Category: Chris and Greg UK trip

The Great Hall at Christ Church Oxford was the location inspiration for the “sorting hat” scence from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Alas, a film set constructed elsewhere recreating the interior of the Great Hall was used for the actual movie but the grandour of the Great Hall was none the less impressive. You can almost see Harry, Ron and Hermione anxiously waiting for their names to be processed by the sorting hat.

The Divinity School at The Bodelian Library was used in several Harry Potter movie scenes also. It is most obvious as the Infirmary at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where Harry, Ron and Hermione had various reasons to be patients and / or visitors.

Adjacent to the Bodleian Library is the Radcliffe Camera. This is a working library of the University with two upper circular floors for students, an administration ground floor and two subterranean levels stretching for hundreds of metres to the adjacent Bodleian Library and beyond.

With only several weeks till exams, all the libraries we were able to visit were strictly “no cameras”, “no speaking”, “absolute silence” with every seat filled with a nervous student hopefully cramming for their finals.

We finished the afternoon with a visit to Magdelan College and were able to wander with some freedom among the buildings and manicured lawns. We enjoyed tea along the banks of the River Cherwell before strolling along Addison’s Walk around The Water Meadow. C.S. Lewis (of “The Chronicles of Narnia”) held academic positions at both Magdelan College, Oxford and Magdelane College, Cambridge. There was a poem of his inscribed along Addison’s Walk. Something about birds – but all I could see were bloody squirrels – everywhere, oh, and a herd of deer, but they don’t count. Sorry Lewis!

On the way back home, we cross the River Thames. Today’s weather was a wonderful contrast to yesterday’s, with much sun and blue skies. I understand this is not common for Oxford so we are thankful to the Good Lord above for blessing our day today and pray he continues his favourable outlook on us tomorrow…

… for tomorrow we set off on a Midsomer Murders adventure tour. Should this turn out to be my last post, because I am murdered tomorrow, I have been reliably informed by a retired policeman (CID) I met in Cambridge, that you should “follow the money”. In the meatime, my will still stands.

Today we transitted from Cambridge to Oxford. The weather started out poorly. It was pouring as we waited for the bus to take us into central Cambridge to connect with our bus to Oxford. We had decided to make a connection via bus as the train would have required a detour via London; a more expensive and time consuming option. However, our X5 Stagecoach bus from Cambridge turned out to be a city based double decker (no toilet, no Wi-Fi, no leather seats, etc) due to a mechanical failure. It was interesting travelling in a double decker bus being flogged at 100 km/hr along the A421 motorway to Bedford. At Bedford we changed to a proper coach and completed our transit to Oxford in “coach” comfort.

Arriving in Oxford mid-afternoon amidst overcast conditions we set off for our accomodation. Our plans and map directions were working well until we hit a wall (literally). Without regard to Google maps or iPhone GPS enabled apps, some idiot had decided to excavate a whole city block for a grand infrastructure project and hadn’t bothered to send me a personal e-mail advising of the requisite bypass via London. (Bloody Vogons!) After some discussion with locals we were able to find a detour around the abyss and locate our lodgings. To add salt to the wound, it POURED for the last 200 metres, such that we arrived very much the worst for wear.

Note; the picture below was taken on Wednesday 13 April and does not represent the inclement conditions that were present upon our initial arrival. 🙂

Today, comments from our faithful college of followers in addition to Christine’s prior notes on “things to do in Cambridge” provoked us to walk some distance to the nearby village of Grantchester to enjoy tea and scones by the river Cam. Enjoyed by luminaries such as Virginia Woolf, the Orchard tea rooms is a popular location to enjoy refreshments along the river Cam. We were up to the task too; quills poised in expectation of a provacative treatise.

We walked back to Cambridge along the river Cam and visited the Whipple Science Museum. This is a compact and informative museum with many exhibits covering the range of Natural Philosophy that was common for the time. I particularly enjoyed the exhibits associated with James Clerk Maxwell whose equations have provided the basis for considerable contributions to physics and specifically electrical engineering. He was both a student and professor at Cambridge.

We wandered back to our lodgings for the last time. Along the way we visited the Mathematical Bridge that links Queen’s College across the river Cam. Tourist traffic through Cambridge today (Monday) was certainly much reduced compared to that observed over the weekend.

Tomorrow we depart for Oxford. A reliable source tells me that while Cambridge is noted for its science and technology focus, Oxford is equally known for its literary and humanities focus. I expect to be impressed by Oxford as much as I have been by Cambridge. The opportunity granted to students of both these universities seems a world apart from my experience.

Today we visited the Cambridge Centre for Computing History and the Fitzwilliam Museum and finished with dinner at a local pub – The Carpenters Arms.

The weather was clear and cold but with patches of sunshine which necessitated the use of sunglasses – having only been required a few times since our arrvial.

The Centre for Computing History was variously a collection of electronic junk or a treasurehouse of antiques charting the development of computing since the 1940s. There was a definate intent for interactive use of the devices on display that were operational. Chris and I lost at Space Invaders, PacMan and numerous other games that invloved jumping, shooting, dodging and other motor skills that we’ve long since lost.

We moved onto the Fitzwilliam Museum and spent the afternoon strolling among art works spanning the last 800 years and a special exhibit of Egyptian antiquities.

Thanks to those who have posted comments. It provides feedback and lets us know that we’re not broadcasting into a black hole. 🙂

We started planning tommorrow’s activities over our dinner at the pub but haven’t made any firm decisions about what to do as yet. That’s what’s good about holidays – you can elect to be free to decide what you’d like to do and when to do it. You’ll just have to be patient till tomorrow to see what we decided to do.

Today started out poorly. We left our accomodation wrapped in raincoats, anticipating overcast skies and pouring rain. As luck would have it, the rain did not eventuate and we enjoyed a wonderful few hours being guided around Cambridge by a local guide.

