Monthly Archives: August 2011

Marc’s birthady lunch at Henley-on-Thames

Sunday 28th August 2011

Today we all went out to Henley-on-Thames for lunch, to celebrate Marc’s birthday at the end this month.



The weather just about held out, and after a lovely meal, we walked it off by the river – then went out for a cream tea – and then walked that off ! All in all, a lot of eating, and a lot of walking !

Visit to the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich

Tuesday 15th August 2011

As part of my “staycation” this week, Gina & I decided to revisit Greenwich again, and try to see the parts that we had to miss last year (there is simply too much to see all in one day). We started off by taking the “Thames Clipper” from Tower Pier to the National Maritime museum.



Whilst walking through the grounds of the naval college, we saw a filming of “Great Expectations”, with many actors in period costumes and horse drawn carts – a short movie can be viewed on our podcast. We then entered the newly redesigned National Maritime Museum, financed by a very generous gift of £20 million from the late Israeli shipping magnate Sammy Ofer (he also donated £3.3 million to restore the nearby “Cutty Sark” clipper), but who sadly passed away just one month before it was officially opened by the Duke of Edinburgh in July 2011.



One of the best exhibits – the actual uniform worn by Vice Admiral Lord Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar.



To finish off a really enjoyable day, we returned by “clipper” to the Tower of London, then took a short walk to St. Katherine’s Dock, for a relaxing meal at a restuarant overlooking the moored boats. 

Jacqui & James Goldman (wedding)

Sunday 14th August 2011



Today we were invited to the wedding of Jacqui & James Goldman (my cousin David’s eldest son). Everyone had a really fantastic time, and it was great to meet up again with many family members.



It was especially nice to see my aunt Gertie (98 years young), seated here next to my cousin Richard.