Visit to Greenwich

Despite heavy rain on the journey to London the skies were clear on arrival. Sue Ellerton, as organised as ever, had arranged for us to be dropped by the Observatory at the top of the hill and produced a map showing an afternoon pick-up point at the bottom, ensuring that we did not have to undertake the steep climb at the end of the day. Most people dived in to the cafe for a cup of coffee before walking to the Observatory and then stood looking at the surperb view over the valley, with its magnificant vista of London in the background and beautiful buildings below.
The Observatory and the buildings surrounding it give the visitor a wealth of history regarding the search for the stars and the importance of 'time' in our everyday lives.  The Meridian Gallery shows the Greenwich Meridian line and the original telescopes used by Flamsteed, Halley and the Astronomers Royal. On the top is the time ball, one of the earliest public time signals. Flamsteed House houses a Camera Obscura, the room Christopher Wren used to observe celestial events and the sleeping accommodation where the observers lived and worked. Also on this site is a magnificent collection of historic timepieces and the planetarium named after Peter Harrison.

It is a lovely walk down the hill to the buildings below and people were left to view as many as they wished in any order.
The Queens House (right) was completed around 1638, when Inigo Jones introduced England to Palladian Architecture.  Originally a summer villa for Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles 1, it now houses a world class art collection and is an elegant setting for entertaining and displays. The great marble tiled hall and gallery, together with the tulip stairs, are worth a visit in their own right. The exhibition of paintings entitled  'Turmoil and Tranquillity' seemed to veer towards the turmoil with superb paintings of very angry seas.
The Maritime Museum really needs a full day to itself. It is on four floors and details the discovery and endeavour from Britain's seafaring past. Displays are as varied as simulators that allow you to steer a ship to port, to Nelson's bullet-pierced jacket. History is round every corner and the museum is to be congratulated on it diversity and its layout. Stained glass rescued from the old Baltic Hall is beautiful.

On the way to see the painted hall it would be fair to that it was possible to become a little confused. It was unexpected to come face to face with  a period coach and horses in the middle of Greenwich. A BBC crew were filming a section of  'Little Dorrit', their next period saga. It was fascinating to watch a crew working although it seemed on the whole to be an endless repeat of each take and a great deal of lounging around.
The Painted Hall is beautiful and is still used for formal entertaining. A magnificent ceiling can be viewed via mirrors and the huge windows shed light on what is overall fairly sombre decoration.
Directly opposite is the Chapel : simple decoration with a beautiful picture behind the altar.

When the Navy left for its new base in 1997 a charity was set up to conserve and restore the buildings. These buildings are now home to the University of Greenwich and the Trinity College of Music.

This was the last outing this year and the last arranged by Sue Ellerton who is standing down after 12 years.  On the bus home the Chairman, Ian Crossman, gave a vote of thanks for all her work.  Unless someone steps forward there will be no Summer Programme next year