Sherlock Holmes and Waterfalls In Switzerland

 When I read about a waterfall in Switzerland I wondered if that was the one associated with the Sherlock Holmes story. If you live in or visit London you are reminded of Sherlock Holmes when you pass through Baker Street station which has murals and stories about Sherlock Holmes on the walls of the platform.

Sherlock Holmes mural on the platform at Baker Street Station, London, England, UK. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Major Attraction Waterfall

Sherlock Holmes Waterfall - Reichenbach Falls

Sherlock Holmes Museum, Meiringen

The museum is in the church, originally built as the English church, reconstructed a few times. It now houses a reproduction of fictional Sherlock Holmes study. The museum was opened in 1990 by author Conan Doyle's daughter.

The Swiss Sherlock Holmes museum in Meiringen opens in the afternoon, 1-5 pm in summer, until the last day of October.  

Sherlock Holmes Museum in London, England

I know the Sherlock Holmes Museum in London near Baker Street underground station. A statue of Sherlock Holmes is on the pavement (sidewalk) outside one of the two station exits. 

Useful Websites about Sherlock Holmes and Swiss Waterfalls.

My trip to St Moritz goes by car through the Channel Tunnel across wine regions of France. Why? Because my husband is a wine writer and educator. 

We plan to go through the Champagne region, sparkling white is my thing. Onwards to Dijon. Also, through picturesque Alsace. Returning by a different route, we do the Burgundy red wine region of France.

Wish list World Heritage Sites

Lavaux is a region of terraced vineyards in the Canton of Vaud, Switzerland, stretching for around 30 km (19 mi) along the northern shore of Lake Geneva. Since July 2007, it has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site with the formal name Lavaux, Vineyard Terraces.^[1]

Not on  this itinerary, being south west, but saved for later are the world heritage site vineyards at Layaux.

copyright free maps are on OpenStreetMap

Useful Websites on German Speaking Switzerland and Sherlock Holmes Switzerland and London

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Sherlock_Holmes,_London

https://www.risskov.com/themes/historical-hotels

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meiringen

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Meiringen

https://www.notabletravels.com/the-sherlock-holmes-museum-meiringen-switzerland/#:~:text=Meiringen's%20Sherlock%20Holmes%20Museum%2C%20with,anniversary%20of%20Holmes'%20presumed%20death.

-ends-

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Jewish Book Week in London, the USA Yiddish Museum and the Jewish Sherlock Holmes !

 

Jewish book week, an annual event, takes place in London in late February, 28 Feb to March 8th in 2026.

I read through all the events, which feature authors, as well as a couple of workshops where you can do your own writing.

Some of the events you must pay for in advance. Others are free. But free events are still ticketed, so that presumably the limited number of seats are allocated on a 'first come first served' basis, in this case first applied first allocated seats

The venue is near, about 8 minutes walk from, Kings Cross and St Pancras station.

Subjects covered range from biblical era stories - researching the book of Esther as seen my Jews, Christians and Muslims.

Famous names pop up from the pop world, Bob Dylan.  And songwriter Carole King. 

New books, new looks at the Kindertransport, the Holocaust, modern Israel, the hostages and Israelis working with Palestinian Arabs from or in Gaza.

My favourite new discovery was the translation of a book translated from Yiddish about a Yiddish speaking detective, called the Jewish Sherlock Holmes. Fifteen stories of drama and disguise, rescuing a kidnapped girl being just one of them.

An amusing book to read on holiday. And I discovered a holiday destination, connected with the Yiddish language.

The Yiddish library in Massachusetts on a university campus. 

They run Yiddish language course, have a Yiddish music festival, and have an online bookshop.

Yiddish Book Centre. USA.

Useful Websites

UK

https://jewishliteraryfoundation.co.uk/jewish-book-week

USA

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yiddish_Book_Center

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outwitting_History

Watch the Barry sisters singing Rumania in Yiddish with a translation, an old film from the Thirties on You Tube. But my favourite version is the comical version by New York tenor, Moshe Schulhof. The song was by Aaron Lebedeff, written in 1923, but he died in 1960 and music copyright lasts 70 years after the death of the composer so it may still be in copyright until 2030. 

