Glories of Greenwich

[bixaorellana]

Let me be clear that the title of this report is only glories of Greenwich rather than the glories.
That is because there is so much to see and marvel at that I could have gone back the next day to spend hours seeing what I missed the first time.

Be that as it may, I now understand why people are urged to visit Greenwich and am mildly embarrassed that I had only one main objective -- The Queen's House, a place that delivered way more than I expected, as did everything in Greenwich.

Please stick around through this very long report, as sooner or later I will show things interesting to each and every viewer.

Not surprisingly, if you arrive by way of the Cutty Sark underground station, this will be the first thing to catch your eye ~



Luckily the sun came out later, so I was able to get better photos, which you'll see later on in the thread.



The floral displays on this restaurant next to the Cutty Sark helped brighten up the gray day ~



Following directions from the ship's gift shop, I trot along King William Walk to St. Mary's Gate ~



It wasn't time for me to enter the park yet, so I took a hard left and proceeded toward my destination.

Statue of William IV. The pinkish building behind him is part of the Old Royal Naval College ~



This ship in a bottle was originally commissioned for the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square ~



Some floral loveliness on one side and part of the vast expanse of the park on the other ~



The view from the walk running past the National Maritime Museum and The Queen's House. That is the Time Ball on the building in the distance ~



And here I am at my objective, albeit at the back of the house, not the front ~

[bixaorellana]

[kerouac2]

Every time that I go to London, I tell myself that I should go to Greenwich. One of these days, I'm sure that I will and I also know in advance that this thread will convince me to finally do so.

[bixaorellana]

Before we enter the rooms, let's use the vantage point of the open gallery to admire the floor and the ceiling of the Great Hall below.

The floor is the original black and white marble. The ceiling was created by Turner Prize-winning artist Richard Wright in 2016.







The house has been altered and changed around throughout its history. The rooms as we see them now are for displaying art.
One touch I liked though, was the placement of chairs here and there as a reminder that this was once a dwelling ~











I absolutely loved the way these two very large pieces faced each other across a narrow corridor -- very effective!

[bixaorellana]

Belated thanks for you comment, Kerouac, which I'm only now seeing. Let's hope I can live up to the expectation!

We'll move along here from room to room, showing parts of the collection in each -- some with identification and some just to look and enjoy ~

An allegorical painting ~



The Queen of the Queen's House really refers to two queens: www.rmg.co.uk/queens-house/history

[bixaorellana]

This is the ceiling of the Queen's Presence Chamber, painted in the 1630s.
The ‘grotesque’ style includes [Henrietta Maria's] and Charles I’s initials in roundels, and ‘Henrica Maria Regina’ above the fireplace. The design was commissioned from either of two court artists, John de Critz or Matthew Gooderick, and includes an allegory of ‘Aurora dispersing the shades of Night’. source

This picture is an orphan, as I'm not sure in what room it was taken. It will have to stand in for the one below the couple ~



Moving along to see yet more treasures ~



This is the King's Presence Chamber. Did they know how to do great ceilings back then or what?!











We leave the Chamber and move on to give a quick nod to the architect ~

[bixaorellana]

Who can look upon this and not echo Pepys: "... I do want one of my owne" ?



   

















The sculpture above the door in the first picture of the ship ~

[bixaorellana]

Now we descend another beautiful floating staircase to see what's on the ground floor ~







These unexpected treasures were in a tiny room at the bottom of the stairs. I wish the dimensions were included in the caption card.
They are huge -- much larger than poster size -- and just wonderful. I would love to have at least one of them!

[mossie]

Some superbly shot photos here. They really knew how to do ornate in those days.

[bixaorellana]

So kind, mossie -- thank you! Apologies for all the pictures shot at extreme angles, as that was the only way around the reflections and glare.

Stepping into this next small but replete space kind of knocked me for a loop, as I was so quickly captivated by the paintings in it.

Here are some artistic, very evocative views of two world wars ~

I was particularly struck by this painting.
My dear stepfather captained a British-build landing craft at Omaha Beach, which he afterwards delivered back to the British ~

[bixaorellana]

A quick pause to admire the underpinnings of the gallery over the great hall and that magnificent ceiling again ~



A great example of the friendly feel of the Queen's House -- a modern take on the conversationally placed chairs found in so many of the rooms.
None of the chair had signs or barriers indicating that they couldn't be used by the weary museum-goer for sitting ~



















On the way out, this piece of contemporary art seems to fit perfectly into the collection ~





A look through the wavy old glass makes you feel as though you're hovering like a ghost through all the centuries ~



And out through the front door to go take in more of Greenwich ~

[bixaorellana]

It was time to seek sustenance, so I went towards town and the Greenwich market.
Neither the endless tables of vintage stuff nor the limited food selections thrilled me, but I got a Polish sausage on a bun which kept me going.



