Thursday 12 April 2012

London Day 8 - Greenwich

Last day!  Took a trip to Greenwich to check out Longitude 0 at the Royal Observatory and see the  Royal Naval College.



Yes I know I should have worn better shoes for this pic, but it was pretty cool to stand on either side of the Prime Meridian!

What was exciting to me was to see the Harrison's 4 generations of Longitude instruments.  Harrison won the competition about how to accurately measure longitude and the 4th generation looks like a pocket watch.  I didn't have pictures of H3 and H4 because they didn't turn out well because of lighting and reflections.  If you are interested in reading the history of Longitude, you can read the book (which I have at home, which made seeing these even more interesting).

The original competition in 1713
Harrison's first generation - H1 (the winning entry)
 H2 - Harrison kept trying to improve his instrument

The Painted Chapel in the Old Naval College was beautifully painted.  I had no idea a Naval College needed such grand interiors.  The Naval College was another Christopher Wren designed project, and one of the most complex.


Then on to Greenwich Market, which was a great market, full of food, arts and crafts.  Munched away on Chorizo Sausage sandwiches, Churros, Paella and fudge.  Very healthy!! :P  Had a portrait done by a graffiti artist, as a gift from my brother in law and sister.


And so concluded my London trip.  I was glad that I managed to see a few Unesco World Heritage listed sites in my travels:

1 comment: