Stonehenge:

Stonehenge was a surprise in that not only is it so ancient (construction started 5,000 years ago) but that it was used
for religious purposes for such a long time (1,500 years). It's been abandoned, for the last 35 centuries, but parts of
it still stand firm. I think this is due, in part, to the mortise and tenon and a tongue and groove joints the ancients used
during construction (you can see a tenon sticking up in the first photo in the upper left of this series). Additionally,
I felt it interesting to capture some of the road and parking around Stonehenge as plans are underway to eliminate the
view of most modern activity around the site. Most of this will be achieved through the construction of a tunnel to keep
traffic and parking out of view of visitors...

Bird between stones		Stonehenge parking...	Stonehenge mounds	Roger photographs mounds...

Beatlemania!

Abbey Road:

We were able to take the "Tube" to within just a couple of blocks of that very famous Abbey Road zebra (crosswalk) and Abbey Road recording studios made famous by the 1969 Beatles' album cover. The intersection has actually turned into a continuous social gathering, and memorial, so there's now a webcam that lets you watch all of the tourists (including me!) crossing the world's most famous zebra! While there, I also learned a lot from the Building Manager for Abbey House, immediately adjacent the studios. His name is Bob Wilson and he's gained some fame because so many people recognize him from the webcam that they stop to meet him as well! [Note: I've removed the webcam link because the URL changes a lot so please do a search for it!!]

The last two photographs are of Brazil's Fantastico Globo interviewer and film crew. They were at Abbey Road to follow Brazil's top rock stars as they toured the UK. The interviewer, who I'm speaking to in the second-from-last photo, is Zeca Camargo and has a TV viewing audience of 50 to 60 million each broadcast!!

Beatles' 1969 Album Cover

That's me in front...

Me and Bob Wilson

Abbey Road Studios

Me and Zeca Camargo!

Fantastico Globo's film crew

Click Here for the Abbey Road webcam...

Is it the Cavern Club or the Cavern Pub? For us it was a bit confusing to figure out exactly where the Beatles played their first 274 professional gigs since both establishments are across the "street" (it's more like an alleyway) from each other. Nevertheless, we were assured that although the original "Cavern Club" had been demolished, in the early 1970s, its original bricks were used to reconstruct the stage and audience area exactly as they existed during the Beatle era. And, apparently, in the exact location although nobody seemed willing to swear to it. Either way, Liverpool is where it all started and we were happy to be there!

The Cavern Pub

Statue of John Lenon

Roger the photographer...

Roger on stage...

Cavern Club

Going down the stairs

The B&B Experience:

The Bed and Breakfast experience, outside the U.S., can't be beat - and the U.K. is no exception! Although we had no specific timetable or route, we were fortunate to encounter some delightful B&B's that we'll not soon forget. Each is unique because you're staying in a home that's actually occupied by owner's who are eager to make your stay as comfortable as possible. Each, without exception, provided a full English-style breakfast that offered great vegetarian options for those so inclined!

Western House B&B		Me and the owners!	Comfortable bed	Comfortable dinning
Vegetarian breakfast*	East Lee	Prospect Villa	Springfield House	Springbank Cottage, Scotland

* This particular breakfast, in the photograph
above, is a good example of the soy substitutes
offered by some of the B&Bs we stayed in. In this
case there we no actual meat products on this plate!

Castles:

We had the pleasure of touring a number of castles and their associated
museums. Entry fees can be a little steep, at anywhere from £4 to £15 ($8 to $30 USD)
but well worth the expense as the interiors are so rich with relics and history. Also,
they didn't seem to be too shy about showing us the garderobes (toilets), either!
You won't be surprised to know that I have an entire web page devoted to garderobes!)
On a more serious note, many of the castles (and other monuments) we visited are maintained
The National Trust - a charitable organization
that has been the United Kingdom's heritage guardian for over a century...

Warkworth

Warkworth

Bamburgh

Dunstanburgh

Dunstanburgh

Each castle is fascinating in its own way. Some have roots that go back to Roman times while others are huge, magnificent structures that dominated the landscape just a few hundred years ago. For me, Dunstanburgh (the last two photos on the right) was one of the more interesting castles in that its craggy ruins haunt the east coast of England just below the Scottish border.

The Dunstanburgh website says it in a way that helps us Coloradoan mountain folk understand the historical placement of castles on the European landscape; "The castle was built on a grand scale, providing plenty of space to harbour local people and their livestock in the event of a Scottish raid. Thick walls surrounded the site and the steep cliffs and sea provided protection from attack on two sides. The impressive three-story gatehouse was built between 1313 and 1325 using the finest materials."

"The second gatehouse was added 60 years later by the powerful John Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. The third son of Edward III, the duke was involved in negotiations with the Scots. He took the opportunity to strengthen his fortress and provide more accommodation for his entourage. "

"During the Wars of the Roses the castle was besieged by Yorkists. However in the Civil War the castle played little part as it was unable to withstand artillery bombardment. "

"Today the ruins of the great fortress are stranded on a hill top only accessible by foot."

Tower of London:
"Beefeaters" are the Yeomen Warders of Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress the Tower of London...

While touring the Tower of London, I took this quick 6 mb video of a Beefeater explaining an ancient beheading that took place on the premises. The Beefeaters are the "Yeomen Warders," or ceremonial guard of Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress at the Tower of London. There are 36 of 'em and each has had to have had at least 22 years of honorable military service before being accepted to the position. With such a distinguished history I was a little surprised, but pleased, to find the Beefeaters injecting some humor into their presentations!

