Abbey Road

[Navy Vet.]

I plan on retiring in December and having some significant health concerns I feel compelled to visit London January 2020 as it may be my best opportunity to travel. I really want to see Abbey Road studios and the Royal Naval Observatory along with Parliament and 10 Downing. Now I know Pip lives in London and perhaps others, so my question is this: if I visit in January will the weather be conducive to enjoy my week in jolly old England.

Edited September 25, 2019 by Navy Vet.

[pippy]

Hi Navy Vet!

First the bad news. Unfortunately January can be the worst month weather-wise in the UK. Here's a chart plotting average temperature and rainfall for London;

The good news is that the reality doesn't seem to be as bad as the statistics suggest! Perhaps most of the rainfall occurs during the night-time(?) but although it almost certainly won't be very warm it usually isn't too rainy. Somehow?... Anyway; even if it IS a bit wet having a good old 'brolly keeps most of the rain off one's person. One other bit of good news is that at that time of the year you probably won't have to join the queue of 200 Japanese tourists waiting their turn to photograph each other walking across the pedestrian crossing pictured on the cover of the Abbey Road album...

If you are planning to visit the Royal Observatory in Greenwich then you will be just up the hill from the National Maritime Museum. When you are there it would be an utter crime not to visit the 'Cutty Sark' which is the last remaining tea-clipper on Earth. It's been in dry dock since the late '50s and has just benefitted from a thouroughly revamped installation. Highly recommended. Both the Maritime Museum and the Cutty Sark are part of the Royal Museums in Greenwich.

Continuing with the seafaring theme if you are interested in the historical side of things Naval then the Historic Dockyard at Chatham is well worth a visit. It's a wee bit outside London itself (35 miles to the east) but can be reached using public transport. One other visit I can heartily recommend would be to see the recreation of Sir Francis Drake's Elizabethan-era warship 'The Golden Hinde' which is pretty much in Central London on the south bank of the Thames. If available I'd strongly recommend visiting when tour-guides are offering their services! They really bring the story of life aboard such a small craft, under such a strict Captain as Drake, during such extraordinary times to life in a terrific way.

If there is any aspect of your trip over here that you would like to enquire about please feel free to send me a PM and I'll help as much as possible.

In the (Greenwich) meantime here are a few links. The first has links to both the Maritime Museum and the Cutty Sark;

https://www.rmg.co.uk/national-maritime-museum

https://thedockyard.co.uk/

https://www.goldenhinde.co.uk/

Pip.

Edited September 26, 2019 by pippy

[Filbert]

If you can't get to Chatham, I would strongly recommend visiting the Naval Dockyards at Portsmouth where HMS Victory, HMS Warrior and the Mary Rose are all parked. Highly interesting viewing!

['Scales]

I live in Australia in a climate not probly too far removed from southern US and have travelled to London many of the past 10-15 years for work and pleasure, often in November. Now November can be reasonably nice but if the wind gets up its bone-chilling cold. January would be a whole new level of pain. It's only going to be practical to be out between 0930 and 1500 and many tourist sites will not be open at all (so look them up for starters) . Having said that I still remember going to see the Victory when I was a kid and I love London....just consider waiting til it thaws out in April and that Pip has lived there many years so is use to winters (and may dissolve his Metamucil in scotch on certain days of the week). Great city but, eh mate!

[Navy Vet.]

7 hours ago, pippy said:

Hi Navy Vet!

First the bad news. Unfortunately January can be the worst month weather-wise in the UK. Here's a chart plotting average temperature and rainfall for London;

The good news is that the reality doesn't seem to be as bad as the statistics suggest! Perhaps most of the rainfall occurs during the night-time(?) but although it almost certainly won't be very warm it usually isn't too rainy. Somehow?..

Pip.

Pip you are most kind, many thanks for the info.

[Navy Vet.]

7 hours ago, Filbert said:

If you can't get to Chatham, I would strongly recommend visiting the Naval Dockyards at Portsmouth where HMS Victory, HMS Warrior and the Mary Rose are all parked. Highly interesting viewing!

Many thanks for the info. You are most kind.

 

[Rabs]

Yes.. January, not so nice over here...  Like a lot of places the weather has changed somewhat over the last decade or so..

