B-P House in London

[Melgamatic 16]

I travel to London for business quite a bit, but for the first time after my next trip I'm going to stay in London for four days and have my family fly over to join me. I know London quite well and so have plenty of things to see and do on my list, but I've never been to Baden-Powell House, and I'm wondering if it is worth a trip?

 

Has anyone on these forums been there? Worth a trip? What's there?

 

Thanks, Dave

 

[Eamonn 61]

If you are in London?

Maybe taking the kids to South Kensington to the Museums? Or doing some shopping at Harrods?

 

Taking the time to stop at BP House. Maybe enjoy a cup of coffee or a soft drink, visit the small (very small!!) Souvenir store and seeing the displays is worth it.

But in my view it really doesn't merit a special trip.

The house is really more about affordable accommodation's for units visiting London than a stop for tourists.

If you choose to stay there? Beware of the bathroom!! But make sure you don't miss the breakfast -It's great!!

Eamonn.

[Be_Prepared 10]

I'll agree with Eamonn. If you're in the area, stop by. buy a patch or a t-shirt. There's some items in some display cases - but it's mainly a hotel/youth hostel.

[ozemu 10]

What about Gilwell Park? Would that be worth a visit for Melgamatic?

[Eamonn 61]

I have not visited Gilwell Park for about five years.

I know a lot of money was spent redoing the White House. Some of it raised by selling Wood Badge Beads from oaks that fell.

Gilwell never seems to have been able to live up to or meet the expectations of many Americans who seem to expect it to be a "Happy Land" Gilwell Field is just that a field, sure there are a few flag poles. - But a field is a field is a field.

There is a fairly good souvenir store, but again Gilwell is more about being a Scouting Activity Center than a Training Mecca.

It is also a little off the beaten track. (45 minutes by train from Liverpool Street and a couple of mile walk from Chingford to the site.)

A really good time to visit is the weekend of the Gilwell Reunion in September.

Many Americans are a little shocked to see beer tents set up at Gilwell Park.

The reunion is a great weekend and the campfire is not to be missed.

Eamonn

[emb021 16]

B-P House and Gilwell.

 

Having visited both during the WSJ last summer, I'll comment.

 

B-P House is mainly a hostel/conference center. There is some scouting stuff, but not much. I wouldn't go out of my way to visit it, but if you can swing by it while visiting museums (the natural history museum is near by), I'd say go for it.

 

Gilwell has more stuff worth seeing and visiting. There is sadly a very small museum there. But you can see the Buffalo in the Buffalo lawn, the Leopard Gate, the Ideal Boy Scout statue near the lid, the B-P bust from Mexico, the cast of B-P's foot print, the World Jamboree sign posts and more. There is a nice booklet on Gilwell, which gives a guided tour of the many things to see. Prehaps try to get a copy first and review it. You could spend a few hours visiting the various sites there.

 

 

[Kahuna 172]

In London for the Royal Wedding in 1981, I stayed at B-P House and again in 1989, that time with a group of Scouts. It's certainly a good place to stay, they have private rooms, some even with baths. It's located very close to South Kensington Station and you can walk to Kensington Palace and the Victoria and Albert Museum, Royal Albert Hall, etc. Food is served thrice daily. Trying to keep British here. Not bad chow, really.

 

Also in 1981, went went out to Gilwell. It's true there isn't a lot to see, really, but it's kind of hallowed ground. We met some great Scouts and Scouters there and met the Warden. Funny, I just came across a picture I took that day. We were in uniform and heading back to the tube station we passed a patrol of British Scouts. We said Hi, they said Hi and we went on a bit, then realized they had stopped and were excitedly conferring. So, we walked back to talk with them. They were under the leadership of 13 year old patrol leader and en route to do a requirement that they camp alone as a patrol. No adult, although the SM would check on them overnight. Cute little group those Brits. On the next trip, one of our own boys brought back several acorns which he planted and got one to grow. I don't know what ever happened to the Gilwell Oak he grew. BTW, if you go to Gilwell, be prepared for a different experience than a U.S. Scout camp. For one thing, the water in their swimming pool is green. I would say, worth the trip.

[Eamonn 61]

"Cute little group those Brits"

Her Who Must Be Obeyed thinks her little Brit is cute.

At least she does when he is in the good books!

Ea.

[Melgamatic 16]

OK, we'll stop by if we are in the neighborhood, but not if it is going to take us way out of the way. I'm in London now, on the business half of my trip. Family is flying in Thursday for a 4-day weekend.

