May 16

Today we traveled by boat to Greenwich, where we visited the Royal Navy College, The Royal Observatory where the Prime Meridian is located, and the Greenwich Covered Market. Beautiful weather lead to a wonderful boat ride and a great day in Greenwich!
The Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, designed by Sir Christopher Wren, is one of London’s most famous landmarks.
 The iconic buildings were originally designed as a refuge for old and injured sailors in the 1690s and stand on the site of Greenwich Palace, Henry VIII’s favorite royal residence. The buildings were originally constructed to serve as the Royal Hospital for Seamen at Greenwich, now generally known as Greenwich Hospital, which was designed by Christopher Wren, and built between 1696 and 1712. 
The hospital closed in 1869. Between 1873 and 1998 it was the Royal Naval College, Greenwich.
 This was originally the site of the Palace of Placentia, more commonly known as Greenwich Palace, the birthplace of Tudor queens Mary I and Elizabeth I and reputedly the favorite palace of Henry VII, who built it. The palace had fallen into disrepair during the English Civil War.

 The picture to the left shows the class at The Skittle Alley. The Skittle Alley was built in the early 1860's. The new Commissioner, Sir Richard Bromley, recognized that the only provision for the sailor's leisure time, the library, was no use of those Pensioners who could not read, thus The Skittle Alley was built. The "pins" were made out of belaying pins that were used to secure ropes on sailing ships. The "ball" was a practice cannon ball that was made out of hardwood called lignum vitae. The lanes were made out of scrap planks from old ships. 


 To the right you can see Chelesa and Julia trying their best at granny-style skittle alley.

To the right, we have a classmate trying on traditional armor, can you guess who it is? To the right Sami is wearing a Lieutenant's hat and Lilly is seen wearing a Captain's hat. 

The Royal Observatory in Greenwich is the home of Greenwich Mean Time and the Prime Meridian of the world.

The line in Greenwich represents the Prime Meridian of the World - Longitude 0º. Every place on Earth is measured in terms of its distance east or west from this line. The line itself divides the eastern and western hemispheres of the Earth - just as the Equator divides the northern and southern hemispheres. 









Some people ask why Greenwich was chosen as the Prime Meridian. There were two main reasons for the choice. The first was the fact that the USA had already chosen Greenwich as the basis for its own national time zone system. The second was that in the late 19th century, 72% of the world's commerce depended on sea-charts which used Greenwich as the Prime Meridian. The decision, essentially, was based on the argument that by naming Greenwich as Longitude 0º, it would be advantageous to the largest number of people. Therefore the Prime Meridian at Greenwich became the centre of world time, and was the official starting point for the new Millennium.



We even met up with one of Professor Wolfe's relatives, General James Wolfe.
















 Greenwich Market is in the center of Greenwich, in the covered area surrounded by College Approach, King William Walk, Greenwich Church Street, and Nelson Road. Greenwich Market is regarded as one of London’s best covered markets with up to 120 stalls showing antiques and collectables as well as different crafts and designs.






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