“He stood staring into the wood for a minute, then said: "What is it about the English countryside — why is the beauty so much more than visual? Why does it touch one so?"
He sounded faintly sad. Perhaps he finds beauty saddening — I do myself sometimes. Once when I was quite little I asked father why this was and he explained that it was due to our knowledge of beauty's evanescence, which reminds us that we ourselves shall die. Then he said I was probably too young to understand him; but I understood perfectly.”
― Dodie Smith, I Capture the Castle
He sounded faintly sad. Perhaps he finds beauty saddening — I do myself sometimes. Once when I was quite little I asked father why this was and he explained that it was due to our knowledge of beauty's evanescence, which reminds us that we ourselves shall die. Then he said I was probably too young to understand him; but I understood perfectly.”
― Dodie Smith, I Capture the Castle
London Adventures: A Look at the Icons
The British Library
I am generally a person who strictly abides by the rules. At 2:00am, I wait for the light to change at no turn lights. I didn't take Sistine Chapel pictures or a selfie at Queen Elizabeth I's memorial. But, here I entered fully prepared to flaunt the No Pictures signs. Not the Shakespeare Folios or King James's own King James Bible. Not the Jane Austen or Beatles. But, the MAGNA CARTA, I couldn't resist the temptation.
|
The British Museum
As I history teacher, I love this museum beyond all others. Imperialism makes for an amazing collection. The Rosetta Stone was my first target, but it was hard to resist a quick visit to the Easter Island Man upon entry.
The Parthenon Galleries: I speak in my classes of my mixed feelings entering here: the ethical issues of sovereignty vs. OMG I'm in the presence of the Parthenon Marbles and I am so glad. Enjoy a visit with Pericles and Alexander the Great as well.
|
Big Ben and Parliament Square
Parliament Square is at the northwest end of the Palace of Westminster (where the Houses of Parliament meet) in central London. It features a large open green area in the centre with trees to its west, and it contains twelve statues of statesmen and other notable individuals.Statutes include Winston Churchill, David Lloyd George, Nelson Mandela, Abraham Lincoln, and Millicent Fawcett- the first woman to be included on the Square and campaigner for woman's suffrage on the 100th Anniversary of Women gaining the Vote. It is frequently the staging grounds for protests and social action. Westminster Abbey forms one side of the Square.
A giant thrill for a geeky civics teacher was the tour INSIDE Parliament. Unlike tours of the US Capitol, the 2 hour tour allowed us onto the floors of both the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the Royal Robing Rooms. Pictures inside are forbidden, but they are allowed inside the grounds and inside the initial entryway.
|
The Tower of London
After William the Conqueror became king in 1066, he immediately began to build a fortress at the entrance to London on the Thames. The oldest intact building is the White Tower, built in 1097, this tower is where the fabled "Princes in the Tower" were discovered under a staircase by the entrance. I, personally, do not adhere to the theory that their death was ordered by their Uncle Richard III, but that's a long story. Prisoners entered by the Traitors Gate, perhaps never to leave the Tower's environs again.
The most celebrated residents are the ravens; legend has it that the kingdom will fall if they ever desert the tower. Tours are given by the Beefeaters (pictured is the first woman Beefeater, Moira) and the Crown Jewels are viewable in the Jewel House. A glass memorial can be found at the site of the execution of Henry VIII's Royal Queens and other elite prisoners. |
From the 1200s to 1835, the Tower housed a Menagerie of exotic wild animals, never before seen in London, including lions and a polar bear given as royal gifts. The Tower menagerie began as a result of medieval monarchs exchanging rare and strange animals as gifts. Lion sculptures, like this one near the entrance to the Tower, and other animal installations on site commemorate the former inhabitants of the Tower.
|
Along the Thames
The Churchill Rooms
Located under the government office building where the War Cabinet met during WW II, the Cabinet War Rooms and Churchill Museum is where the British High Command met while the bombs were falling on London during the Blitz. The rooms include living quarters, a kitchen, and rooms for strategy building meetings. Included on display are the maps used for plotting battles, communications equipment, and Churchill's Honorary American Citizenship Passport.
Harrods, Hamilton, Winchester Cathedral, and off to Hogwarts!
Stonehenge I
A visit to Stonehenge is a day filled with mystery. How did the stones arrive? What was their meaning to the people who constructed them? One can only guess at the rituals that took place here, but they remain a sign that the builders possessed a sophisticated understanding of astronomy, engineering, and the seasons. The inner bluestone circle was built out of some 80 slabs quarried in the Preseli Hills in South Wales, while the outer Sarsen Circle is capped with lintel stones held in place by morose and tenon joints. A new Visitor Center opened in 2013 and the monument has added a simulated Neolithic village to enhance the overall experience. Visiting in July, the surrounding fields of poppies and WW I festivities leaves the 21st century individual linked to Britons across the millennia.
Stonehenge II
My visit back to Stonehenge was beyond memorable. When Stonehenge was first opened to the public it was possible to walk among and even climb on the stones, but the stones were roped off in 1977 as a result of serious erosion.Visitors are no longer permitted to touch the stones, but are able to walk around the monument from a short distance away. For a lucky few, however, access to the center of the complex can be arranged. Standing next to the 13 foot, 25 ton stones, immediately at the alter, is an experience I will never forget. The panoramic video below is taken from the center of the complex.
Visiting Downton Abbey
The Village of Downton, better known as Brampton, is where I started my visit. The Church, Isabel's house, the Hospital, Yew Cottage, and the Green.
