OK, so we’re cheating a bit here by grouping these together … but in our defence, it really is worthwhile taking in London’s maritime spots as a consistent whole. Starting in the Pool of London (the stretch of river between London Bridge and Rotherhithe), you can visit the impressive HMS Belfast. An active warship during WWII, Belfast is now a permanent naval museum (part of the Imperial War Museum).

Further east in Greenwich, London’s naval history really takes off. Down here, in amongst the excellent pubs and friendly summery atmosphere of Greenwich you can find the National Maritime Museum and the Cutty Sark.

The latter of these was unfortunately severely by fire during a restoration project in 2007. Fortunately, much of the original timber was off-site at the time due to the renovations. There is considerable hope therefore that this can be used, along with the surviving framework, to bring the ship back to her former glory.

The National Maritime Museum is one of the largest naval museums in the world. It is part of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, which also includes the Royal Observatory, designed by Sir Christopher Wren, Queen’s House and considerable landscaped gardens.

Whilst in Greenwich, you will also have the chance to visit the Greenwich Meridian. This is the date line that operates as the Prime Meridian – it is the constant from which all variations in time zones are set. It is clearly marked along the ground and at night a laser beam tracking the line is emitted from the Observatory.