Please share links to your favourite posts.

Where to Find & Photograph London Stations' Art Deco Architecture, History and Mystery Murals and Statues - London's beautiful, fascinating Underground and overground railway stations

 

1 Charing Cross Station has several murals. You can see the portrait of Shakespeare. And several more historical characters.

2 Baker Street - for Sherlock Holmes in murals on the platforms. Also see his huge statue outside on the pavement. (Americans say sidewalk.)

Sherlock Holmes statue. Red London bus in the distance. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

3 Hyde Park Corner has sloping walk-in and walk out entrances which are lined with many the historic panels along the walkways.

Hyde Park Corner underground railway station, descending approach walkway. Photo by Angela Lansbury. 

 Once inside, you meet another internal corridor, going left and right, with more murals. The story of the battle of Trafalgar, and Waterloo. Learn about, and the queen who established the park. Queen C. 

Above Hyde Park Corner station is Number one, London, Apsley House, home of the Duke of Wellington, who won the battle of Waterloo. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Above Hyde Park Station, at ground level, you can see the outside of number one, London, home of the Duke of Wellington. Years ago I took a never forgotten guided tour of the house. We stopped by the giant statue of Napoleon in the hallway. Wellington had the statue made much larger than life. Wellington's intention was that when he saw Napoleon, the little Napoleon would seem much smaller and insignificant than previously imagined. 

On one of the panels you read reveals that Wellington admitted that Waterloo was a close-run victory. 

4 Leytonstone - Alfred Hitchcock memorials

A depiction of an Alfred Hitchcock film, in the station. The site of the place where he was born also has a mural.

Out in the suburbs:

5 Northwick Park - for the artwork on both sides of the stairs. As the trains enter and leave towards the centre of London, you see the floodlit Arch of Wembley stadium. Wembley Stadium, where the band Queen performed, as you can see on the biopic.

6 Rayners Lane, art deco exterior to admire as you walk or drive past. Opposite is another fine art deco building which has changed hands several times, becoming a religious centre, a gym. 

Some of the side streets have art deco houses, white with green tiled rooftops. Triple oblongs around the entrance door. Half semi-circle bay windows. Oblong windows.

Art deco house semi-detached suburban house in the Rayners Lane area. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Apologies for the poor quality. I took it late at night with a mobile phone from a moving car.

7 Hatch End - frequent winner of the best station for flowers. In the lobby is a bookcase for book swapping. On the platform going north to Watford is a plaque about the local walk.  You can look down on the platforms by walking along the main road from the station towards a large supermarket, the English Morrisons (on the other side of the road - with a pedestrian crossing if you want to go there).

Outside the station, parallel to the main high street called The Broadway, because it is so broad, the walk along Offa's Dyke takes you over a pedestrian bridge, looking down on the station from afar. It crosses the countryside and a big main road, leading alongside Grismdyke, once home of Gilbert of Gilbert & Sullivan operas. His former home, with a blue plaque, is a hotel and restaurant and they used to hold Gilbert and Sullivan operetta evenings.

Post being expanded - come back for more photos and stories shortly

Useful Websites

Wikipedia Tube stations art deco

About the author

Angela Lansbury is the author of 20 books including

Historic

Unforgettable British Weekends (travel)

Enquire Within Upon Travel And Holidays

Recent

Embarrassing Moments

See Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.com

Lulu.com

Delightful Decorations On London Underground Stations: Sherlock Holmes, Baker Street, Sir Christpher Wren, St Paul's, Piccadilly Station

When you get off at London underground stations you are treated to some historical murals made with tiles. Even if you don't alight, you can admire the sights through the windows or from the open doorway as the train stops.

The decorations also remind you which station is which. Instead of reading a newspaper, given out free at stations - look for the stacks, when you are near your destination, you can keep an eye on the passing stations so that you don't go past your stop.

