Having checked in to our hotel, our plan for the day was to head up to London and then across the city to Greenwich. The first thing to see after exiting the station is the majestic tea clipper, Cutty Sark, which is on display in a raised dry dock alongside the Thames. It is possible to step aboard and explore the vessel but unfortunately we did not really have time as the main purpose of our visit was to get to the Royal Observatory.
The Observatory itself is set atop a small but steep hill in an area of extensive parkland. At the top of the hill greeting visitors is a statue of General James Wolfe, he who laid siege to Quebec. This was a particularly poignant moment as legend has it that Wolfe is indeed a distant family relative! The views " our ancestor" has across the park towards Canary Wharf and the City of London are quite spectacular.
Next, in the Observatory courtyard is one of the most famous objects Greenwich is known for, namely the Greenwich Meridian line. All visitors have to take photographs with one foot in the Western Hemisphere and one in the Eastern, and I have to confess that we were no exception. I switched on the GPS app in my phone to check the latitude and longitude co-ordinates only to discover that the Meridian is several seconds of a degree out. I understand that given the era in which the Meridian was officially defined, the accuracy was as good as it gets (as satellite navigation was still 250 years in the future) and rather unromantically the true meridian actually runs through the Observatory's bin storage area.
Inside the Observatory building itself is a museum dedicated to all manner of things astronomical. Included in the collection are many important artefacts such as William Herschel's telescope but, for me, the highlight is the four timepieces built by John Harrison as he attempted to solve the mariners age old navigational problem of an accurate longitudinal fix. Each timepiece becomes more intricate and more accurate and more ornate and more miniaturised and the final version is indeed a masterful piece of 18th century engineering. Arguably it is the most important timepiece ever made. (For further reading I highly recommend Dava Sobel's book, Longitude).
There is much to explore in Greenwich and a couple of hours is not nearly long enough. Another time we will spend a day looking at all the area has to offer.
By now darkness was falling so we headed back to Covent Garden for a brief look around, both of the shops and of this years Christmas lights. We then finished up with a nice meal (Italian, pizza and pasta) before returning back to the hotel after a tiring, but educational, day!
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