Hoe Up

Most people have heard of the London Eye, a giant ferris wheel on London's Southbank just downstream from the Palace of Westminster. Well, Plymouth now has a temporary equivalent - though a bit smaller - and we took a trip on it yesterday. The weather was perfect - a second day of summer in a row. An the views were good as the pictures show.

This is the wheel in question located on Plymouth Hoe, parts of which are also shown on the two pictures below. The first of these shows the famous Eddystone lighthouse (the first one, incidentally). The current lighthouse is way out to sea. The Tamar river estuary enters at the right and the coast in the backgroundis is in Cornwall. The second is a back view of Drake on his plynth. This is where he reputedly played bowls before heading off to defeat the Spanish Armada.

The next two photos show the city centre, which was reconstructed in modernist fashion after being destroyed in the second world war, and a view eastwards towards Dartmoor in the distance. Brian's house, where I am staying, lies to the right the photo near the edge of the moor.

If the photos are a little washed out it is because the windows our gondola car were tinted against the sun. The first photo reveals the true light settings.

AS