Another warm and sunny day in the city. Perfect for walking in the park methinks. Checked out directions and set off on the tube to Regents Park.
The park was lovely, richly coloured borders with perennials and grasses along the big borders and the beds had petunias and salvias, lavender and daisies in an assortment of lemons to purples,reds and some blue focal plantings.
The Rose gardens were still looking good considering the time of the year but it was mainly the Austin's and moderns which were flowering. The Rose Garden is a lovely place to find a seat and watch the world go by.
I walked around the sculpture displays and found the boating park which was doing a roaring trade today. The ice cream vendors were smiling as well.
It was a lovely way to spend the morning.
After a couple of hours I caught a bus to Victoria and walked to Winchester Tube which took a lot longer than I thought but I arrived with a few minutes to spare for a walking tour of Winchester City,second city to be established after London City established by the Roman's.
It was pretty warm during the 2.00pm walk which lasted for two hours but I made it and enjoyed hearing the history behind such famous landmarks ,such as -Big Ben is not the correct name for the famous clock but it is the Elizabeth Clock Tower although no one calls it that.
We passed the Houses of Parliament just as a huge demonstration of men on pizza bikes roared around protesting about acid attacks and asking Parliamentarians to do more to protect them. Our guide was having a struggle making herself heard.
We heard about the establishment of a monastry on the site by King Alfred the Conqueror who was a very pious king but sickly and he was unable to do a pilgrimage to Rome so he ordered the establishment of the Jesuit Monastry on the site to be known as west (direction) and minster (name for church) now known as Westminster. He later decided to build a palace here but he died before living there and it ultimately burnt down as did a number of the buildings here. Apparently Henry the Eighth also built a huge castle close by with two thousand rooms which was also burn to the ground.
Anyway many more details followed of life and strife which shaped the place today. We visited the Dean's courtyard at Westminster Cathedral and some of the lovely old Georgian houses in the nearby streets. Several places had blue medals noting the life and times of famous people like Sir John Geilgud, a recent one and Sir Lawrence of Arabia.
A lady came out of her house to show us the moulding of a new statue for Emily Parkhurst which they hope to have installed in Parliaments Square. There is already one we saw in the gardens next to Westminster but women feel that it does not do her enough justice.
We walked along a street where the guide showed us the air raid shelters signs leading down under the streets during the blitz. The last one in 1941 did a lot of damage in this area.
We finished up outside Westminster Cathedral where kings and Queens are crowned some are buried and some have wed. It is also the place Winston Churchill did not want to be buried and when asked why, he replied, there are too many there already who I could not agree with! He was 93 at this point so still had a witty rejoiner.
There was a service coming up which I could have attended but I was feeling a bit sore after six hours hiking around hard surfaces so I may go back to see the interior another time.
Poets corner sounds worthwhile.
I hiked back to Victoria and caught a tube home for a rest before getting ready for the big garden tour tomorrow. An early start🤔🤔🤔🤔
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