WAITING FOR A SUNNY DAY QUIETLY IN HYDE PARK, LDN

Today, The Fosters and The Grandma have spent their time waiting for a sunny day quietly in Hyde Park, the historic urban park in Westminster. 

It is located in front of their hotel and they have decided to walk slowly and see all the details that this place offers carefully.

It has been an interesting morning. They have been studying some English Grammar with the Adverbs of Manner and Saxon Genitive, and talking about how much information can give our surname about our past and our origins. Finally, they have been preparing some necessary things to spend this afternoon together sailing across the Thamesis river. They want to have fun.

More information: Adverbs of Manner

More information: Saxon Genitive

More information: Battleship

Hyde Park is a 140 ha, historic Grade I-listed urban park in Westminster, Greater London. A Royal Park, it is the largest of the parks and green spaces that form a chain from Kensington Palace through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, via Hyde Park Corner and Green Park, past Buckingham Palace to St James's Park. Hyde Park is divided by the Serpentine and the Long Water lakes.

The park was established by Henry VIII in 1536 when he took the land from Westminster Abbey and used it as a hunting ground. 

It opened to the public in 1637 and quickly became popular, particularly for May Day parades. Major improvements occurred in the early 18th century under the direction of Queen Caroline. The park also became a place for duels during this time, often involving members of the nobility.

In the 19th century, The Great Exhibition of 1851 was held in the park, for which The Crystal Palace, designed by Joseph Paxton, was erected.

Free speech and demonstrations have been a key feature of Hyde Park since the 19th century. Speakers' Corner has been established as a point of free speech and debate since 1872, while the Chartists, the Reform League, the suffragettes, and the Stop the War Coalition have all held protests there.

In the late 20th century, the park was known for holding large-scale free rock music concerts, featuring artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones and Queen. Major events in the park have continued into the 21st century, such as Live 8 in 2005, and the annual Hyde Park Winter Wonderland from 2007.

The park's name comes from the Manor of Hyde, which was the northeast sub-division of the manor of Eia (the other two sub-divisions were Ebury and Neyte) and appears as such in the Domesday Book.

The name is believed to be of Saxon origin, and means a unit of land, the hide, that was appropriate for the support of a single family and dependents. Through the Middle Ages, it was property of Westminster Abbey, and the woods in the manor were used both for firewood and shelter for game.

The Wellington Arch was extensively restored by English Heritage between 1999 and 2001. It is now open to the public, who can see a view of the parks from its platforms above the porticoes.

More information: Royal Parks

The surname Foster is a variation of the name Forster, meaning one who works in the forest. It may also derive from the French forcetier, meaning maker of scissors.

The Foster surname is predominantly English, where it has been recorded in use from the 1100s onwards. Foster derives as an occupational surname from a number of sources. Firstly it comes from a forester, the name for a forest warden or gamekeeper. Secondly the surname Foster is believed to derive from the Old English Forseter (shearer), given to those who shear sheep and their descendants. Most rarely, Foster has been hypothesised to relate to a 'fosterer', someone who feeds and looks after children in place of their parents.

More information: Forebears

 It came to me that Hyde Park

has never belonged to London
–that it has always been, in spirit, 

a stretch of countryside;
and that it links the Londons 

of all periods together most magically
–by remaining forever unchanged at the heart 

of a ever-changing town.

Dodie Smith