London Trip 13 - Marching Round The Squares

August 11 was a more casual day.

It started with a proper Full English Breakfast:

Suitably provisioned, we hit Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, and Covent Garden.

We saw the monument to Edith Cavell, an English nurse that treated both sides in Belgium and helped Allied soldiers escape form German-occupied Belgiu,m. She was shot at dawn by the Germans in World War One.

She's a relative of current Oakland County Commissioner Charlie Cavell.  I've met him in person and he's a nice guy.  While he's a Democrat who I disagree with on a lot of things, his beliefs in gun control among them, he's still a very pleasant person to chat with, and he has yet been corrupted as a politician and is still quite the idealist.  While I don't agree with him on all his ideas and ideals, he's a rather likeable person and does listen to opposing views, so there's that.

Leicester square is a very artsy area with many theaters, shops and dining facilities around.

It also is home to London's Chinatown.

 

More on that later. 

A very Paddington bus made the rounds.

A quite cute double-decker that was very cheerfully decked out.

Libations were required during our journey, so we stopped by for some ale at The Sherlock Holmes Pub, which was doing brisk business on such a nice day.

The pub's Sherlock Holmes ale hit the spot nicely. We ended up chatting with a couple more Australian tourists and enjoyed sitting outside across the street from the pub.

Covent Garden has lots of shops that are nice to walk around. So, some shopping was done.

It was a very good day. Lots of walking and going places, checking out shops, and seeing the city.

We would, on the next day, have to get up for an early day to go farther from London to see a most significant site.

Sunday Flyday - Getting Some Approaches In

This morning I met up with James at the airport.  He would fly us to Jackson, then I would do the flight back and get in some approaches at Jackson and Pontiac to keep up my instrument currency.

We headed out with flight following and I handled the radios as he flew. We took the Dakota as the Archer is getting its annual done.

It was a gorgeous day for flying.

Ceiling and visibility unlimited.  A few bumps as we flew over bodies of water but that is to be expected.

James made a great landing at Jackson and we headed in and had breakfast. We both had the Pilot's omelette, as one does.

Then we headed back to the plane and we got ready for the departure.

I called Jackson Ground and got flight following and setup to do approaches first at Jackson and then Pontiac.

I took off and first did the ILS Runway 25 approach and then the RNAV 25 approach at Jackson and both went quite well.

I  then flew us back to Pontiac.

161 knots ground speed was rather respectable.

I then did the RNAV 27L approach into Pontiac.

The approach starts east of the airport so we actually flew past it.

There it is across the lake.

I then flew the approach and did an excellent landing.

 Just a perfect morning to get in the air.

That's 1.5 for me, 1 landing, 3 approaches, and .9 simulated instrument time.

London Trip 12 - HMS Belfast

After thoroughly enjoying our time at Churchill's War Room, we started walking towards another Imperial War Museum - HMS Belfast.

There Mr. B and I met up with Lagniappe's Keeper and toured the ship.

HMS Belfast is a Town-class light cruiser, that fought in World War 2 and the Korean War.

We boarded and passed by the ship's bell:

HMS Belfast's main firepower comes from twelve six-inch guns arrayed in four triple turrets with a range of 14 miles.

It's rather cramped inside those turrets.

 

The six-inch guns have an interesting ammunition hoisting mechanism below decks in the Shell Rooms that got ammunition to the guns quickly:

HMS Belfast fired over 4,000 shells in support of the D-Day invasion on Gold Beach and as the troops pushed inland.

 The ship also mounts 12 4-inch guns, 40 mm antiaircraft guns and pom-pom guns as well as torpedoes.

There's everything on board a crew might need at sea.

From a heavily-stocked machine shop:

Galleys for food preparation and a bakery:

 

Damage Control Lockers

 

Sick Bay:

 

and more.  The engine room is rather impressive to visit and the ship is a fitting monument to the fighting British sailors of World War 2.

Moored alongside Belfast was a visitor to the United Kingdom, the Indian frigate INS Tabar, a Talwar-class frigate. 

 Built in Russia, she's now shown her mettle.

Yes those are two drone kill patches on the missile launcher, and a ship kill patch below the RBU-8000 rocket launcher.  INS Tabar shot down two Iranian-made Houthi-piloted Shahed drones. 

Jai Hind.

Inspired by the presence of the INS Tabar, the three of us headed off to have Indian food for dinner. 

It was quite delightful and flavorful.

We then walked across Tower Bridge and went on our way.

 

It had been a very interesting and informative day with many sights seen and over 22,000 steps taken.

Michigan SOS Jocelyn Benson Put Her Finger On The Scale, Gets Her Wrist Slapped

Michigan's Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a partisan Democrat, has been working hard to influence the election in Michigan in favor of the Democrats.

She tried to have Cornel West kept off the ballot, as that crazy proggy would draw a share of Black and hard progressive Democrat voters away from Que Mala Harris.

At the very same time, she tried to keep RFK Jr on the ballot, because he would likely draw off an element that would otherwise vote for Trump. Keeping him in play and West off would potentially swing the projected to be very close election here in favor of Harris.

She's now lost both attempts in court:

WDET: Cornel West is back on Michigan’s presidential ballot, judge rules

The Detroit News:  Michigan appeals court orders RFK Jr. removed from November ballot

Now, she is appealing both decisions to the Michigan Supreme Court. The Court's Democrat majority there may perhaps decide the issues on the basis of partisanship rather than law.  We shall see.

This is indeed the same Jocelyn Benson that has been previously had illegally attempted to ban carry at polling places, and had illegally ordered clerks during the 2020 election not to verify signatures on absentee ballots, again favoring Democrats and opening the doorway for shenanigans with unverified ballots being counted.