When I was younger it was really cold from like October to February and would start to warm up a bit in about March...  These days it stays fairly mild all the way up to December (no more white Christmas's for us).. The last few years its snowed in more like March/April time of year... 

I don't know exactly why its happening but anyone who refuses to see the weather is changing globally are fooling themselves.

As for rain..  Well this is the U.K. . It does what it wants, no way to predict it at all, unless you are in Scotland where it just rains all the time  😄 

Edited September 26, 2019 by Rabs

[pippy]

4 hours ago, Rabs said:

As for rain..  Well this is the U.K. . It does what it wants, no way to predict it at all, unless you are in Scotland where it just rains all the time  😄 

 

Hang on, Rabs! Hang on! There was one July 23rd a few years ago when it was dry in Edinburgh. Relatively speaking.

Perhaps it was not dry in Glasgow on that day, it has to be said, but as the Glaswegians actually prefer it to be damp, cold and miserable (they find it suits their temperament perfectly) then that doesn't really matter.

Seriously, though; bring some warm togs (don't forget the Mackintosh), a Thermos Flask (for the Hot Toddy*) and you'll be fine, Navy Vet! London in the drizzle is quite a lovely place to be. Honestly!No-no-no! Really!

If, looking for the positives in this prospective scenario, the drizzle becomes annoyingly persistent then there is always a hostelry close at hand where you can, at least, start to dry out whilst sampling some of the finest (warm-ish) beers to be found! Best to think of it as a 'Win-Win' outcome!

Pip.

*A warming, revivifying draught of whisky, some piping-hot water (don't go crazy here), whisky, honey, whisky, a slice/squeeze of lemon juice/zest and a just finger (or two) of whisky.

Known to cure all ills. And, admittedly, to cause a few......

Pip.

Edited September 26, 2019 by pippy

[Navy Vet.]

16 minutes ago, pippy said:

 

Hang on, Rabs! Hang on! There was one July 23rd a few years ago when it was dry in Edinburgh. Relatively speaking.

Perhaps it was not dry in Glasgow on that day, it has to be said, but as the Glaswegians actually prefer it to be damp, cold and miserable then that doesn't really matter...

Seriously, though; bring some warm togs (don't forget the Mackintosh), a Thermos Flask (for the Hot Toddy*) and you'll be fine, Navy Vet! London in the drizzle is quite a lovely place to be. Honestly!No-no-no! Really!

If, looking for the positives in this prospective scenario, the drizzle becomes annoyingly persistent then there is always a hostelry close at hand where you can start to dry out whilst sampling some of the (finest warm-ish) beers to be found!

Pip.

*A warming, revivifying draught of whisky, piping-hot water, whisky, honey, whisky, a slice/squeeze of lemon juice/zest and a just finger (or two) of whisky.

Known to cure all ills. And, admittedly, to cause a few......

Pip.

Whiskey for everyone and those who don't drink whiskey-Whiskey!

[pippy]

2 hours ago, Navy Vet. said:

Whiskey for everyone and those who don't drink whiskey-Whiskey!

 

Ah! Of course! Being a Navy Man you would probably prefer Grog? Or Rum?

It's not the 'Done Thing' to sup alcoholic beverages before the "sun sinks below the yard-arm" as a rule but, fortuitously for your impending visit, the sun will never have arisen so high above the horizon as to get above the yard-arm in the first place therefore, to quote the famous chanson;  "There'll  Be A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight!"

Lucky You!!!

Just as soon as you get out of those wet clothes......

Pip.

 

Edited September 26, 2019 by pippy

[01GT eibach]

Catch a concert at the Royal Albert Hall after visiting Abbey Road.  That would be so cool.  Because for me, now I  know how many holes it takes to fill the Royal Albert Hall ...

[Navy Vet.]

2 minutes ago, 01GT eibach said:

Catch a concert at the Royal Albert Hall after visiting Abbey Road.  That would be so cool.  Because for me, now I  know how many holes it takes to fill the Royal Albert Hall ...

But John never said how many holes it would take to fill Albert Hall.

[Navy Vet.]

1 hour ago, pippy said:

 

Ah! Of course! Being a Navy Man you would probably prefer Grog? Or Rum?

