Boat Trip down the Thames

We had some free tickets to Kew Gardens which had to be used by the end of the month, so I took last Monday off and we headed up to London; first stop the Tower of London to look at the nearly completed poppy installation.

New to us (although they have probably been there a while) are life-size sculptures of the Tower’s royal beasts. We saw the three lions crouched by the ruins of the Lion Tower at the main entrance.Thet have been created by artist Kendra Haste who works in wire mesh.

 

After walking around the perimeter of the Tower we caught tube to Westminster Pier and then a boat to Kew (£12 single, 11/2 hours).

A chance for a few pictures of London Landmarks:

One of the eight statues on Vauxhall Bridge (4 on the down stream face, and 4 on the up stream face). The statues each weigh nearly 2 tons and were installed in 1907. This one ( on the upstream face by Frederick Pomeroy) represents architecture.

 

Next, on the south bank came Battersea Power Station, now a building site. Grade II listed so the chimney stacks are being demolished and rebuilt.

Next one of the less attractive riverside estates - Chelsea Harbour

Close by is Lots Road Power Station - this used to supply power to the District Underground Line  but now is yet another residential conversion in waiting!

St Mary's Church Battersea, Grade I listed by architect Joseph Dixon, was built in 1775-7 and was frequented by the artist  J M Turner. Shame about the tower blocks behind.

Craven Cottage, the home of Fulham FC since 1896. The original 'Cottage' was built in 1780, by William Craven, the sixth Baron Craven and was located on the centre circle of the pitch.

 

The Harrods Furniture Depository is just upstream of Hammersmith Bridge. It was built on the site of an old soap factory as a storage centre for the larger items that could not be taken into the Knightsbridge  department store. It was designed in the 1890s in neoclassical style by William Hunt, with elegant bands of brick and stone, faience tiling, ornate flourishes and two domed towers reminiscent of pavilions of the Indian raj. Construction began 1894 and was finally completed in 1913. It is one of the earlier examples of a reinforced concrete in London.

Hartington Court, a 1930s art deco development  on the north bank between Chiswick Bridge and Kew Bridge.