It was a gorgeous morning and afternoon and me and the Old Boy had no plans apart from riding somewhere. The Old Boy wanted to know where I go with Nagging Sister when we go to London, so that was out destintation today, but not just stopping at St Catherines Dock, we were going to see the poppies.
I am not very good at remember directions, and once I kind of know away of getting somewhere I generally stick to it. Now the Old Boy, in fact I am sure all men, are built with inner SatNav, said to me when we got to Cator Park, "If I knew you wanted to get here ......" Well you can guess the rest. But that was the only way I know of getting into London a nice way, (i.e. the WaterWay Link).
And besides, it's nice to cycle along the little rivers. And the Old Boy had a good time reminiscing about when he was a small boy and used to play in one of the parks we rode through. His dad used to live in the area and they used to go and visit his nanny and aunties.
All the diversions, all the little turns left and right, we finally got to Surrey Docks Farm. And then it's up to the Old Boy to find the way from there. It was not too far, but we made a meal of it, well, its the first reccy to the Tower of London! We eventually found our way to Tower Bridge and had to get off our bikes and walk for a bit as there were so many people around. We had lunch first and then made our way to the Tower of London itself.
When we got there it was just exactly what I expected. I was a bit overwhelmed when I saw it, knowing that in June the first of 888,246 were 'planted' by a Yeoman warden, and each one is representing a person killed in the first world war! The last poppy will be planted on November 11, Armistice Day. The installation is called 'Blood Swept Lands And Seas Of Red' I just stood and looked, said a prayer of thanks, and then did the 'tourist' thing with the camera! It just had to be done! Looking at all those poppies you just can't help but be thankful to all those young boys and men who went to war so that we could have the freedom we enjoy now! Very humbling! Here is some photos.
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| A panoramic view |
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| Just looks like the Tower is bleeding! |
As I was walking around the tower I saw a proper tourist and he had asked one of the volunteer 'info' ladies what the significance of the poppies are. Are really wanted to tell him but I thought it would be better coming from those who were there to answer such questions.
After we walked around there we made our way back in the homeward direction, stopping to photograph this,
From there we headed back to get back on track with cycle route 21. All the way home, but a slightly different way again! It seems I am destined never to go the same way home twice! Getting to Cator Park is easy, but from there getting home is again a differently way, in fact we didn't even go into the park this time! Oh well. It's all good, and it's good to find out new routes, isn't it?
Geeky stats from the Old Boys Garmin
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