A Church, a Cathedral and some plants

I caught the 8.21 from Hampton station and found my way from Waterloo to the Barbican by bus, where I arrived by 10am. I discovered that the Conservatory wasn't open to the public until 12 noon but was given a booking for that time. In the meantime I walked across to the ancient church of St Giles Without Cripplegate (see extra) and walked around in the rain for a while before going in to the last part of the Sunday service. It's quite thought-provoking to hear that people have been worshipping at this site for over 1,000 years!

I returned to the Conservatory at 12. It was pretty inpressive with a huge range of plants, but to my professional gardening eye was suffering from a lack of proper maintenence. I carried out a bit of surreptitious dead-leafing while I walked around, but the collection had a rather desiccated look and I thought needed some sprinklers above to damp the place down a bit, but then what do I know! I was told that they were short of staff.

When I came out I wandered down to St Paul's Cathedral and went inside, but no visitor tours were on as it was Sunday, and cameras were forbidden. I carried on down to the riverside and took pictures of the runners in the London Marathon before wending my way back to Waterloo and thence to Vauxhall. I had a look around the park which was previously the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens before catching the train back to Hampton and the chance to rest my weary knees!