Highclere Castle: I followed the rules here and did not take pictures inside the Castle. It is still the home of the Earl of Carnarvon's family.
|
"What do you think makes the English the way we are?":
Lady Rosamund "Opinions differ: Some say our history, but I blame the weather." Lady Violet Downton Abbey, The Finale, S6 E9 |
Dover
Perhaps it was the WW I songs and poetry, but I have always wanted to visit the White Cliffs of Dover. For hundreds of years, the Channel port was one's last view of England during the passage to France (20 smiles in the shrouded distance). Built upon an ancient Saxon fortification, Dover Castle was built by Henry II in 1198 to defend the shores against invasion and the Castle has played a military role in the defense of the nation through the 20th century. The Castle features tours of the labyrinth of tunnels made beneath the castle by prisoners during the Napoleonic Wars and rooms which served as the Command Post for the Dunkirk evacuation.
Canterbury
Established first as a Roman trading post on the road between Dover and London, Canterbury established itself as the center of English Christianity when the Pope sent St. Augustine in 597 CE to convert the Anglo-Saxons. The Cathedral was started in 1070 CE, with its most historic moment coming one hundred years later when Thomas Becket was murdered and interred in the Trinity Chapel (second row of pictures--"Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?"). The Cathedral is home to the tombs of Henry IV and his wife Joan of Navarre, as well as the Black Prince, Edward III's son who died in 1376 (first row of pictures). Long a site of pilgrimage, it is to this Cathedral that Chaucer's pilgrims traveled.
Bath
Bath began as England's first spa town during the 1st century CE under the Roman Occupation. The open air Great Bath was rediscovered by medieval monks of Bath Abbey who exploited the curative properties of the natural hot springs. After Queen Anne visited the springs in 1702, Bath became the fashionable watering place so predominate in Georgian era literature. The Georgian era houses and buildings, built in elegant honey colored stone, include the Royal Crescent, the Circus and Pulteney Bridge. Eat a Sally Lunn's bun, take the waters at the Pump Room (they aren't exactly tasty, but do it), and visit the Jane Austen Centre.
Oxford
Oxford is located at a strategic point on the western route into London--the city was built on a convenient spot for crossing the Isis (the name given to the Thames when it flows through the city)--where the ox can ford. The city's first scholars came from France in 1167 and developed England's first university. Most of the 38 colleges were founded between the 13th and 16th centuries. The Oxford Bridge of Sighs, modeled after the legendary Bridge of Venice, was built in 1914 to join two buildings that are a part of Hertford College. The Radcliffe Camera, the Neo-classical rotunda, is perhaps Oxford's most distinctive building, is a reading room today, a part of the Bodleian Library complex. The entrance to the center city is marked by the Martyrs' Memorial which commemorates the three Protestant martyrs, Latimer, Ridley, and Cranmer, who were burned at the marked space for heresy.
York
The city of York maintains much of its' medieval feeling- perhaps more than any other British city. York Minster, England's largest medieval church, was begun in 1220, and is the largest medieval Gothic cathedral north of the Alps. Many of the ancient timbered houses, perched on narrow and winding streets, like the Shambles, are protected by a conservation order. The Monk Bar, was one of the original medieval gates, and a must see for a Richard III supporting Yorkist like myself.
Castles & Palaces!
Buckingham Palace
The official home of the royal family in London, Buckingham Palace was converted by John Nash into a palace for George IV in 1826 CE. The first monarch to occupy the palace was Queen Victoria. Today watching the changing of the guards standing in the sentry boxes is one of the most popular tourist sites in London.
Kensington Palace
Kensington Palace was the principal royal residence from the 1860s until Victoria moved to Buckingham Palace in the 1830s. Half of the Palace is now open to the public, but half of the Palace is still royal apartments. The Kensington section of London is heavily populated by museums, gardens, and statuary memorializing the time Victoria and Albert spent here.
Windsor Castle
The oldest continuously inhabited castle in Britain, the beginnings of the present day structure were built by William the Conqueror around 1080. The affection felt for this residence was reflected when George V chose Windsor for the family name in 1917 CE (to avoid being labeled a German during the Great War). The Castle is surrounded by Georgian era shops and eateries. Queen Charlotte Street is the shortest in Britain and can be found crossing High Street near Christopher Wren's Guildhall where Prince Charles married Camilla Parker-Bowles in 2005. Nell Gwynn's Pub can still be found nearby if you are seeking the ghost of the Merry Monarch Charles II.
Alnwick Castle
Alnwick Castle is a castle and country house in the English county of Northumberland. It is the seat of His Grace The 12th Duke of Northumberland, built following the Norman conquest and renovated a number of times. You may know it better as the field where the Harry Potter students play Quidditch or the country home of Lady Edith Pelham, nee Crawley, Marchioness of Hexham, after her marriage to Berty (referred to as Brancaster Castle).
Tea & Art Walk
Culture & Drama
A visit to England is not complete without a visit with the Bard. The London Globe Theater offers performances and Stratford-upon-Avon offers visits to the 16th century writer's house (and the cottage of Anne Hathaway's childhood). A quick bite or Tea at The Swan completes the literary experience.
Some art along the way...
From a variety of museums, a handy aid for class.
“There, Clover found the "gardens and great trees and old cottages...so beautiful" that seeing them exhausted her. It was as if, she joked with her husband, "this English world is a huge stage-play got up only to amuse Americans. It is obviously unreal, eccentric, and taken out of novels.”
― Natalie Dykstra, Clover Adams: A Gilded and Heartbreaking Life