Our final day in the United Kingdom today and what better way to spend it than at Lords, and a final bus cruise through the great city.

Our first stop is the Tower Bridge for some photos. It really is an amazing piece of architecture designed by Sir Horace Jones it crosses the River Thames and was opened in 1894. It was two towers and took eight years to complete, with 432 workers during the span of the construction period.

The Tower Bridge connects  the London boroughs of Tower Hamlets and Southwark, and the central span can be raised to allow ships to pass – now I would like to see that (well actually I have but not today)!  The Bridge is over 244 metres long  and each of the towers is 65 metres high, now that’s impressive. You may recall during the Olympic Games a massive set of Olympic Rings were displayed on the Bridge – today it is a gloomy sight but hey that’s okay😌.  

From the Tower Bridge to another historic wonder of old London Town, Lords Cricket Ground. Established in 1814 the “home of cricket” is actually owned by the Marylebone Cricket Club who also incidentally owns the copyright to the Laws of Cricket, how wonderfully British is that. 

Aussies of course love coming to Lords, as even those who can’t stand the sport (yes sadly those people do exist) once they are inside the mighty walls are swept up in the spectacle that is the pomp and ceremony of English cricket. Those sceptics amongst you, I dare you to spend some time here and not feel the tug strings being pulled in your heart when your guide talks to you about the mighty achievements of Aussies past and present. Our Don, who I probably should be referring to as Sir Don, scored 254 runs here in 1930 and this record held for 60 years when Graham Gooch hit 333 runs against India, and of course there is Glen McGrath’s record of 26 wickets being the highest number ever captured at the ground by a non Englishman.

I have been here before, but still find the two and half metre slope fascinating. I am guessing that this will never be fixed, as they certainly had the opportunity when they spent £2 million to re lay the entire outfield including a new drainage system in 2002, I guess it’s just part of the adventure of playing at Lords.  

The first test match played at Lords was between the poms and Aussies in 1884, we sadly didn’t win a test at this ground until 1888. Things of course changed for us with a long winning streak at this ground from 1934 to 2009, this period doesn’t include the 1930 game where Australia scored the highest team score at the ground on record of 6/729 declared. England finally broke our winning streak during the 2009 Ashes series, by winning the second test.

  
 The most famous trophy of cricket is actually a 15 cm tall terracotta urn, housed in the cabinet beside it is a beautiful Waterford crystal replica which is much more appropriate for raising above ones head after a victorious win. 

The story of the ashes is an funny one. England and Australia actually started playing way back in 1882 (so two years before the first test match played at Lords) at Kennington Oval in London with Australia winning the first test on English soil. A British newspaper ran an obituary which declared that English cricket was dead and the body was to be cremated and ashes taken back to Australia.  A small perfume bottle with the ashes of a ball were presented to Ivo Bligh the captain of the England team after a friendly game played  in Australia in 1883 as a bit of a joke. Ivo kept this momento and after his death it was presented to the Marylebone Cricket Club in 1929 and has been on display at the ground since that time, first in the Long Room and then where we saw it today.

Lord’s has over the years accommodated other sports including a baseball game during World War I and Archery during the 2012 London Olympics. There is also a real tennis court located in the grounds, this is available for the use of members and their guests. It is a great place to visit, and relish in the success of our boys ! 

From Lords we are off to Camden for lunch, where we find a nice little Italian restaurant for some pizza before jumping back on the bus toward Dover and our next ferry ride to Calais.