Tower Bridge and Borough Market London stroll 20th February 2019

On Wednesday the 20th February My son and I head off  up to London for a walk to see The Tower Bridge Experience and see where we end up afterwards. So after a bit of train and tube travel ,we arrive at North Greenwich Station so we could take a Thames Clipper the rest of the way.

We walk from North Greenwich Station passing The Emirates Airline. 

The Emirates Air Line is a cable car link across the River Thames in London, England, built by Doppelmayr with sponsorship from the airline Emirates. The service opened on 28 June 2012 and is operated by Transport for London. In addition to transport across the river, the service advertises "a unique view of London".

So we made our way down to the pier and board a Thames Clipper board to get the rest of the way to Tower Bridge.

MBNA Thames Clippers operate under licence from Transport for London. The river boat service is now better integrated into the tube and bus ticketing network. From November 2009, the MBNA Thames Clippers services started to accept Oyster pay as you go on all of its services, which also provides a discount on single and return fares. Contactless payment is also accepted.

Passing Canary Wharf

We are now approaching Tower Bridge after a longish boat journey.

We exit the boat and walk past The Tower Of London over to Tower Bridge. We pay £14 for my son and I to go into The Tower Bridge Exhibition.

We go up to level 4 in a busy cramped lift to exit out to walk over The Walkway with views to the West.

The Glass Floor measures 11 metres long and 1.8 metres wide and comprise of panels weighing 530 kilograms each – it is no wonder the installation took a 20-strong team to construct it!

Tower Bridge is a combined bascule and suspension bridge in London built between 1886 and 1894. The bridge crosses the River Thames close to the Tower of London and has become an iconic symbol of London.

In the second half of the 19th century, an advertisement in the East End of London led to a hiring for a new river crossing downstream of London Bridge. A traditional fixed bridge at street level could not be built because it would cut off access by sailing ships to the port facilities in the Pool of London, between London Bridge and the Tower of London.

A Special Bridge or Subway Committee was formed in 1877, chaired by Sir Albert Joseph Altman, to find a solution to the river crossing problem. Over 50 designs were submitted, including one from civil engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette. Bazalgette's design was rejected because of a lack of sufficient headroom, and design was not approved until 1884, when it was decided to build a bascule bridge. Sir John Wolfe Barry was appointed engineer with Sir Horace Jones as architect (who was also one of the judges). An Act of Parliament was passed in 1885 authorising the bridge's construction. It specified the opening span must give a clear width of 200 feet (61 m) and a headroom of 135 feet (41 m). Construction had to be in a Gothic style.

Barry designed a bascule bridge with two bridge towers built on piers. The central span was split into two equal bascules or leaves, which could be raised to allow river traffic to pass. The two side-spans were suspension bridges, with the suspension rods anchored both at the abutments and through rods contained within the bridge's upper walkways.

Construction started in 1886 and took eight years with five major contractors – Sir John Jackson (foundations), Baron Armstrong (hydraulics), William Webster, Sir H.H. Bartlett, and Sir William Arrol & Co. – and employed 432 construction workers. E W Crutwell was the resident engineer for the construction.

The bridge was officially opened on 30 June 1894 by the then Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII), and his wife, The Princess of Wales (Alexandra of Denmark).

The high-level open air walkways between the towers gained an unpleasant reputation as a haunt for prostitutes and pickpockets; as they were only accessible by stairs they were seldom used by regular pedestrians, and were closed in 1910. The walkway reopened in 1982.

When Tower Bridge was first built, it raised between 20-30 times a day.

The bridge is 800 feet (240 m) in length with two towers each 213 feet (65 m) high, built on piers. The central span of 200 feet (61 m) between the towers is split into two equal bascules or leaves, which can be raised to an angle of 86 degrees to allow river traffic to pass. The bascules, weighing over 1,000 tons each, are counterbalanced to minimise the force required and allow raising in five minutes.

We leave the walkway and into a room with old videos of the bridge.

We then walk across the walkway with views to the East.

At the end of the walkway we enter the tower and look up to views of what it would like like when men were building the tower.

Now we waited for the lift down and we got into another cramped lift and down to ground level where we left the bridge and followed the blue line outside to the engine room.

