MISS ELAINEOUS VISITS LEIGHTON HOUSE MUSEUM...

It happens to Londoners too- I didn't get off at the wrong stop, oh no, I got on totally the wrong Tube line!  There's me looking out for High Street Kensington and it didn't appear.  Luckily, I used to live in West London, very much nearby, and had my trusty map with me, so I jumped off at West Kensington and walked through to Holland Park.

Once again, I had one of those, 'Why couldn't I have done this when I lived in Hammersmith?' moments.  It's only up the road but, then again, I hadn't even heard of this place until I stumbled across details on the internet recently (by accident).

Leighton House Museum was the London home and studio of Frederic, Lord Leighton (1830-1896).  A lifelong bachelor, he lived alone and was heavily associated with the Pre-Raphaelites.  The museum contains both his own work and pieces by other artists.

Photography is not allowed in the house (something I find very annoying, especially in this day and age of mobile phones, when people can take sneaky pictures anyway).

The Arab Hall displays Leighton's collection of tiles, brought back from the Middle East.

Here are some PDFs, but do try and visit, as words cannot explain how peaceful it is inside the beautiful hall, listening to the gentle water of the fountain flowing, staring at the thick stained glass windows and taking in the lovely cerulean/ kingfisher/ cobalt blue of the tile designs.

The gracious view up the stairs.

Dining room.

Leighton's study.

Leighton's studio.

At the top of the stairs was my favourite painting, inspired by a poem by Pre-Raphaelite artist, Dante Gabriel Rossetti.  It is by John Byam Shaw and is called Silent Noon.

I was allowed to take photographs outside, big whoop (sarcasm)!

Here is the back garden.

The Middle Eastern theme follows through with this amphora urn.

Bowery.

Fountain.

Statue and flower beds.

Another amphora urn.  This really was an elegant garden, but I did have to crop out the bin!

The entrance hall is worth a look and, if you're into art you'll enjoy this artist's house museum.

MISS ELAINEOUS VISITS THE POSTAL MUSEUM...

The Postal Museum is in the Clerkenwell area of London, next to the Mount Pleasant Mail Centre and post office.  Occupying two sites, over the road from the museum section is Mail Rail, the world's first driverless mail system, which ran from 1927-2003.

From 2017, it has been possible to travel around a loop of the old track (formerly disused but well-maintained) in specially adapted- albeit cramped- carriages.

Here is the train on the platform...

People getting off the Lilliputian train...

A VERY cramped SuperDean.  The track was designed to hold trains full of mail, not people!  There wasn't much space for me (my big hair touched the roof!) and I'm only 5'4".

Inside the train...

I didn't get many decent photographs as I wanted to pay attention rather than see life through a lens.  The ride was mostly on the dark side, and I don't have good enough equipment to photograph at high speed anyway.

The ride was narrated and informative, though, with a recreation of a power cut, details of what happened when the River Fleet once flooded the tunnel and video shows at certain sections, such as this timeline, below.  We also got to stop at a platform, with a digital recreation regarding what the job of unloading and loading the trains was about.  We saw a lower section which was a train graveyard. 

We stopped at this point, and could see a tunnel sneaking off to one side.  The Mail Rail covered more than one area of London.

I found the ride quite claustrophobic and there is a digital simulation, with headphones, of the whole journey for those who don't wish to (or cannot) do the ride.  Once off the train, this section also had other exhibits, such as these old trains...

Time was utilised well and, once the mail was on the 'regular' train, postal workers sorted it so that the mail bags were ready to move on to their next destination.  There is a recreation where you can sort the mail yourself.  I had a go, and here's a photo of the labelled mail pockets...

In the other section of the museum, the history of the postal system is explained.  Did you know that the first mail boxes were green?  Nope, neither did I!

These were abolished, as they blended into the countryside too well...

Originally, mail was delivered by carriage...

The Penny Farthing... The beginning of two-wheeled deliveries.

