We took a stroll through the main streets of Greenwich, stopping briefly for the best sausage rolls ever, until we came to the gates of the Royal Naval College where a graduation was taking place. Views of The O2 (formerly the Millennium Dome) and the Gherkin (Swiss Embassy) were clear from the edge of the Thames.
Across the road is Greenwich Park which contains the Naval Museum, the Royal Observatory and the Queen’s House. We took a walk up the hill to the Royal Observatory – the house belonging to John Flamsteed and the origin of the Greenwich meridian line. We only had a limited amount of time so we stopped off at a tea room and had a quick bite to eat then we spent over an hour walking around the old house which had been preserved with the original antiques and telescopic equipment. The second part of the tour was an exhibition covering Flamsteed’s solution to the longitude problem and the creation of the accurate clock which took four attempts to get the required accuracy.
After we’d finished at the Observatory, we walked back through the park and the local market to the site of the Cutty Sark which had been damaged by fire a couple of months ago. Fortunately, over 80% of the original could be salvaged and the rest would have to be recreated. Over the course of the day I had developed a real hankering for proper English fish & chips with salt and vinegar. Lou and Jackie were keen to go to Marks & Spencer so I offered to take Will home and feed him.
We found our way home with no problems and watched golf on TV while we had our lovely F&C. Marks & Spencer was only open for a short time when the girls were there so they came back not long after we had finished. Once Mathew arrived home, we ordered in some curry from Massala – one of the many local curry shops. You’ll note that we had curry for dinner the previous night so I was a very happy boy and we slept well that night.