Royal Observatory Greenwich & Prime Meridian Entry Ticket London

I STOOD ON THE EDGE OF THE WORLD, HAD ONE FOOT IN EACH HEMISPHERE AND DISCOVERED THE BRITISH INVENTED ZERO!

ROYAL OBSERVATORY GREENWICH – BLACKHEATH AVENUE, LONDON ONE OF MY ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE PLACES IN LONDON! And quite frankly, if you visit Greenwich and don’t go to the Royal Observatory, I shall be questioning your life choices. Because where else can you stand on an imaginary line, have one foot in the eastern hemisphere and the other in the western hemisphere, learn how humanity conquered the problem of navigation, admire extraordinary scientific instruments and discover that the British once managed to convince much of the world to organise its geography around a line running through London? ABSOLUTELY BLOODY BRILLIANT! It’s history. It’s science. It’s astronomy. It’s geography. And it’s probably the only tourist attraction where people queue enthusiastically to stand on a strip of metal embedded in the ground. Honestly, if somebody installed the same thing outside Tesco, people would step over it without a second thought. But put it in Greenwich, call it the Prime Meridian, and suddenly we’re all taking photographs of our feet. AND I LOVE EVERY SECOND OF IT! FIRST, LET’S TALK ABOUT THE HISTORY. The Royal Observatory was founded in 1675 by King Charles II. Now, Charles II had a rather serious problem. Britain was becoming increasingly dependent on ships, trade and naval power, but sailors were struggling to determine their longitude accurately while at sea. Latitude was relatively straightforward. Longitude? An absolute nightmare. Imagine being a seventeenth-century sailor. “Captain, where are we?” “Somewhere in the Atlantic.” “Can you be more specific?” “Wet.” “Anything else?” “Very wet.” And that was about the extent of the information available. So Charles II decided Britain needed an observatory to improve astronomical knowledge and help solve the problem of navigation. And who better to design it than Sir Christopher Wren? Yes, the same Christopher Wren associated with St Paul’s Cathedral. Apparently, designing magnificent buildings wasn’t enough to keep him occupied. Some people take up gardening. Wren designed an observatory. THE FIRST ASTRONOMER ROYAL! 🔭 Enter John Flamsteed. Appointed in 1675, Flamsteed became the first Astronomer Royal. His job was to observe the heavens, map the stars and improve the astronomical information available to navigators. Which sounds wonderfully romantic until you remember that this involved spending an enormous amount of time staring into the night sky, recording observations and dealing with British weather. Imagine the conversations. “Good evening, Mr Flamsteed. What are you doing tonight?” “Observing the stars.” “But it’s cloudy.” “Yes.” “And raining.” “Yes.” “Would you like to come to the pub?” “Actually, that’s an excellent suggestion.” Flamsteed House, the original observatory building, remains one of the site’s most recognisable features. And it’s absolutely fascinating to think that such important scientific work began here nearly 350 years ago. NOW, THE PRIME MERIDIAN! 🌍 OH, THIS IS MY FAVOURITE BIT! The famous line marking zero degrees longitude runs through the observatory. And people come from all over the world to stand on it. Including me. Because apparently there’s something enormously satisfying about having one foot in the eastern hemisphere and the other in the western hemisphere. Technically, you’re standing in two halves of the world simultaneously. Which makes you sound incredibly well travelled without having to move more than eighteen inches. “Where have you been today?” “Both hemispheres.” “Really?” “Yes.” “How long did it take?” “About four seconds.” “Impressive.” “Thank you.” Now, here’s where the history gets even better. In 1884, representatives from 25 nations gathered at the International Meridian Conference in Washington, DC. They needed to agree on a common reference meridian for longitude. And Greenwich was selected as the international prime meridian. Not because the British had discovered the centre of the universe. Not because King Charles II had personally claimed ownership of zero. But largely because Greenwich was already widely used in maritime navigation and international mapping. Nevertheless, I like to imagine the British delegation sitting there looking terribly pleased with themselves. “Right, gentlemen. We propose that the entire planet measures its longitude from Greenwich.” “Why Greenwich?” “Because it’s terribly convenient.” “For whom?” “Us.” “Anything else?” “We have excellent tea.” And somehow, Greenwich became the international reference. WE DIDN’T INVENT ZERO, BUT WE CERTAINLY GAVE IT A VERY NICE ADDRESS! AND THEN THERE’S TIME ITSELF! ⏰ Greenwich Mean Time. GMT. Three little letters recognised around the world. The observatory played a central role in establishing accurate timekeeping, and Greenwich became closely associated with the measurement and distribution of time. Before standardised time became widespread, towns could keep their own local solar time. Which sounds rather charming until you try to organise a railway timetable. Imagine catching a train in the nineteenth century. “What time does it leave?” “Ten o’clock.” “London time?” “No, Bristol time.” “What time is that in London?” “Depends.” “On what?” “Where the sun is.” “Right. I’ll walk.” Accurate timekeeping became essential for navigation, railways and communications. And Greenwich was at the centre of this transformation. Which means that every time I look at my watch, I can appreciate the enormous amount of scientific effort that went into making sure we all know precisely how late we’re running. THE TIME BALL! 