The Engine Rooms were once the beating heart of Tower Bridge.

Over 80 people were needed to maintain the engines and raise the Bridge.

In 1974, the original operating mechanism was largely replaced by a new electro-hydraulic drive system, designed by BHA Cromwell House, with the original final pinions driven by modern hydraulic motors and. In 1982, the Tower Bridge Exhibition opened, housed in the bridge's twin towers, the long-closed high-level walkways and the Victorian engine rooms. The latter still house the original steam engines and some of the original hydraulic machinery.

A computer system was installed in 2000 to control the raising and lowering of the bascules remotely. It proved unreliable, resulting in the bridge being stuck in the open or closed positions on several occasions during 2005 until its sensors were replaced.

The original raising mechanism was powered by pressurised water stored in several hydraulic accumulators. The system was designed and installed by Hamilton Owen Rendel while working for Sir W. G. Armstrong Mitchell & Company of Newcastle upon Tyne. Water, at a pressure of 750 psi (5.2 MPa), was pumped into the accumulators by two 360 hp (270 kW) horizontal twin-tandem compound stationary steam engines, fitted with Meyer expansion slide valves. Each engine drove a force pump from its piston tail rod. The accumulators each comprise a 20-inch (51 cm) ram on which sits a very heavy weight to maintain the desired pressure.

In 1974, the original operating mechanism was largely replaced by a new electro-hydraulic drive system, designed by BHA Cromwell House. The only components of the original system still in use are the final pinions, which engage with the racks fitted to the bascules. These are driven by modern hydraulic motors and gearing, using oil rather than water as the hydraulic fluid. Some of the original hydraulic machinery has been retained, although it is no longer in use. It is open to the public and forms the basis for the bridge's museum, which resides in the old engine rooms on the south side of the bridge. The museum includes the steam engines, two of the accumulators and one of the hydraulic engines that moved the bascules, along with other related artefacts.

We left the bridge and walk along the South Bank Passing City Hall.

View across the river to The Tower of London.

After a walk along the river we walk to Hays Galleria.

Hay's Galleria is a mixed use building in the London Borough of Southwark situated on the south bank of the River Thames featuring offices, restaurants, shops, and flats. Originally a warehouse and associated wharf for the port of London, it was redeveloped in the 1980s. It is a Grade II listed structure.

The property’s history dates back to the 1600s and was originally known as Hay’s Wharf, after the original owner of a brewery at the location. Located on the Thames, over the centuries it has been a center of trade and shipping until heavy damage from WWI bombing raids nearly destroyed it. By the 1960s it had fallen into disrepair. In the 1980s the property was restored and converted, and enclosed under a glass roof with Kemp’s sculpture installed as a tribute to its working class past.

A rivet-covered bronze sculpture with the face of a man and the body of an industrial-age ship, The Navigators is actually an enormous kinetic machine.

The 60-foot sculpture by artist David Kemp was installed in 1987 during the renovation of Hay’s Galleria, which saw the conversion of the old wharf into a shopping center. When activated, its oars move through the water at its sides.

Kemp is a British artist best known for his large assemblage sculptures. He lives on the Atlantic coast of West Cornwall where he scavenges for interesting bits to make his art from.

About his art he says: “I make things out of things, big things, little things, old things and new things. I like to recycle things, and find new uses for things that have been thrown away. Some things say something about their surroundings, and other things become something else.”

The Navigators was one of Kemp’s first major public installations. Since then, he has created a number of large works including the “Old Transformers,” a pair of huge outdoor sculptures near Consett, County Durham.

Now we wander up to Southwark Cathedral.

It has been a place of Christian worship for more than 1,000 years, but a cathedral only since the creation of the diocese of Southwark in 1905.

Between 1106 and 1538 it was the church of an Augustinian priory, Southwark Priory, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Following the dissolution of the monasteries, it became a parish church, with the new dedication of St Saviour's. The church was in the diocese of Winchester until 1877, when the parish of St Saviour's, along with other South London parishes, was transferred to the diocese of Rochester.  The present building retains the basic form of the Gothic structure built between 1220 and 1420, although the nave is a late 19th-century reconstruction.

We leave the Cathedral and out into the busy bustling Borough Market. The food being there hit your nose the minute you walk in, food from all around the world is here!

