The Ham Nomads

19 Apr 2014. <GB-ENG> London —

The Horse Guards in Hyde Park

At the Serpentine

We were going to do Hyde Park tomorrow, when Speakers Corner is in full flight, but rain is predicted, so we went there today. Took the tube to Hyde Park Corner, then went into the park, walked along the Serpentine, watching the Horse Guards go by, visiting the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain — even if you're not into memorials, it's a fascinating piece of art in its own right — and enjoyed the sights. A beautiful spring morning! Crossed the bridge at The Ring, so only circumnavigated half of the Serpentine.

At the bridge we found the Serpentine Sackler Gallery, which had an interesting exhibition of shelving from the past 50 years. Some of the exhibits were very innovative, all of them were works of art in their own right. One was even from the Ikea range. The building itself, the Magazine, used to be a munitions store during the Napoleonic wars, but its present use as a gallery is far more user-friendly.

While on the topic of the Napoleonic Wars, we then returned to where we had entered the park and went into Aspley House, the Mansion of the Dukes of Wellington. Purchased by the first Duke of Wellington from the Aspley family in 1817, it contains his art collection and all the honours that were showered on him after his defeat of Napoleon. A truly impressive exhibition. My only regret is that the protective varnish applied to all the oil paintings has darkened substantially over the years, and all the paintings could do with judicious cleaning and restoration.

We then walked down Knightsbridge and Brompton Road to Harrods. Didn't spend long there — it's a huge rabbits' warren, very disorienting, and not the ideal place for someone who doesn't like shopping for the sake of shopping — i.e. Warren! We decided to leave, and Suzie will go back there on her own tomorrow (when it presumably will be raining).

Had lunch at a Paul shop just opposite Harrods, then walked to the Victoria and Albert Museum. Went through a few sections. Warren found a delightful Japanese bowl with a couple of rabbits on its lid dating from the early 1870s.

Royal Albert Hall

The Albert Memorial

We then went on to the Royal Albert Hall and the Albert Memorial. Suzie just burst into laughter at the extreme extravagance and maudlin sentiment of the whole edifice. But it is magnificent in its own way.

The Albert Memorial is only about a mile from our digs and, at about 3.30pm we decided to make our way home and put our feet up. On the way back, we just happened on a little church we didn't know was only one block from our hostel.