Tag Archives: travel

MV Royal Iris Decaying Slowly

The Thames is a busy waterway for commercial shipping and has plenty of docks and wharves along its shores. Seeing boats tied up is no surprise but seeing one that is sinking is not what I would have expected. That is exactly what I found, though. This old ferry was sitting at an awkward angle and looking very unwell. I came upon it from the stern and then had to go inshore as the path deviated away from the river but it was soon back on the water and I was able to look back at the sad vessel. A little research when I got home told me it is the MV Royal Iris, once a Mersey ferry. She is not looking at her prime now!

Regents Canal

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There was a time when the canals of London were not a good place to be. They were risky areas to go and they were a good place to dump stuff. How things have changed over time and now canals are getting a new lease on life. Developments along them are springing up. I wanted to check out Regents Canal while were were in London. We started out at Paddington Basin and then walked along the canal through Little Venice, Maida Vale, Regents park, on to Camden and finishing up at Kings Cross.

You really do go through a wide variety of places on the walk. Almost all of it can be along the canal but there is a tunnel it takes which requires a detour over the hill through which the tunnel cuts. You go through some wealthy neighborhoods, some quite poor ones, past a power station and then suddenly in to the area behind some mansions in Regents park. You even go through the zoo although the animals seemed intent on not being visible to those that hadn’t paid to visit!

As you get close to the popular areas, the canal can get quite busy on the towpath but for other sections, you are not exactly alone but you are definitely free to stroll without encountering too many people. Meanwhile, boats will chug past you.

It is surprising how tranquil it feels along the canal. You are very close to the heart of London yet feel you could be a million miles away. You see all sorts of people as you go and, when it is sunny like it was when we were there, it all seems very picturesque. To go between two of London’s main terminus stations, this isn’t the quickest route but, if you have the time, it is definitely one of the nicest.

Woolwich Ferry

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I last used the Woolwich Ferry around 1990. At no point since then have I needed to do so. However, on my exploitation of the eastern parts of the Thames (at least while still in London), I started out in North Woolwich and needed to get to Woolwich. The foot tunnel was an option but the ferry runs frequently and is free so it was my preferred option. From what I have read, they replaced both ferries relatively recently. One of them has an obvious name – the Dame Vera Lynn. The other one is named Ben Woollacott in honor of a young crewman who lost his life on duty a few years ago. I think that is a nice touch.

The two ferries run at the same time with each loading on opposite sides of the river and then departing at the same time. There is an odd “dance” that they do with one going upstream and one down as they cross each other before then sliding in to the dock to unload and repeat the process. When I boarded the ferry, I didn’t know how this worked so was quite confused as we headed up river. However, it all became clear quite quickly.

The ferries are very maneuverable. They was in which the crews can put them wherever they need to while operating on a river that has some strong currents is quite impressive. They seem to slide into the berths sideways when coming from one direction while they approach the northern side in a more traditional way. If you haven’t heard of a Voith Schneider drive, I suggest you look them up. Very clever stuff.

I made the crossing and got some shots and video while doing so but my interest was now piqued so I ended up spending a little longer on the south bank of the river watching them repeat the process to see how it looked from the outside. A slick operation. As I got off, I saw the holding area for the vehicle traffic that was waiting to board. It seemed that there was a lot more going south to north than in the other direction at that time of day.

Evening Stroll Around Westminster

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When we first got to London on our vacation, it was later in the afternoon. We got checked in to the hotel and dropped off our luggage before heading out for a stroll. We weren’t going too far and just restricted ourselves to the area around Westminster Bridge and up to Hungerford Bridge. There were so many people around, even walking across the bridges was something that required constant attention. Everyone was taking photos and not really paying attention to anything around them.

Since the sun was in the west, the main face of Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament from Parliament Square were better lit as was the London Eye from across the river. I was only carrying my phone with me so was grabbing the occasional shot rather than focusing on the photography but it was nice to be back in Town and having a look around. It did feel awkward being a tourist when I have spent so much time there scorning the tourists but so be it!

Remains of The Woolwich Naval Base

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As I explore the Thames further, I walked along the shore heading west from Woolwich. I came across what is left of the naval base that used to be there. I didn’t realize that a naval base had been there but a few signs explained my ignorance to me! There was a gun emplacement facing the river that, judging by the guns, was clearly very old. Not sure how an engagement would have occurred but it would have been messy.