It is one of the largest and oldest food markets in London, with a market on the site dating back to at least the 12th century. The present buildings were built in the 1850s, and today the market mainly sells speciality foods to the general public.

The retail market operates on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Fridays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The wholesale market operates on all weekday mornings from 2 a.m. to 8 a.m.

Three attackers from the 2017 London Bridge attack ran to the area, where they stabbed and killed people with knives before they were shot dead by armed police.The market was then closed for 11 days following the attack.

The present buildings were designed in 1851, with additions in the 1860s and an entrance designed in the Art Deco style added on Southwark Street in 1932.

My son tried a Chicken Empanadas,  traditional Argentinean baked empanadas filled with chicken, onions, paprika, hot pepper powder, cumin, oregano, and olives.

I meanwhile tried my first ever oyster from Richard Hawes (a Mersea Island rock oyster) with lemon juice, I almost didn't when I saw them open one up, but I thought you never know unless you try. Well it wasn't as bad as I thought, would I have them again I don't know. I was told to chew it a couple of times and not to swallow it whole as this is a misconception.

The Rock Oyster is available all year round, the shells are long deep and flared and the oyster is meaty, firm and creamy with a fresh sweet taste. Our Oysters mature in the plankton rich waters of the Pyefleet Creek to take on a defined flavour full of zinc and other minerals.

We left the market and walked to London Bridge station for the train home.

Birmingham to Bournville Circular 29th Jan 2019

On Tuesday the 29th January 2019 I dropped my daughter off at Birmingham City University for a interview and with a few hours spare I decided to walk from Edgbaston area of Birmingham to Bournville.

I walk along some streets crossed the Canal but couldn't get onto it here so I walk through the Vale

and Birmingham Uni campus and joined the Worcester and Birmingham Canal there.

GPX File here

Viewranger File here

The Worcester and Birmingham Canal is a canal linking Birmingham and Worcester in England. It starts in Worcester, as an 'offshoot' of the River Severn (just after the river lock) and ends in Gas Street Basin in Birmingham. It is 29 miles (47 km) long. There are 58 locks in total on the canal, including the 30 Tardebigge Locks, one of the largest lock flights in Europe. The canal climbs 428 feet (130 m) from Worcester to Birmingham.

Construction of a barge-width (14 ft) canal began in 1792 from the Birmingham end, but progressed slowly. Selly Oak was reached in October 1795 and Kings Norton Junction by May 1796, meeting the new Stratford-upon-Avon Canal which had by then reached Hockley Heath. By March 1797 the 2726 yard (2493 m) Wast Hills Tunnel was open and the canal was trading to Hopwood. In 1807 the canal reached Tardebigge without the use of locks. From Worcester Bar to Tardebigge top lock, the canal is at the 453 ft Birmingham Level. The cost of building 14-foot (4.3 m) locks was too great so the 56 locks down to Worcester were built to the narrow 7-foot (2.1 m) specification, with the final two locks connecting to the Severn in Worcester being 14-foot (4.3 m) to allow river craft access to Diglis Basin.

The final 16 miles (26 km) was opened in December 1815. Plans to construct basins at Lowesmoor and Diglis were carried out eventually.

The canal is far from pretty, the canals in other city's are far more nicer! Maybe a bit of sun may have improved the views.

Selly Oak Station

I eventually reach Bournville and can see the Cadbury factory from the canal.

Bournville is a model village on the south side of Birmingham, England, best known for its connections with the Cadbury family and chocolate – including a dark chocolate bar branded Bournville. It is also a ward within the council constituency of Selly Oak and home to the Bournville Centre for Visual Arts. Research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in 2003 found that it was "one of the nicest places to live in Britain".

I leave the canal and cross over by a bridge and follow the road and signs to Cadbury World.

