This year is a very good time to visit the spectacular Old Royal Naval College (ORNC), right in the heart of Greenwich, especially if you love royal and maritime history and architecture. In 2023 we are celebrating Wren 300. This is a commemoration of 300 years since the death of the great architect of the ORNC, Sir Christopher Wren, who gave his time for free when the building was commissioned in 1694. So what is the ORNC, and why should you include it on a visit to London?

My friend Phil Coppell, a Liverpool Blue Badge Tourist Guide, tells me that he took Ray Davies a member of the English rock band The Kinks on a Beatles tour some years ago. He queued up and paid for his ticket like everyone else and, during the tour, mentioned that he had originally set his song Waterloo Sunset in Liverpool but the line ‘Mersey Sunset’ did not scan and he moved it to London. He had always had a soft spot for Liverpool and said that whenever The Kinks played at the Cavern or other venues they always had a great reception.