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ELTHAM PALACE

When the textile millionaires Stephen and Virginia Courtauld built their 1930s mansion adjoining the Great Hall of mediaeval Eltham Palace, once the childhood home of Henry VIII, they created an Art Deco masterpiece that to this day captures the glamour and allure of the period. A visit to Eltham Palace will sweep your folk into the glamorous lifestyle of 1930s high society – a world of tennis and croquet and cocktails on the terrace.

Meet at 10.30am at Eltham Palace, 9 miles south-east of Trafalgar Square. Tea and coffee can be purchased on arrival ready for a very entertaining morning travelling from the Tudors to the Twenties. After an introduction with the Blue Badge Tour Guide you’ll enjoy a tour of the house and some time to browse as an invited guest in the 1930s. You’ll be able to walk into Ginie Courtauld’s wardrobe and try on her hats and breathe in her perfume.

Take a peek in Mrs. Courtauld’s golden tiled bathroom and experience the glitz and glamour of the cocktail hour. This is a house full of quirky details from the built-in vacuum cleaner to the suite of rooms for Virginia’s pet lemur and Stephen’s rather menacing PA system with speakers in every room so that he could bark orders at the servants and even page his wife! This is great fun - Art Deco meets Hollywood film sets with a twist of Cunard Liner.

We head to Royal Greenwich for lunch in and around the covered market. There is an enormous amount of choice here or bring a packed lunch to enjoy by the riverside.

Hands up who doesn’t enjoy a Thames River Cruise? Here is where this becomes a jam buster itinerary. You choose the cruise that best suits your journey home:

If you are going home to Kent, Surrey, Sussex or Essex choose a one hour round trip to the Thames Barrier and back taking us past the Docklands developments, The O2 and the Thames Cable Car. You’ll be ready to head home from Greenwich at 4.45pm

If you are going home to the West of London choose a one-hour cruise from Greenwich to Westminster past the London Docklands, the City of London and the West End. Head home from Westminster Pier at 4.30pm.

On all cruises there’s a bar to buy hot and cold drinks and an entertaining Cockney skipper.’s commentary.

Adults: £33 Seniors: £30

EH Members: £19

Available Sundays to

Thursdays April to

end October

Now with a choice of

afternoon cruises to suit

your journey home.

10 miles

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