My favourites include:

Baker Street

Sherlock Holmes

The pictures of Sherlock Holmes with his deerstalker hat and pipe are made up of tiles with tiny images.

Charing Cross

Allow time to admire the Charing Cross tube station panels on the platform coming in from Finchley Road station. This is the station for Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery. 

Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

You can see: 

1 poet and playwright William Shakespeare, 

2 one or more of the six  wives of King Henry VIII who was father of equally famous Queen Elizabeth I, and 

3 Sir Christopher Wren who built St Paul's Cathedral and many more buildings all over London to replace what was lost after the great fire.

Sir Christopher Wren and St Pauls Cathedral. Image at station. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Piccadilly

Piccadilly underground 'tube' station. Tiles in red and green. Notice mind the gap written on the edge of the platform. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Useful Websites

Wikipedia

Transport for London

https://tfl.gov.uk/

https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/social-media-and-email-updates/

Wikitravel

Wikivoyage

tripadvisor

About The Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please follow me and share links to your favourite posts.

When is a shop more exciting than a museum or art gallery shop? Sherlock Holmes shop, Mary Rose pottery shop

Sherlock Holmes
In London, England I popped into the Sherlock Holmes shop. Queues (Americans say line-ups) had formed outside. My companions had not wanted to spend time in the museum. We were short of time and money. However, there was plenty to keep me amused and occupied. I later went back to the museum.

Pink Pottery
I came across a place selling unusual pottery by accident. looked at an elaborately painted unsaleable house for sale, featured in the Daily Mirror newspaper. The walls were pink with lips, the chairs a riot of colour, white dots on black, or elaborate flowers. The home was owned by an artist. Her name was Mary Rose. I followed the link back to the artist's pottery.   Just looking online was a delight. She makes Alice in Wonderland pottery.

Mary Rose, artist, with her pottery. Photo from Wikipedia.

Mary Rose, Artist, teapot.

Many museums around the world have online shops selling small inexpensive items, large ones to admire, glimpses of what is on display in the museum. From postcards of classic artworks, to offbeat tee-shirts, handy items for motorcyclists from motorcycle museums and presents for birthdays and anniversaries for others or yourself.

https://www.maryroseyoung.com/
https://www.facebook.com/angela.lansbury.121

About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
I and my family have lived in the UK, Spain, the USA and Singapore. I am a travel writer and photographer and teacher of English A level and English as a foreign language.

Please come to a Toastmasters International Club where the English clubs have a language evaluator or grammarian.  We also have French, German, Mandarin Chinese, Tamil and other language clubs based in Singapore and many more online around the world which because of Covid-19 are now meeting online.

I am President of Braddell Heights Advanced, meeting every Wednesday, on zoom the first Wednesday of the month but the other Wednesdays are workshops on app learncool.sg
Or quicker to type and easier to remember:  tinyurl.com/BHACOOL

Useful Websites

Placenames in UK such as Mandela, and placenames in Russia such as St Petrograd

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2004/apr/18/property.homebuying

https://www.facebook.com/groups/polygotcommunity/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_reduplicated_place_names

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_reduplicated_Australian_place_names

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_reduplicated_New_Zealand_place_names

https://photoscissors.com/
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogs
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2019/04/how-to-say-thank-you-in-several.html
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2019/05/introducing-yourself-in-english-spanish.html
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2020/01/second-set-of-portuguese-words.html Please share links to your favourite posts
https://www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club
translate.google.com
duolingo.com

Photo Contest On Tunnels - Artwork in Singapore; London, and stations worldwide

The three winning photos on the theme of tunnels are now on display not only at Newton MRT station in Singapore but also at Downtown station.

What more Art at Newton?

London's Tube
London, England, is all tunnels. That's why it is called The Tube. We also speak of tube trains, which is neatly alliterative.

Paddington station, London
From here you descend a staircase to the tube line.

The dimness of the tunnel at Baker Street station is relieved by the white tiles and the distraction of the attention grabbing evocative artwork showing Sherlock Holmes. The fictional detective, (based on a Scottish man) is shown with his pipe and deerstalker hat. 

