Wednesday 24 June 2009
Highlights: Walking Tour “Legal Inns of Courts”, St Pauls Cathedral, 20/20 Cricket Match at The Oval (Surrey Vs Kent)
My first full day in London and I have to say I was feeling great. The air mattress provided a good night’s sleep. After all the workers left for the morning I got busy washing my clothes, the first real clean since I started (obviously underwear had been cleaned!).
I ended up going on the London Walk’s “Legal – Inns of Courts” walking Tour. This turned out to be a great tour as a very knowledgeable guide explained the legal system as it applies to Barristers and Solicitors.
There are four Inns which Barristers must join one of, they are:
- Gray’s Inn
- Lincoln’s Inn
- Inner Temple; and
- Middle Temple
The great part of the walk was that there were this great courtyards, passageways and quiet gardens right in the centre of London and I would never have seen them if I hadn’t gone of the tour.
We ended up at the Royal Centre of Justice Courts after about 1 hr and 50 mins. These courts are stunning and are for civil proceedings. At the end of the tour I headed up to St Paul’s Cathedral and than onto the Old Bailey (criminal courts). I decided to check out how to get to Wimbledon for my trip out there tomorrow and to come back to the flat early to ensure my clothes were drying and put away before everyone returned from work.
As Jon had to deal with a problem over a referee report affecting his new job, Jeanne and me met him outside The Oval for a 20/20 match Surrey versus Kent. It was great being at such an historic ground which I’ve seen some many times on TV. The match turned out to be a nail biter with Kent snatching victory by 1 run with 2 balls to go when they ran out the last Surrey player. Not a bad first county match to attend. The Oval is a very small little ground but I think that makes it very English with everyone close to the players. Jeanne told me they almost moved into flats next to the ground from which they could have watch every cricket match (the ‘stands’ for the most part are very low).
Nathan's Insights 