Tall Ships on the
Thames
During the Olympics there were Tall ships on the
Thames doing trips from Woolwich Pier to Deptford Creek.
Given that the summer weather has been typically British
it was a bit of a gamble when we booked.
It would be awful if it was windy and raining – ahhh.
It turned out to be a blistering hot day – factor 50
was liberally applied. Parking in
Woolwich can be a little difficult so I booked a parking space, however the
directions on the website took you to the wrong place, so DaddyHen and MIL went
to book in whilst I drove around the oneway system to get to the car park – a little
concerned given that the ship would depart at 13:00. Managed to get parked
and all was well. We boarded the Wylde Swan,
built in Hull in 1920, to be used in the Herring fleet, and then used by the
Germans as a torpedo carrier during WW2, now a nine sail tall ship taking part
in Tall Ship races. I would love to participate
in a tall ship race but I am a dreadful sailor (I spend most of my time very unwell
and green round the gills) full history and details of events http://wyldeswan.com/index.html
DaddyHen & MIL know Woolwich well; MIL was born and bred in North Woolwich, her paternal family moved there from East Malling at end of 19th Century. DaddyHen spent the first three years of his life in North Woolwich before moving to saarf of the river. So a trip to see this part of London from the river is always interesting. MIL was surprised to see that so much had changed, the factories that her ancestors had worked in all gone,bar one (Tate & Lyle). She did however, like some of the flats that had been built although probably way out of our price range.
Going through the Thames Barrier
Greenwich from the river is always a lovely site
the view up through the Naval College to Queens House is such spectacular vista.
The island where DaddyHen used to play as a child –
not too sure how he got here; probably shouldn’t ask!!
The cable car and the Dome
Canary Wharf
Posh swanky apartments
Military landing craft – there were a few police and
naval ribs and boats messing about on the river. This landing craft whooshed past – I took a
few snaps. When I was reviewing them for
the blog I looked more closely at the two people on the bow (technical
term?!?) wearing white shirts. These two figures are Her Royal Highness The
Princess Royal and her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence.
Woolwich Ferry
Tate & Lyle – Grandad Jim (MILs father) worked
here for over 30yrs; in addition to various other ancestors.
A lovely couple of hours – shame these trips are
only available during the Olympics; I hope they have been a success and they
return next year for the summer.
MummyHen
X
That looks like a fantastic trip, with Royalty thrown in as well. Thank you for my award, I am chuffed.
ReplyDelete