Arriving via the Docklands Light Railway at Tower Gateway Station we slowly made our way towards the Tower of London and the River Thames coming across Old Acquaintances such as Dove's-Foot Crane's-Bill, Dwarf Mallow, Lesser Swine-Cress, Lesser Trefoil, Oxford Ragwort, Ribwort Plantain, Round-Leaved Crane's-Bill, Shepherd's-Purse, Spotted Medick and Yarrow in a Small Grassed Area (where the Statue of a Roman, believed to be the Emperor Trajan, stands (Grid Reference TQ3280), before walking beside the Thames between Tower Bridge and London Bridge seeing some Mexican Fleabane growing on the Riverside' Wall, before we found a small Population of Hemlock Water-Droplet in flower viz.
Such Super-Pretty flowers.
A Blue Tit posed briefly for the Camera but we fumbled and the opportunity was lost.
And we are hoping during a future visit to determine which style of Stonecrop this is, growing on the Sea Wall beside the River viz.
We then made our way to the St Mary Aldermanbury Garden (Grid Reference TQ3281) * via Swan Lane, Laurence Pountney Hill **, Cannon Street, Walbrook, Cheapside, Old Jewry, Gresham Street and Aldermanbury, where we had vague hopes of finding something interesting.
And Yippee, we were not disappointed. Nothing perhaps to excite the 'Proper Botanist', but tons enough for us. We found a number of Plants, including:
Black Spleenwort viz.
Creeping Yellow Sorrel viz.
Hart's-Tongue Fern viz.
Maidenhair Spleenwort (lots of it) viz.
Pellitory-of-the-Wall (lots of it including this Plant which we think might be coming into flower) viz.
But most pleasing of all was some Orange Hawkweed (aka Fox and Cubs) with its Vibrant, Orange Flowers, growing in cracks in the remnants of the old Church' Walls viz.
Which all goes to show you don't need to be a 'Proper Botanist' to find something interesting.
And the Excitement wasn't limited to Plants. There were a few Feral Pigeons present (although when aren't there?), a seeming Bruiser of a Carrion Crow dropped by briefly and we saw a Robin and a couple of lively Dunnocks, one of whom kindly posed for the Camera on a Bench viz.
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* The Church (destroyed by the Great Fire of 1666 and rebuilt) was badly damaged during World War II and by way of serving as both a reminder and a commemoration of Sir Winston Churchill's, 1946 'Iron Curtain' Fulton Speech, the Church was dismantled and rebuilt in the grounds of Fulton's, Westminster College.
** Much of the City has changed beyond all recognition since we first trod its Pavements, many, many years ago. Standing in Cannon Street we tried unsuccessfully to remember exactly where the much-loved Cannon Street Library (long, long gone) had been located although the Buildings in that section of Cannon Street haven't changed from when the Library was there: Yet!
And neither seemingly has Number 6, Pountney House, Laurence Pountney Hill viz.
where we were based for a few years back in the 19..'s. Although we imagine the Night Storage Heaters that were useful for piling files on are long-gone and that the Building is now, Air-Conditioned!
Such is the Stuff of Memories.
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