Greenwich Park in London

8 June 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  6 minutes

Greenwich Park from the observatory © Mx. Granger

Greenwich Park from the observatory © Mx. Granger

Greenwich Park is a former hunting park in Greenwich and one of the largest single green spaces in south-east London. One of the Royal Parks of London, and the first to be enclosed (in 1433), it covers 74 hectares (180 acres), and is part of the Greenwich World Heritage Site. It commands views over the River Thames, the Isle of Dogs and the City of London (Simon Jenkins rated the view of the Royal Hospital with Canary Wharf in the distance as one of the top ten in England).   read more…

Theme Week New England – Connecticut

22 February 2017 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  10 minutes

Hartford - Connecticut State Capitol © flickr.com - jglazer75/cc-by-2.0

Hartford – Connecticut State Capitol © flickr.com – jglazer75/cc-by-2.0

Connecticut is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. The state is named for the Connecticut River, a major U.S. river that approximately bisects the state. The word “Connecticut” is derived from various anglicized spellings of an Algonquian word for “long tidal river”. The capital is Hartford. Other big cities are Bridgeport, New Haven, Stamford, Waterbury, Norwalk, Danbury, New Britain, Meriden, Bristol, West Haven, Milford and Middletown. Connecticut is the third smallest state by area, the 29th most populous, and the fourth most densely populated of the 50 United States. It is known as the “Constitution State“, the “Nutmeg State”, the “Provisions State”, and the “Land of Steady Habits”. It was influential in the development of the federal government of the United States. Much of southern and western Connecticut (along with the majority of the state’s population) is part of the New York Metropolitan Area, as well as New York City and the five largest cities in New Jersey (Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, Elizabeth, and Edison), which is widely referred to as the Tri-State area. Connecticut’s center of population is in Cheshire, which is also located within the Tri-State area.   read more…

The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich

23 May 2016 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, London, Museums, Exhibitions, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  9 minutes

National Maritime Museum © ChrisO/cc-by-sa-3.0

National Maritime Museum © ChrisO/cc-by-sa-3.0

The National Maritime Museum (NMM) in Greenwich in London, is the leading maritime museum of the United Kingdom and may be the largest museum of its kind in the world. The historic buildings form part of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, and it also incorporates the Royal Observatory, and 17th-century Queen’s House. In 2012, Her Majesty The Queen formally approved Royal Museums Greenwich as the new overall title for the National Maritime Museum, Queen’s House, the Royal Observatory, Greenwich and the Cutty Sark. The museum is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Like other publicly funded national museums in the United Kingdom, the National Maritime Museum does not levy an admission charge although most temporary exhibitions do incur admission charges.   read more…

Holiday on the Thames

25 September 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

River Thames with Hampton Church Shakespeare's Temple and Garrick's Villa © Motmit

River Thames with Hampton Church Shakespeare’s Temple and Garrick’s Villa © Motmit

The River Thames is a major river flowing through southern England. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford, Reading, Henley-on-Thames, Windsor, Kingston upon Thames and Richmond.   read more…

The Cutty Sark in Greenwich

10 September 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Tall ships, London, Museums, Exhibitions, Yacht of the Month Reading Time:  8 minutes

© flickr.com - Karen Roe/cc-by-2.0

© flickr.com – Karen Roe/cc-by-2.0

The Cutty Sark is a British clipper ship. Built on the Clyde in 1869 for the Jock Willis Shipping Line, she was one of the last tea clippers to be built and one of the fastest, coming at the end of a long period of design development which halted as sailing ships gave way to steam propulsion.   read more…

Theme Week London – Greenwich

20 May 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture, London, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  14 minutes

Great River Race, Royal Naval College in the backgorund © Motmit

Great River Race, Royal Naval College in the backgorund © Motmit

Greenwich is a district of South East London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich. Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian (0° longitude) and Greenwich Mean Time. The town became the site of a Royal palace, the Palace of Placentia from the 15th century, and was the birthplace of many in the House of Tudor, including Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. The palace fell into disrepair during the English Civil War and was rebuilt as the Royal Naval Hospital for Sailors by Sir Christopher Wren and his assistant Nicholas Hawksmoor. These buildings became the Royal Naval College in 1873, and they remained an establishment for military education until 1998 when they passed into the hands of the Greenwich Foundation. The historic rooms within these buildings remain open to the public; other buildings are used by University of Greenwich and the Trinity College of Music. The town became a popular resort in the 17th century with many grand houses, such as Vanbrugh castle established on Maze Hill, next to the park. From the Georgian period estates of houses were constructed above the town centre. The maritime connections of Greenwich were celebrated in the 20th century, with the sitting of the Cutty Sark and Gipsy Moth IV next to the river front, and the National Maritime Museum in the former buildings of the Royal Hospital School in 1934. Greenwich formed part of Kent until 1889 when the County of London was created. To mark the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II, it was announced on 5 January 2010 that in 2012, the London Borough of Greenwich is to become the fourth to have Royal Borough status. The three others being The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Royal Borough. Due to its historic links with the Royal Family, and its status as home of the Prime Meridian and as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.   read more…

The Docklands in London

23 January 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, London Reading Time:  9 minutes

Canary Wharf from Thames © S nova

Canary Wharf from Thames © S nova

Docklands is the semi-official name for an area in east and southeast London. It forms part of the boroughs of Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Lewisham, Newham and Greenwich. The docks were formerly part of the Port of London, at one time the world’s largest port. They have now been redeveloped principally for commercial and residential use. The name London Docklands was used for the first time in a government report on redevelopment plans in 1971 but has since become virtually universally adopted. It also created conflict between the new and old communities of the London Docklands.   read more…

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