England

It’s bloody cold in England, LOOK!

Satellite photo of Britain in the snow - Winter 2009Every time I return to England, it seems almost immediately there is a weather-related superlative issued for the month I choose to return. We all know the Brits are obsessed with weather, but in June 2007 it was the wettest/worst June since records began (hundreds of years ago), this winter, it has already been the coldest Winter for 30 or 40 years. And counting.

With temperatures as low as -22 Celsius, and a decent covering of snow: 10,000 schools are shut, the economy is losing 600 million pounds a day, old people are burning cheap second hand books to warm their houses (it’s cheaper than coal!) and the RSPB is regularly publishing warnings about imminent irrecoverable bird deaths.

So what did I do (apart from feeding the birds)? I tried to get back to Spain, on Easyjet, from Gatwick. Not a very sound plan. I ended up wasting the day in queues of people whilst waiting for the inevitable “Flight cancelled” confirmation. In the end it came, and I headed back to Oxford, only to try again another day…

You’ll perhaps be pleased to know (I was) that I made it back to Spain having rescheduled my flight for 3 days later. I got to Barcelona, wasn’t as pleasantly surprised as I’d hoped by the ‘warm climes’ here, and have promptly set about sorting out my crap Sony Vaio (sounds like it has chronic wind) so that I can get on with my IVOZI audio work soon.

On that note, I finally got my hands on the Zoom H2 Recorder and will be starting recording again in a couple of days.

I’ll leave you with a photo of my mother’s back garden in Eynsham, England where I stayed during my weather related incarceration. I tried to feed the birds, but my nuts promptly froze.

Snow in Eynsham, England - Winter 2009/2010

A White Christmas in Yorkshire, England

It’s my first Christmas back in England for 7 years and I have been lucky enough to be treated to the first White Christmas I remember. Perhaps it’s the fact that I have ventured North of the Watford Gap for nearly the first time in my life – heading up to Bedale in North Yorkshire for a family reunion.

Here’s a photo from today – Boxing Day – where we went for an afternoon walk (and sledge) in the grounds of the 12th Century Jervaulx Abbey.

Jervaulx Abbey, Yorkshire, England

Blenheim palace, England

Blenheim palace, the birth place of Sir Winston Churchill is situation about 8 miles North-West of Oxford. It’s a beautiful place for a walk or picnic, especially in Autumn when the trees in the park turn spectacular shades of red and orange and cast fiery reflections into the landscaped lakes.

Blenheim Palace

The palace itself (top right in the photo above) is one of England’s largest houses, and was built between 1705 and 1724 as a gift to John Churchill, the 1st Duke of Marlborough, from a grateful nation in return for military triumph against the French and Bavarians. It was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

The grounds were landscaped by Capability Brown, a famous landscape architect sometimes referred to as “England’s greatest gardener”. It’s not hard to see why.

Map of Blenheim


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Port Meadow, Oxford

Thanks to some wonderfully sunny July weather in England, Tina and I ventured out for a walk by the river at Port Meadow in Oxford – a large area of common land to the north and west of Oxford, England.

Port Meadow, Oxford

The meadow is an ancient area of grazing land, still used for horses and cattle, and has never been ploughed. In return for helping to defend the kingdom against Tina’s marauding Danish ancestors, the Freemen of Oxford were given the pasture next to the Thames by King Alfred who founded the City in the 10th Century. The Freemen’s collective right to graze their animals free of charge was recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086 and has been exercised ever since.

It’s a great spot to go for a walk or just sit by the river and watch the boats cruising past to the soundtrack of cackling geese.

Cornwall, England

CornwallCornwall is one of my favourite places in the world. The coastline is beautiful – just loook at the photo below taken overlooking Bedruthan Steps, just north of Newquay. It is one of the places I have missed most in my four years away from the England. Cornwall is the most South-Western country in England, and it has a population of about half a million people.

Cornwall is noted for its wild moorland landscapes, its extensive and varied coastline and its mild climate. Also notable is Cornwall’s stone age and industrial archeology, especially its historic mining landscape, a world heritage site. Tourism therefore forms a significant part of the local economy; however, Cornwall is one of the poorest areas in the United Kingdom with the lowest per capita contribution to the national economy.

Map of Cornwall, England

Cornwall is the homeland of the Cornish people and is also considered one of the six “Celtic nations” by many residents and scholars. The Cornish language is closely related to Welsh and Breton, and less so to Irish, Scots Gaelic and Manx. A study in 2000 suggested that there were around 300 people who spoke Cornish fluently. Cornish however has no legal status in the UK. The language is still taught in about twelve primary schools, and occasionally used in religious and civic ceremonies.