A little bit of Peterborough

It is so very nice to be with family here in Peterborough.
This afternoon we, all four of us, went for a bracing walk at Ferry Meadows Park.A beautiful clear sky day, but with a chilly wind.We walked around the little lake and of course fed the ducks and swans.
Parks often have fallen trees, but here they have been given a creative touch.
What do you think of these creations.

York and the Minster

I've been reading a book by Ken Follet called The Pillars of The Earth. One of the main characters is a stone mason who dreams of building a cathedral. He describes the building of it in his mind, naming the different parts and their function. This afternoon The Man and I visited York Minster and the book came to life. In my minds eye I saw Tom, the mason, sketching out the plan on a plaster tablet, using multiples of his rod to create the perfect dimensions. Each structure a multiple of a single measure, thus making it pleasing to the eye.

Our modern buildings go up at breakneck speed compared to the years and manpower that it took to build a masterpiece such as The Minster.

There are many many tombs within the great building, some with dates as early as 1740. The beginning parts of the church are much older though dating from the mid 1100's

Outside proud of countenance, is a statue of a Roman conqueror call Constantine. He declared York was Roman back in AD746. Hows that for age. It continues to astound me that people just like you and me lived worked, laughed and loved all those thousands of years ago. 

York is a nice place, but boy did we notice the cold, it must have been all of five degrees there today, good thing the wind wasn't blowing or it would have felt a good deal colder.

Christmas Day in Scarborough

Some in England will have had a very wet one. And may still be without power.

There is also the threat of more rain for some.

We've had a lovely day, a light brekky was followed by a very pleasant walk along the beach and around the headland. There's a castle up there, I wonder if we can get up to it.

Following the directions of a couple of locals we found the steps and soon were admiring the view across the bay. It was a good thing we were well wrapped up 'cos it was a very cutting wind.

Down through the back streets of the town our steps took us past St Mary's church. In the grounds were a couple of ruined columns that lined up with the end wall and on the ground were what must have been the bases of several isle pillars. In the well kept graveyard some of the stones we read were dated in the mid 1700's.

On the side of one of the pretty steep streets was a well weathered column about eight feet tall and protected by railings, but we couldn't find any plaque to tell us what it was for. But good ole google solved the problem.

The Butter Cross now stands at the junction of Low Conduit Street and St Mary's Street, but would once have stood, complete and with a carved head, in Cross Street. A butter cross would have stood in the market square and derives its name from the produce that would have been sold near it

Back at the hotel we enjoyed a traditional lunch complete with Christmas crackers, silly hats and silly jokes, not forgetting the pud with brandy sauce.

The Man and I hope that not matter where you spent the day and who you spent it with that you had a very merry Christmas Day.

Well we're here...

It has been a long day, and here we are in Brussels. The clocks have gone forward an hour so it got dark that hour earlier.

We had a couple of hours this evening to wander around the market square and admire stunningly lit architecture. You'll have to wait to see them though.
A good nights sleep is what we want now, got an early start tomorrow.
Oh alright. then...just one picture

An announcement...

Tomorrow morning...yes that's right Monday 25th and only four weeks until the jolly fat man with the beard and dressed in red makes his appearance, The man and I are off on a weeks coach holiday to Europe.
I have no idea if I will be able to add to the  blog or not, but I will do my darnedest.
So its goodnight from me and its goodnight from him.

a bit of a day out...

The Man and I caught a couple of trains today and wound up at the Chelmsford and Essex regimental museum.

And why did we venture out there you might ask?

And I’ll tell you.

My father and grandfather served with them during WWII and WWI

Yes, I’ve been there before, but this time I went armed with my father’s military record for the archivist there to help me to decipher.

And am I any further ahead with understanding it?  Yes.

But I have yet another regimental diary to request from National Archives.

That of the 66^{th Heavy} Ant Aircraft Regiment. I’ll give that a go tomorrow

I’m no closer to finding out why he went AWOL, other than he might have been n transit from one unit to another and got ‘lost’ along the way, probably with some pay in his pocket.

I did find out that the RAOC, Royal Army Ordinance Corps that he first enlisted into is a logistical organisation handling stores and supplies. Then he was transferred to the REME, Royal Electrical and mechanical Engineers probably because in civilian life he had had some technical training.

It was good to finally meet the camp out there who I first corresponded with, by snail mail, almost 20 years ago. I left all the records relating to Dad and his father for their records.

