London's Cable Car & Christmas Lights etc.

Our first view of the Thames Cable Car.

Waiting for our Blue Badge Guide to arrive.

On the 12th of this month I visited London with my local WI.  Arriving by coach at the the North Woolwich Peninsula I took photos while waiting for our Blue Badge Guide to arrive.

As soon as she'd introduced herself and issued us with our tickets we hurried over to the O2 Arena for lunch as time was tight.
Being nervous of heights I wondered how I would cope, the Cable Car is an amazing 300 feet high.  It can carry 2500 people an hour.  It was and still is sponsored by the Emirates Airline and travels from the North Woolwich Penisular to the Royal Victoria Dock, linking the O2 and the Excel Centre. 

Directly after our lunch we hurried back just in time for us to board.

And then we were on our way.

Amazingly I felt very safe, safe enough to stand and take some of these photos. Seeing the Thames from this height I could see the tight curves which I hadn't appreciated before.  Unfortunately the weather could have been better so that we would have seen views of places further away, although the mist gave the scene an ethereal look.
Directly after disembarking we got back on board our coach, this time with our guide.  She was really amazing with all the facts she had at her fingertips.  Telling us about the different docks and what each one was designated to what kind of cargo.  How the Black Wall Tunnel had bends in it due to it's being built when horses were the mode of transport and, evidently, if the horses had been able to see the light at the end of the tunnel they would have bolted.  Among other buildings we passed there was the Church of St Michael of Paternoster Royal, where Dick Whittington was buried.  The original church had been burnt during the Fire of London and was rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren, it was also bombed during World War 11 on both occasions his remains were searched for but never found; although a mummified cat was found.
After a comfort stop at the Natural Museum we reboarded the coach to see the Christmas Lights, as it was now dark enough to show them at their best.  Harrods has a team of twenty who dress their windows all year, they were splendid, each one depicting a fairy tale.  Fortnum and Mason coincidently had chosen Dick Whittington as there theme.  Our guide explained that when lights were first used in Oxford Street they were paid for by the big department stores that lined it.  Now they have different sponsors, this year it's Marmite.  The Christmas Tree in Trafalgar Square, donated by Norway as a thank you for our help during the war, is lit by Christmas lights going up and down as is their custom, not round and round.  We also gleaned the fact that Christmas Stockings came from the Dutch who traditionally filled their childrens clogs with sweets etc at Christmas time.  When they moved to America there were no clogs and so they hung up their stockings.
Our final stop was at the South Bank where we could get a coffee and wander the Christmas Market.  Then it was time for home.