With J still away in Durham this weekend, I’m afraid you’re stuck with me again as I share some pictures from another weekend away singing, this time in the beautiful Chichester.
Chichester Cathedral is adorned with some stunning artwork, including this vibrant reredos.
I suppose Cambridge is easier to get to from London. And it is quite pretty, I guess. And a *fairly* good university… [I’m not going to rise to any of this. Some people are just jealous.] Nonetheless, I was very excited to give the tour of my own university, way up at the other end of the country in the tiny city of Durham.
Even more special to me, though, was a visit to my old college, University College, or Castle as it’s known. It is, indeed, a castle, built in the 11th century [although the keep was rebuilt in Victorian times] to defend against marauding Scots, and was lived in by the Prince Bishops before the students took over.
I lived in the keep, with a very lovely roommate:
Sang (often hungover) in the tiny Tunstall Chapel, built in 1540:
So I was taken away on a special weekend trip… A lucky girl indeed. Although English Lit courses at uni are a distant memory, I was excited to be taken to Stratford-upon-Avon, the home of Mr William Shakespeare himself.
We bought the Five House Pass [2-for-1 if you’re a Direct Line customer! or 10% if you book online], a combined ticket that gets you access to all the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust sites, which we think is good value if you visit two or more. We started with the cottage he was born in. It is a lot bigger now, though…
Below is one of the two downstairs rooms original to the time of Shakespeare’s birth. There is a real sense of history as you experience the house, although it is pretty packed with tourists like us!
While I was back North, I spent a day in Bradford, which has a variety of free museums run by the council. Being a bit of an engineering nerd naturally meant that the Industrial Museum was first on the list. They have a variety of machines, many of which are kept in working order and run throughout the day.
After exploring the steam engines, there is a section dedicated to the evolution of the printing press, and how the process was gradually automated and optimised.
My sister and I aim to go on a walking holiday every year. As we had (ashamedly) not spent as much time in the Yorkshire Dales as we should have, having grown up so nearby, we decided to head to Swaledale this year.
On the first day we headed to Aysgarth Falls, along the River Swale (the falls themselves are behind me in this picture!)
Our cottage in Reeth had a lovely garden looking down into the valley.
[Normally I’m the one behind the camera, but in our “guest photographer” posts, I take a back seat while my other half upstages me using my old camera… these are the results]
…And my shots of Bath, with some different topics this time; maybe I’m getting more of a photographer’s eye?!
The stunning Royal Crescent, blurred behind one of the last summer roses:
A typical Bath street.
Last weekend we wanted a fun time away, so we decided to head to Bath. Not too far from London, and with plenty to see, it was an ideal place to spend a lovely weekend. We arrived, and went for a wander around the city. So much beautiful Georgian architecture:
We then went to the Assembly Rooms; although they were closed for an event we managed to sneak a couple of photos… [I might have been ushered out soon afterwards]
Recently we jumped in the car and headed off to visit some friends in Wales. They live in Cardiff, but we were more adventurous than this suggests…
On a rather grey day we headed up Pen y Fan. Spoken of by our local friends as a bit of a stroll, we discovered it was a fairly substantial hike – I for one was extremely glad when we reached the top! (And I definitely wasn’t pulled up the final stretch… [ahem]) It was a stunning view, despite the lack of sun, and allowed us to see the Brecon Beacons in a new light.
Even hiking gets arty, if you cross a stream…
[I didn’t fancy carrying around the DSLR on this trip, so these pictures are from my trusty compact, a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS35]
My first visit to Dublin [I’d visited before, but a few years ago] was in the form of a choir tour with some good friends. We decided to get the ferry from Fishguard, which made for a ridiculously long day’s travelling [never again], but at least we could admire the wildlife on the ferry crossing!
Once we arrived, after a spot of singing and a lot of pubbing, we had a day to explore the city. We went on a brilliant river boat cruise, which took in some of Dublin’s famous bridges, including the striking, modern Samuel Beckett bridge.
[My Canon 600D was unfortunately out of action for this trip, but my flatmate kindly lent me his Nikon 3200, so all was not lost]
We recently had a wonderful trip to the Isle of Wight for a weekend away. Expecting rain, we were pleased and surprised to have hot, dry weather and beautiful blue sky for all three days. We visited beautiful, unspoilt beaches like this one and paddled (although the pebbles were painful!).
Walking down to another beach, we found a stream of little notes, taped to branches and fenceposts, and sometimes to the path itself. So romantic! [She gets excited about these things.] We decided it must be for a husband or boyfriend returning from the army.
