Greenwich and the National Maritime Museum

Monday, September 8, all five of us set out together for Greenwich of Prime Meridian fame.  We went underground and popped up near Greenwich where one of several gatherings of tall ships was going on.

All wood tall ship

Then it was back underground until we surfaced at Greenwich itself.  After a short walk, we came upon the legendary clipper ship, the Cutty Sark.

The Cutty Sark

From here we walked to the National Maritime Museum for a great exhibition concerning the epic search for a reliable method to determine longitude at sea.  The original Harrison clocks were on display which were the first clocks with sufficient reliability at sea to do the job dependably.

National Maritime Museum

Then we walked up the hill to the observatory and admired the view:

Greenwich and London view

Arriving at the observatory:

Greenwich Observatory

Part of Herchel's gigantic telescope he made for George III is on display.

Remaining portion of William  Herschel's giant telescope after the unfortunate tree incident mentioned below

Giant Herschel telescope story

Nearby is the Prime Meridian:

The Prime Meridian viewed from the western hemisphere.

The above was a very difficult photo to take.  There were only a few seconds, sometimes less, between people posing in silly attitudes for pictures or taking selfies in front of the marker.  Luckily, I persevered in the face of difficulties lesser men would have found insurmountable.

Then we went inside the observatory dome to view the telescope which, as a 28-inch refractor, is reputed to be the seventh largest of its kind in the world.

The Great Equatorial Telescope

After a hearty English pub dinner of Pies and Mash, we headed for the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse which is part of the Globe Theatre complex.  We picked up our tickets about half an hour early and took a walk onto the Millennial Bridge, a pedestrian-only bridge over the Thames.  The sun was just setting as we walked to the middle of the river, and I was able to get a few photos:

The Globe (the white half-timbered building).  Sam Wanamaker is on the far side.

St Paul's from the Millennium Bridge

Prototypical London scene.  The Tower Bridge and a double-decker bus.  The Harvest Moon was a nice bonus.

The concert featured world-famous harpsichordist Trevor Pinnock along with a few of his friends playing flute, violin, and cello.  The concert space was tiny and intimate. Most of the light came from candles and we were slightly above the performers looking down on them from perhaps 15 feet away.  Below is the program.

Trevor Pinnock concert program

And so ended a wonderful day in London.