Big Ben takes its name from Benjamin Hall who had charge of the work on the first bell
The bell weighs 13½ tons, is 7½ feet tall and 9 feet in diameter at its mouth. The great bell rings the hours. The note is E sharp. Smaller bells ring the quarter hours
The Clock Tower is 320 feet high and has four faces with dials 23 feet in diameter. The numbers on the clock face are 2 feet long, the minute spaces are 1 ft. square and the copper minute hands are 14 feet long
The Tower Bridge is one of the most recognizable bridges in the world. The London Bridge was the only practical way over the Thames so, in 1876, it was decided to build a new bridge. Sir Horace Jones designed a raising bridge so there was enough clearance for the tall mast ships and shallow enough for a horse drawn carriage to negotiate
The bridge cost of £1,184,000 and ten lives. The bridge was operated by great steam pumping engines. It was a masterpiece of its time and remains an evocative symbol of London
West Minister Abbey is an English Gothic structure and national shrine. Almost all English monarchs since William I have been crowned in the Abbey and noted English subjects are buried there. The western towers were built between 1722 and 1740
Buckingham Palace is the Queen's official London home. Queen Victoria was the first monarch to make Buckingham Palace her permanent home. The orginal house was built in 1702 by the Duke of Buckingham on the site of a brothel
The Victoria Memorial stands in front of Buckingham Palace. The Mall is a wide tree-lined driveway linking Trafalgar Square with Buckingham Palace
The Marble Arch
Telehone booth
Mail box
Bobbies on horseback
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square is considered the true heart of London.
Nelson's Column stands on the South side of the Square. Its fluted shaft is nearly 185 feet high and is topped by E.H. Baily's 17 ft. statue of Lord Horatio Nelson, England's greatest naval hero
Dover Castle is a great medieval fortress created by King Henry II and built between 1180 and 1185
Dover Castle sits high on the cliffs overlooking the waterfront on one side and the town on the other
Castle Street
The Town Center
Market Square on Saturday
Market Square on Sunday
St. Mary's Catholic Church on the left with scafolding
The ages-old Cemetary at St. Mary's
The Dover Museum
The Town Hall and The War Memorial
The Prince Albert Hotel and restaurant
Ristorante Dino - This cozy little Italian restaurant was our favorite restaurant in Dover. We had a fantastic dinner, prepared by Mama Dino, and the best liver pate appetizer ever (except for Joan's of course)
The Seaport is below the Cliffs. The Shakespeare Cliff is the backdrop to the bay and the waterfront
The Port of Dover. It's 21 miles across the English Channel to France. Dating back to the early 17th century, it is one of the busiest and most popular ports in the world
Port of Dover. Each year millions of trucks, busses, cars, motorcycles and passengers pass through the port for the 21 mile journey across the English Channel to France
Shakespeare Cliff is the backdrop to the waterfront
The Clock Tower and Lifeboat House overlooks the small craft harbor
The White Cliffs small craft harbor of Dover
The Southern Queen - The White Cliffs Harbor tour boat and it is the only tour boat in Dover and the surounding area
The Roman Painted House was built about 200 AD. the House is named for the brightly colored murals on its plaster walls. The floors are red mortar and cover an under-floor heating system
The Red Mortar Floors cover a 1,800-year-old central heating system that kept the building warm
Visitors can see the large arched flues, the heating channels and the vertical wall-flues of the under-floor central heating system
The House is part of a large mansion demolished in 270 AD by the Roman Army during the construction of a new fort
Wall Paintings survived in good condition because the House's three main rooms were buried in clay to construct ramparts for the new fort
The Roman House was discovered by Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit. The walls survived to a height of 4-6 feet
Catalan Bay, a small fishing village in Gibraltar on the eastern side of the Rock
The Strait of Gibraltar connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Gibraltar and Peninsular Spain in Europe from Morocco and Ceuta in Africa
Exploring the City
Grand Casemates Gates, formerly Waterport Gate, provide an entrance from the northwest to the old, fortified portion of the city
Grand Casemates Gates
Grand Casemates Square
Grand Casemates Square
Gibraltar City Center
Gibraltar. Emphatically British!
Glass-blowing factory on Grand Casemates Square
The highway intersects with the airport runway
Europa Point
Europa Point is the southernmost point of Gibraltar
The Ibrahim-al-Ibrahim Mosque
Europa Point Lighthouse
Joan at Europa Point Lighthouse
Europa Point replica of Ordnance RML 12.5 inch 38 ton gun
Dudley Ward Tunnel linking the eastern side with Europa Point