Cadbury was established in Birmingham, England in 1824, by John Cadbury who sold tea, coffee and drinking chocolate. Cadbury developed the business with his brother Benjamin, followed by his sons Richard and George. George developed the Bournville estate, a model village designed to give the company's workers improved living conditions. Dairy Milk chocolate, introduced in 1905, used a higher proportion of milk within the recipe compared with rival products. By 1914, the chocolate was the company's best-selling product. Cadbury, alongside Rowntree's and Fry, were the big three British confectionery manufacturers throughout much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

John Cadbury's sons Richard and George took over the business in 1861. At the time of the takeover, the business was in rapid decline: the number of employees had reduced from 20 to 11, and the company was losing money. By 1866, Cadbury was profitable again. The brothers had turned around the business by moving the focus from tea and coffee to chocolate, and by increasing the quality of their products.

Bournville Baths (1904)

The firm's first major breakthrough occurred in 1866 when Richard and George introduced an improved cocoa into Britain. A new cocoa press developed in the Netherlands removed some of the unpalatable cocoa butter from the cocoa bean. The firm began exporting its products in the 1850s. In 1861, the company created Fancy Boxes — a decorated box of chocolates — and in 1868 they were sold in boxes in the shape of a heart for Valentine's Day. Boxes of filled chocolates quickly became associated with the holiday.

In 1878, the brothers decided to build new premises in countryside four miles from Birmingham. The move to the countryside was unprecedented in business. Better transport access for milk that was inward shipped by canal, and cocoa that was brought in by rail from London, Southampton and Liverpool docks was taken into consideration. With the development of the Birmingham West Suburban Railway along the path of the Worcester and Birmingham Canal, they acquired the Bournbrook estate, comprising 14.5 acres (5.9 ha) of countryside 5 miles (8.0 km) south of the outskirts of Birmingham. Located next to the Stirchley Street railway station, which itself was opposite the canal, they renamed the estate Bournville and opened the Bournville factory the following year.

In 1893, George Cadbury bought 120 acres (49 ha) of land close to the works and planned, at his own expense, a model village which would 'alleviate the evils of modern more cramped living conditions'. By 1900 the estate included 314 cottages and houses set on 330 acres (130 ha) of land. As the Cadbury family were Quakers there were no pubs in the estate.

In 1897, following the lead of Swiss companies, Cadbury introduced its own line of milk chocolate bars. In 1899 Cadbury became a private limited company.

In 1905, Cadbury launched its Dairy Milk bar, a production of exceptional quality with a higher proportion of milk than previous chocolate bars. Developed by George Cadbury Jr, it was the first time a British company had been able to mass-produce milk chocolate. From the beginning, it had the distinctive purple wrapper. It was a great sales success, and became the company's best selling product by 1914. The stronger Bournville Cocoa line was introduced in 1906. Cadbury Dairy Milk and Bournville Cocoa were to provide the basis for the company's rapid pre-war expansion.[9] In 1910, Cadbury sales overtook those of Fry for the first time.

Cadbury's Milk Tray was first produced in 1915 and continued in production throughout the remainder of the First World War. More than 2,000 of Cadbury's male employees joined the British Armed Forces, and to support the British war effort, Cadbury provided chocolate, books and clothing to the troops. George Cadbury handed over two company-owned buildings for use as hospitals – "The Beeches" and "Fircroft", and the management of both hospitals earned the War Office's highest award. Factory girls, dubbed 'The Cadbury Angels', volunteered to do the laundry of injured soldiers recovering in the hospitals. After the war, the Bournville factory was redeveloped and mass production began in earnest. In 1918, Cadbury opened their first overseas factory in Hobart, Tasmania.

I had a wait of about 15 minutes for Cadbury World to open at 10am! Whilst I wait in the freezing cold, all I can smell is chocolate in the air, smells delicious!

In 1919, Cadbury merged with J. S. Fry & Sons, another leading British chocolate manufacturer, resulting in the integration of well-known brands such as Fry's Chocolate Cream and Fry's Turkish Delight. In 1921, the many small Fry's factories around Bristol were closed down, and production was consolidated at a new Somerdale Factory, outside Bristol.

Cadbury soon expanded its product range with Flake (1920), Creme eggs (1923), Fruit and Nut (1928), and Crunchie (1929) (originally under the Fry's label). By 1930 Cadbury had become the 24th-largest British manufacturing company as measured by estimated market value of capital. Cadbury took direct control of the under-performing Fry in 1935. Dairy Milk Whole Nut arrived in 1933, and Roses were introduced in 1938.

