Oxford - Birthday

What better way to spend a birthday than In the "city of dreaming spires",where academia takes centre stage. The city is known worldwide as the home of the University of Oxford. The term 'dreaming spires' was coined by one of the great Victorian poets Matthew Arnold (the third great Victorian poet after Tennyson and Browning). Our first stop was the historic'Covered Market'. Oxford has had a market probably since the late ninth century, when the town was fortified, or perhaps earlier, but the first written reference is found in twelfth century records. It started at Carfax (the main crossroads) and spread along adjoining streets. The Covered Market was started in response to a general wish to clear ‘untidy, mess and unsavoury stalls’ from the main streets. John Gwynn architect of Magdalen Bridge, drew up the plans and designed the High Street front with its four entrances. Today you can still buy a great selection of meat and fish here, and numerous cheeses, . Fruit and vegetable stalls still make colourful displays but much of the produce is now imported from all over the world. In the old days it was full of game hanging from the ceilings including, geese , pheasants, hares, rabbits and even the odd boars head! You can't go far without encountering a College, just along the road from the Indoor Market is Brasenose College. It was founded in 1509, with the College library and current chapel added in the mid-seventeenth century. Its name is believed to derive from the name of a brass or bronze knocker that adorned the hall's door. Among the best known living Brasenose alumni are Prime Minister David Cameron, the comedian Michael Palin, Mybe that should be the other way round? The Bodleian Library the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. By the late 18th century, further growth of the library demanded more expansion space. In 1860, the library was allowed to take over the adjacent building, known as the Radcliffe Camera. In 1861, the library’s medical and scientific collections were transferred to the Radcliffe Science Library.

Minsmere and Southwold

First visit of the year to Minsmere home of BBC tv's 'Springwatch' base at the RSPB Reserve. A wet start it was too not helped by leaving my walking trousers back at the B&B. Thankfully the rain did ease off a little after a pitstop for a warming hot chocolate , after all it was only the end of July ..... The reserve is located right on the North Sea coast approximately 24 miles (39 km) north-east of Ipswich. The area provides a number of important habitats, including for species such as bitterns, marsh harriers, hen harriers, avocets and Dartford warblers.The grazing marshes to the south of the Minsmere Levels provide over-wintering grounds for a variety of different waterfowl species. The wind really got up and it was a bleak scene along the beach route. The marshes along the Minsmere River were drained for agricultural use in the 1840s but reflooded during the Second World War to defend against invasion along the East Anglian coast. A number of military defences were built in the area, including pill boxes, anti-tank blocks and barbed wire defence lines. The Minsmere RSPB reserve was established in 1947, making use of the wetland habitats reintroduced by wartime flooding. The chances of spotting any decent birdlife were quite remote as not the best time of the year along with the strong onshore winds. Although Marina is adamant that she did see a Bittern in flight as we entered one of the hides. It didn't really matter though as it was good to walk through the reed beds and then the woodland heath. We saw the wooden studio that is used for Springwatch recording now all boarded up. By late afternoon the wind had dropped completely and the clouds had dispersed completely. The best part of the day you might say. We wandered back up to the beach area which was very different to this morning. We drove a few miles up the coast to the quintessentially English seaside resort of Southwold. Located on the North Sea coast at the mouth of the River Blyth within the Suffolk Coast. First stop was fish 'n' chips on the Pier which went down very well. Southwold Pier was built in 1900. At 247 metres (810 ft) it was long enough to accommodate the Belle steamers which carried trippers along the coast at that time. In World War II, it was weakened by two breaches, and in 1955 a large section was destroyed by a gale. The pier was entirely rebuilt and restored in 2001 and is now about 190 metres (620 ft) long. Walking along the promenade it is impossible to ignore the colourfuly decorated beach huts that line the sea front. Apparently one was recently on the market for princely sum of £120,000 .... Adnams Brewery was established in the town by George and Ernest Adnams in 1872 with the purchase of the Sole Bay Brewery which had been established in 1818. In 2011 it received the Good Pub Guide Brewery of the Year Award. It would have been rude not to have had a pint in the local pub 'The Sole Bay Inn'. Emerging from behind the pub is the 'Lighthouse'. Southwold lighthouse was commissioned in 1890 and automated and electrified in 1938.It stands as a prominent landmark in the centre of the town and is a Grade II listed building. It is 31 metres (102 ft) metres tall, standing 37 metres (121 ft) metres above sea level. It is built of brick and painted white and has 113 steps around a spiral staircase.

Wellingborough Carnival

The streets of Wellingborough were transformed into a riot of colour, music and dance when the Carnival came to town on Saturday 4th July. This year was Wellingborough Carnival's 107th parade, as schools, businesses, pubs, community groups and more dress up to bring carnival celebrations to Wellingborough. The colourful parade started at Broad Green at 1pm and wound its way through the town centre to Croyland Park. The official carnival theme was 'Anything Goes' so that narrowed it down a bit ... At Teamwork we decided rather late to put in an entry and loosely had a wild west theme. Well at least that was my interpretation although I seemed to be the only one dressed as a cowboy, the others all seemed to have a different take on the theme. The trusty Teamwork van underwent quite a transformation largely thanks to some hard work by Gordon. As well as the 'Stars n Stripes' and 'Confederate' flags, balloons and bunting there was a mobile sound system and light show. Apparently it was probably the best carnival turn out ever, certainly helped by the sunny weather! We collected about £50 in our buckets which wasn't too bad. Unfortunately the float next to us from 'Glamis Hall' took all the attention with their 'Granny on a scooter' who was very good and not unlike 'Mrs Brown off the t.v. The main thing was for the Teamwork members to have a bit of fun as well as promoting the charity by giving out 'goody bags' and stickers to the kiddies.