Curves are always soothing. Notice here we have the London Underground symbol, red circle and white complete disc centre around the horizontal tube station name.

Useful Websites

Airline

singaporeair.com

Tourism

visitbritain.com

visitsingapore.com

Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

I have many more posts on London and stations and singapore and stations you can see worldwide. Please bookmark and share links with your favourite family and friends.

Sherlock Holmes Hotel and Pub And Murder Mystery For You To Solve

Sherlock Holmes Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Problem
After you've seen the Sherlock Holmes Museum in Baker Street, London and the nearby statue, where next?

Sherlock Holmes Hotel
The Park Plaza Sherlock Holmes Hotel is around the corner near Baker Street.
When I went there I didn't see anything on the theme but things have changed with new ownership. According to a reviewer in Tripadvisor the hotel has Sherlock Holmes key rings and other items on sale. One bedroom shows two giant pipes on the wall but in case you got the wrong idea a there's no smoking sign on the table.

The hotel organizes murder mystery events with a murder for you to solve. I went on a murder mystery weekend when they first started in England and wrote about it in my book, Unforgettable British Weekends.

I went on a second Murder Mystery Weekend in Wales when I was the surprise mystery guest. To my amazement, despite being mystified until the moment at the end when we were handed our Guess the Murderer form, I solved the murder. Process of elimination. So many characters. Cross out the ones who could not do all the murders it because they were murdered later. Finally I was left with three. Would anybody murder their next of kin?

It sounds a daft idea. But you can get into conversation at the dinner table or the corridor with strangers about this total fiction, so I found it rather jolly. And if you fancy yourself aas a Sherlock, a special event for you.

Sherlock Holmes Pub
The Sherlock Holmes pub near Charing Cross station has memorabilia downstairs at the bar and upstairs.

The Sherlock Holmes pub in London.

Photo by Jack1956.

Sherlock Holmes pub downstairs bar interior. Photo by Jack1956.


Sherlock Holmes pub exterior. Photo by Danny Choo.

Reconstruction of Holmes living room, upstairs in the Sherlock Holmes pub. Photo by Jack 1956.

Useful Websites For Your Sleuthing:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sherlock_Holmes

Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Sherlock Holmes - where to find him? Elementary!

Problem
Where to find Sherlock Holmes?

Answers

This is where he lived.

Elementary my dear visitor to London.

1 On Baker Street station

Sherlock Holmes tiles on Baker Street Station, London, England. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.



Sherlock Homes story on Baker Street station, London, England. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

2 His statue outside the station on the Marylebone Road

Sherlock Statue. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

3 The Sherlock Holmes Museum, Baker Street
Queues form early at the weekend. If you don't have the time and money to visit the museum, you will enjoy the shop.

Off to Edinburgh, Scotland. to see the statue on Picardy Place, showing Holmes waring an Inverness cape. The author, Conan Doyle, was born in Edinburgh.

I was in London looking at the statue of Sherlock Holmes with a friend who comes from Venezuela. My friend asked, "Was Sherlock Holmes a real person?"

Useful Websites
visitlondon.com
visitengland.com
visitbritain.com
http://www.sherlock-holmes.co.uk (the museum)

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Travel Tale Detectives - are you one?

Problem
A member of my family takes a trip to Changi airport with a friendly chatty taxi driver. He says he travelled to London several years ago. He can't remember the airline or the airport name. London has five airports. Which one was it?

Answers
My relative asks: "Was it a direct, non-stop flight?"

"Yes, it was direct."

"Only three airlines fly direct and non-stop between Singapore and London. They are Singapore Airlines, British Airways and QANTUS."

"It was Qantas."

"They fly from Heathrow. So you flew into Heathrow on Qantas!"

When you go to London, photograph the statue of Sherlock Holmes outside Baker Street Station. How many clues can you pick up from your fellow travellers? This great fictional detective was based on a Scottish doctor who could deduce several facts about a patient the moment they walked in and said hello.

For example, a farmer might have dirt under his fingernails.

