Ashes to ashes, if Lillee doesn't get you ...

The famous 'urn'

View of the members pavilion at Lord's -
waiting time is up to 29 years.

 Well in heaven this morning at the ‘home’ of cricket – Lord’s. To tour the dressing rooms and the Long Room and walk where the greats of the game have gone out to battle was amazing. So many tremendous performances, so much history, so many amazing cricketers – wow. It was fascinating to see the famous slope in real life, along with the tiny little urn that has been the object of desire, the catalyst for superstar performances and the ultimate reward for victory and the ‘horrible’ media centre that seems so out of place in TV coverage of Lord’s Test matches. The rationale for the media centre (spaceship) is that at one end is the tradition of the pavilion while the other (nursery) end is the future. Can understand the theory behind it but can’t say that I am a fan – it looks as horrible in real life as it does on the TV. Of course given the fact it looks so horrible (to me) means that it has won numerous architecture awards. There was plenty of good natured banter regarding the ashes which I am sure may have left the Indian members of the tour slightly bemused but in a few more weeks it is all on the line again. The covers were out due to the drizzle and the ground staff were out with spray bottles walking up and down spraying weeds in the outfield. Fairly labour intensive but good to see they are taking good care of the hallowed turf. We also got a glimpse of the wicket for the ashes test to be played in July. I’m sure by the end of that the Aussies will be 2-0 up!

Narrow boats on the Regent canal

A couple of the ‘old foe’ gave us a lift to Little Venice where we caught a narrow boat (don't call them barges) to Camden Lock and the markets along Regents Canal. It may have been called Little Venice but these canals aren’t a patch on those of Venice. To be fair they were made for completely different purposes. The canal was dug along with the others in England by hand to enable the transport of materials for industrial processing. In fact the Regent Canal was dug through the second position for Lord’s Cricket Ground meaning the ground had to move to its current location in 1814. The use of canals was amazing in the days before engines and trains and trucks. Goods were transported all over the country by horse power. The tow path (where the horse would pull the boat) beside the canal is still in place and is now used as a pedestrian and cycle path through the centre of London. The canals were still used up to the 1960s when they fell into disrepair and many were filled in. Over the last few years people have worked to reopen many of them and they are now used for leisure and tourist purposes. Unfortunately people seem to use the canals as a dump point and so they don’t have exactly the nicest outlook. A houseboat on the Noosa River would be a much better cruise.

Bridge over the canal - known as
Blow up Bridge. The original was
destroyed when a cargo of
gunpowder on the narrow boat exploded.

The Camden markets were crazy with people everywhere. It would take a week to get through all the stalls so we barely touched the surface. Some shopping, lunch and browsing and it was time to head off for some more sightseeing. We headed back on the tube to Kensington Palace and gardens. The Palace is now fully open to the public (seeing the Royal family is not using it) and part of it is set up telling the story of Queen Victoria. Most people think of Victoria as the little old monarch dressed in black, however this was in her later life after Albert her husband of 21 years had died. Given the details and the way Victoria wrote it seems that she really was besotted by Alfred and they were very much in love. After all the stories we have read and seen of the arranged marriages it was refreshing to see what seemed like genuine love.

Tomorrow is the final day of our London Pass so we will continue to ‘tourist cram’ with some more of the central London sights before we hit the shops before we head home.

Love to all

S&E