Chocolate ceased to be a luxury product and became affordable to the working classes for the first time. By the mid-1930s, Cadbury estimated that 90 percent of the British population could afford to buy chocolate. By 1936, Dairy Milk accounted for 60 percent of the UK milk chocolate market.

During World War II, parts of the Bournville factory were turned over to war work, producing milling machines and seats for fighter aircraft. Workers ploughed football fields to plant crops. As chocolate was regarded as an essential food, it was placed under government supervision for the entire war. The wartime rationing of chocolate ended in 1950, and normal production resumed. Cadbury subsequently invested in new factories and had an increasing demand for their products. In 1952 the Moreton factory was built.

Cadbury has been a holder of a Royal Warrant from Queen Elizabeth II since 1955.In 1967, Cadbury acquired an Australian confectioner, MacRobertson's, beating a rival bid from Mars. As a result of the takeover, Cadbury built a 60 percent market share in the Australian market.

Cadbury merged with drinks company Schweppes to form Cadbury Schweppes in 1969.

In 1986, Cadbury Schweppes sold its Beverages and Foods division to a management buyout known as Premier Brands for £97 million. This saw the company divest itself of such brands as Typhoo Tea, Kenco, Smash and Hartley Chivers jam. The deal also saw Premier take the licence for production of Cadbury brand biscuits and drinking chocolate.

In March 2007, it was revealed that Cadbury Schweppes was planning to split its business into two separate entities: one focusing on its main chocolate and confectionery market; the other on its US drinks business. The demerger took effect on 2 May 2008, with the drinks business becoming Dr Pepper Snapple Groupand Cadbury Schweppes plc becoming Cadbury plc. In December 2008 it was announced that Cadbury was to sell its Australian beverage unit to Asahi Breweries.

Model of Bournville.

Cadbury World opens and I pop in to visit the shop to buy chocolate,bags of factory misfits and gifts.

In mid-2009, Cadbury replaced some of the cocoa butter in their non-UK chocolate products with palm oil. Despite stating this was a response to consumer demand to improve taste and texture, there was no "new improved recipe" claim placed on New Zealand labels. Consumer backlash was significant from environmentalists and chocolate lovers in both Australia and New Zealand, with consumers objecting to both the taste from the cheaper formulation, and the use of palm oil given its role in the destruction of rain-forests. By August 2009, the company announced that it was reverting to the use of cocoa butter in New Zealand and Australia, although palm oil is still listed as an ingredient in Cadbury's flavoured sugar syrup based fillings (where it referred to as 'vegetable oil'). In addition, Cadbury stated they would source cocoa beans through Fair Trade channels. In January 2010 prospective buyer Kraft pledged to honour Cadbury's commitment.

Bournville employs almost 1,000 people. In 2014, Mondelez announced a £75 million investment in the site.

Bournville is home to Mondelez's Global Centre of Excellence for Chocolate research and development, so every new chocolate product created by the company anywhere in the world starts life at the Birmingham plant.

I leave Cadbury's and walk into Bournville , hoping to catch a bus back to Birmingham as I was conscious of time ticking away.

I reach Sainsburys in Bournville but cant see the bus stop I needed so I walk down a short way and reach Selly Oak where I catch a train to University station to shorten my walking time.

From the station I walk towards the university but change my mind and opt to rejoin the canal.

I leave the canal and exit onto Somerset Road before turning right onto Farqunar Road where the road is full of expensive mansions!

I turn right onto Righmond Hill Road and then onto Westbourne Road.

Just before where I had parked the car I have a quick look at The Birmingham Botanical Gardens.

The Birmingham Botanical Gardens offers something for everyone, be it one of our four stunning glasshouses showing tropical rainforest to arid desert, playground, tearoom and garden gift shop all surrounded by some of the most beautiful gardens in the UK.

There are four glasshouses which range from our exotic Tropical House through to our Subtropical, Mediterranean and Arid Houses. There is a large lawn in front of the glasshouses with a range of beds and shrubberies around its perimeter. Overall, the character is that of a Victorian public park with a bandstand set in 15 acres (6.1 ha) of landscaped greenery.

I opt not to pay the entry fee and I certainly didn't have the time.

So all in all a cold and gloomy walk but Cadbury World was certainly the highlight!