A day in 'Brum'

The Man and I had a very nice Indian meal for our tea.

I had an interesting dessert made from grated carrot gently cooked in milk so that that the milk was reduced. It was pretty nice too..

This morning we walked down the road to the business stop and caught a bus into Birmingham city.

We had a wander around a very large outdoor market called the Bull Ring. I don't think I've been in such a large one before. Then we wandered through the huge mall.

Up until now we've never found any cafe that asks if we want our muffins warmed.

Not so today.

And why do you think that was it was because the cafe was called Muffin Break.

The exact same as the ones back home in New Zealand. Very nice thank you.

The girl who served us said she thought the owner was a Kiwi..

By midday the crowd in the mall was huge, seemed to us even larger than a London crowd. To give you an idea of the size of the crowd we had to queue to use the escalator. We don't even have to do that in London.

The Man and I had a quick look throughout the museum and then with the help of a map we headed towards the canal.

We spotted several rover buses and after a bit of a walk found where they were departing from. The weather held off all day until we set foot on the narrow boat and stopped as we got off.  How's that for timing.

Urban Retreat – The Story of Mudchute Farm and Park

My grandfather was born on the Isle of dogs and  I want to share this article about a place on Isle of Dogs called Mudshute

I work right near the building with the pointy roof, The cluster of tall building is Canary Wharf

For many people  the Isle of Dogs and Canary Wharf symbolises high tower blocks and high density living, however this is a very recent phenomenon up to the mid 18th century the vast majority of the Island was uninhabited and used as pastures for animals. Even considering the Island was mostly pastures, the creation of Mudchute Farm is however tied into a by-product of the building of the docks.

The large open space where the Mudchute Farm and park now stands was once grazing land. However during the building of the Millwall Docks in 1865 much of this land was used for storing the bricks that were used to build the dock walls and buildings. During construction of the Millwall Docks in 1865–7 the land remained a brickfield,  However  after the docks opened in 1868 the land was once again used  for grazing.

This changed in 1875 when The Dock company developed  an innovative system of dredging its docks designed by the company's engineer, Frederic E. Duckham. This involved the pneumatic transmission of mud, out of the dock into a pipe which ran under East Ferry Road to be deposited on the grazing land creating a mudfield. Over time the mud accumulated to create small hills and bumps, however towards the end of the 19th Century there was concerns when the Mudfield was considered a health hazard and steps were taken to close the pipe which was discontinued in 1910.

Gradually the hardened mudfield became known as the Mudchute and was later used for allotments. At the beginning of the war the land was used for gun placements.

An Ack- Ack gun in the farm to celebrate its role in WW2

After the war various schemes were put forward for the use of the land , however it was not until 1973 that the site was transferred to the GLC to be used for housing. However there then began a campaign by local residents and supporters called the Association of Island Communities who wished the land to be used as public open space , the success of this campaign led to the creation of an urban farm in 1977.

In 1977 the Mudchute Association was formed to preserve and develop the area which they have done by adding to the existing fauna and flora to provide a diverse environment that attracts all forms of wild life. It was somewhat ironic that the mud that had caused dismay to many people was full of nutrients that provided good growing conditions for many plants.

Farm  animals have been introduced over the years to give visitors a variety of experience, there has always been an educational aspect to the Associations work and close ties have been developed with local school

Since its creation Mudchute Farm and Park has developed into one of the largest City Farm in Europe covering 32 acres and is maintained largely by local volunteers. It is also been supported by many firms based at Canary Wharf.

by isleofdogslife

Plan B...

The Man and I had planned a day indoors today, but when we got up and saw what a nice day it was we threw out that idea and went with plan B.

Which was…

A return visit to the Natural History Museum, where I thought a photographic display was on…

Hmmmmmm Notice I said thought…

OK so it isn’t starting until next weekend...oh well it is a great place to visit anyway.

So first off we decided to go to one of the talks that are given regularly in the Attenborough Studio.

Today’s one was about how animals perceive the world. Aimed mainly at children, The Man and I learned a few things too.

The place was pretty crowded by the time we left in the middle of the afternoon so it was pleasantly quiet to be outside. We did our usual wander and spotted a bus going towards Clapham Junction. That’s an easy way to get back to Crystal palace without having to dodge the crowds on the underground.

Later this evening we flicked on the magic box in the corner and will you look at that a doco showcasing Windsor Castle, which is where we were this time last week. Funny that.