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Greenwich area - The most famous thing about London Greenwich is the Old Royal Observatory from where time all over the world is measured. Another delight for your eyes is the world`s last surviving tea clipper, Cutty Sark. Among the historical sights that await you are Sailors` bunks, old cutlery, and dolls dressed as people. The tourist information office, at 46 Greenwich Church St, (open daily: April - Oct 10am - 5pm; Oct - March 11am - 4pm; Tel:0208 858 6376) should be your first place of call; they can answer most queries and supply maps and guides. Hotels near Greenwich
The Greenwich Time Ball - The bright red Time Ball on top of Flamsteed House is one of the world's earliest public time signals, distributing time to ships on the Thames and many Londoners. It was first used in 1833 and still operates today.
Each
day, at 12.55, the time ball rises half way up its mast. At 12.58 it rises all
the way to the top. At 13.00 exactly, the ball falls.
The Time Ball drops
at 13.00 GMT during the winter months and 13.00 BST during the summer.
Only the richest people could afford to buy clocks and watches of their own. Most people relied public sundials to tell the time. This led to different local times across the country, with clocks on the eastern side of the country about 30 minutes ahead of those in the west.
The difficulties created by everyone using their own local time eventually led to the creation of Standard Time based on the Prime Meridian at Greenwich.
More detailed information can be found at www.rog.nmm.ac.uk
