The Barbican

We started today's adventure by walking across Kensington Gardens and down/up Oxford Street

As you can see the park is expansive.  Wooded areas and more formal gardens as well

as a huge area with nothing but grass. 

One of London's worst statues according to my favorite critic.  I will have to look

back in my blog for the the link to his site. 

Grosvenor Square is where the United States Embassy is located.  Across from the building

and just inside the square's garden is a statue of Dwight D Eisenhauer.  He is dressed ready to oversee Normandy on June 6, 1944.

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A little further into the park is a statue of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. 

The oval shape of the park is shown in this small diagram on a City of Westminster site. 

On the opposite side of the garden is this little structure dedicated to peace 

September 11 memorial garden in Grosvenor Square

The pavilion’s inscription says, “Grief is the price we pay for love,” quoting Queen Elizabeth soon after the attacks.

Flag flying at half-mast on the roof of the American embassy in Grosvenor Square.

in respect for the 22 people killed yesterday in Manchester in a suicide bomb attack.

 

Walking along Charterhouse Street we saw some buildings new to us. This area of the street is

somber. It is apparent that it is a street filled with unused buildings now, but that were key to

the city of London at one time. Before passing the above emblem on a white deserted building, we

passed a huge seemingly empty building with the message 'London Port Authority' still visible on

its side.  The above emblem states that the building was once the Central Gold Storage facility. 

(PLA) is a self-funding public trust established by The Port of London Act 1908 The Port of London Authorityto govern the Port of London. Its responsibility extends over the Tideway of the River Thames and its continuation (the Kent/Essex strait). It maintains and supervises navigation, and protects the river's environment.

The PLA originally had its headquarters on Tower Hill in the City of London, but today it is based at London River House and Royal Terrace Pier in Gravesend. 

The large building listed as the London Central Market is easy to spot on the map.  In reality, it too looks like a building that has not been used in years. 

 It is, in fact, still a vibrant part of this city and district.

Our only problem was that we were there far too late to see the meat market in action.

The market opens at 2 am and it is in business Monday through Friday. The visitor or buyers

is warned not to arrive later than 7 am because a lot of the vendors will be closing down before then.

Smithfield or, to give it its official name, London Central Markets, is the largest wholesale meat market in the UK and one of the largest of its kind in Europe.

Located within the Square Mile of the City of London it is housed in three listed buildings.

It is a place packed with history there has been a livestock market on the site for over 800 years and yet is as modern as tomorrow with its state of the art facilities for the receiving, storing and despatching of meat and poultry

Empty display cases

A brief history of the market is shown on a wall with photographs from the past.

Right across the street from the market is Saint Bartholomew's church,

They have an online site where you can find information about times of worship and it claims 

to be London's oldest church, established 2000 years ago.

Squeezed into an area filled with other buildings, I am not sure if there is any possible way to get

a very good picture of the church.  Just a short distance away is St Bartholomew's hospital

These ruins have nothing to do with the nearby church.  They are part of the London Wall which is 

attributed to the Romans.  The museum itself is overwhelming.  It would be wise to allot a few hours a day for several days, if you would like to really see the contents of the museum. Below are a few

things that caught our eyes.

 

This replica of a medival hut is a teaching corner of the museum.  Since it was packed with

children we did not stay to hear what was said.  It is just one aspect of the museum that is

designed to interest children and old retired folk like me.  You could spend all day listening to history and stories from the long past to the present day. Or opening little doors in the wall to discover some fact about history or be surprised that the only item under the door is a mirror reflection of you. 

Probably not an ancestor since the Frys seem to have come from Germany, however, I would be proud to claim Elizabeth Fry,

And thanks to a blog by Richard I have learned a lot more about how conditions were for the poor and imprisoned in Fry's era. 

This dress is covered with embroidery, jewels, and lace.  I cannot imagine wearing anything like this

ever.  Of course, it has a huge frame underneath.