Part of my reason for coming back this way was to pick up a little item in the gift shop that I just had to have.
The bonus was getting pictures of the clipper ship against sunnier skies ~

Having overheard some earnest backpackers enthusiastically discussing St. Alfege Church, I decided to check it out.
(cribbed from Wikipedia:) The church is dedicated to Alfege, Archbishop of Canterbury, and reputedly marks the place where he was martyred on 19 April 1012. It is not known when the first church was built, but it was rebuilt in around 1290. It was in this building that Henry VIII was baptized in 1491. The second one collapsed in 1710. The present building was completed in 1714. Renovations of the past few years have made it look new.

[kerouac2]

Even though I've seen as many (or more) period films as anybody, every time I see one of these grand old manors, they look so completely unliveable to me, even if they had proper furniture in them. It seems rather strange to me that the upper classes of the people who invented the word "cosy" could live in such sterile and unfriendly rooms. I understand that it was important to show off one's wealth and grandeur, but it's a shame that they could not do so in an environment without a hint of pleasure or comfort.

I certainly admire you for documenting this. Some of the objets d'art are quite nice. Some of the others I would want to unload on eBay for a pittance.

[bixaorellana]

I totally disagree with you. The architecture of the house is a marvel, in that it is full of light. The rooms, compared to other grand places I've visited, are not at all huge -- more of a size that we'd find normal today. The rooms where people were meant to hang out have features such as wainscoting and window seats, which feel friendly and welcoming. Obviously, when the place was a residence, there were carpets and curtains to soften the effect. Personally, I prefer the lean look the rooms have now, as I find cozy really over-rated -- way more dark, cluttered and claustrophobic than I like.

It's time for me to retrace my steps back to the ornate St. Mary's Gate (picture #4 in the OP). Right inside there is a tiny tea room and this lovely garden.
I really admire its use of modern elements such as the grasses, which soften and romanticize the essentially formal planting.
Looking closer, you can see the garden was designed for minimal maintenance, so could easily be adapted to ones own garden.

















It's a stiffish climb up to the Royal Observatory, but the views along the way are worth it.

Looking back to the Queen's House and across the river to 20th/21st century London beyond ~



Zooming in ~



Not that many decades ago there wouldn't have been any buildings looking over the trees at this view ~

[patricklondon]

Jul 6, 2017 4:58:39 GMT kerouac2 said:

Even though I've seen as many (or more) period films as anybody, every time I see one of these grand old manors, they look so completely unliveable to me, even if they had proper furniture in them. It seems rather strange to me that the upper classes of the people who invented the word "cosy" could live in such sterile and unfriendly rooms. I understand that it was important to show off one's wealth and grandeur, but it's a shame that they could not do so in an environment without a hint of pleasure or comfort

That might be the way they're presented in today's heritage industry - though that varies from agency to agency. Royalty and the very grand would have had staterooms deliberately to impress anyone they chose to admit to them. Country house people would usually have had more comfortable rooms for their daily life. As I understand it, the National Trust shows quite a number of its properties in such a condition - but obviously if they're set up not for people to live in, but to walk through without touching anything, the atmosphere will be a bit sterile.

[bixaorellana]

Yeah -- what ^he^ said!
Also, in the case of the Queen's House and some other places, the original furnishings were dispersed decades, or even centuries ago. And anyway, the Queen's House is now a museum to showcase an art collection, rather than a place to show how people used to live.

I've reached the top of the hill and gone through the tricky little gate to look at the Greenwich Meridian ~



Short rant about a pet peeve:
People who have to have pictures of themselves in front of a landmark in every possible combination with those accompanying them.
The little double gate was to keep too many people from congregating by the time line. It didn't stop crazed tiger mothers from arranging crying tots who
didn't want  to be in yet another picture first with mommy, then with daddy, then with ... etc. Meanwhile, no one else could get close to the sacred line.

Here is a picture of some strangers' feet ~



I walked off down this little path which leads nowhere but back down the hill.
On my return there was an even larger family with an even more driven offspring-arranging mother.