Additionally, I came across a couple of dry docks. They weren’t dry and they were permanently walled off from the river but they were a testament to what had once gone on here. As an aside, I recently learned a little more about dry docks as a result of something at work. I had figured that what I was seeing was a dry dock, and it is, but there is more than one type of dry dock. Some are floating docks (of which I have seen a fair few) and this type is known as a graving dock. Never too old to learn!

Preserved Defender

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My visit to the Army Flying Museum made reference to some of the exhibits having their own posts and this is one such post. As part of the recent refurbishment, they added a Britten Norman Defender to the collection. This was recently retired from service and was refurbished for display. Having grown up on the Isle of Wight, the Britten Norman Islander is a plane that I have a soft spot for. The Defender is the militarized version of the Islander and it has served in numerous roles around the world from the basic transport role to surveillance of those that don’t want to be seen.

This one is mounted in a dynamic pose which rather dominates the first display hangar. Things are rather tight in the space and definitely dark so trying to get some shots of it that I wanted was a little challenging. I did shot some panos to try and get more of it in than my lens would normally allow. There is a balcony around the upper level of the hangar and that provides a good vantage point on the Defender too. I was happy to get as much as I could of the airframe since I have had very few encounters with them while they were in service.

Mottisfont

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We got some good use out of our National Trust membership while we were over in the UK. One of our destinations was Mottisfont. I hadn’t been there before. There was the main house but, as is the norm for us, we actually didn’t go in that to look around. Instead, we wandered the grounds. I did take some photos of the house, of course, since we were there. It was a rather overcast day so a stone house with grey skies meant it wasn’t looking its best. The grounds were lovely, though. I shall post some shots from our wanderings in due course.

Missed One Chinook But Got Another

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During our day out in Portsmouth, we had lunch at a very nice pub by the harbor. We sat outside enjoying the various boats coming and going. I popped inside before leaving and, when I came back outside, Nancy had to inform me that, as soon as I went inside, three helicopters had flown by. There had been on Chinook with two smaller, unidentified, types flying formation with it. Needless to say, I was rather disappointed but such is life.

A while later, as we were walking along the sea wall at Southsea, the sound of rotors returned. The nice thing about Chinooks is that they don’t really sneak up on you. I had ample time to switch to a longer lens and set up the camera for something more appropriate for a helicopter (although the Chinook rotor rpm is so low, it still is not ideal). Sure enough, it came right towards us and flew through the harbor entrance and right by. A nice surprise. It then flew out to sea and I wondered whether it was going to return. Instead, it appeared to be hovering over one of the forts out in the Solent. That would have looked great from closer up.

Watercress Line

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The UK has a large selection of preserved railways. The cuts in the second half of the twentieth century that closed many branch lines provided opportunities for the preservation movement to get going and the result is a lot of lines that you can visit and ride on. They are usually very well run operations. The Watercress Line runs from Alresford to Alton in Hampshire. We wandered past the station in Alresford when we were visiting with some friends there but it wasn’t operating that day.

However, since we were nearby and staying for a long time, I did take the opportunity to nip back out at some point to see the trains in action. I got to see one of the services departing from the terminus at Alresford but, I was a little thwarted on that occasion because the locomotive was billowing steam forwards and almost totally obscuring the view of it from the bridge I was on.

I also stopped off at an intermediate station which had a passing location which allowed trains operating in opposite directions to pass each other and continue on their way. A steam locomotive is quite an impressive thing to watch as it works and a little video does a better job of conveying the impression than stills. Neither will give you the full sensation, though. The smell and the feel if it passing beneath you is hard to replicate.

Our schedule was pretty full and didn’t leave time for playing with train rides but it might be fun to have a ride on this line or another like it when we are next in the area. I’m sure it would be quite fun. However, watching one of these old things at work seems better from the outside than the inside. (The line does run along a ridge that parallels the main road and I would like to go back at some point to try and get some shots of this location too.)

Not Often You Get To See A 747 These Days

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Passenger 747s are few and far between these days but the freighter world still has plenty of them. Even so, seeing a 747 is coming in is a nice addition to an afternoon. Heathrow’s arrivals included a Cathay Pacific Cargo 747-8F which was a nice bonus. I haven’t had much luck with the Cathay 747-8Fs over the years so was looking forward to it showing up. I had positioned a lot closer to the approach path when it came in and I wondered whether I might have too much lens since the 8F is the longest variant. Fortunately, it all worked out just fine and the sun played ball too.