Bayswater to Knightsbridge

A beautiful Saturday morning in amongst all the rain, so I thought it an opportune moment for a walk. This one started in Bayswater in front of Kensington Gardens.



As yopu go through, by the children's playground is what looks like a bird cage. But rather than birds it contains the stump of an ancient tree decorated by little figures. Weird.

Kensington Palace is of course the main feature along Kensington Gardens. Fine topiary gardens separate the palace from its orangerie

 I an sure these tunnels will be more impressive in summer!

The Palace itself has reopened after renovations. No doubt well-renovated. So, would I recommend this as a day out. No.

Not because it is bad, just bad value for money. £16.50 with a pound donation included. That is quite pricey, so you are going to expect a lot inside. Unfortunately the 4 routes Queens Apartments, Kings Apartments, the royal fashion exhibition and the Victoria exhibition, really don't add up to that much.

Ok first up, I do like the new porch which got much stick for not being modern enough. Of course that is exactly why it sits quite nicely in front of the Palace.

 Ok, so here is the dilemma. They haven'tgot all that much to display. SO they have to be creative. If one was charitable one would say they have made a lot with a little. As anyone who knows me will tell you, I am not charitable. So to me the place looks like it has ben atacked by the creativity of a primary school teacher, intent on passing information to 7 year olds. So the staircase would have been fine without being hung by all the empty bottles.

Another room is set out with 18 little nursery chairs to emphasis that Queen Anne had 18 pregnancies but no children who survived into adulthood.

 All would be fine except that the gimmickry stops one seeing what genuine artefacts they have. So here they have gramophones pretending to whisper court gossip. Which obscures the paintings and furniture behind.

 One of the finest parts of the Palace is the staircase with trompe l'oeil painted walls. But as you can see this is still being renovated and covered in scaffolding. Some of the other rooms are still closed. For £16 I would have felt justified in wanting to see it all, not just a bit.

 The main picture gallery doesn't have any great paintings but is good enough.

 This room with a cupola is the star of the Kings Departments

 The Queen Victoria section is well set out and does give the feeling of just how dearly she and Albert loved each other.

 The one modern bit of gimmickry that I really loved was this image of the Great Exhibition, formed of a series of glass plates

 Outside the statue of the Queen by one of her daughters looks rather nice, especially against a blue sky.

Just beyond is the Albert Memorial. If you have never visited this, well you just should. Especially on a sunny day. Its a truly magnificent bit of Victorian Art.

 And then continuing the theme, the rather more useful Royal Albert Hall sits opposite, still one of London's great venues.

I will skip the universities and museums down Exhibition Road, although I couldn't help myself taking this reflective photo - a nice combination of new and old I thought.

 Turning past the Victoria & Albert Museum one comes across the Brompton Oratory. This is a somewhat unfairly overlooked attraction. We pile into Catholic cathedrals in Southern Europe, but we have a very opulent one here. No photos allowed inside, but trust me it has all the lavish expenditure that one associates with catholic ministry, inlaid marble, gilding etc.

The rather more retrained Holy Trinity Church is hidden behind it.

 Beyond that we get into a maze of mews houses. Once these would have been the stables for the transport of all the wealthy individuals in their grand Kensington houses, but they are all now converted into highly desirable and expensive mews houses. Very attractive too.

 One then advances into Belgravia where some of the grandest houses (now often embassies) are to be found. Its just such a high quality area to stroll through. I liked these coadstone friezes on the side of the Norwegian Embassy for example.

 And to finish off I had a late lunch in a nice obscure little pub off Wilton Place. I couldn't particularly recommend it for gourmet food or anything, but just a nice little basement to be in. Pint of cider, a ploughman's, my paper to read. The right end to a walk. Always.