Quite a nice weekend

I am nursing a poorly girl but still, it's been ok and she is on the mend.  Friday involved a trip to our good friends in Slough.  Here is Daisy

Then into London and out to get the invalid.  Last night we saw Porchlight Smoker. Super band lovely guys.  

Today is S's birthday and she is stuck on an industrial site near Rouen in a broken down van.  It is also 372 years since the First Battle of Newbury.  We went to the Falkland Memorial and heard some talks about the day and an information screen was unveiled.  The current Lord Falkland was really nice and the story of his forebear who died in the battle is very interesting.  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Cary,_2nd_Viscount_Falkland

He was dissappointed that he could not achieve a peace so went into the fray and almost certain death.  And he was killed.  Age 33.  Alan Bennet has said he is his favourite historical character.  

The Sealed Knot turned up.  Oh dear. Note the Parliamentarian flag.  Very touched that Father Paul came and said prayers for conflict. 

ReUnion 4

Happy to head off. The 'student village' is pretty but anonymous.  

We walk up to Tapton via the old friday night boozer, now a club.  Amazed that this place had appeal.  It seems like a different incarnation.  

Here is the better local, but now gutted.  

Here is the biggest blow, the demise of Tapton.  We all feel violated, but have each other. 

And next to the old home.  

It is essentially unchanged and I feel bad that students are expected to live in a museum. 

Reunion 3

The sun comes out and we enjoy the Peace Garden and Winter Garden 

In the Gallery there is a film about citizens in Sheffield and Pittsburgh in comparable roles. 

Sheffield Reunion 2

We met at 10.30 for a very informative tour of the campus.  We started in Graves Building, which looks just  as it did, until you enter the Interval Bar, with it's hand pumps and cappuccino machine. A committee backing the Spanish Civil War was held here.  Graves had not wanted alcohol in the building but after his death in the 40s, the longest student bar in the country was put in place. 

A handsome man arrives just in time. 

We then entered the Firth Court Building.  In 1904, the penny campaign raised £50,000 from the citizens of Sheffield.  They are top of the benefactors list.  I am so proud to have trained in such an egalitarian city. 

Please note Florey of the Oxford Penicillin group below.  

Above is the quadrangle.  Below, the hall. On entering, I suddenly remember doing exams here and experience a shiver.  

We remember those lost in the First World War. 

The library and Arts Tower are unchanged, we enjoyed the paternoster. 

Sheffield Reunion

After a bit of fun on the train up to Sheffield, in the form of talking to friends from home town and being entertained by a recently released prisoner, I meet my flat mates from 72-6 (intermittently) in the lovely Sheffield Tap. 

After settling in to the not so lovely Endcliffe Student Village, we visit the Turner Glass Museum.  Prof T was born in the Victorian era. He came from a humble background but got a scholarship to a grammar school then studied Chemistry at University, remaining an academic all his life.  He was into the art and the science of glass as is the lovely curator who showed us round.  

Here is the war time fibre glass wedding dress of his second wife.  Best not to mention the cut feet and pther bits. 

And here is part of his Art Nouveau collection designed by his friend, Frederick Carder.

A pleasant evening was spent in Broomhill at The York then the Turkish Restaurant, Lokanta. Excellent ales then great food and service. So nice to reminisce with old friends.  

Boring update

Yesterday I noticed the swans, who my Mum loved so much, have totally taken over the patio to the tea room on the canal! 

Today I took a short bike ride on Greenham Common.  Lovely weather. Site of US cruise missiles in the 80s.  Now restored to tranquility.  

An evening bike ride for beer!

On the spur of the moment we cycle to the pub.  Should have done this more often over the summer.  

There is something to celebrate.  We had a call from our NYC friends and arranged to return their hospitality later in the year.  

The boss enjoys a Bishop's Tickle at The Craven Arms. Great condition. Really nice.  And I like my Henry's IPA.  

British Grapes

We can even say hi to the llamas on the way home!  

X

Oxford contd.