My late father was an optician. He said that when somebody walked into his shop, he knew what they needed. A teenager without glasses probably had myopia, short sight, and needed his first pair. An older person with a frown, wearing a pair of glasses, was probably a reader and needed an updated stronger prescription. A middle aged person wearing glasses probably had glasses for myopia, short sight but had developed presbyopia, age related long sight in later life and wanted bifocals.

We were on holiday in Spain and my father said of a couple looking in shop windows nearby, "They are British."

I asked, "How do you know? Did you hear them speak?"

"No," said my father. "They are wearing National Health Service spectacles. "

*** 

Have you ever made deductions about people you meet on your travels? Were you right or wrong? How often do you find that 'the clothes make the man' and 'no smoke without fire'? How often do you find that 'you can't judge a book by its cover' and 'handsome is as handsome does'?

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourites posts.

Tube Maps and What to see on or near the tube stations of London

I just wrote a post on what I saw near Embankment station, the London Eye, when I thought I should add which lines go to Embankment station? The answer is four lines: Bakerloo, Circle, District and Northern.

Problem
What can you show visitors which is nearby or costs nothing - especially if you live in a city, but on the outskirts, and your visitors want your unique advice?

Answer
For the benefit of my foreign visitors, I'm planning, well in advance of my next visitors, to list on a train map the place you can see on each line from the train, at a station, or when you get off at the station and walk around.

Here are the lines and stations and my findings so far:

Lines:
Bakerloo
Central
Circle
District
Hammersmith and City
Jubilee
Metropolitan
Piccadilly
Victoria
Waterloo and City
Docklands Light Railway

Eleven lines!

Highlights in the central area which most tourists visit, on the zone one travel card:
Bakerloo Line: (Baker Street to Waterloo)
Baker Street station: Sherlock Holmes statue; Madame Tussauds; Sherlock Holmes museum shop.
Charing Cross station: Trafalgar Square; Nelson's Column; National Portrait Gallery; National Gallery.
Embankment station: View London Eye from a distance, lit at night.

Central:
Ealing to Bank. Highlight St Paul's Cathedral.

Circle
District
Hammersmith and City
Jubilee
Metropolitan
Piccadilly
Victoria
Waterloo and City
Docklands Light Railway

This will take me hours. I'll come back to it.

Personal Story
I am now sorry I didn't number my posts to make it easier for me and my readers to refer back to a previous post by number. I could go back and number each post. But that would take a while. Note to self, when starting a new blog, number each post.

Tips
If you like the tube, go to the London Transport Museum.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. Author and speaker.
See more about and by me on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube. Please like my pages, and share.

New Plans For Crossrail Trains and Stations In London; please copy Singapore and Hong Kong

Free event takes place in London on Friday September 23rd, at the Building Store in London showing plans for Crossrail. The new Elizabeth Line will open not next year but the end of the year after, December 2018. But here's a chance to see preview, and possibly influence the decisions. The line is set to link up London and transform stations from Haringey over in the east to Hillingdon in the West on the Heathrow side of London.

Major historic stations in central London will also be enjoying a re-fit. Streets now shrouded in scaffolding will emerge in their new glory, sparkling new and clean.

I am happy about the development, and hopeful that the new stations will provide state of the art artworks, entertainment, traditional history and modern design, and safety measures.


New pictures out of Crossrail plans. They are having a meeting in London to display the plans. Meanwhile, a few photos are online.

I looked at the escalators and felt nervous. We have had escalator accidents on London underground, in undergrounds and shopping malls in Singapore and China.

What are the causes? Children, drunks, daredevils, suicides, accidents. People caught in steps, falling, leaning, jumping, riding over rails, sliding down the handrails and edges. Teens and students sit on barriers chatting and eating ice cream or taking photos with legs having over concourses above stairwells and atriums.

Exits
I am also concerned about quick exit in the case of emergency, and signs to exits.

Singapore Safety Measures
Singapore has constant videos in four languages with subtitles on avoiding troubles. I watched videos about gaps, leaning on doors, getting bags caught caught in train doors.

