London Millennium Footbridge in Video

Windsor Castle Panoramics

What follows are two panoramic videos taken from inside Windsor Castle.

Windsor Castle Guard Change in Video

The regiment detailed to the Queen's Guard changed at 11am on the day of our visit to Windsor Castle. What follows are a few videos of the ceremony...

This first video shows the Old Guard awaiting the arrival of the New Guard.



This next video shows the arrival of the New Guard, accompanied by a full band.



This next video shows the formal meeting of the Old Guard and the New Guard. You can see the two commanding officers meet in the middle of the Parade Ground, then return to their men.



This next video shows the band entertaining the soldiers and the spectators. The band plays a short concert while the two commanding officers leave the Parade Ground to share tea.



This next video shows the departure of portions of the New Guard to posts around the Castle grounds.



This final video shows a member of the New Guard marching at his post some time after the ceremony had concluded.

Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle, located a 30 minute train journey to the west of London, is the largest inhabited castle in the world with just short of 500,000 square feet.

This first picture is an aerial view I found via Google.

This is a view of the Castle on the horizon from a window of our approaching train.

This is The Round Tower, the last keep and most secure location within the Castle. This Tower has its own moat and a secure water supply in the form of a deep well, both built so that the Tower could withstand a long siege.

This is St. George's Chapel, the religious center of the Castle and the sight of many royal weddings and burials.

This pictures points to a remote corner of the grounds where the Queen's Royal Apartments are located. The woman you can see to the right of the corner tower is the Queen's head housekeeper, who was walking one of the Queen's dogs.

This picture and the following two deal with the The Most Noble Order of the Garter, an order founded in 1348 by King Edward III, which numbers some 24 Knights at any given time. This picture shows St. George's Hall, which holds the coats of arms of past and present members of the Order. You will notice that some shields are white. These members have brought disgrace to the Order, but their shields remain.

This picture shows the Quire inside St. George's Chapel. The 24 current Knights of the Order fly their standard above their position wthin the Quire. You will also see a half-drawn sword above each Knight's position. This is to represent their readiness and willingness to fight to defend the Realm.

This picture shows the Throne Room of the Order of the Garter, one of the State Rooms open to the public.

This is the official State Dining Room at Windsor Castle.

Dover Castle

The Dover Castle was constructed by the the Romans, expanded during the Middle Ages, and utilized as a first line of defense against occupied France, just 21 miles away across the English Channel. What follows are some pictures from Dover Castle, in which you can see the Castle and its surroundings, as well as mainland France across the Channel.

Canterbury Cathedral

Our first stop today was in Canterbury, home of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Canterbury Cathedral, seat of the Anglican Church. What follows are some pictures of the cathedral, both inside and out.

White Cliffs in Video

What follows are two videos I took while walking along the cliffs earlier today.

My Brother The Nerd

As I said in the previous post, my brother is currently in London. Part of his trip was spent speaking to The American Civil War Roundtable UK here in London. You can get an introduction to his presentation here. And what follows are a few pictures I took during the presentation, held at the National Army Museum this past Saturday afternoon.

White Cliffs of Dover

My brother David is in London this week. Today we took the train out to Canterbury and to Dover. The following are some pictures of the famous White Cliffs of Dover, located just outside of town. The cliffs, composed of exposed chalk and located just 21 miles from the French mainland, cut an intimidating horizon. Future updates will show the castle in Dover, the busy port, and views of the French mainland.

Look very carefully in this picture and the next and you can see my brother serving as a scale...

Hyde Park, late winter

It may be warming up in London, but we've yet to reach the point where things start to flower. I was in London a bit later in March last year and there were bright and colorful flowers so I'm holding out hope for the next few weeks.

East Meets West

I took some time out at midday today to travel to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, just east of Central London. The site, just south of the River Thames, is home to the Prime Meridian, the physical point from which all east/west measures are made. I'd been to the Royal Observatory before, but never at 1pm. As you'll see in a video below, something special happens at 1pm...

This picture and the next show the Royal Observatory up on the hilltop from the entrance to Greenwich Park.

The display, at the entrance to the Observatory, contains a clock and calibrations for various units of measure.

This picture and the next show a view of Canary Wharf and the Docklands, the former shipping center of England made new financial center. In the first picture, you can see some of the taller buildings in Central London at the far left of frame.

And here's the Prime Meridian.

Facing North... Left foot in the Western Hempisphere, right foot the Eastern Hemisphere.

The red ball has traditionally risen and dropped at 1pm GMT every day so that ship captains could set their watches.

Here is video of the ball dropping at 1pm GMT on Monday, March 1.