Christopher(posted 8643 days ago)Currently in southern England-29/01/01, it is light from about 7:45am thru to 5:15pm and on sunny days there is a beautiful autumnal side light which will give an excellent golden glow to buildings/landscapes. For shooting B&W film i would make two suggestions: (i) XP2 the B&W film that is processed in C41 chemistry. The beauty of this film is not only its processing convenience but the fact that you can rate different frames on the same roll. So for instance you can shoot at anything between 320ASA and 1600ASA on the same roll without any processing problems. Also the grain does not suffer-if anything it appears to get smoother the quicker you get! (ii) HP5+. This film can be pushed to 3200 ASA, with adjustments in developing times and therefore gets you over the problem of a really quick film being X-rayed. It is very friendly to the user-i recently exposed some HP5 at 1600 and developed at 400 (Doh!) and the negatives were fine (i used Ilfosol S) and it was only when reviewing my notes that i realised my mistake. So if you want to start developing your own film this is a v good starting point.
In terms of getting around London, look out for a one day or weekly travelcard (1 day cards are £4.00-around $6.00for zones 1-2) which give you unlimited travel on tubes or busses and overland trains. If you want to go to such places as Hampton Court or Windsor Castle then this card Zones 1-6 (c£7.50, $11.00) will suffice. If you have the time, by the way, i would particularly recommend Hampton Court.
Hope that this is of some use Have a good trip Andrew Buckley