Beefeater

Entering

Water control

Click Here for my YouTube video on a bit of Beefeater-Tower-of-London humor!

Cars:

Despite the plethora of roundabouts, throughout the country, the highway system is very modern and fast paced. Typical speed limits are 70 mph (110+ km/h) with many folks passing us (on the right!) even when we were going 80 mph (125+ km/h). Our rented Fiat had a manual transmission so it took a day or two to get used to both driving and shifting on the left. It got even more complicated after I broke my left ring finger falling on a morning jog. Still, we made a good driving team with one person reading the maps and the other driving! And, the roundabouts start to make a lot of sense after you get used to them - they're efficient and a whole lot less dangerous than a typical American intersection where "T-bone" crashes and fatalities are all too common...
[Note: about a decade after I created this page aroundabouts were becoming increasingly more popular around my state of Colorado and other parts of the U.S.A.]

Royal Mail	Carbon Neutral Taxi	My favorite	3 Wheels!!!	3 Wheels up close!

Note: At the time of our visit we were impressed with vehicles around the U.K. because they were generally smaller and more efficient than the huge gasoline hogs that plugged (and plagued!) America's highways at the time. However, since adding these two sentences, after the 2008 oil shock, vehicles like the "My Favorite" (above) started appearing on America's highways as well!

Walls and Fences:

			This retired gentleman, and his helper, were very enthusiastic to talk about the fences/walls they rebuild. He said that he charges 10 pounds per hour ($20.00 USD exchange rate at the time of our visit) while the property owner receives 25 pounds per metre of repaired wall. Apparently there's a government program underway to restore old walls and fences. In this particular case the local folks believed this wall to have been in disrepair for over 40 years...

Signs:

I've always found signage, in other states, provinces, and countries to be
very interesting. I'm sure anyone visiting Colorado would find our signs,
warning of a goose crossing, or the location of Buffalo Bill's grave, to be
equally strange!

Danger of Death	Bike route	3 Way control	Selfish Zig Zag Parking	Nite-Lite Ped Pillars

Grocery Stores:

Whenever traveling, I usually enjoy the local stores and marketplaces as
opposed to established restaurants and chains - it< seems to help me, and
those who I am travelling with, gain a better "feeling" for the local community
in addition to being a lot of fun!

Sitting down!	CO-OP - Dunbar, Scotland		Coffee Whitener
Crisps! (potato chips)	Shopping for tea...	Steamed Suet Pudding	Liquor security bottle tops

Hammersmith Groceries

Meal Deal

Cadbury Fingers

Butter and Cheese

London:
One of the World's greatest cities!

A little overcast, while we were there, but you get the idea!

Traditional Phone Booth

Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Pigeons...

Big Ben

Click Here for a live webcam at Trafalagar square...

National Gallery

Tower Bridge

River Thames

Millenium Wheel

Mind the gap! (watch your step while boarding!) London's bus and subway (the "Tube") system is simply superb! We've been on a number of really great transit systems (San Francisco's BART and Washington DC's METRO) but found London's Underground to be the most convenient and user-friendly. The Tube runs continuously and covers all of London - there's no need for a car, especially with parking fees at over £20 and a daily "congestion fee" of £8 per vehicle!

Piccadilly Line

This next set of photos were taken early on Sunday morning, December 07, '08. Since it was
so early there weren't many people riding yet so we were able to watch sunrise from the tube!

Mind the gap!	Getting onboard	Plenty of seating	Waiting	Sunrise on the Piccadilly line!
Entering the turnstile	Waiting at Hounslow West	Empty seats	Empty seats	Hammersmith subway entrance

Click Here for my YouTube "Mind the Gap" video!

Hammersmith:

On December 07, 2008 we were coming back from India and had a bit of a layover in London. We used the time to explore what we hoped would represent a "regular" neighborhood and believe we found it in the bourough of Hammersmith off the Tube's Piccadilly line. It was an early Sunday morning and a bit cold (but nothing like what we're accustomed to in Colorado - many of the locals telling us it was "frosty" out! (to their credit, there was frost on the ground...) Anyway, we had a pleasant walk through the comfortable community of Hammersmith just a few miles outside of downtown London.

Hammersmith	Police	Post Office	Petrol Station	Hammersmith
Hammersmith Broadway	Corner	Laing & Company Plumber	Double decker bus	A "Frosty" morning according to locals!

Click Here for a YouTube walk through Hammersmith...

Final Notes:

• At the time of our visit the Pound sterling (£) was trading at exactly twice that of the U.S. Dollar ($) and 1.5 times that of the Euro (€) [The Dollar was worth .80 Euros at that time, as well...].
• At the time of our visit there was considerable political unease with Britain's involvement, with America, in the Iraq war. Prime minister Tony Blair's reputation, and career, were in question over the entire issue with many referring to him as America's "poodle." So, some of the British subjects we ran into seemed eager to talk about politics. Although always being polite and respectful, every single one them expressed disappointment with the direction America had taken in all of this.
• Coincidently, while I was still in the U.K., an amateur radio operator (G4AUD, Tony Lacy) had sent me some emails related to our mutual interest in Morse code. Our email exchange took a slight political turn when Tony said, "Good luck and I hope that the fine people in your country can get back on track and elect a government that can begin to repair some of the damage done by your current administration." I thought his statement was very representative of what we encountered, throughout the UK, and asked him if I could post his name and comments. Tony stated, "Yes, my first and last if you wish. I'm happy for my political beliefs to be known to anybody." - so, there you have it!

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