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On a very sunny day in August we went to visit Lotherton Hall, an Edwardian house not far from Leeds. It has been run by Leeds City Council since 1968. As well as the Hall, which is now a museum, the estate also includes a bird garden (which will feature in Part Two) and an orchard and a deer park (which we didn’t have time to explore).
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Hampton Court Palace is another one of those places on my to visit list that I’ve wanted to see for a while, but I’ve never had an entire day available to do so without needing to rush off to catch a train. Finally I had the chance on a very sunny day in May and I was not disappointed.
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I’ve been meaning to visit the Sherlock Holmes Museum for a while but have always ended up not having the time. However, on a trip in May I decided to head out after a theatre matinee performance (where I saw the very moving Peter and Alice with Ben Whishaw and Judi Dench) because I knew they were open till 6pm and everywhere else I would like to visit closed at around 5pm.
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I particularly wanted to visit the London Transport Museum because this year is the 150th anniversary of the Tube and to commemorate the museum was holding an exhibition of Underground posters that I wanted to see.
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I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I headed to the Foundling Museum. It was a fairly last minute decision to visit – I was staying in a hotel not too far away and had a bit of time to kill and I thought that a museum dedicated to the Foundling Hospital, the first home for abandoned children in the UK, was an interesting premise. The original Foundling Hospital was demolished in 1926, though this current incarnation does include some original interiors from the 1741 hospital.
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Back in May (yes, I got behind again) I took a trip to Kirby Hall in Northamptonshire. It’s an English Heritage property once owned by Sir Christopher Hatton, one of Queen Elizabeth I’s favourites. He hoped that the Queen would pay a visit to Kirby, which she never did, though James I and his wife were to visit several times.
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Having a few hours to kill in London and trying to decide where to go before a matinee theatre production I was reminded of the Clink Prison Museum, which I’d planned to visit on a previous trip, only to change my mind at the last moment. It was easier to find than I had imagined, though tucked away down a pleasant side street.
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Nottingham recently played host to the fifth Armed Forces Day and as it was right on my doorstep, I decided to head along. It was a fairly overcast day which did eventually brighten. There was a parade heading off from Nottingham Castle towards the Market Square, where I was, a Drumhead Service – which I learned is a church service conducted in the field with drums acting as an altar -plus a fly past by the Red Arrows and RAF Typhoon aircraft.
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Whilst contemplating what to see next in London, I came across the website for the Tower Bridge Exhibition, and thought that it would be a good place to take photographs of the city, if nothing else. The entrance is at the North West Tower of the Bridge and admission costs £8 for adults. It was a lot busier than I was expecting, but the queue moved along very smoothly – clearly the staff are used to big crowds. You head up to the walkway in a lift and then view a presentation with a (vaguely amusing) video portraying Queen Victoria in conversation with the architects who designed the Bridge. You can then continue on your way to the actual walkway in order to admire the views from 42 meters above the River Thames.
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After paying a visit to Postman’s Park, I headed over to the Museum of London. You enter via an escalator on the right of the road and then across a walkway. Entrance is free, though I did buy a “Highlights” book for £5. The Museum traces the history of London from before the city itself existed right up to the present day.