It was hard for me to hold back the emotion of standing near a plaque announcing the discovery of DNA or the electron. Today was a wonderful experience. The sense of history and accomplishment that preceeds the generations of students and scientists who have given so much to our world and collective knowledge is an awe filling experience. To walk where Issac Newton has walked; to see with my eyes the sights that Stephen Hawking has seen – these are memories I shall treasure for ever.

In the forecourt of Trinity College there is an apple tree reportedly from a planting taken from THE apple tree under which Issac Newton sat when his inspiration for the Universal Law of Gravitation was otherwise conceived. Issac Newton was admitted to Trinity College in June of 1661. It is impossible to imagine how the world would have evolved without his genius and the scientists that followed him and borrowed from his intellect – as he had from theirs. Some of you may be aware that Newton has been my pin-up boy for science and that within my limited knowledge of such things, he represents the greatest scientist in the history of science.

During our September 2013 visit to Dubbo and central NSW, we visited Parkes and I recalled having taken photographs of an Apple tree at the Parkes Radio Telecscope commemorating Issac Newton’s Apple Tree. I took this image from our photo archive off Topsy and am pleased to share the link it has to our current adventure on the other side of the globe and the more than 300 years that have passed since Newton walked among us.

Today we enjoy the benefits of Sir Issac Newton’s contribution to our world and the cascading effect that his science and mathematics has provided to subsequent generations of mathematicians and scientists. It is humbling to visit these places and consider the legacy that we may leave in our passing – our children, yes, are important and significant in their own way, but what have WE done that will leave a mark on the world in some small way.

Having lived is somehow not enough.

Today we transited from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne to Cambridge by train. There was some incident at Peterborough that delayed our train by more than 30 minutes and we were concerned about making the connection – but we made the connection, and despite the crowded carriages, we eventually arrived at Cambridge.  We took a bus and then walked several hundered metres to our lodgings in Cambridge.

Our accomodation in Cambridge is an AirBnB lodging on the third floor of a rather indescriminate flat along Victoria Road. In the following images I’ve titled these as rooms; rather they are spaces; a few square metres of floor space allocated to a particular function.

Today we visited the Newcastle-Upon-Tyne Art Gallery, the Science Discovery Museum, The Newcastle Castle (incorporating the Black Gate and Old Garth castle remnants) and walked through a large park that stands adjacent to the Newcastle United Football Club and stadium; St. James’ Park.

While strolling along the river we came to the Gateshead Millennium pedestrian bridge. I was excited to discover that the bridge tilts to allow river traffic through. According to a sign posted near the entrance it was due to open tonight at 1905. However, we were not able to see this happen but I’ve provided a link to a YouTube video showing a time lapse recording of the bridge in operation.

Timelapse of Gateshead Millennium Bridge

There is also a swing bridge across the river Tyne, much like the Pyrmont Bridge in Darling Harbour.

Tomorrow we depart for Cambridge. I’ve asked Christine to be responsible for handling the train tickets.

Our apartment in Edinburgh overlooked an open courtyard where a writer’s museum established to commemorate the works of Robert Louis Stevenson and Sir Walter Scott stands proudly. The entrance to the museum is via the small brown door at the bottom of the corner section with the circular roof in the following photograph.

There is also short cut to the courtyard from The Mound (below).

This morning we departed Edinburgh by train for Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. The transit was not without drama. I directed us to board the wrong train, and in the confusion and haste to join the correct train on another platform, I managed to lose one of the train coupons. This was not immediately obvious and when I did discover this fact I didn’t imagine it would have been a problem. However, when the ticket inspector came wandering down the carriage it looked like I’d be dispatched to the salt mines in Siberia. There didn’t seem to be any opportunity to discuss the logic of “booked” seats with associated coupons and printed “receipts” for the seats were we actually occupying. I was threatened with having to purchase a whole new ticket because I was travelleing without a “valid ticket”. I told him I would discuss this with the ticket agent when we arrived in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne and then spent the next hour and thirty minutes practising my logical arguments as to why they should just let us go because we’re really not terrible people nor were we trying to evade their train fares. We reached Newcastle-Upon-Tyne and alighted from the train. With pulses racing we approached the ticket collection gate; and finding it open; walked through happily, dropping our single spent ticket in the nearest recycling bin. Karma!

Our hotel is adjacent to the river Tyne and one of the many bridges that span the river is a modest replica for the Sydney Harbour Bridge but with a much reduced span. Still, it reminded us of home.

Tomorrow, we shall explore Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.

This morning we visited the Royal Botanic Gardens. While it was not raining, it was overcast and cold.

We made our way to the National Museum of Scotland in the early afternoon. This was surprisingly vibrant; with the sounds of excited children playing with hands on exhibits – I particularly liked the drums and working models of various engines.

They have a substantial selection of stuffed animals too.

As afternoon turned to evening, the Royal Mile was bathed in sunlight – the first time we’ve seen blue skies since we departed Australia a week ago.

To round out our stay in Edinburgh, we visited St. Giles Cathedral and went on a tour of Mary King’s Close – which is a street with housing and other living spaces buried two stories underneath the current street level of the Royal Mile.

Hedwig’s cousin is sorry to see us leave this wondrous place; tommorrow we depart for Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.

Today we toured Edinburgh Castle. The weather started out cold and wet; and it only got colder and wetter as the day progressed. As we left the castle around 5pm, visibility had been reduced to a few tens of metres by a thick fog.

Heavy afternoon fogs are not a part of our shared experience but depsite this discomfort we enjoyed the day; enjoyed the history of conflict & resolution that Edinburgh Castle dramatises. The Royal Edinburgh Military Tatoo will never be the same again.

These final two images were taken as we left the castle.