British Isles Friday

Hosted by Joy's Book Blog.

I've been doing some memory lane posts of trips before digital and before blogging.

I first traveled to England with my Mom in 1960 and then my parents took us back as a family in 1970 which I posted last week.

My eldest Mc Guinness cousin was born there when her Dad, my Dad's older brother went to England in the late 1940s to find a job and ended up working for British Rail his entire life.

John and I have made many trips to the UK. The first trip was in 1986 and we stayed in London and then went to Milton Keynes to stay with my uncle and visited Oxford and Stratford. I would like to go back to Oxford and Stratford now with the amazing cameras. Also our travel tastes have changed and we are more interested in architecture and history.

This week I'll post some London photos. Some of these places are timeless (unlike us) and will reappear in other years.

The Bank of England

Outside the Tate.Yup, that's me.

No trip is complete without a stop at Buckingham Palace.

John.

Queen Victoria.

Carnaby St. was definitely more exciting in the 1980s than it is now.

Egyptian sphinx statue by Cleopatra's Needle on the Thames embankment with John.

Covent Gardens

The Dickens Inn is an original warehouse building near Tower Bridge, Tower of London and the Shard. As an original warehouse building, it's thought to have housed tea or to have been owned by a local brewery. It certainly existed at the turn of the 18th century and may well have been born in the 1700's. During the early years as a pub "The Tavern Bar" used to feature sawdust strewn floors and no bottled or canned beer was stocked. Diners also enjoyed candlelit meals on the balconies; this practice has been phased out due to modern fire safety regulations!

It is still there!

Nowhere like London for a good curry! John seems to blend right in.

Hobnobbing at Madame Tussaud's.

Leister Square some things are the same. We still go there to get discounted theatre tickets.

So what did we see in 1986?

According to their fan site this was:
A STAGE MUSICAL EXPERIENCE THAT WAS SEEN BY OVER 1 MILLION PEOPLE,
THAT RAN FOR TWO YEARS AND THAT PUSHED THE LIMITS OF THEATRE TECHNOLOGY TO A LEVEL NOT EQUALLED SINCE IT PREMIERED IN 1986.

Time Premiered April 9th 1986
at The Dominion Theatre
Tottenham Court Road
West End - London


"It was like no theatre I had seen before, and I am sure that it was true for most of the audience. They (the sets) were incredibly high-tec and drew gasps and applause night after night"
Cliff Richard

You can go over to their site for some incredible videos.

Marble Arch - The structure was designed by John Nash in 1827 to be the state entrance to the cour d'honneur of Buckingham Palace. Still there.

Still Standing - Nelson's Column is a monument in Trafalgar Square built to commemorate Admiral Horatio Nelson, who died at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

Another icon, Westminster Abbey.

A pub for lunch, to my amazement it was still there with this sign in 2010.

 St. Paul.

Piccadilly Circus.  

Rodin outside the House of Parliament. Not sure if it is still there.

 Tower of London, always worth a visit.