Southside House in Wimbledon

Sitting just off Wimbledon Common and dating from the Jacobean era (early 1600s) is quirky art-filled Southside House.  It has recently been sold to new owners and is closing to the public in a few weeks.

Bethnal Green's Oxford House

In the late 1800s Bethnal Green in East London was the most impoverished slum in all of London. Oxford House opened its doors in 1894, to house students from Oxford University assisting Bethnal Green's poor.  Today Oxford House is a community center. From the outside, the building looks commonplace but hidden on the 3rd floor one finds this magnificent wood-paneled Victorian chapel. 

View from roof of Oxford House

The Queen's Final Journey

This afternoon we stood on Cromwell Road to observe the passing of the hearse containing the Queen on its journey from the funeral at Westminster Abbey to her final resting place at Windsor Castle.  It appears as if all of London has come out to the streets to bid a last fond farewell to the Monarch and to the seeming end of an era.

Buses transporting foreign dignitaries to the 
Committal Service at Windsor 

The hearse 

The Queen's coffin within, draped in the Royal Standard.

   

Royal Society of Arts

Today we stopped into the open house at the Royal Society of Arts located near Charing Cross, just off The Strand, their home since 1774.  According to their founding charter, the RSA's mission is to "embolden enterprise, enlarge science, refine art, improve our manufacturers and extend our commerce."  Notable past members include Stephen Hawking, Benjamin Franklin, and Charles Dickens.  The society's current president is Princess Anne.

Prince Philip, RSA president until 2011

Princess Anne, RSA president since 2011

Prince Albert, RSA president mid-1800s

Queen Victoria with her children

RSA library reading rooms

The Vaults