Signs everywhere tell you how to alert staff, how to escape. (I did see emergency escape pictures on trains in Wales.

Singapore also has signs showing where to find alternative transport in an emergency.

Also signs to lifts for those with baby buggies, sticks, wheelchairs, suitcases on wheels.

Advantages Of New Stations and Routes
What is planned for Crossrail? You can visit their Facebook page.

In addition to the advantages for commuters, after the lull during building works shopkeepers will have more customers. People buying and selling property can expect that the new stations and train services will make property more saleable, quick sales, less stress, properties only empty briefly between sales and rentals, and prices for home owners and investors might rise.
In Singapore the development of the new train lines has been a delight. Good signs tell people to give up seats to the pregnant, and elderly.

The art on Hong Kong stations is wonderful.

I look for modern stations, shops and eating places on the move, free clean toilets. See my previous posts on stations in Hong Kong and Singapore and London.

Best station sights and sites?
London
Paddington
- see statues of Brunel;
and loving couple, not kissing goodbye but hello - the statue is called The Meeting;
Baker Street
- Murals of Sherlock Holmes inside Baker Street station and a statue of Sherlock Holmes outside.

Hong Kong:
The apple on the concourse at a station.
Videos on the airport express - like riding in a plane. All you need to add is a running commentary on the sights through the windows.

Singapore Stations (MRT)
Tanjong Pagar
- Modelled after Finland's Helsinki Central Railway station. Four statues outside. Inside, arched ceiling and six tall oblong coloured panels showing ships and houses and landscapes and the four characters and industries - like a cathedral but modern.

Little India
- Drawings of elephants on corridor walls.

Botanical Gardens
- Panels around entrance about the trees and plants in Singapore.

see www.remembersingapore.org (Tanjong Pagar station)

http://www.crossrail.co.uk/news/news-and-information-about-crossrail-events

See my posts on London stations, Welsh stations, stations in Hong Kong, and stations in Singapore.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Sherlock Landmarks on a walk from Baker Street Station (to Marylebone High Street & Back)

Can you find monuments and memorials and museums relating to Sherlock Holmes, hymn writer Charles Wesley and musicians? Elementary, dear traveller and tourist. Major London stations such as Euston have a map of the area on the station wall and a leaflet you can pick up showing the various station exits and nearby streets and landmarks. (For example, Euston station.)

If you are arriving on the Metropolitan, Bakerloo or Jubilee lines. The Bakerloo line is named after the fact that it starts in the north at Baker Street and runs south to Waterloo.

Start at Baker Street station.
1 Admire Sherlock Holmes tiles on the underground at Baker Street station arriving on the Jubilee line. This pattern is just one of the artworks you can see. Several more feature Sherlock Holmes.

2 Admire the statue of Sherlock Holmes. 

Also in this area are The Sherlock Holmes Hotel and The Sherlock Holmes Museum.

3 Royal Academy of Music on same side as Madame Tussauds, seen from the other side when returning at night. The complex contains another building housing a museum open to the public which contains many stringed instruments, some made by the Stradivarius family. Also many manuscripts by famous composers such as Felix Mendelssohn (who wrote the Wedding March, the one that descends, not the one parodied as 'Here comes the bride' which is by Wagner.)

This building is not the Royal College of Music which is in Kensington.

4 Monument to Charles Wesley, on the right as you turn into Marylebone Road.

MORE TO READ

http://www.sherlock-holmes.co.uk (Sherlock Holmes museum website)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Academy_of_Music_Museum

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Wesley

Please follow my posts on this blog, or look at and like my Facebook page.

If you are in a related business such as hotels, museums, tourism, link to me on LinkedIn. 

If you need an author or speaker, please contact me.

Angela Lansbury, Travel writer and Photographer, author, speaker. 

Sherlock Holmes Statue near Madame Tussauds, and Sherlock Holmes tiles

Outside Baker Street station is a statue to Sherlock Holmes. If you are on your way to Madame Tussauds, or if you have already visited it, or don't have the time, you can get a free look at the statue of Sherlock Holmes.

