London

An early start this morning with Petticoat Lane market being our early morning destination. This historic market  is mainly a clothes market, as it has been  for hundreds of year.    

Sculpture - Broadgate London

Shoes - Petticaote Lane market

The old and the new!

Returned to Fann Street for a late lunch with James. The remainder of the afternoon was packing our large cases which we were leaving with James to be picked up in Wednesday when we return to London.

A "selfie" - on the London tube.

Later in the evening we all went out to a restaurant down in Covent Garden. For a Sunday night there were thousands of people still out and about. The meal was delicious! 

Covent Garden

Returned for a good nights sleep.

London

A quiet night in old London Town! Warm, and awake early.

Away early to purchase tickets for a show tonight - Dirty Dancing! But not with Patrick Swayze I hear Helene complain!

... at the Picadilly Theartre

Later took the underground to Pimlico for the Tate Gallery. Still an outstanding museum and perhaps my favourite had to be The Flatford Mill by Constable.

Tate Britain

Returned to Fann Street for lunch with James and later for a delightful walk around the Barbican complex. The residents of this magnificent t development have a keyed-access to private gardens within the complex.

Barbican Lake Terrace and St Giles Cripplegate

An exhibition in the Barbican demonstrated - for a fee - 3-D printing!

3-D printing at the Barbican

Later returned for a bite before heading off to the Piccadilly Theartre for the performance of Dirty Dancing.

Piccadilly Theartre

London

The dog-walkers of Cookham were out early this morning. But what an interesting walk for all - along the Thames towpath.

Away at a leisurely pace to re supply before visiting  Osterley House and before doing battle with the London traffic. 

 Ivory carved Chinese junk

Osterley is a little oasis situated near Heathrow airport - the former residence of the Child family who made their money in banking and controlling the East Indian Company's  trade into England.  Many of the items on show in the house were of East Asian heritage. The ivory carved Chinese junk, the large Chinese vases, the Japanese screens, the silks and cotton drapes, all reflect this trading activity of the 18th century.

Osterly House

Later in the afternoon we set out on an 8 mile journey into The City - exactly two hours later we arrived at our destination.I understand   why we don't do this lightly! 

Night out in Angel

Caught up with James shortly after arriving and later enjoyed a very delightful Italian meal up in Angel Islington. What an alive and vibrant part of London. A lovely summers evening evening and London with the able population out enjoying the last throws of summer! Home to bed by midnight after a night-cap o Jaegermeister with James.

Bampton

How long can this wonderful weather last! Another beautiful morning with sun reflecting off the Thames as canal boats smoothly cruise by ... but we must leave!

Thames at Bampton

Breakfasted and then move on to Farringdon - a village steeped in history with every era of British history being reflected in the town from Alfred the Great having a place here, the Baron's War in 1135, Charles I's defence line here etc. now a quaint market town.

Corn market - Farringdon

Later visited Bampton, the village used in the Downton Abbey drama. A busy little village of the mellow stone build houses. You can see why a TV company would choose it as a setting for a series - but down the road a little there was another village that equally could have been a location!

Bampton Church

Bampton

On to Ashton to the pottery works - nothing special but seems to be very popular.

Onto  Abingdon, another Thames town worth a visit! Perhaps you can become a little braise about how gorgeous some of these villages and towns are - but being on the Thames there is a little more incentive to be cute and cuddly! 

Because we are lining up to go into London tomorrow afternoon what better place to stay overnight than at Cookham - so that's where we ended up!  Beautiful village with a  lovely walking track along the Thames.

Buscot

You can often forget just how important a river like the Thames has been throughout history. The area by the Thames that we are staying at is a long way from the wide bustling river you see in London but nevertheless it was vital to the old community around Buscot. The clearing where we staying is known as the Old Cheese Wharf - a location where the Thames winds its way through a large agricultural area with mellow stone villages dotted along the river. From here cheese was one of the important trading products of the area, and this was collected by the barges plying along the waterway.

Cheese Wharf - Buscot

Thames at Buscot

Opposite us is an old WWII pill-box, one of many along the northern bank of the Thames, built in 1940 as a defensive line against an invasion by the Germans. Keeping an enemy on the southern side of the Thames was thought to be a very effective defensive strategy back then! The pillbox is heavily marked because of the artillery practice target it became in 1944!

Overnights!

We took ourselves along the road this afternoon to Buscot Park and house. We were quite surprised at the extent of the art work in the house - the Faringdon Collection.

Burn-Jones' 'The Rose Bower'

 The grounds were extensive with an Italianate water garden and many other features to keep a visitor interested 

Buscot  Park

We returned to the Cheese Wharf Area via a visit to the Buscot village and weir. A pleasant and relaxing day.

Highclere

Left Upper Clatford for our van's MOT in Andover this morning. We had no issues with any problems with the van but MOTs can be a little tricky for the mechanics go through a thorough check list for legal requirements. No further follow ups were needed.

MOT in Andover

From Andover we ventured north to Highclere Castle - the castle used for the Downton Abbey production. An interesting place - not quiet as glamorous as it looks on TV. It was interesting to note that when we asked how much of the castle was open for visiting, the reply was only the first two floors because the third floor was still derelict.  Nevertheless, interesting.

Highclere Castle of Downton Abbey fame!

Is Earl Grantham at home?

We then headed for the upper reaches of the Thames at Buscot where we parked up on the banks of the Thames for the remainder of the afternoon and evening. 

Upper Clatford 3

A other great night sleep - very quiet and peaceful. Breakfasted and away on a morning walk around the village walking tracks. Some of the tracks run along the back perimeter of the village and have been walked for over a thousand years.

Ancient pathway along the back of the village.

View from pathway.

Visited the 11th Century church before returning for a coffee.

12th Century Church - Upper Clatford

Some beautiful blackberries were crying out to be picked - so I obliged with a lovely bucket full to enjoy later in the day. 

Beautiful blackberries

Helene off to help Fran deliver the village monthly news.

We were invited to lunch at Liz and Peter's home in Andover  - friends of Fran. What a lovely way to spend bank holiday Monday! Fantastic people, very welcoming and fun to spend time with.  Left late and spent our last night with Fran.

Charles, Fran, Nicki, Jim, Peter, Helene and Lizzie.