I made a very brief visit to London on the 11th March 2005, basically just to collect a piece of left luggage from Paddington Train Station. I had left a holdall on an Intercity train a couple of weeks earlier, when travelling from Bristol Parkway to Cardiff Central, and so was forced to go all the way to London to collect it, as the train companies do not transfer left luggage around the country any longer due to security reasons! Anyhow, as I was in London, I thought that I may as well make the most of it, and do a very little sightseeing, and visit a couple of bars. I decided to concentrate my visit on the Kensington area of the City, as obviously it is near to Paddington, and there were a few sights there that I had not had pictures of before... which are included below.

The Albert Memorial in Hyde Park

It is situated exactly opposite to the Royal Albert Hall

The memorial was designed by Sir Gilbert Scott in 1872, and unveiled by Queen Victoria 4 years later in 1876. It stands at 180 feet high, and the centrepiece is a gilded bronze statue of Prince Albert. It is really a huge memorial. The wonderful gold gilding was only redone and unveiled in 1998. It had been painted black since 1915 to avoid being noticed during World War I

The Royal Albert Hall at Kensington Gore, London

Robert and The Royal Albert Hall

The Hall is one of the World's great music venues, it was opened in 1871, and has seen over 150,00 performances in it's Auditorium

The Royal Albert Hall was built in memory of Prince Albert who was consort to the Queen and faces the Albert Memorial. The original idea for the hall, was that it would have accommodated 30,000 people but money limitations caused the hall to be reduced to seat just over 5,000. The hall is oval in shape with an iron and glass domed roof. Today the Royal Albert Hall is used for rallies and concerts, including the well-known Promenade Concerts (the Proms), which first took place there in 1941.
 

Kensington Palace

Queen Victoria was born and brought up in this palace, this was also the London home of Princess Diana. In 1689 William III bought a mansion known as Nottingham House and commissioned Christopher Wren to extend and improve it. This included the Royal Apartments for the King and the Queen; the Royal Chapel; the Council Chamber and the Great Stairs. This mansion then became Kensington Palace

Even after the death of Diana - Princess of Wales, Kensington Palace is still a Royal Palace, it is still inhabited by some members of the Royal Family (Princess Margaret, sister of Elisabeth, Prince Michael of Kent and his wife and the Duke of Gloucester). It is possible to visit a small part of the Palace, such as the state apartments with the Kings Gallery and the Queens bedroom. On the lower floor you can see the Court Dress Collection, royal dresses and uniforms from 1750 till 1950.

All photographs were taken in London - England on the 11th March 2005.