I forgot to mention that I dragged The Cat's Mother underground on Bank Holiday Monday. They opened up Brunel's Tunnel (ooh nurse!) for the first time in ages and we were given a guided tour alongside a lot of other trainspotters (actually they all looked young and trendy, so maybe it's the thing to do. The tunnel was renovated some years ago and is now used for the London Overground (yep it's the underground, overground which makes me want to sing the Wombles song). They'd stopped the trains so they could do some maintenance work, giving us the chance to walk under the Thames on the rail tracks. There's not a lot of the original to be seen as modern standard mean it's pretty much encased in concrete...but there were a few gems, and it was kind of fun to step off a platform and on to the tracks. I did listen intently to the guide, but it didn't stay with me long. Brunel evidently nearly died when he was swept away by a flood, and its the first train tunnel under a river in the world..when it opened nearly a million people came to see it, and walk through it, and be entertained by all sorts including ladies of the night. There's been concerts, banquets and balls...and they started construction before there was enough money to finish it. Above is Brunel's Museum...do pop along
Slightly frustratingly, having walked across, we then had to walk back to where we started, although we were going to a restaurant on the other side...and without the train to take us it was a long round trip in the rain..fortunately we were compensated by the sight of what I think is the Queen's Barge