Holy Trinity Church Rothwell - Bone Crypt

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Deep under the floor of the church, near the south door exists Holy Trinity’s crypt or Charnel House or even an ossuary if you prefer? This 13th century crypt lies beneath the south aisle and the nave and measures 9 metres by 4.5 meters and 2.5 metres high. It is believed to have been discovered around 1700. Local legend suggests that little was known about its existence until the day a hapless gravedigger fell into the crypt whilst working in the church many years ago.Falling some twelve feet through pitch darkness into a mass of bones was too much for the individual to bear, and it is reputed that he lost his mind through the incident, remaining that way until the day he died. More latterly, the crypt has been reorganised such that the skulls are now displayed on shelves around the walls, and the thigh bones displayed in two large square piles in the centre. The 13th century crypt contains the remains of around 1500 individuals.It is thought some were first buried in the churchyard and then moved at a later date.A second burial within the crypt possibly took place around 1580 when the adjacent Jesus Hospital was built on what was perhaps an old burial ground.

There are several theories made about the origins of the bones including;
 

• They are from Danes slain in battle by the Saxons.
•  Bones of men slain at Naseby battlefield in 1645 (eight miles away).
• Bones of men slain at Bosworth battlefield 1485 (thirty miles away).
• Remains of a monastic burial place.
• Victims of a plague epidemic.

Pretty much all of these theories have been debunked by historians and researchers. The skulls do not show any injuries from the battlefield. Also in times of poverty and hardship who would spend money transporting dead bodies from the battlefield. Also there are know sites of mass burials at the battles mentioned above. Nobody with any sense would move plague victims bones from a lime pit into a Church crypt. Anyway the quantity looks much to large for a monastic burial even over several centuries.

Whatever the explanation and I very much doubt it is a sinister one, they do provide an extremely interesting experience.

Florence Trip - Palazzo Vecchio

The Palazzo Vecchio is the town hall of Florence, Italy. This massive, Romanesque, crenellated fortress-palace is among the most impressive town halls of Tuscany. Overlooking the Piazza Della Signoria it is one of the most significant public places in Italy. In 1299, the commune and people of Florence decided to build a palace, worthy of the city's importance and giving greater security, in times of turbulence, to the magistrates. Arnolfo di Cambio, the architect of the Duomo and the Santa Croce church, began constructing it upon the ruins of Palazzo dei Fanti and Palazzo dell'Esecutore di Giustizia, once owned by the Uberti family. Giovanni Villani wrote that Arnolfo di Cambio incorporated the ancient tower of the Foraboschi family (the tower then known as "La Vacca" or "The Cow") as the substructure of the tower into its facade;[2] this is why the rectangular tower (height 94 m) is not directly centered in the building. The Neptune Fountain was commissioned for the wedding of Francesco I de’ Medici and Grand Duchess Johanna of Austria in 1565. The sea-horses are supposed to be drawing Neptune’s chariot (a giant seashell on a pedestal decorated with the chained figures of Scylla and Charybdis). When the statue was completed in 1565, the Florentines did not like it much. Michelangelo said: “What a fine piece of marble you have ruined.” The Florentines then started to wash their clothes in the fountain.

Florence Trip - Pitti Palace & The Boboli Gardens

The Pitti Palace or Palazzo Pitti if you prefer is a huge renaissance Palace over the the Ponte Vecchio on the south side of the river. The palace was bought by the Medici family in 1549 and became the chief residence of the ruling families of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. The palazzo is now the largest museum complex in Florence. The building was commissioned in 1458 by the Florentine banker Luca Pitti, a principal supporter and friend of Cosimo de' Medici. Land on the Boboli hill at the rear of the palazzo was acquired in order to create a large formal park and gardens, today known as the Boboli Gardens. There are some wonderful views across the Cypress lined Tuscan hills as you walk uphill to the Boboli Gardens. The Gardens are some of the first and most familiar formal 16th-century Italian gardens.The openness of the garden, with an expansive view of the city, was unconventional for its time. The gardens were very lavish, considering no access was allowed outside the immediate Medici family, and no entertainment or parties ever took place in the gardens. The gardens have passed through several stages of enlargement and restructuring work. They were enlarged in the 17th century to their present extent of 45,000 meters² (111 acres). The Boboli Gardens have come to form an outdoor museum of garden sculpture that includes Roman antiquities as well as 16th and 17th century works.

Florence Trip - Uffizi Gallery

The Uffizi buiding was created in 1560 for the Florentine magistrates and completed in 1581. The narrow courtyard between the palace's two wings creates the effect of a short, idealized street; view toward the River Arno. Because of its huge collection, some of its works have in the past been transferred to other museums in Florence. The one painting and probably the one that every visitor wants to see is the stunning 'Birth of Venus' by Sandro Boticelli in the mid 148o's. Essentially it is the Goddess Venus arriving from the sea as an adult to the sea shore. Another world renowned Boticelli is 'Primavera' also known as 'Allegory of Spring'. Much interpreted there are many theories as to what is going on. The painting features six female figures and two male, along with a blindfolded chubby male chid (putto), in an orange grove. To the right of the painting, a flower-crowned female figure stands in a floral-patterned dress scattering flowers, collected in the folds of her gown. there are 500 identified plant species depicted in the painting, with about 190 different flowers. The Holy Family or 'Doni Tondo' or even 'Doni Madonna' if you prefer, is the only finished panel painting by the mature Michelangelo to survive. The Virgin Mary is the most prominent figure in the composition, taking up much of the center of the image. Mary sits directly on the ground without a cushion between herself and the ground, to better communicate the theme of her relationship to the earth.

We met a lovely couple from Chicago while queuing for the Duomo and bumped into them again at the cafe at the Uffizi.