You don't see many old phone boxes nowadays...

Who remembers how to use a phone with a round dial?  I do!

I never knew that these air mail boxes had ever existed...

Post boxes have the initials of the reigning monarch on the front.  If they go in for repair and are found to be outdated, then they get updated with the relevant insignia.  This is a rare Edward VIII post box.

Edward VIII stamps...

A George V post box...

This post box was painted gold to commemorate the Olympics, in 2012...

I'd never seen a mail bus before...

There are lots of other interesting things to see and do.  Dean (successfully) operated a simulation of the mail train control system and I sent a message by pneumatic telegraph.  You also get to see sections regarding things like: mail which got sunk on the Titanic, mail during both the wars and how to create a stamp, so it's definitely not a few hours wasted.

We popped into Pizza Pilgrims, on nearby Exmouth Market for a Hawaiian.  As it's controversial (not Italian) we had to vote for whether we wanted it to stay on the menu or not.  We voted YEEEESSSS!!!!

Charles Dickens lived in this area from 1837-1839 and that house is now the nearby museum; hence a pub dedicated to one of his David Copperfield characters.

Here is a London street photo, with The Shard and St. Paul's Cathedral in the background.

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MISS ELAINEOUS VISITS BOURNEMOUTH...

I spent three lovely days away in Bournemouth, staying at Travelodge Bournemouth Seafront.  We had a ground floor room, which looked freshly decorated and certainly did the job.

It was quite a trek from the railway station- through a town abundant with roundabouts and a pier entrance resplendent with heavy plant equipment and civil engineers- but we kind of found ourselves forced into taking the scenic route, via the beach.

Here's where I took my first steps on Bournemouth beach.  I love the palm trees!

The view towards our hotel area, up the beach...

Looking back at the pier...

The beautiful sunset on the horizon...

This is West Cliff Railway, a perpendicular line allowing for easy access to and from the beach.  I don't think it opens outside the summer season: we only saw some activity once, and that appeared to be a test run.  It certainly wasn't open when we, burdened down with suitcases, needed it.

Instead, we had to hump our suitcases up a flight of vertical stairs.  I was not amused- it felt like drill instruction, and I wasn't aware that I was training to be a Commando!  Here's the view from the top...

After unpacking, we went for a wander towards Bournemouth Pier.  Here are some gorgeous sunset views....

Seahorses...

The view from the pier.  Surfers were out in action, and you can see them paddling into the tide, looking like otters in their wetsuits!

As day turned into night, the sky and sea took on a moody nuance...

The next day brought grotty weather- but nice if you're a frog or a fish!!!!

  Again, the pier roadworks forced us onto the beach, this time walking the other way, towards Boscombe.  As well as two cliff railways and the steep stairs, there are two zig-zag cliff pathways.  We'd sampled the one situated to the west (near our hotel) after our second beach walk the previous day, and now we took the one to the east, up to the clifftop (this photo was actually taken the following day, during more clement weather...)

Now we come to the gem that is the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum- if you ever visit Bournemouth, don't leave without seeing inside it.  It's an ideal way to kill an hour or more on a rainy day.  Here is the blurb:-

'In 1897, the architect John Frederick Fogerty was commissioned by Merton Russell-Cotes, then the owner of the Royal Bath Hotel, to build a house as a birthday present for his wife Annie. Originally called East Cliff Hall, it was built in the northeast section of his hotel's garden. Built in the Art Nouveau style with interiors by John Thomas and his son Oliver. It was completed in its first form in 1901.

