Whitehall, Woolwich and Whitehall again!

Lillie and I left earlier than we had planned this morning. Lunch packed and Oyster Card not needing to be topped up! How did that day's travel get on my card? But meant extra money to spend! We were lucky with the two buses up to Whitehall. Lillie loved the sites once we were in the Borough of Southwark and then seeing Westminster Abbey confirmed we were almost reaching our destination.

We stopped at Horse Guards Parade and I took some lovely photos of Lillie with the Horse Guards before we visited Banqueting House  http://www.hrp.org.uk/BanquetingHouse/. Oh my goodness, the ceiling painted by Rubens is stunning. So more pics taken. I wanted to lay on the wooden flooring and look up to take a pic but didn't have the courage to with other visitors in the same room! We also watched a short film regarding the history of Banqueting House and it's connection to Henry VIII, Oliver Cromwell, Charles I, The Masque and Maundy Thursday Celebrations. We bought a souvenir book and Lillie treated herself to a crown shaped notebook and a matching pencil. I took other pics but will come to that later! The staff were all lovely too.

As time was on our side, we decided to move our trip to The Royal Artillery Museum in Woolwich http://www.firepower.org.uk/ to today rather than visit Thursday. We had such a great time here. So much to see and do. A kind member of staff overheard us talking about the info we had collected around the museum. He asked if we needed any assistance and I mentioned that a relative of ours was killed in action during WWI during the Battle of the Somme.

With this info I had shared, he furthered our interest with chatting to us about various WWI facts. He allowed Lillie and I to hold a rocket from this time and allowed Lillie to sit on a WWI gun which is a rare thing to allow in the museum because after all, these objects are of historical value. A photo was taken of Lillie and I with the rocket and somehow I managed to delete the whole day's photos from my camera. I was so gutted and felt kinda deflated. I think it was obvious to all how annoyed with myself I was.

 

WWI gun

 

WWI rocket - not for this gun though!!

Then the R.A.M member of staff asked if we would like to visit the Medal Gallery. Of course we said yes! Unfortunately the room was locked as the Medals were out of their cases. Thankfully another member of staff came out the gallery with a box of medals. He allowed the chap we were talking to show us the box's contents. We saw various medals and a Victoria Cross medal. We were allowed to hold each one we were shown but I was not allowed to take photos of these for obvious reasons. But I did take some other pics with Lillie in part uniform...

 

Standing tall and proud

 

British Army Fragmetation Vest MK-I and a British MK5 (1944) Pattern Steel Helmet - both very heavy and worn twice by Lillie

And a pic of the memorial section dedicated to Gunners. Then signing the visitors book...

 

Always remembered and there were many names and ranks

 

We both signed and commented

It felt such a privilege for Lillie and I to be allowed access to things not usually allowed and we are so grateful for the opportunity to have been able to do all these things. As for the photos  lost - we bussed it back to Whitehall! We didn't go back to Banqueting House as the souvenir book covers what we saw and we will visit again another day. But we did get pics of Lillie with the Horse guards and the pics taken were much better than this morning's ones as there were less people around. We were aware that the Horse Guards cannot speak to the public but it didn't stop us from saying thank you and we caught one guard giving a very slight nod to a thank you he heard from another photographer.

 

Banqueting House

Other pics were taken too - more so objects that most can relate to where the City of London is concerned - a red telephone box, an underground sign, a taxi and a touring bus!!

 

Bus home across Westminster Bridge, on a cloudy and rainy day!

I have to admit that Lillie and I were relieved to get back home, it was just after 5pm. Our feet were a little sore and our tummies rumbling with wanting our dinner! Nonetheless, what a great day we had and we are still giggling that we took the bus back just to recapture some of the pics I lost! It was all worth the extra effort.

 

The R.A.M info we brought home

 

A great read to discuss

 

A lovely notebook and pencil for Lillie

 

Inevitable visits for the future

 

 

One tired little Princess - sleep well sweetheart. We're visiting Lottie tomorrow!!