So, our Secretary of State is rather definitively partisan and has been using election laws and regulations in a rather partisan fashion.  Since she very much runs those who count the votes, expect further electoral shenanigans to favor the Democrats from the person who should be instead focusing on making sure this is a clean election.

London Trip 11 - Churchill's War Room

We arrived and got in line for tickets to the Churchill War Room Tour.

We waited in line for tickets beside a couple very friendly Aussies who were visiting London, and we had a very nice chat to pass the time before we got in. 

The War Room is a bunker complex located beneath the Treasury building in Westminster. The complex became operational a week before Britain declared war on Germany and remained open and active until the end of the Second World War. The complex has been preserved to look as it did during the war years.

Inside, you can see where Churchill and the Cabinet conducted the war.

The complex is tight to maneuver in and full of offices and areas for running the war.

Security in the complex was rather tight:

The threat of bombardment was a real concern as the bunker complex was not quite as bomb-proof as they would have liked.

Some notices are rather polite:

The bunker complex is quite interesitng with lots of recorded recollections written up rfom people who worked in the bunker posted for people to read and learn about the experience.  It's very much walking through a place where history was made and a war won due to the decisions made in these rooms.

The bunker also had a very informative poster, and very knowledgeable and helpful docent who explained the secret and secure encrypted communication line that had been setup between Churchill and FDR - the SIGSALLY.:

=

A very cool bit of cryptography history and technology right there.

In addition to the bunkers setup as they were in Churchill's time, there's a museum dedicated to the man.

The museum has a display oif the many hats  Churchill wore: 

There's also Churchill's sidearm from when he served on the Western Front in World War 1 when commanding the Royal Fusilliers:

Yes, it is a Colt 1911.

The Nazis used a famous photo of Churchill in their propaganda against him:

It likely didn't , work nor change anyone's mind.  Indeed international and national socialists both are always quick to accuse their opponents of what they themselves are doing.

The museum recounts Churchill's life and career in politics and the military, complete with his foibles and mistakes and all. It gives an excellent picture of the man and his incredible work ethic, life and legacy.

Did you know that Churchill was a pilot?  He learned to fly in 1913:

Did you know that Churchill was awarded honorary American Citizenship?

Now you do.  Back when Civus Americanus Sum had some weight behind it.

You definitely get a very good sense of Churchill the man, his legacy, and his massive impact on history. 

The museum is a very well done and is worthy of  a visit when you are in London.

London Trip 10 - Eye See What You Did There

The next day started out with a nice cuppa Earl Grey Tea at the hotel (they served this brand at the hotel and it is quite tasty indeed).

We got up headed out of the hotel and headed to the Thames.

We crossed one of the Golden Jubilee Bridges besides the Hungerford Railway Bridge.

As we crossed, Mr. B. noted some interesting things about the Hungerford Bridge construction from an engineering standpoint. I learned things.

Quite a cool bridge and it was a nice walk across the Thames.

We then headed to our destination:

 The London Eye.

Unfortunately, we had not bought tickets in advance and they were full up. Still, fun to see and a nice scenic walk there.

All was not lost, as we had an opportunity for a late breakfast there. At the base of the Eye is a highly recommended chippy:

I could see why it was so well recommended, it was really, really, good and certainly hit the spot. Plenty of energy for the perambulations to come.

After the breakfast we started walking to our next destination and got to see various historical markers and memorials:

The Ghurka Memorial:

The Memorial to the lifting of the Siege of Cadiz during the Napoleonic Wars:

The memorial to Earl Roberts at the Horse Guard's Parade:

Yes, there were Horse Guards present:

A statue of Lord Kitchener:

 

A statue of Baron Robert Clive:

Lots of history seen on our way to visit a museum dedicated to one of the most consequential Brits of the 20th  century. The museum was located in the place where he made many of those consequential decisions.

London Trip 9 - Getting Back Is More Than Half The Fun

So we left Duxford, got on the train to Cambridge, switched trains onto the Great Northern Rail Service there and started heading south.

All was going well.  Too well.

The train made it to a couple stations and then stopped at a station. It did not start moving again.

The conductor stated that a power line was down farther south on the line and we were stuck until it was fixed.

Moments later he said the train now also showed a fault and we all had to get off.  He then indicated buses would be coming and he then took the train south off into the distance leaving all passengers behind.

So about 70 passengers stood around the Baldock station.

What's in Baldock by the train station you may be asking?  Not much.  

I'm sure Baldock is a nice place and all that, but it was rather far from London, about an hour by car, or a 14 hour walk which would have been a tad much.

No buses or anything else came, and some passengers connected to the information line first said it would be fixed momentarily and a train would be along.

During this time we had some good chats with other passengers and Mr. B. kindly let one use his power pack to charge their phone which was getting low on battery power.  Nice bunch of people.

An hour later, passengers again connected to the information line and were told all the north lines were out and they'd send someone for us eventually.

Eventually was hardly comforting.

So, instead of waiting,  with two other passengers, Mr. B. and I called up an Uber which had one heckuva surge price uptick.  We all piled in and split the cost at 25 quid each, and took it down to King's Cross Station for the tube, as all the Great Northern Rail lines were down. Uber was doing great business that day.

At King's Cross we said goodbye to our fellow stranded passengers, and then took the tube back to a station nearest our hotel at Trafalgar Square. Then we went out and grabbed a very late dinner, and that ended the day.

Still one helluva great birthday, even with the disruption.  The power to the northern lines was still unrestored the next day. It was a darn good thing we didn't stay there waiting for another train to come along.