London Districts: Greenwich
Greenwich is now the capital district of what is now officially called the ‘Royal Borough of Greenwich’ since 2012.
In terms of domes around the world, the Millennium Dome is the biggest. The dome is 365 metres in diameter and 52 metres high with those 12 yellow supporting poles running through it. This represents days, weeks and months of the year.
The Emirates Air Line looks quite slow but it takes 10 minutes to cross the water and they double that speed in rush hour for the commuters.
The Cutty Sark was built in 1869 and sailed from London to Shanghai the next year full of wine, beer and spirit exports. It came back from Shanghai full to the brim with over a million pounds of tea.
The Greenwich Foot Tunnel took 3 years to build from 1899 to 1902. The very industrial steel panel section at the north end of the tunnel is the result of steel repairs after Second World War bomb damage. The tunnel is classed as a public highway which means, by law, it must be kept open 24 hours a day, everyday.
The name Greenwich dates back more than 1100 years. The ‘Green’ part of the name is self explanatory but the ‘nwich’ or ‘wich’ part refers to a ‘harbor’ or ‘trading place’.
Greenwich has a lot of restaurants, markets, pubs, places to see and things to practically do and partake in. Some of the best restaurants in Greenwich are the Rare Steakhouse which the meat lovers flock to or you could head to Ajiichiban which is a notable sushi spot. If you fancy some Nepalese cuisine why not try Mountain View. Inside Greenwich Park you will also find The Pavilion Cafe which serves up all the standard cafe grub in a picturesque environment.
The best places to drink in Greenwich include The Old Brewery, inside the Old Royal Naval College. They are famous for their Meantime Ale, and double up as both a bar and cafe in the day into a thriving restaurant as part of the nightlife in Greenwich. The Greenwich Union is more of a conventional pub which is known for brewing it’s own beer. Two of the most prominent pubs in the area are The Trafalgar pub and the Gypsy Moth tavern each servings alcoholic beverages to enjoy by the River Thames in pure Greenwich fashion, culture and tradition.
When you consider days out in Greenwich, it is said that the National Maritime Museum is the largest museum in the world of its sort. It contains numerous exhibitions and activities for all ages. For Greenwich arts and culture you can have a look at the Greenwich Theatre with a fresh production every fortnight or one of the two cinemas. The Odeon features the most recent blockbuster releases whilst the Greenwich Picturehouse focuses on world cinema and independent film. Its worth taking a look at the M1 Fine Art or the Fan Museum in the heart of the district which display the work and exhibitions from local artists. For music, there is also the jazzy options of either the Greenwich Music Time concerts each July for classical music or the The Greenwich+Docklands International Festival has boasts over 200 art performances during the summer aswell as the Greenwich Early Music Festival bringing together musicians from all over the globe.
Of the 32 London boroughs, there are 4 with royal status. For 80 years there were only 3 but Greenwich was allowed to join the club to become the fourth in 2012 by order of the Queen. Greenwich once tried to apply for city status to become the ‘City of Greenwich’ but that got refused.
Greenwich is very well connected by transport. There are a lot of bus routes connected by a central bus station, boat services to Central London and 5 different types of train station serving different parts of the district.
Greenwich Park itself has always had ‘royal’ status along with Green Park and Hyde Park and some others. Some of the trees you can see in the park are over 350 years old. At the top, you will find several spaces for pay and display car parking in Greenwich Park and just outside the park at the Blackheath end you’ll find free parking aswell.
King Edward the II asked Christopher Wren to design the Royal Observatory for some serious astronomy. They built it in 1675 for £520 and its still the largest telescope in the UK. It is one of the free museums in London that you can visit and is great for kids or even young children. The ‘Public Standards of Length’ on the wall in the park physically demonstrate precise lengths from the imperial measurement system.
Before the Observatory, there wasn’t really any official, standardised way of measuring time around the world. Over centuries, sailors decided it made sense to sync their clocks to the already established ‘Greenwich Mean Time’ or ‘GMT’ which is now just known as Universal Time.
As you can see, there are quite a few things to do in Greenwich and hopefully this episode of the London Districts tour guide video series by Dewyne Lindsay will help if you’re thinking about living in Greenwich, visiting Greenwich or planning a day out with the family or just a nice walk around there.