The fictional character, based on a real doctor, is associated with his fictional address of Baker street, the other side of the station around the corner, the other exit.

Recently installed behind the statue is a sign telling you that you can do a walking tour of London and pick up the story of Sherlock Holmes on your phone.

On Baker street station underground line wall you will see tiles showing Sherlock Holmes in profile with his distinctive deerstalker hat and pipe.

I could easily find the right exit because of the handy sign.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author, speaker.
Please follow me on blogger.com and Facebook

Crowborough and Conan Doyle Statue

What do you see in the centre of Crowborough? Elementary, my dear, Watson. The statue is of Conan Doyle, author of the stories of detective Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick Watson. The statue stands on Crowborough Cross, and you pass it effortlessly as you drive through Crowborough.

Why or when would you drive through Crowborough? It is south of London and you might pass it on your way to or from or bypassing Sevenoaks, Tunbridge or Tonbridge Wells.

London Statues - New Statue of Gandhi in Parliament Square, London - photographing statues worldwide

A new statue of Gandhi is in Parliament Square, London. It is nine feet tall. To photograph yourself next to it, somebody else needs to take the photo from some distance away.

I like to be photographed next to statues when travelling. If you had no other plans for a themed trip to London, you could travel around photographing statues and yourself next to statues. One of my favourites is Oscar Wilde reclining.

I also photograph statues in countries I am visiting. They tell local and national history.

You could also collect photos of statues just in London or worldwide on a theme, such as political figures, royals, religious, philanthropic, WWII, statues and monuments in cemeteries, theatres, hotels and clubs.

Political Figures
In London: Politics: Gandhi and Churchill.
In London: royals, Kings and Queens (including the memorial to Princess Diana, the gates for the Queen Mother).
Victoria & Albert: Worldwide - start in London if you are in London, including the Albert memorial and the Albert Hall in London, statues of Queen Victoria .
Religious leaders: I made a special trip to the museum in East London for Methodist Wesley and took a picture of his statue.
Theatrical: statues of actors outside theatres, often on provincial theatres, worldwide, also opera houses and concert halls show

For a school project or talk to a history society, you could photograph characters from each century, or each decade.

Museums are a good source of statues and busts. Sometimes you need permission to photograph a statue inside a museum, and you need to be there during opening hours. But those outside buildings in the UK are generally OK to photograph and you can visit them any time of day or night. With photoshop and iPhoto nowadays even a photo taken in poor light can be adjusted later.

Silhouette Statues
In late evening, if you cannot get detail, you can aim for a silhouette of the statue against a lighter sky. I once took a day trip on a ferry from England to France, part sponsored by Polaroid cameras. I won a competition for a photo with a contra-jour picture of a statue at the French port silhouetted against the white sky.

Animals
Cats, dogs, horses and animals. My favourites are; in London - Dick Whittington's Cat in Highgate. In the USA - the horse of the Civil War leader. I seem to remember a statue of a donkey or horse in Australia, at a museum about the Great War (WWI). It was either Canberra or Sydney.

Benefactors
Benefactors and campaigners who benefited human rights (Eros for Lord Shaftesbury - interesting story. George Lansbury in London's East End who worked for the seamstresses).

WWI - with the centenaries, lots of opportunities. A project for schools or local or national newspapers or blogs for Armistice Day, and the other celebrations worldwide, Anzac Day, VE Day.
You could collect pictures from the internet, such as Wikipedia, and then gradually visit them on your holidays or business trips overseas.

Long ago I bought a book on statues of London. With Lulu.com and other printers on line, you could make a book of your travel photos, featuring statues of yourself with statues. I try to take the statue alone, and another showing myself next to it. Some publications like to see the author, others prefer the statue without clutter or anything which dates the photo. Adding a person can give a humorous effect. Tall statue with tiny toddler or dog. This might look silly or disrespectful, or could be a winning humorous picture.

I like to photograph inscriptions on all four (or more) sides of a statue or monument. It helps when writing captions later. You can check the spelling of the name or a person or place, and the dates they lived or the battle they fought in. The inscription also often includes a quotation or eulogy (praise).

