Bethany's Year in London: August 2008

York

I went to York on Sunday, about two hours north of London. I went to York years ago with Jessie, so enjoyed going back. The settlement in York goes back to Roman times.

A view of the York Minister

Another view

A closeup of the Minster

A view of one of the gargoyles

A view of the remains of the Norman castle

View of ruins of a fort

Remains of the St Mary Abbey

The Hospitum- oldest timber framed building in York

The Treasurer's House-dating from the 14th century

View of the Shambles, dating from Tudor times

The "Culpeper" shop- sells herbal stuff

View of the river

Old Palace Quarter

Today was a bank holiday in the UK, so did a walking tour about the Old Palace Quarter- the old palace being St. James. It was a lot of fun, I even saw a bunch of places, I had never seen before and I thought I had seen mos everything in the area.

The Clock Tower at St James- part of Henry VIII's original palace

A side view of Spencer House- ancestral town home of Princess Diana, usually seen from Green Park

A converted mews area- now part of a luxury hotel, expensive suites

Pickerings' Passage- said to be one of the few remaining Tudor passageways in the city

The 17th century courtyard at the other end of the passageway

Piccadilly Arcade-expensive shops

Fleet Street

I had quite a busy day on Saturday. First I did a guided tour about Fleet Street and the history of newspaper publishing. The media companies have long since left Fleet Street for the Docklands. Then I went to a play in the evening.

One of the former houses of the Astor family

A pub built on the site of the former house of the Earl of Essex. He was beheaded by Queen Elizabeth the first

One of the few remaining Tudor buildings in London

The sign for the pub Ye Olde Chesire Cheese from 1600s

Flowers from the Embankment Gardens

A view of the steeple at St Bride's

Brighton

I spent the day in Brighton, only about an hour from London by train. I went to the Royal Pavilion first, really cool, it has onion domes built on it, not your typical Royal Palace. I went to the beach next. The wind was really blowing hard, it nearly blew you over. Despite being August, only a couple of people were in the water- it was freezing!! But a typical beach resort feel.

The front of the Royal Pavilion

A side view

Looking at the Pavilion from the gardens

Just looking over the trees

A first view of beach- it's made of rocks, not sand

Looking in the other direction

You can see the derelict pier to the side

A view of the Brighton Pier- it has restaurants, arcades and rides on it

Another view of the Pier

You can see how rough the water was

Looking down the beach

Some of the Georgian Terraces running down the beach

Display of boats on beach

Carnival game with Simpsons as prizes

Uxbridge and the Grand Union Canal

I took a guided walk of the Grand Union Canal near Uxbridge in Hertfordshire, a suburb of London. Interesting, though really tiring, even for me!!

A view from one of the locks

Close up of a lock

One of the branches of the canal

Flowers on a cottage along the canal

Oxford

I spent Friday morning in Oxford for a job interview. I had to be back in London for another interview in the afternoon so didn't really get a chance to explore, but took a few pictures anyways.