In 1907, Annie Russell-Cotes donated East Cliff Hall and its contents as a museum to the town of Bournemouth and Merton donated his fine art collection. In return they were made honorary freemen of the town. They continued living in part of the house and over the next ten years they paid for an extension to be built and made further donations including the freehold of the site. It was formally opened by Princess Beatrice in 1919. After their deaths the Borough of Bournemouth took over the running of East Cliff Hall and re-opened it as the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum on 10 March 1922. After Sir Merton's death, it was extended into his part of the house; a further extension was opened in 2000.^[2][3]

The house and the new annexe display various items collected in the course of Sir Merton's foreign travels, especially to Japan, and paintings from his personal art collection. One room is the Sir Henry Irving Museum; Irving, a friend of the Russell-Cotes', had stayed in that room. When Irving died in 1905, this room was devoted to his memory. Items purchased at the sale of Irving's effects formed the basis of the Irving Museum and were displayed with memorabilia associated with his contemporaries such as Ellen Terry and Sarah Bernhardt.' (Source- Wikipedia)

The view from the garden entrance...

Looking up...

Garden views...

Inside, flash photography wasn't allowed, so I've done my best. 

Here's the dining room...

The mantelpiece with a beautiful peacock frieze above it...

A fireplace...

I love this picture- I've got no idea who it's by but, to me, it has shades of Hieronymus Bosch about it!

Another room...

Stairs and balcony...

  

Skylight...

I thought this fountain centrepiece was wonderful.  Such a shame it wasn't working!

Nymphettes, found in the art gallery section...

This vase reminded me of the film 'The Amazing Mr. Blunden'.  My obsession with said film is documented elsewhere on my blog....!

A slit of a photo taken though the window...

The pier.  It really was a grotty, wet day.

Pier panorama.

Rooftops...

Squally sea...

The next day was nice, and we ventured up to Boscombe Pier, this time walking through town and down into the Lower Gardens.

The park had a lovely waterfall channel running through it.

The view over a bridge...

I love this tropical selection of trees...

Boscombe Pier, in the distance.  Bournemouth is very up-and-down and a real workout for the legs.  The flat beach walks brought a welcome respite from this!

The beach is smooth and lovely...

The view back towards Bournemouth...

On the pier...

Looking back over the sea...

I believe the lump towards the right of the photo is the Isle Of Wight...

Boscombe beach...

The pier had "musical instruments" for you to play.  Here's Dean giving it a go...

SuperDean...thanks for taking me to Bournemouth. xxxx

The sun on the sea, taken from the end of the pier...

The East Cliff Railway was destroyed in a landslide in 2016.  It doesn't show any signs of opening anytime soon.

Note the kink in the railway, caused by the mass of falling debris...

We enjoyed eating at the following places in Bournemouth:-

Jungle Cafe:- A yummy breakfast, but not much room inside and not much menu choice.

Olive:- Greek run, I loved having halloumi cheese with my brekkie!

Valentino's:- Traditional family Italian with a great atmosphere.

Cafe Rouge:- We enjoyed their three course Valentine's day menu.

But we had a different experience at Zizzi, and ventured into Wildwood.  Here's my TripAdvisor review of the latter (I gave them 4 out of 5 stars):-

On a recent short break to Bournemouth, we'd planned on spending February 15th in Zizzi, taking advantage of their Valentine's week menu. But, after receiving a very curt, "We have nothing," response from the guy at reception, despite the restaurant being three quarters full at best (I even had to drag some idea of availability that evening out of him) we thought, "Stuff you!" and decided to take our money elsewhere. I'd never even heard of Wildwood before but, as it was just opposite, we looked at the menu and decided to venture in.

I'm so glad we did! There's a good selection of pizzas, pastas and burgers- I loved my Hoisin Duck Classic pizza and my partner loved his Carne Gigante pizza. The restaurant was spacious and clean and the service friendly. His only moan was that his pizza could have been a bit warmer and my only moan was that the waitress took a long time in coming over when we required our bill, but I'm sure that if I'd got up to leave them it might have been forthcoming a little quicker! Wildwood, you have a convert, and I've even checked out other branches of this chain closer to home, for future reference.

So, that's my review of the lovely Bournemouth.  Could I live there?  Possibly.  But I hope to go back for another break.

I'll leave you with a photo of my Hoisin Duck Pizza- yum, yum and double yum!!!!

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