First, a few apologies on the rest of the photos from this series. One, the quality of the following photos is all over the board; my mom (admittedly) is not really a photographer and the weather (as one would expect) was often dark and cloudy. I did my best to yield some decent results, but am giving a pre-apology nevertheless.
Second, my mom’s memory of this 50+ year old trip are spotty at best, so if you’re looking for witty commentary, well...again, I will do my best. Fortunately, for most of these, she wrote down a few captions so generally I can give that much information.
These first few photos were labeled “Le Havre, Sept. 8, 1955,” obviously taken aboard the ship.
Finally on dry land, these shots were labeled “Hampton Court Palace, Sept. 8, 1955.” Hampton Court Palace is a royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, Greater London. It was originally built for Cardinal Wolsey, a favorite of King Henry VIII, circa 1514; in 1529, as Wolsey fell from favor, the palace was passed to the King, who enlarged it. It would serve as the location for the 1966 film “A Man for All Seasons.” It has not been inhabited by the British royal family since the 18th century, and is currently a major tourist attraction.
This photo was part of a batch labeled “Tower of London,” and shows the Tower Bridge.
Here are a few from the Stoke Poges Churchyard/St. Giles Parish Church, also taken on September 8, 1955 (it was apparently a busy day for mom!).
Thomas Gray's “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” is believed to have been written here, and his grave can be seen in the next photo.
Naturally, I had to zoom in.
“King of Siam’s Garden at Eton College, Sept. 8, 1955” was mom’s caption for this one:
The last ones for today are from (again, according to mom’s captions) Windsor Castle:
Even with these shots, I can’t control the inner sign-geek:
See more vintage & current photos at my main website.