Full disclosure: I got this photo by pushing myself in front of her (I said excuse me) and planting myself there for a quick picture.
Here are Bixa's fat feet and her bloomer-like pants set in two different time zones ~

[bixaorellana]

I have to say, in a lifetime of managing not to see the forest for the trees, this was a particularly boneheaded moment, even for me.

In my defense, the entry is through a narrow door and then up a narrow winding metal stairway, so I was really up too close to realize the telescope is housed beneath a spectacular dome.

I should get points though for capturing some nice angles of the telescope, which, because of its enormous size and the relatively small space where it's housed, make it impossible to fit the whole thing into one photograph.

[bixaorellana]

Astronomia has definitely been hitting the gym!





Surely Yuri Gagarin deserves a better statue than this!

On a brighter note, I had my tea over in that far right corner and a darling little robin came over to cock his little head & accept some crumbs.

[bixaorellana]

Let's go admire the views before I start back down the hill ~









Zooming ~



Back at the bottom of the hill, I'm now in the ha-ha admiring the wonderful mixed border which runs past the Queen's House buildings ~











This brings me almost to the National Maritime Museum & my watch tells me I have time for a quick look at it before closing time.

[bixaorellana]

My visit to the National Maritime Museum is yet another reminder that I need to be more open-mindedly curious. Frankly, I'd assumed it wouldn't interest me that much, whereas it turned out I'd have loved to have given it much more time. With that in mind, it also needs to be said that for people who don't like to rush when visiting a place, Greenwich really deserves at least two visits in order to enjoy it leisurely and properly.

Let's go in ~

[bixaorellana]

This picture shows how beautifully the Sammy Ofer Wing is integrated into the older buildings.
The area is a grand and airy showcase for some very large items as well ~

Type-23 frigate propeller <-- click

[bixaorellana]

Turner's The Battle of Trafalgar is housed in its own highly air-conditioned dark room. The painting is poorly served by two spotlights which create
overlapping cones of glare. There is a bench in front of it from which to admire the painting, but it's not a comfortable viewing experience.
The painting itself is a remarkable piece of art, though. You can read either this long explanation or this shorter explanation.

Exquisitely rendered models from various centuries. Apologies for the lack of captions -- I really was running through the museum!













Naval dress swords ~

[bixaorellana]

[bixaorellana]

And with that, closing time arrived and I was forced to leave ~



Walking out through the grounds of the Old Royal Naval College ~



And through the gates I go, hoping to return again some day ~



~ the end ~

[mossie]

A veritable tour de force. There is so much here I am overwhelmed and find it difficult to take in.

One particular photo I would comment on is the model of the Pool of London between the Tower and London Bridge. Quite a feat to show all the boats, but all the houses and roads are included, the model makers must have put many hours in to produce it. It shows the situation where this was the main port for London and before Tower Bridge was built. There was great objection to a bridge at the Tower because it would interfere with shipping and is the reason why Tower Bridge opens so wide. However the London Docks were already coming to the East End to accommodate the larger steam ships and so the Pool became obsolete. I don't know the full history but hope what I have put is in the right ballpark.

[bixaorellana]

Your kind words and attention to this thread mean a lot to me, Mossie -- thank you!

I especially appreciate the history background you provided because, since I wound up devoting so little time to the Maritime Museum, the importance of that wonderfully detailed model escaped me.

Again, I'd like to stress that Greenwich deserves more than one day, as there are unexpected things that will capture interest just as much as whatever ones prime objective is.

[lagatta]

One might wonder how the bodies of military officers were repatriated on slow ships; thinking of Wolfe.

[mossie]

A bit macabre, but Nelson's body was reputedly sent home in a barrel of brandy.

[fumobici]

Beyond jealous but thank you all the same.

[lagatta]

Mossie, yes, I know that story. If writing about war and battles, it is pretty hard not to be macabre, even if one does not indulge in gratuitous gore. But I wonder if they had enough of that left after a long campaign, for a return. Crews expected a wee dram.

Both young generals in that battle died of their wounds; evidently Montcalm was buried in Québec. Of course we remember that many wounds that would be almost trifling now were often mortal then, without antibiotics or advances in surgery and hygiene.

Edited to add, I really must make a proper trip to London (and to some places on the Celtic fringe). I have friends in London, but I've passed the age for couch-surfing, and in such an overpriced place (I was going to write "dear", but that is in the sense that an Irish ancestor would have used it). Lodging seems horrifically expensive in London, but I imagine that there are some alternatives.