Hammersmith

Weather: Initailly cloudy then sunny, warm - Min 12, Max 23

Our only plan today was to go to the Natural History Museum at South Kensington. It sits close to the V&A and the Science Museum. We arrived at ten o’clock and we continued our morning routine of coffee and a pastry to start the day. The exterior of the 140 year old museum is elegant and has been undergoing extensive renovation and looks like it’s almost complete. We saw it at its best in clear weather. 

Entry to the museum is free and is dramatic with the 25m skeleton of a Blue Whale suspended from the ceiling high over gallery. 

The oldest and most valuable fossil in the museum is a small bird-like dinosaur around 147 million years old.

Prior to leaving the flat we booked in for two paid exhibitions, ‘Our Story’ with David Attenborough and the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition. The Attenborough exhibition was a cinematic experience with 360° film footage surrounding us. It was narrated by Attenborough and lasted 50 mins. It was sobering viewing with the message that humans may be intelligent but not being wise in the treatment of our planet.

We had lunch at the museum’s cafe. It was a bit manic with a lot of school children and many were very young. I think the teachers need bravery awards. Whilst eating we organised our afternoon sightseeing. Following lunch we saw the international Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition 2026. This is managed by the museum and a record 60,000 entries were received from 113 countries. There were about five categories and the winner of the Behaviour Invertebrates category was a Western Australian, Georgina Steytler with her photo titled Mad Hatterpillar. 

We hadn’t heard of the hatterpillar which gets its name from the retention of the head skeleton with each moult and looks like headgear. 

From the museum we walked about seven minutes to The Thin House on Thurloe Square in South Kensington. It is a block of flats and only 1.8 metres wide at its narrowest part. It was built on an area of land leftover from the building of the tube in the late 1800’s. It is a triangular building so it does widen further down the block to 10 metres. 

From the Thin House we were only a ten minute walk to Harrods in Knightsbridge. We walked passed elegant, expensive houses with classical porches. 

On arriving at Harrods we headed to The Coffee Bar in the food area and had a later afternoon tea sitting on high stools around a bar area. It was all very stylish. We chose scones with jam and clotted cream and made half a Devon Cream Tea and the other a Cornish Cream Tea. 

The food hall was busy with both tourists like us taking photos and Londoners shopping for their groceries. There was a wide range of wonderful goodies including chocolates made on the premises, dried fruits and cakes. Having a late afternoon tea we knew we wouldn’t feel like a big dinner so we bought two Harrods beef salads specially packaged to take away. 

We arrived back at the flat at 4.30pm. It was very warm. For the first time today I didn’t wear my spencer or singlet and on tonight’s news it seems record temperatures may be reached over the next few days.