World Traveller: 7 Continents, 90 Countries, 871 Days Overseas
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Wednesday 9 February 2000
Highlights: Carlisle Castle
After an excellent night’s sleep in the B&B we headed for Carlisle Castle. The Castle is till in use by the local government and the inner section was still used by the army until the 1970s. Carlisle Castle dates from 1093 and is perhaps most famous for holding Mary Queen of Scots prisoner before Queen Elizabeth has her executed.
Tuesday 8 February 2000
Highlights: Carlisle Cathedral, Tullie House Museum
Today was supposed to be a leisurely travel day were we could sleep in and catch the 10 am train. We take didn’t happen as the train was delayed and we then missed our connection which resulted in us getting into Carlisle after 2 pm 😦
As a result our day was restricted to only visiting Tullie House Museum and the Carlisle Cathedral. Tullie House Museum is supposed to be one of Britain best but not in my book. The only interesting display was when the Government trialled being the only organisation that could make and sell beer, i.e. beer was a controlled substance. The Carlisle Cathedral was interesting enough dating from 1123, and a local vicar help point out some historical aspects.
We had planned to eat at Pizza Hut for dinner but after 10 minutes waiting to be served we gave up. The weather is turning colder, but the real killer is the icey cold gale force winds.
Monday 7 February 2000
Highlights: Durham Cathedral, Durham Castle
We travelled to Durham today were we stayed out our first Bed and Breakfast of the trip, an English tradition I could get used to 🙂
Durham is home to the Durham Cathedral built as a shrine to St Cuthbert and dates from the 12th century. The Norman design of the Cathedral set the design standard for later similar structures. Originally monks inhabited the Cathedral until Henry VIII reformation of the church away from Roman Catholic to the Church of England (Anglican Church).
We also visited Durham Castle, originally a Palace for the Durham Bishop. The bishop was known as the prince bishop and could raise armies, levy taxes and press coins, not exactly religious powers. These powers eventually returned to the King and Crown. The castle is now home to the local university and even has a chapel dating back to 1045 AD.
Sunday 6 February 2000
Highlights: York Cathedral Foundations and Treasury
We headed back to the Cathedral today, this time to visit the Foundations and the Treasury. The Foundations were excavated in 1967 when the Tower looked like it would collapse. While strengthening the tower they uncovered Roman and Norman ruins. The Roman section included a well that still had water. Many artefacts were recovered and are on display, mostly pots and plates.
The Treasury has displays of religious objects, mostly donated to the church for use in the distance past, but the objects are no longer suitable for religious events.
We spent the rest of the day exploring the shops, especially the computer and books stores. Books are extremely cheap here, it must be to encourage reading. Jon has been loading down his backpack with many classics.
We finished the day with a pint and a beef and Yorkshire pudding dinner which was excellent.
Saturday 5 February 2000
Highlights: York Cathedral
This time our hostel was an even greater distance from the walled city of York. Definitely something to look into for future trips, better accommodation location selections.
Friday 4 February 2000
Highlights: Lincoln Castle, Lincoln Cathedral, Magna Carta, Lincoln Ghost Tour
The hostel we are staying at is a little bit further away from the attractions of Lincoln than we would like but the manager is great and so was the breakfast.
The Lincoln Cathedral is the real highlight of the town. Set on top of a hill overlooking the town, construction started in 1072 with the central tower being 81 metres high. However because of an earthquake in 1185 almost of all of the Cathedral dates from after this date.
Thursday 3 February 2000
Highlights: The Round Church, Cambridge University
We undertook a total of three walking tours as per our Lonely Planet guidebook for a total of 7 hours, taking in picturesque town and historic buildings.
We completed our visits of Cambridge University Colleges with Christ’s, Jesus and Magdalene Colleges. Like yesterday’s Colleges they were all founded between 1300-1600 and have impressive buildings and chapels which I hope the photos I took do justice to.
Outside the Colleges of interest was the Round Church, founded in 1130 in which services have been held consistently and it is actually round!
At 3.06 pm we caught the train to Lincoln. I was amazed at how much we had seen in one and half days. This will be the pace of the rest of the trip, very quick visits and moving on. Will probably be exhausted by the end!
Wednesday 2 February 2000
Highlights: Cambridge University
In a rare display of everything lining up perfectly we managed to get to the Britrail train just on time, leaving at 9.15 am and arriving at Cambridge at 10.10 am.
Cambridge is based around the famous University which is made up of several Colleges. Today will visited King’s, Trinity, Trinity Hall, Pembroke, Peterhouse and Emmanuel Colleges. We paid to enter King’s College Chapel which Henry VI created to honour the Virgin Mary in 1446. The Chapel has had many Royal patrons over the years, including Henry VIII who glorified the interior and as a result has pictures and statues of himself everywhere. The Chapel is very impressive, especially the high roof.
The city is awash with students not surprisingly, and heaps of bicycles being ridden everywhere, a very gentle English feel to the place. We finished the day watching a soccer match in a pub having a bet on the outcome with Ladbrokes and sinking a few pints.
Tuesday 1 February 2000
Highlights: Westminster Abbey
With our alarm clock off at the insistence of Jon after yesterday’s waking, we ended up sleeping though to 2 pm! Not a great way to spend limited time in London.
we quickly rushed to Westminster Abbey in order to make the last entrance time of 3 pm which we just made. The Abbey was established in 1066 and all but two sovereigns were crowned here. Most Kings and Queens are buried here and the heads of the Church of England (Anglican Church) meet and discuss religious matters here.
Notable memorials includes Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare, Winston Churchill and Charles Darwin. The Abbey also houses the Coronation Chair which has been in use since the 1300s. The Tomb of the Unknown Warrior (not solider) who died in World War I is also entombed here.
While magnificent the Abbey seems mostly concerned with honouring the great but not necessarily be a place of religious worship.
Monday 31 January 2000
Highlights: War Cabinet, West End Show (‘Les Miserables’), Harrods, House of Commons.
Jon was still suffering from acute jet-lag and wasn’t a happy camper when my alarm went off at 8.45 am.
Today we started with a visit to the underground War Cabinet (1940-1945). The whole complex was setup as it appeared in late 1940 when it was first used. The audio tour included information on the London Blitz, newspaper articles about possible German ground invasions, instructions on gas attacks, and personal letters either sent from or to War Time Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
Nathan's Insights 