London

hi there

Gran and Trevor recently went on a trip from the beauty of Great Ayton to the thick smoke and pollution of London. well, a change is as good as a rest, i suppose. anywya, Trev was kind enough to forward on some pictures, so i thought i'd put them up here. Trev was actually kind enough to send the pictures several times, as it happens, but no matter - i would rather get them half a dozen times than not at all!

here, for you Olympiad enthusiasts, is that big massive countdown clock thing.




as i recall, the Harlo gang sent a picture of it last year, just before they left London around the same time as all those riots started (go figure). it is a rather impressive clock, and indeed a worthy celebration of the second biggest thing to happen in England this year, right after, of course, the return of The Stone Roses.

i do frequently get asked all sorts of questions about London, and indeed if i miss it. the answer is no, not really, since i think in total about 15 days of my life to date has been spent in that city. London is a great many miles from where i came, really, and was never a place to go unless you had good reason. in my case, it was Heathrow, Twickeham and a couple of gigs.

i do, however, miss my family, so it's always good to get new pictures of them. here's Gran checking out perhaps that most famous of all famous buildings in London, Buckingham Palace.




it has always struck me as somewhat surreal that one can walk that close to the Stately home of our reigning Monarch and their family, really. all that history, honour, tradition and prestige all their for one to go right up to and look at, perhaps with a sense of awe and wonder. well, obviously not the more Republican minded person, i suppose, but then again they would have no reason to visit the place, would they?




Buckingham Palace was not the only castle Gran and Trevor had the good fortune to visit on the trip. here's Gran getting ready to pop in to Windsor Castle. well, as they were in the area they might as well have called in for a cup of tea!




Trevor has not said if they called in at the most splendid Fortnum & Mason on their journey. i do hope so, and before my days are done on this world i have every intention of going there myself. Harrods is perhaps better internationally known, but that's for commoners and riff-raff, to be honest. Fortnum & Mason is for the more refined, educated and elegant shopper, which just screams me.

moving on a bit, and here is a shop that Gran and Trev did indeed visit, and Trevor enthusiasts (of which there are many) will be delighted to see the man himself in this last picture.




i am not sure if it is clear in the above, but there's a sign in the shop that amused me a great deal. it's advertising "2 for £11", which is unusual. i have heard of 2 for £5 and indeed 2 or 3 for £10, but 2 for 11 is a new one, and a rather odd figure to get to. perhaps the extra quid is something to do with that "London weighting" thing, whereby everything there costs more because everything there is more expensive. go figure again as to when Mayor Boris might work out a bit of a vicious circle on the go with that!

many thanks again to Trev for the pictures, and i am glad that you and Gran had an ace time!


be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!