It's not the 'Done Thing' to sup alcoholic beverages before the "sun sinks below the yard-arm" as a rule but, fortuitously for your impending visit, the sun will never have arisen so high above the horizon as to get above the yard-arm in the first place therefore, to quote the famous chanson;  "There'll  Be A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight!"

Lucky You!!!

Just as soon as you get out of those wet clothes......

Pip.

 

Well, for me it’s called visiting the epicenter of rock ‘n roll. In my opinion this is where rock got started. I hope to meet cats that are my age an older who saw the Beatles, The Who, Zeppelin, Stones as they were just getting known. I may even take a train up to Liverpool and have a look around. And with my last being what it is, I will also visit Scotland.

Edited September 26, 2019 by Navy Vet.

[Rabs]

2 minutes ago, Navy Vet. said:

Well, for me it’s called visiting the epicenter of rock ‘n roll. In my opinion this is where rock got started. I hope to meet cats that are my age an older you saw the Beatles, The Who, Zeppelin, Stones as they were just getting known. I may even take a train up to Liverpool and have a look around. And with my last being what it is, I will also visit Scotland.

You can also now visit Jimi Hendrix's London flat..

https://handelhendrix.org/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIo5_A48jv5AIVRcjeCh3YZQfCEAAYASAAEgLyyfD_BwE

[Navy Vet.]

2 minutes ago, Rabs said:

You can also now visit Jimi Hendrix's London flat..

https://handelhendrix.org/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIo5_A48jv5AIVRcjeCh3YZQfCEAAYASAAEgLyyfD_BwE

That would be a total gas! No wonder the cat was so great, he had fingers a mile long.

[Rabs]

20 minutes ago, Navy Vet. said:

That would be a total gas! No wonder the cat was so great, he had fingers a mile long.

One other thing.. This is a good place too look at whats going on and when in London

https://www.timeout.com/london

[brad1]

1 hour ago, Navy Vet. said:

Well, for me it’s called visiting the epicenter of rock ‘n roll. In my opinion this is where rock got started. I hope to meet cats that are my age an older who saw the Beatles, The Who, Zeppelin, Stones as they were just getting known. I may even take a train up to Liverpool and have a look around. And with my last being what it is, I will also visit Scotland.

You are entitled to your opinion, but Rock and Roll originated and evolved in the 40's and 50's in America. I think even most British will concede that.

Sorry, I just had to get that out.

[Navy Vet.]

22 minutes ago, brad1 said:

You are entitled to your opinion, but Rock and Roll originated and evolved in the 40's and 50's in America. I think even most British will concede that.

Sorry, I just had to get that out.

Many will agree with you, I will concede that many British rockers were influenced by American musicians from these decades. But for me it was the Beatles that got me hooked on music and guitars. And from that British Invasion it was an era of rock ‘n roll that defined music in the 1960’s and beyond. It’s the British groups that  gave this planet a truck load of classic rock ‘n roll. And all the groups that gave us this great music all came out of London. But this is just my opinion.

Edited September 27, 2019 by Navy Vet.

[brad1]

1 hour ago, Navy Vet. said:

Many will agree with you, I will concede that many British rockers were influenced by American musicians from these decades. But for me it was the Beatles that got me hooked on music and guitars. And from that British Invasion it was an era of rock ‘n roll that defined music in the 1960’s and beyond. It’s the British groups that  gave this planet a truck load of classic rock ‘n roll. And all the groups that gave us this great music all came out of London. But this is just my opinion.

And isn't it great that theses two countries have together ( I gotta throw Australia in there too) created the greatest genre of music there is and ever will be... ROCK & ROLL!

[IanHenry]

Hi Navy Vet,

Yes, it would be worth your while traveling out of London if you can. In Liverpool they have recently opened Strawberry Fields up to the public for the first time (apparently John Lennon used to get in over the wall as a child). You might also consider York if you have time, no Rock & Roll history there but the city really is a "must see".

If you could postpone your trip until May, you should find the weather a lot more agreeable. 

[BENNY Z]

Bring Rain-Gear the weather in London is not very predictable tho many will say it is........Rain Rain Rain.