Following my big relax in the Botanic Gardens, I pay homage to the Penicillin group just outside.  The stone is now very worn so view this link http://www.oxfordhistory.org.uk/streets/inscriptions/central/botanic_garden.html

In wonderful sunshine, I joined the quiet demonstration organised by Oxford Green Party, entitled 'Refugees Welcome' which was held in Catte St by The Sheldonian.  There was a brilliant turnout and some rousing speeches.  A beautiful setting.  The tide is turning against David Cameron.  He must pull his finger out. The Lebanon is a poor country compared with ouselves, yet a quarter of the population is made up of refugees.  Germans are driving to the Hungarian border and collecting them.  Two thousand have offered to take a family in. I am wondering if I could show that degree of compassion.  It is very difficult for people who are not naturally very sociable, but maybe I could. 

 

I came home by two fast trains and admired the countryside, with a cup of tea. How wonderful everywhere looks when the sun shines.  

Home via the garden on remembrance and Sainsbury.  A quiet night in and the omlette becomes scrambled egg.  

Another Day in Oxford.

The Botanic Garden was founded in 1621 as a physic garden.  Today it is a very peaceful place to walk and relax.  But first a photo of my parent's wedding, sixty three years ago today.  Three of the five children in this photo live on.  My cousins, Alan, Sandra and Barbara.  In memory of Bill and David, the youngest, seen centrally.  

Now to the present.   Michaelmas daisies, my Mum's favourtie.  

Today I began at the Harris Manchester Chapel, for the Unitarian service.  I heard about Albert Schweitzer  (14 January 1875 – 4 September 1965), a French theologian, organist, philosopher, physician, and medical missionary in Africa. He was born in the province of Alsace-Lorraine, at that time part of the German Empire, though he considered himself French and wrote mostly in French.

This did not prevent him being interned in World War 1. 

Schweitzer, a Lutheran, challenged both the secular view of Jesus current at this time in certain academic circles, as well as the traditional Christian view.  He felt the mesage was spot on but the belief system primitive. As I understand it.  

He received the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize his philosophy of "Reverence of Life', which seemed quite Buddhist to me.  

He also founded the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Gabon, West Africa. As an organist, he studied the music of J S Bach and influenced the Organ Reform Movement.  Today we heard two pieces by Bach, bringing hope for the future.  Towards the end of his life he opposed nuclear weapons, which I think is brilliant. 

A fitting time to return to the lovely plants. 

A trip to London, 4th September contd

Originally known as 'Bryck Place', Sutton House was built in 1535 by Sir Ralph Sadleir, or Rafe, as he was affectionately known.  Rafe was Secretary of State to Henry VIII and the side kick of Thomas Cromwell. 

The house is a rare example of a red brick building from the Tudar period.  Most houses were wattlecand daub. Sutton House became home to a succession of merchants, sea captains, Huguenot silk-weavers, Vicotrian schoolmistresses and Edwardian Cergy. The frontage was modified in the Georgian period, but the core remains an essentially Tudor building

First stop in the house, following a friendly and informative welcome, was the Linen Fold Parlour.  So called because the oak panelling is presented in such a way as to resemble folded linen.  This room is in the oldest part of the house and dates from Tudor times.  

Beer was the source of hydration as water was unsafe.

An original Tudor window.

A tudor loo. The Garderobe also served to store clothes, the aromas kept out moths. 

This is the Great Hall 

Sutton House was bought by the National Trust in the 1930s with the proceeds of a bequest. During World War II it was used as a centre for fire wardens, who kept watch from the roof. From the 1960s it was rented by the ASTMS.  When the union left in the early 1980s, the house fell into disrepair.  It was then occupied by squatters who have left their mark. 

After leaving this truly historic house, we had tea in the very reasonable vegan cafe, Black Cat.  Where else can you get a cuppa for £1 in London? 

Then I say Bye Bye to friends and start an evening with The Young Ones in the Queen's Head, Kings Cross.  This is a very nice pub with well kept beer.  I was very excited to have one from Black Isle Brewery.