The Tower of London

This little edifice is one of the 'must sees' for visitors to London and nestles to the south east of the city proper hard on the side of the river Thames. It is actually not a tower, as such, but a collection of several spanning a few years. They are all enclosed in ramparts (?) OK - walls and the obligatory moat, now dry, and were the traditional home of the British Royal family for a bit. AND I understand that they had quite a bit in those days - Clinton Bush and Company cry your eyes out!!! You have quite a bit of catching up to do and no chance of cutting off the heads of the opposition - sad.

As a side line on this place, I could never quite understand why the tourists seemed so happy after visiting there - then I found out that the British Customs and Excise had a large warehouse nearby where they used an incinerator to burn all the captured drugs. Get your day right and fly high and free.

 

OK - I know - enough of the verbalism give the piccys.

Leave via the underground at Tower Hill Station

Visit America House from where many of these pictures were taken

The Tower of London and Tower Bridge taken from the top of America House

Visit Banquet Hall another Royal Building in Westminster

The approach to the Tower

Watergate (Not the quite the same as the American one!!)

Traitors Gate - opening onto the river, this is where said troublesome persons were literally shipped into the tower for a non health farm weight reduction programme

The Bloody Tower - aptly named

Bell Tower behind which there are some, I think Elizabethan - ie Liz 1 residences - a lot of the tower staff and guards live on site even today.

The White Tower - Where his nibs or her nibs lived for a while. Some of these were taken from the private parts of Waterloo Block roof which once were the Royal Army Barracks but now house offices and a minor display of metals and minerals called the Crown Jewels of England.

A Guardsman on Parade in Winter colours (Red being summer)

A common mistake is often made here by Tourists assuming that they are actors or imitation solders, they 'ain't, don't mess - the reputation of the Brigade of Guards is one of being one load of mean b****rds.

So OK worst quality ever, but it was windy. A Beefeater or Yeoman Warder of the Tower of London.

Retired Soldiers - or at least were, not sure now, but they like the Ladies as well!!

Waterloo Block spoke about before, and here's some from the Roof:-

Looking back to America House where the first shots into the tower were taken from the roof of Waterloo Block

Fusiliers Museum

The New Armories

Queens House - has a different meaning here perhaps to San Francisco?

Tower Bridge from within the Tower

Middle Tower

All hallows Church at the side of the Tower.

Pity that this is usually missed by the tourists, inside it's a little gem.

 

Return to beginning of tour

Any comments can be directed to me:-
Keith J. (Boiler Bill) Chesworth