London Off the Beaten Path Tips by irisbe

Royal view of a theatrical scenery

If you want to enjoy a great panoramic view, but you can�t spend 11,5 GBP on the London Eye, what about walking a little bit further to have a drink at the 2nd floor balcony of the Royal Theatre Hall?
At the second floor of this building you will find a beautiful spot to watch the Thames and the sun going under. Royal Theatre Hall is opened from 10 am till 10 pm.

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Off The Beaten Path: Old Kent Road former fire station

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Updated by irisbe

on Jul 2, 2004

Old Kent Road old fire station

Once it must have been a busy place with fire fighters on alert . I can imagine them getting into their heavy suits, helmet on and rush out in their red car, fully equiped to put down that fire and safe lives.

Nowadays this fire station on Old Kent Road seems to be turned into an antique shop. Still it is a nice building, breathing nostalgy.

Old Kent Road is a street in South of London.
In old times it was this road on which horse driven carriages were rushing towards... Kent ofcourse, as the name says it.
Nowadays it is a 2 x 2 busy traffic road, running from the Bricklayer's Arms Roundabout to meet with the New Kent Road; Tower Bridge Road and Great Dover street, bringing you to New Cross.

Note:

Old Kent Road should be the cheapest location on the London Monopoly board? Let me know if I am wrong !

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Off The Beaten Path: A visit to Greenwich

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Written by irisbe

on Jul 2, 2004

Royal Observatory Greenwich

I really would recomend you a visit to Greenwich, outside the city centre. It is a lovely little place that has the honour of housing the very nice Royal Observatory (see picture); the National Maritime Museum and the Queens house, all situated in a nice park. The Royal Observatory Greenwich is right up on the top of a hill from where you have a marvelous view over the modern side of London.
A must to go!

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Website: http://www.nmm.ac.uk/

Off The Beaten Path: St James's Park near St. James's Palace

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Written by irisbe

on Jul 3, 2004

St. James's Park

One of my other misses: the St James�s Park. Due to lack of time and dark clouds setting in, I only went of the side pavement of the Park. I was on my way to Buckingham palace and didn�t want to miss that.

The park was original wetland, but Henry the VIII drained it to create a deer park for St James�s Palace.

In the 17th century, Charles II contacted and commissioned the French landscape gardener, Andre le Notre to convert the deer park into a garden.
Andre le Notre, for those who have ever been in Paris, succeeded his father as head gardener in Jardin des tuilleries. He also has the design at Vaux-le-Vicomte and Versailles on his curriculum.
His design was of a baroque style. Although he never has put a foot in England, he designed not only St James Park in it�s 17th century style, but he also is responsible for the design of parts of Greenwich park: the grass parterre, implemented in 1662, overlooked by the remains of the Giant Steps up hill, leading you to the statue of James Woolfe (sited in 1930).

Admission is free and the park is opened daily from 5 am till midnight

On the picture you see a compilation of the plan of the St James�s Park.

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Off The Beaten Path: Millennium Dome

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Written by irisbe

on Jul 9, 2004

The Millennium Dome

Halfway the 1990ties, London was in the ban of the Millennium celebration that was coming up soon. Several projects were planned.

One of them was the Millennium Dome. It was in 1994 that the New Millennium Experience Company suggested the construction of a huge new national exhibition hall. We heard it before (see the Westminster bridge): the project would be mainly be funded by the National Lottery.

The project was subject of different opinions, some loved it, and some disliked it.

It got finished in 1999.

The dome was meant to house several projects, mainly focused on educational topics. There were 14 theme zones to order these. The entrance fee was quite high and the exhibitions attracted merely half of the estimated 12 million visitors. The deficit grew high. The exhibition finished end of 2002.

The sizes of the Dome are immense: 320 meter diameter, as big as 2 Wembley stadiums and with a central height of 50 meter! A network of cables, to which the cladding is attached, guarantees stability

The cover is made of PTFE-coated glass fibre that should last for at least 25 years. An agreement was made that the Dome would remain up till 2018 where after it is allowed to be demolished so project developers can redesign the site.

If you go to Greenwich and you walk the hill up to the observatory, you can see the dome from afar.

The Dome is located near the Thames across Canary Wharf.
Tube: Jubilee line.

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Off The Beaten Path: Not off the beaten but maybe out of the eye.

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Written by irisbe

on Jul 11, 2004

biblical statue