Nigel's Photo Blog

 On Wednesday, June 4th I undertook a fleeting-but intensive- tour of London, England. Here is the story.   Elizabeth Tower aka 'Big Ben'. Means of transport was rail. This entailed an 800 mile round trip. I travelled down from Glasgow on the overnight sleeper 3rd/4th and returned on the 4.30pm service from London Euston arriving home about 10.00pm. My principal objective was the Santa Maria, a replica dating from 2018 of Columbus' lead ship on his discovery of America in 1492.Full details were reported in my blog of yesterday. Before and after the ship visit I had plenty of time to visit other sites as recorded in the images herein. Houses of Parliament and Big Ben viewed from across the River Thames.   View from Westminster Bridge  Side view of the Tower of London. I seem to recall running around this monument about 40 times for charity during the 1980s.  Santa Maria moored in St. Katherine's Docks.   London Eye . This is the world's largest...

    Introduction Yesterday, I visited a full-scale replica of the 15th century sailing vessel 'Santa Maria' which was moored in St Katherine Docks, a marina in central London . Location is close to the Tower of London , a top tourist attraction. Information on Columbus' Voyage The original  Santa Maria was the lead of a group of three vessels, sponsored by the Spanish Crown, which set sail from Huelva (S.W.Spain) on August 3rd, 1492 on a defining voyage which resulted in discovery of the New World thirty-three days later. The supporting vessels were La Nina and La Pinta. A lthough perceived as a high risk venture it seems likely that Columbus had information on what he would find. After all, the Vikings travelled to North America in the 10th century AD and established settlements there. Columbus' voyage changed the path of universal history and transformed elements of humanity.  Information on the Santa Maria.   The replica discussed here dates from 2018 and is ...