear myself away from there, I was ready to settle in until closing time.
Got back outside finally and saw some other great stuff, including a super-sundial on the deck of the Observatory. This had suddenly become one of the first places I’d recommend to someone visiting London, though there are a lot of people there and it’s a long walk uphill on a hot day.
OK, time for lunch! I hinted that I’d seen a few pubs on our way up from the Cutty Sark, and the others were amenable. The first one on our way back was the Greenwich Tavern, and though the outdoor tables were all full, when we pushed inside, we got a nice table and had an excellent lunch. I got a Niçoise salad and a pint of Brixton Reliance.
It was time to get going, and after getting twisted around looking for the tube station in the middle of the tourist wasteland around the Cutty Sark, we got back on the DLR to Bank, and then the Northern Line to King’s Cross, where we switched to the Piccadilly Line. SarahP and Jim had been tapped to host N that night and the next day. So they got off at Turnpike Lane to retrieve him while SarahE and I continued on up to the Arnos Grove stop.
We’d been told that there was a local there, and when we turned left out of the station, we found ourselves at the door of the Arnos Arms, which is really a pretty big and relaxing pub, with a dining room, a games room, and a garden. It was mostly empty, and we got a beer (Abbott real ale) and a cider and relaxed for a while, tucked at a nice table behind the Dr. Who pinball machine.
Sooner than we’d expected we got a text that SarahP, Jim, and N were back, and we drank up and then headed for the SL1, and back to the house. Had some more fun playing with N, watching Peppa Pig (which I could comment on, but will refrain), and eating dinner. Then a little more TV after N retired, and then to bed.
Digression on Beer
All in all I had some fine beers on this trip to the UK. I’d anticipated what had been foreshadowed on my last few trips there, that the American beer revolution would influence what’s served in the UK, but I was still shocked by the extent of this. The American “IPA” style is all over the place, at least 50% of the beers I encountered there were so labeled, though as we all know, the American “IPA” style is far removed from what that style was originally.
I was fine with this, as I’m an “IPA” fan, and had some very good ones, though the ABV in the beers I samples was generally too low to be worthy of the American style. The Americanization is thorough, there were even some beers labeled “West Coast IPA” and that meant California/Oregon rather than Wales. It’s too bad this infiltration meant that English “real ale” was hard to find, but I took what opportunities I could to sample cask beers and original styles.
Here are a few beers (mostly bottled) that I found remarkable:
- Old Crafty Hen – This is a strong ale, mixed with the original formula for Old Speckled Hen, first made by the Morland Brewery and now by the Greene King conglomerate. The maltiness is of the best English quality, and the body is thick and tasty. This had a lot of what I like most in a beer.
- Abbott – This is the Greene King flagship and was available everywhere. I had it on cask and in cans and it never failed. A very solid English ale.
- Proper Job – This is a distinctive IPA made by the St. Austell Brewery, that we’ve driven by in Cornwall.
- Duration Brewing in Castle Acre makes some very good beers, some of which were available in Norfolk pubs on cask. The ones I tested were very good, though more American than English.
- Hobgoblin – This Wychwood IPA was recommended to me in Scotland and is a thin but tasty IPA.
- Fuller’s ESB (had bottles only, never saw Fuller’s in pubs) used to be my favorite beer and is still way up on my list, as is their London Pride.
- Skye Brewing in Uig makes a number of ales, named generically like “Gold,” “Red,” and “Black.” None I tested were worth writing home about.
- A couple of other ones worth mentioning are Eigg IPA, which I had at the Atholl House, and National Trust Kentish Pale Ale, which I had at the Blickling Estate and was made with NT Farm-raised hops, yeast, and water. Both were tasty and delicate.
- Had many opportunities to try Brewdog products, but only tried them once or twice. Brewdog is headquartered in Ellon, Scotland, and markets internationally. Don’t waste your time.
One related note: draft ciders are now everywhere in the UK, and SarahE gleefully sampled quite a few.
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