My favourite London statues:
Oscar Wilde.
Kissing couple on Paddington station upper level.
Brunel on London station.
Australian mapmaker on Euston station.
Florence Nightingale, outside hospital.
Sigmund Freud, near his home in London.
Karl Marx, Highgate Cemetery.
Shakespeare bust (in a church).

Churches and cathedrals are a great source of statues. Starting with Poets Corner in London, you could then do a literary trail around Britain.

My favourite memorable statues Worldwide:
1 Einstein, USA.
2 Sassoon, India.
3 Captain Cook, Australia.
4 Raffles in Raffles Hotel, Singapore.
5 Charlie Chaplin, London. (Another in Switzerland.)
6 Sherlock Holmes outside Baker Street Station, London.
7 Queen Victoria - everywhere, the latest I've seen was in Malta's capital, Valletta. Others are in Singapore, Australia, New Zealand.
8 Al Jolson, cemetery in the USA.
9 Disraeli in his area near Tring.
10 Monash, WWI leader, in Australia, with the university named after him in Melbourne. I saw an equestrian statue in a main road and a bust in the uni.

My favourite London station statues:
1 Sherlock Holmes, Baker Street
2 Brunel, Paddington Station
3 The mapmaker and cat, Euston
4 The artist, Waterloo

Most photographed in London?
Probably Eros in Piccadilly and Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square.

Other world famous monuments include:
The Burghers of Calais, France.
Iwo Jima (same flag raising theme copied in a monument in Malaysia).
Chopin in Warsaw, Poland.
Lincoln in Washington DC.
Four Presidents cut into hillside in the USA.

If you want to add guitarists and guitars, and rock stars and singers, think of Elvis in the USA, John Lennon in Liverpool airport, music museums in the USA and Australasia, and halls of fame all over the USA.

I also look for quotations. My favourites are:
For your tomorrow they gave their today. (Kohima monument in Latin, variously translated on monuments worldwide. You find quotations and local characters and Greek and Roman Gods and mythological characters on all sorts of building, including friezes around the exteriors of art galleries and the exteriors and interiors of shopping malls. St George's shopping mall in Harrow, interior. Lakeside shopping Mall.

Angela Lansbury BA Hons is a travel writer, photographer and speaker.

Train Travel underground - London, Munich and Stockholm stations recommended

I love railway stations and long train journeys - so long as you aren't carrying luggage or trying to get somewhere in a hurry.

LONDON, UK
Many central London stations have shopping malls, statues, or tiles describing the history of the local area. But even the posters and brochures are interesting.

You might also like the London transport museum.

In London as an overseas visitor the best, cheapest way to travel is buying a travel card. Then you can try out the major stations.

A few of my favourite highlights:
Baker Street station with Sherlock Holmes statue outside exit to greet you on your way to Madame Tussauds.
Euston station statue with cat.
Paddington station statue.
Waterloo.
The Bakerloo line, as its name explains, links Baker Street and Waterloo stations.

USA
The USA has some great stations, such as the famous one in New York, as well as lots of railway museums and restaurants on old converted railway carriages.

SINGAPORE
The easiest and most modern stations and safest stations in the Far East include those in Singapore. You can buy a travel card and get a map, travel to orchard, their equivalent of Piccadilly Circus, or on to Little India or Chinatown.

If it's raining walk along the underground shopping street at basement level from Orchard station as far as Ngee Ann City mall. If the sun comes out again, and you then want a view, go up to the coffee shop by the huge Japanese bookshop (yes, you can buy books in English), I think the bookshop and caffee are on second level f one of the towers. The info ration desk at ground floor level can give you a mall map and direct you. In the cafe sit by the table for two at the windows looking at Orchard Road shopping mall skyscrapers, the city centre traffic and tiny people in the plaza below. (You may have to queue for window tables or any table at busy hours).

SWEDEN - Stockholm
A lovely video on the BBC about a photographer visiting Stockholm stations which look like caves.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-27824848?post_id=698460596_10154841459540597#_=_

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