🔴 Now THIS is wonderfully quirky. On top of Flamsteed House sits a large red time ball. First installed in 1833, it was designed to provide a visible time signal to ships on the Thames. The ball rises shortly before 1 pm and drops at exactly 1 pm. Ships could use the signal to check their marine chronometers. Brilliantly simple. No internet. No satellite signal. No mobile phone. Just a large red ball falling off the top of a building. Not completely off, obviously. That would have made timekeeping rather expensive. Imagine a sailor in 1833. “What’s the time, Captain?” “Watch the ball.” “What ball?” “The red one.” “What’s it doing?” “Falling.” “Excellent. One o’clock.” And somehow, that helped keep Britain’s maritime world running on time. These days, people stare at their smartphones. Back then, they stared at a ball on a roof. I’m not entirely convinced we’ve become more interesting. NOW, THE LONGITUDE PROBLEM! This is one of the most fascinating chapters in the observatory’s history. In 1714, the British government established the Longitude Act, offering substantial rewards for a practical method of determining longitude at sea. The biggest reward was £20,000. TWENTY THOUSAND POUNDS IN 1714! An enormous fortune. And along came John Harrison, a self-taught clockmaker from Yorkshire. Harrison spent decades developing increasingly accurate timekeepers, eventually producing his extraordinary marine timekeeper H4. His work demonstrated how a sufficiently accurate clock could help sailors calculate longitude. Think about that. For centuries, people had struggled to determine where they were on the world’s oceans. And a crucial part of the solution involved building a clock that didn’t lose its mind every time a ship rocked about. I struggle to keep my phone charged. Harrison was developing precision timekeeping that would help transform navigation. THE MAN DESERVED MORE THAN A GOLD WATCH AT RETIREMENT. And you can see Harrison’s extraordinary timekeepers at the Royal Observatory. They are absolutely fascinating. Beautiful examples of engineering, determination and scientific ingenuity. Although I do wonder whether Harrison ever looked at one of his complicated mechanisms and thought: “Perhaps I should have become a carpenter.” THE TELESCOPES AND ASTRONOMY! 🔭 Of course, the Royal Observatory isn’t just about clocks and lines on the ground. It’s also about studying the universe. And what an extraordinary subject that is. The observatory is home to the magnificent Great Equatorial Telescope, installed in 1893. It’s an enormous historic refracting telescope housed beneath a distinctive onion-shaped dome. And it is spectacular. The Victorians clearly decided that if they were going to look at the stars, they weren’t going to do it with anything modest. No little telescope on a tripod. No binoculars borrowed from Uncle Albert. They built an enormous scientific instrument and put a great big dome over it. Because apparently even astronomy required impressive architecture. And standing there, surrounded by the history of astronomical discovery, you begin to appreciate just how much humanity has learned about the universe. Planets. Stars. Galaxies. The movement of celestial bodies. The sheer unimaginable scale of space. And then you remember that despite all this extraordinary scientific progress, we still haven’t managed to invent a supermarket trolley that reliably travels in a straight line. BUT THE VIEWS! 😍 OH, THE VIEWS! The Royal Observatory sits high in Greenwich Park, overlooking one of the most spectacular panoramas in London. From up there, you can admire the magnificent Old Royal Naval College, the River Thames and the modern skyline of Canary Wharf. It’s breathtaking. Historic London and modern London spread out before you. Beautiful architecture, green spaces, the river and towering skyscrapers. All in one extraordinary view. And there’s something wonderfully appropriate about standing at a place dedicated to measuring the Earth while looking out across one of the world’s great cities. Although, naturally, the observatory is at the top of a hill. Because why make scientific discovery accessible without first testing everyone’s cardiovascular fitness? By the time you’ve walked up through Greenwich Park, you’ve already completed the practical examination in gravity. Newton would have been delighted. AND HERE’S SOMETHING ELSE I LOVE… The Royal Observatory isn’t just a collection of old instruments. It’s a place where some of the most important questions in human history were investigated. Where are we? How do we navigate? How do we measure time? How do the stars move? How can we understand our place in the universe? For centuries, scientists, astronomers, engineers and mathematicians worked to answer those questions. And their discoveries helped change the world. That’s extraordinary. And yet, one of the biggest attractions today is still a metal line in the courtyard. Which I think is absolutely wonderful. SO, WOULD I RECOMMEND THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! It’s one of my favourite places in London! I absolutely love it. The history is fascinating. The scientific achievements are extraordinary. The buildings and instruments are magnificent. The views are spectacular. And the whole experience is wonderfully quirky. Where else can you learn about the history of navigation, see clocks that helped change maritime travel, admire a giant telescope, watch a red ball tell the time and stand in two hemispheres at once? All in one visit! FIVE MASSIVE, ASTRONOMICALLY ENTHUSIASTIC STARS! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ If you’re visiting Greenwich, this is an absolute must. Allow yourself plenty of time to explore, enjoy the history and appreciate the extraordinary scientific achievements associated with this remarkable place. And don’t forget to have your photograph taken on the Prime Meridian. Because if you’re going to stand on zero degrees longitude, you might as well have photographic evidence. My only suggestion would be to install a sign beside the line reading: “CONGRATULATIONS! YOU ARE NOW OFFICIALLY IN TWO HEMISPHERES. PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CLAIM TWO PASSPORTS.” And perhaps another beside the historic clocks: “WARNING: VISITING THIS ATTRACTION WILL NOT IMPROVE YOUR PERSONAL TIMEKEEPING.” Because, despite centuries of astronomical research and precision engineering, I can still manage to be late. ROYAL OBSERVATORY GREENWICH — WHERE TIME WAS MEASURED, LONGITUDE WAS STANDARDISED, THE STARS WERE STUDIED, AND THE BRITISH SOMEHOW GOT THE WHOLE WORLD TO AGREE WHERE ZERO SHOULD BE! 🌍🔭⏰🤣 ONE OF MY ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE PLACES. HISTORICALLY BRILLIANT, SCIENTIFICALLY EXTRAORDINARY AND COMPLETELY UNMISSABLE! And finally, a word of advice. If somebody asks you whether you’re east or west… JUST TELL THEM YOU’RE STANDING ON THE LINE AND REFUSE TO TAKE SIDES!

