A Palace Garden

Home to the Archbishop of Canterbury for over 800 years, Lambeth Palace is a real gem hidden away behind a brick wall just meters away from Lambeth Bridge and the Thames.

It wasn't a planned visit, in fact I was in the area on a totally different mission when I saw the place gates open.  The curious me can never resist an open door and on this occasion was rewarded with an adventure wandering around the 13 acres of grounds surrounding the palace.

The gardens were given to the people of Lambeth on an indefinite lease by Archbishop Frederick Temple in 1901.  Managed by volunteers you can visit on the first Wednesday of the month between March and October for a wee donation of £4.

I came away with a jar of honey made on the estate, made by their "very happy bees" and a determination to visit the inside on an allocated day.  

Dave

A blue plaque with a difference, not worldly famous, this man was a local hero.  I vote for more of these plaques.

Guns and Roses

Enjoying the sun in the park like grounds of the Imperial War Museum.  Inside you may like to take a look at the new first world war galleries.

G&T?

The Beefeater gin distillery has been producing gin sin the late 1800's, they are shortly going to open their doors and allow visitors inside.  Maybe you will be offered a wee tasting?  

Museum Visit - Cinema Museum

Memorabilia and cinema before the grand multiplex of today.  The cinema museum is a real gem and in a beautiful building.  Worth a visit.

Myatt's Fields

Myatt's Park is now a heritage site so will be enjoyed by future generations, thanks to the efforts of the local residents and the Minet family.  The Minet family were among the Huguenots who fled France in the 17th century.  A century later Hugh Minet purchased the estate that this park was a tiny part of.  Another century on his descendant James Minet who was very philanthropic gifted this land from the estate to create a public park.  It was named after Joseph Myatt a tenant market gardener who grew cabbages, rhubarb and strawberries here in the 19th century.

Changes Westwards

The area out towards the old Battersea power station is now undergoing regeneration.  London is changing in all directions.

Plant a Poppy

For Remembrance Day the Imperial War Museum has created a poppy field for you to plant your own poppy.  You make a paper poppy, plant it in this field, take a photo on your smart phone and share it with friends on #poppyfield.

Boy in a Bubble

What fun especially for a lad with as much energy as this one.

Country Fair

The healthy option at the Lambeth Country Fair. I thought she was offering toffee apples, but no it was delicious fresh strawberries and cream

White Hart Dock

This dock and slipway date back to the 14th century all that remains now is this current structure from 1868. The sign next to it informs us that a few tunnels from here to Embankment are visible at low tide. I haven't verified this yet.

Memorial

Along the Thames pathway and opposite Lambeth Palace is this memorial to acknowledge the work performed the Special Operations Executive (S.O.E.). This special spy group was set up by Churchill in 1940 to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Axis Power. (Germans, Italians and Japanese). Another brief was to instruct and aid the resistance movements. Of the 13,000 people employed by this organisation 3,200 were women.

Couples

A lovely sunny day on the weekend and couples everywhere.

Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park

A view from the grounds surrounding the Imperial War Museum looking out toward Elephant and Castle. The Imperial War Museum was previously a mental hospital but as far back as 1329 a hospital for the treatment of mental disorders existed here. During Victorian times 'asylum's' were moved to more rural areas. The last hospital closing in 1926. The freehold of the site was bought by Vicount Rothermere in 1930 to be made into a public space known as Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park in memory of his mother.

9 Elms

The US embassy has recently bought a large part of this area to build their new London headquarters. We're promised it will be styish and not a Bush-era-bunker.
The Covent garden flower market across the road from here will be demolished as part of the development. On my list to photograph for you before it goes.

Lords

"Lords" is considered to be the home of cricket (yes in all the world) and it's "spiritual headquarters". It is owned by the Marylebone Cricket Club who have the role as the guardians of both the laws and the spirit of cricket. A big responsibility given how deeply ingrained both cricket and Lords are in the British psyche. Nice touch with the living gardens being developed on the outside - modernisation Lords style!

Monopoly - Go

I will be travelling for a couple of weeks, while I'm on my adventure I am going to take you on your very own adventure.
The board game "monopoly" celebrated its 75th anniversary last year. The original design was created by Quaker Elizabeth Magie in 1903. She wanted to demonstrate through play that property enriched landlords and impoverished tenants.
However it was in 1935 that the Parker Brothers took the concepts of this design and created the game we now know as monopoly. As part of the 75th anniversary celebrations of this later game, Ordnance Survey worked with monopoly to produce a bespoke map and discover where GO actually is.

Using this map you are going to travel around the monopoly board over the next few weeks.
We begin today with GO: Lambeth North Tube Station.

“By using Ordnance Survey’s latest digital product, OS VectorMap District, we were able to accurately locate “Go”. We mapped the positions of Mayfair and Old Kent Road, which sit either side of “Go”, and then accurately calculated that Lambeth North tube station was the central point between the two and therefore the location of “Go”
quote from - http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/media/news/2010/aug/monopoly.html