Greenwich and the Maritime Museum
The journey to the Maritime Museum on 16th February to see the Astronomy Photographer of the Year exhibition couldn’t have gone more smoothly. I wish.
If the Elizabeth Line being out on Saturday didn’t get us, the 121 steps at Cutty Sark did their best to stop us in our tracks, the escalators being out of action. Some members chose to take a bus from Greenwich Station to avoid the climb; others braved the steps, and we were all glad to emerge into the daylight. Worse was to come; as we made our way through a rather cold and overcast Greenwich, Eileen, Cathy and I were slightly ahead, and after crossing a road looked back to see how close the others were, and there they weren’t. Group A went one way, Group B went another, both groups getting lost. I blame the sign posting, which didn’t direct us all the way to the museum’s entrance, and not the organiser of the trip at all. Thankfully both groups met up in the foyer before too long, and were soon joined by Peter, Annick and Fozi who had taken the Greenwich Station route.
As the café was filling up, and caffeination was much needed after such a disjointed journey, we decided to have an early lunchbreak before seeing the exhibition, and managed to all sit together.
The exhibition was really lovely, and well worth a visit. The photographs were wide-ranging, featuring for example the Northern Lights, galaxies, skyscapes, lunar eclipses and asteroids, and many of the works were stunningly beautiful. Accompanying each photograph was information on how the photographer came to capture the image, along with (dare I say slightly geeky) technical descriptions of the camera-work.
After the exhibition, Trevor very kindly led us on a walk through Greenwich Park. First we climbed up to the Royal Observatory, where the Greenwich Prime Meridian begins, and looked out at various London landmarks. Canary Wharf did its best not to be spotted, but eventually we all located it. We then went to see the deer, but found that they have been relocated to Richmond Park while the deer’s habitat is improved. We made our way back through a wooded part of the park, and several of us had a cup of tea for the road at the museum before going back to Cutty Sark Station, where the steps were a doddle to descend, and the journey back was almost disappointingly uneventful.
Thank you very much Trevor for the park walk, and to everyone who came along on Saturday.
Louise, 18th February 2025
Photos by Trevor