Thursday, 23 June 2016

Angelsey Abbey

Anglesey Abbey

The weather while visiting Anglesey Abbey was near perfect, sunshine and warmth, the warmest day of the year thus far. A beautiful country home situated on a large acreage with a working watermill that produces flour that it sells to its guests. In the 1930s, Lord Fairhaven and his brother purchased the run-down country home unseen and remade it into a Jacobean style home and laid the grounds in 18th century style.

The grounds were very spectacular as many of the spring flowers were in bloom and there were still reminiscent of the winter garden. The Brazilian Cherry tree was spectacular; its copper colored bark is made smoothed by the oils from the skin. The trees are planted along the pathways so visitors can touch. The areas least touch, the bark was more papery and seemed to be shedding.  The mill was pretty interesting as it is still in use today. It takes some 750 tons of water to produce (I forgot how many kilos of flour).

The house was beautiful inside and out! Lord Fairhaven liked clocks and there were quite a few throughout the house. He was also fond of Windsor Castle and had many artworks depicting various images of the Castle. He had grown up near there and even served as a guard. His father had moved to the U.S. for a job, married an American, but later returned to England to raise their family. The title Lord was supposed to go to his father, but he passed before it was bestowed to him so it fell to his son.














I've also begun reading poems by Wordsworth, so I'll leave you with one of his more popular poems, Daffodils:

Second Version
I wandered lonely as a Cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and Hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden Daffodils;
Beside the Lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:-
A Poet could not but be gay
In such a jocund company:
I gazed---and gazed---but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude,
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the Daffodils.

Published in Collected Poems, 1815


Cambridge

Cambridge 


Cambridge is well known for its college, Cambridge University. However, Cambridge isn't the only college in the city. In fact, there are 30 other colleges throughout the city. King's College, Trinity College, St. John's, Pembroke, and many others. Cambridge University was founding in 1209 after students fled from Oxford College after being accused of a crime. Cambridge turned out many persons that would go on to influence the world as we know it today.
Sciences:  Charles Darwin, Alan Turing, Stephen Hawking, Sir Issac Newton
Royalty: Oliver Cromwell (abolished the crown), Prince Charles of Wales,
Literary: C.S. Lewis, Lord Byron, John Milton, Sylvia Plath, William Wordsworth,
Entertainment: Tom Hiddleston, Ian McKellen, Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson, Rachel Weitz,



During WWII, Cambridge played an important part in WWII. The city served as an evacuation center for those in London and areas that received heavy bombings. It is rumored Cambridge witnessed very little air bombings from the Germans as Hitler wanted Cambridge to be German HQ once their perceived victory occurred.

Most of the information was obtained through various punting tours. Punting is basically a flat-bottomed boat ride in which one person steers the boat with a big pole. Punting was once a source to distribute goods along a river, but now more of a pleasure than any actual purpose. In Cambridge, it is mainly college students that pilot the boat and will hassle tourists/visitors for rides. During the 45 min tour, they will tell you stories of the colleges famous persons, rivalries, and enduring pranks. Whether or not all, some, or none is true, well that's for you to decide.












Other than seeing the colleges, Cambridge has many churches and museums. I really enjoyed The Fitzwilliam museum; it's rather interesting and free of charge with exhibits of Egyptians, Greeks, art, and more!












Make sure to check out the Corpus Clock (or Grasshopper Clock as I think it should be named). Every 5 minutes, the clock is entirely accurate! It was unveiled by Stephen Hawking.


There are other museums such as an Earth Science museum, but I haven't been. Also, some other places of interest include the Botanic Gardens and Grafton Centre Mall. There are numerous parks and great places to eat as well!

I'll be adding to this later, so stay tuned for updates!

Nottingham Castle

Nottingham Ducal Mansion

We opted to drive to Nottingham- another wonderful driving experience. For the most part, the drive wasn't too bad aside from one of the larger roundabouts. Nottingham Castle (or now ducal Mansion) has an exciting history, and I'm not just talking about Robin Hood! 

After King Richard the Lionheart, Prince John, Robin Hood, and the Sheriff of Nottingham, there was Queen Isabella of France and her lover, Roger Mortimer who, together, had the king murdered. The queen's son, Edward III, upon turning 18, captured the queen and Mortimer by using the underground caves that ran beneath the castle, and it is now known as Mortimer's Hole. The Queen was sent to Castle Rising under house arrest. 

Years later, after the English Civil War, the castle was demolished due to its poor state. The First Duke of Newcastle purchased the sight in the 17th century and built the ducal mansion. In the 1800s during parliamentary reformation, the mansion was looted and burned as a retaliation to poor living conditions the people of Nottingham suffered during the Industrial Revolution. The building was left in its burnt state for 45 years before being converted to a museum. It was the first museum to open outside of London!





After we toured Nottingham Castle and the caves, we ate lunch at the Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem when upon leaving, we ran into Robin Hood and Little John on their way in!

Saturday, 4 June 2016

Kenilworth Castle

The last stop we visited on our weekend away of our anniversary was Kenilworth Castle. We went for a weekend getaway to the Cotswolds and had a wonderful time, so we couldn't resist extending our fun on the way home! 

There is quite a lot to see and imagine when it comes to Kenilworth Castle. While it's mostly ruins, parts are partially intact or have been recreated. The ruins are just beautiful; it's not hard to imagine the splendor and the grandiosity that was once Kenilworth Castle. 

Like most places, Kenilworth has seen its ups and down, changed ownerships, it has an interesting history. Work began on Kenilworth Castle around the 1120s by Geoffrey de Clinton. Henry II took the castle around 1170s in order to stop his rebellious sons and acquired it outright in the 1180s. Under King Henry IV, the castle became a Crown estate and remained so for the 150 years. Lancaster Kings as well as the Tudor kings visited the estate and added their own to it's history. 

Kenilworth saw its share of political changes and war, but it also saw its share of scandal. In 1563, Elizabeth I granted Kenilworth Castle to Robert Dudley. It is rumored that Queen Elizabeth I and Robert Dudley, a childhood friend, were lovers. Her visits to Kenilworth were longer than at any other estate she visited. Dudley even had a whole tower for the Queen's personal use when she visited, Leicester's Tower. It is even rumored that Robert Dudley has his sick wife killed in order to marry the queen, but due to nobles outrage and threats to rise against the Crown, they never married. Robert Dudley did eventually remarry, and it is said the Queen was overly upset and treated his new wife poorly. When Queen Elizabeth passed, a letter was found to her from Dudley, "his last letter". 

We didn't stay but a short while; however, I really enjoyed Kenilworth Castle. We were given some hands on experience on armory and everyday life in Medieval times. We got to hold a 15lb cannon ball, try on some armor, and see an early concept of a watering can; very interesting and entertaining! The gardens were beautiful and the ruins fun to explore. Also, nearby is Warwick Castle; another steeped in history and scandal!