 

On the agenda:

- Legoland

- boat trip from Westminster pier to Greenwich on Thames

- London eye

- walking tour of Jack the Ripper sites in the East End

- take wife to my favorite pubs for some real beer

- St. Paul's Cathedral

- walking around Southwark (where I lived for 4 months)

 

That's going to fill up 4 days, I think.

 

Thanks, Dave

 

[troutmaster 10]

While in London, try to do the Tower too. I would think kids would be very interested in the myriad war ephemera, including the elephant armor. And of course there are the ghosts of the tower to consider.

 

Also, if time allows, even in passing; observe the "stump" speakers and various exhibitionists in Hyde Park, if you come upon them.

[OldGreyEagle 5]

In the Tower, can't you still see the blood of Ann Boylen on the bricks?

[Melgamatic 16]

Just a quick followup. We had a great time in London. We ended up doing two things not on the list...

 

I tend to chat with the London taxi drivers a lot, and one of them suggested that we take a boat trip from Westminster pier (just a 5 minute walk from our hotel) down to Greenwich and then down to the Thames barrier. That was a great (and relatively inexpensive) trip. Lunched in Greenwich, etc. It was a little cool and windy, but we all had windbreakers and sat out on the deck for most of the trip.

 

The second unplanned trip was to the HMS Belfast, a WWII battle cruiser which served until the mid-60's. It has been turned into an absolutely fantastic museum. The signage and audio tour were fantastic. You climbed up and down all over the ship, from climbing down three levels of ladders into the boiler rooms, up into the gun turrets, down into the shell loading rooms, kitchens, etc. My son loved it. He really liked Tower Bridge, and was talking about the "battleship" the whole time, so we added that in and it turned out to be one of our highlights.

 

We didn't do the London Eye because my son and I both really didn't enjoy the heights of the whispering gallery at St Paul's (same reaction I had 2 years ago last time I was there), and decided that the much-taller heights of the London Eye were probably not going to be so much fun, even with the view.

 

Did a "Harry Potter Walking Tour" which was a mixed result. The tour guide and London tidbits were great, but he was really having to push to make connections with HP. I would take another walk (something about the oldest parts of London, etc) next time with the same company (walks.com).

 

We didn't make it to BP House; I'll get there myself on my next trip (I make a weeklong trip every month or two). Thanks for all the tips.

 

We did make it to the Tower of London, which was nice but crowded. Legoland was a lot of fun, and my son really enjoyed the "4D movie" but the park itself was amazingly inefficiently run....

 

-Dave

[eolesen 10]

I'll second (or third or fourth) some of the views above. BP House is a hostel first and foremost, but Gilwell is and always will be hallowed ground, which is why I went there when I had a day to kill in London.

 

Being there on a Friday morning in February was a little interesting -- I had the camp to myself with the exception of a few meetings going on in the White House.

 

I took a few pictures while I was there which are available at at http://lanehog.com/gilwell (and yes, I realize there aren't any pictures of the barn or the white house. I wasn't focusing on the commercial venues which are well represented in photos elsewhere...).

 

They did have a guidebook available for purchase, but the only other thing I brought home from there was a ziplock bag full of ashes from the campfire ring to bring back to my WB troop guide and mentors.

 

[rmeints 14]

I was fortunate enough to have lived near London (Docklands and Romford) for 7 years, from 1995 to 2002. There are no end of things to see, depending on what you enjoy.

 

Before I first went I got the "let's Go London" guide and it served me well on planning out some of the more touristy sites to visit. Once I got to London, the magazine "Time Out: London" really was great for what was happening in the next week or so.

 

To get a good sense of what is on offer, take the double decker red bus tour, which is great for getting you around all the major London attractions, and lets you get on and off all you want for 24 hours.

 

The Tower of London is great, but the crown jewels exhibit is often not worth the wait.

The National Gallery and the Portrait galleries are epic if you like art.

The British Museum is a must for Historians and Archeology fans.

The Victoria and Albert Museum is wonderful for British history.

The Museum of London is great for, well, the histroy of London.

If you like Cathedrals, go to Saint Pauls, and Westminster Abbey.

The HMS Belfast is great if you like WWII warships.

The London Eye is a big Ferris Wheel type contraption that offers only stunning views.

The Globe Theatre is the best place to see a Shakespearean play as intended.

There are loads of "Broadway" productions in the West End.

 

The only potential downsides are EVERYTHING is expensive, you have to like big cities, and you have to be OK with taking public transport (which is safe and efficient enough).

 

As they say, if you tire of London, you have tired of life.

 

Enjoy your visit,

Rick

[Chug 10]

I've never known the water in the swimming pool to be green. Gilwell is a great campsite, they've built a lot of indoors accomadation recently to replace the smaller cabins. If any of you can make it along to the next reunion, I'll see you there and buy you a beer.