A half day in Greenwich: HOT and so sunny!

For Beating Retreat London 2015 we were allowed to stay overnight in London and I accepted gladly as it would be such an interesting experience to stay over in the Barracks. This is where we stayed on Blackheath. 4 to a ladies dormitory and very comfortable it was too. With a wee kitchenette and lounge included and very comfy bunk beds though there wasn't room to swing a cat in the room itself.

Slept like a log though, from just after midnight to 8: 30 am.

And then on the morning of June 11 I set off to explore Blackheath and Greenwich. Earlier intentions had been to take the ferry into the centre if London but I had to be back in Barracks by 15:30 to catch the bus with all the others and after breakfast and packing up it was already past 11 am.
This did not leave enough time to walk to the ferry , catch it and provide sufficient time in the centre before coming back again.

So I explored at leisure instead. The Heath seemed vast .

See? Grass in all directions.

 Sunbathing gentleman just lying in the tall grass? It was getting warm by then.

 A glimpse of city buildings.

 The vastness of the Heath warranted a map but wearing sunglasses I didn;t realise it was not in focus, sorry.

 The map was near here so I could orient myself on the map I had bought last week, a mini A-Z of London. My last proper thick A-Z was in use in the 1980's, when I lived and worked in London.

 What an expanse of Heath, I had not been expecting this. Church spire of x

 Looking down into the Royal Greenwich Park from the heath.

 Looking back out at the heath .

 The Wolfe statue at the end.

 Tempting but first I went to find the deer!

 Via the flower gardens.

So pretty!

 I was just on my way to those flowers....

 Oh, no what is she up to?

 I'm off for some shade.

 Is that camera lady gone now?

 ''I'm hopping in here for some lunch now''- he was digging and chewing at the flower roots and tubers!

MMM, yummy, these purple ones have tastier roots.

 Lovely tree.

 Hello there, do you have peanuts for me? ( I had sat down to enjoy the view and a banana)

 I'm coming!

 Oh, what is that? Tuna and pasta salad?  That looks like cat -food!

 Maybe not then.

 BYE!

Just one last chance? No?

Look ! There's my uncle.

 So sweet sitting upright with his white chest puffed out.

Then I went and found the deer!

 See there's one there too, to the right of centre. Head and ears visible only.

 Spot the deer.

 See the big antlers to the left of the bare tree trunk? It was too hot they were lying down.

 A wonderful old gnarled tree and then to the Observatory, what a view!

 Walkie Talkie, Cheese Grater and the Gherkin can all be identified.

 See the Shard and St Paul's?

 The I found the Meridian line and here's my feet:
ONE  in the EAST and one foot in the WEST. East is the LEFT foot and WEST is the Right foot.

 as indicated on this wall here:

 Or as a bit more complete picture:

Just one last look at that cute squirrel and there's more about all this a later post.

Almost famous for a few seconds...

 I had an invitation to celebrate Oxford Brookes University 150th birthday on 22nd May and I attended with gladness. Managed to park nearby so I has two hours to attend the play and the lunch.

But what a surprise there were photos in costume to be taken too! What fun!

 And the play about the history of the College which started as a college of Art and then became a technical college before  morphing onto a polytechnic and finally in 1992 transforming into a University. I'd had no idea and it was a very entertaining play.

 At lunch they even catered for vegetarians , I enjoyed a veggie burger and a lovely chat to a fellow student. We were even given a lovely choice of ice-cream for dessert!

 After the photography session we - the last in line being photographed- were approached by BBC tv crew and asked if we were willing to be interviewed and filmed and of course we said YES!

There were the three of us: an undergraduate art student, a recently graduated chap and myself: representing the postgraduate students. 

We were asked what was good about studying at Brookes and I told of the excellent support, the resources and the library databases which give access to so many journals for research. Also to supportive and knowledgeable tutors and excellent facilities. Finally I was asked what the 150th birthday meant to me- other than a free lunch- and I cam up with something inane such as a sense of tradition and history .... And THAT's the only bit they kept! They cut the good stuff about post graduate study at Brookes.

But I did get my few seconds of ''fame'' , live on TV and BBC1 no less! On the news in Oxford Today:

Here's the link to a video of the news on Youtube as it is too long and large to save into this post, it was rejected by Blogger.

https://youtu.be/pW4IEHX0d-g

WOW what a day that was... even if I sound and look, well shall we say not as I had hoped or imagined?