Friday 22nd July - Tower of London & St Paul's Cathedral

We are back up in London today and the weather seems to have changed for the better.  We make good progress and are at the Tower of London in good time. 

Since 1067 there has been a fortification here and the Tower has had a long and varied history.  This was a place of imprisonment, torture and execution as well as being at one time the Royal Mint, a zoo and the home of the Crown Jewels.

There is so much to see here and most of the groups head off to see the Crown Jewels first.  The central part of the fortress is the White Tower that dates from Norman times.  There are some wonderful displays of armour and munitions and plenty of interactive displays.  The outer towers all have their own stories to tell, such as the Bloody Tower - the place where the young princes disappeared in the 15th century.

The Yeoman Warders, or Beefeaters, are all around to offer guided tours and answer questions.  They are the custodians of the Tower.  After a good look around we assemble in the shadow of Tower Bridge and head back to the coaches for the short drive to the Museum of London.

The Museum is a history of the City of London and chronologically charts the city through the ages.

We then take a short walk to St Paul's Cathedral, Sir Christopher Wren's masterpiece, completed in 1708.  There are so many things to see in this place of worship but most of us head for the galleries first.  The Whispering Gallery brings you out inside the dome to enable you to look down into the main body of the cathedral. Up more steps to the Stone gallery that brings you outside at the base of the dome and then up to the Golden Gallery at the very top of the cathedral.

Within the cathedral there are many wonders and the tomb of Nelson is especially poignant. 

We meet up at the front and find the coaches for the journey back to Charterhouse.