via Tripadvisor

Loved it

Great experience with my teen (birthday visit). Now, I work in astronomy, so I am biased :)

Response from the operator: Hi There, Thank you for leaving us a review and feedback about your visit with us to the Royal Observatory. We're very glad to be a part of a celebratory day (big Birthday wishes!) and thrilled to hear that you enjoyed the experience on offer. Don't worry, as you can tell we're also very biased and are very lucky to have such a fantastic curatorial and Astronomy team with us at the Observatory. The Royal Observatory will be closing from 2nd November to make way for a transformation project that has already begun in out Planetarium; there is more information available on our website about specific timelines, but we hope to see you again once the project is complete.

via Tripadvisor

So enjoyable

We had such a good day at the Royal Observatory Greenwich On arrival , we booked for the three o’clock guided tour , for a very reasonable extra cost of £5 We were delighted with the content and delivery of the tour , with our tour guide Rachel We couldn’t have asked for a better experience and we learned so much about the history and the time lines of events All in all , we would like to thank the entire team who were very helpful and professional

Response from the operator: Hi There, Thank you for taking the time to leave us a review and some feedback about your visit to the Royal Observatory. We're very glad to hear you had such a wonderful time visiting with us, and are especially appreciative for your kind words about one of our members of staff. Rachael and the tour guide team work incredibly hard to deliver engaging tours with people like yourselves; they love sharing their knowledge and passion with others. The Royal Observatory will be closing from 2nd November to make way for a huge transformation project; more information can be found on our website about the project and timeline, but once it is complete and we are re-open fully we hope to be able to welcome you back once more.

via Tripadvisor

Awsome time at Greenwich

Our guide Divian was amazing! The tour was cheap, but the quality was awsome. We got to know everything about this place with an amazing, funny guide and an affordable price. Also, taking pictures at the prime meridian with the wonderful view was good. I recommend this place with a tour to everyone who comes to London.

Response from the operator: Hi There, Thank you for taking the time to leave us some feedback about your visit to the Royal Observatory. We're thrilled to hear that you joined one of our guided tours and found it very informative and worthwhile. Our tour guides like Divya work very hard to deliver engaging tours with our visitors, sharing their knowledge and passion with others whilst they're with us. We'll be sure to pass your kind words over to Divya who I'm sure will be very appreciative.

via Tripadvisor

Disappointed Can’t recommend unless tour operator is aware of what is going on. Entry ticket didn’t work as bldg is shut

We got there and after walking about a half mile up the whole thing was closed for construction!!I am so so annoyed.

via Viator