DSC_2248.JPGHere we are enjoying a traditional English tea with Mashhuda & Nick at Tatton Garden
Dove-tailing on a work trip to visit my friends at Manchester University, Elizabeth joined me for a week of Summer holidays in England. We started out in Cheshire, about an hour east of Manchester, before heading south to London and Brighton, where a distant cousin of hers lives.
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Here we are enjoying a traditional English tea with
Mashhuda & Nick at Tatton Garden
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Like many old homesteads, Tatton Manor was turned over
to the British government for safe-keeping in the public
trust. Here is a photo of the baking cellar taken by
Mashhuda.
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World Domination
This is the first in my "Mocking of the Saints" series.
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Tatton Garden
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At one time, pineapples were considered "exotic" and
having them in your garden was a sign of great status.
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Enjoying the view (Eliz took the photo).
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Elizabeth & Mashhuda
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There was some sort of incorporated art exhibit going
on during our visit to Tatton Garden.
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Performance art
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BIG Leaves
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The Curry Mile in Manchester (Rusholme).
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At dinner.
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The following day, Nick drove us all up to Beeston Castle,
about an hour west of Manchester.
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Eliz was smitten by one of the guides at the castle
museum. (Lucky for me, the relationship was shallow
and didn't survive the afternoon.)
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The actual castle itself was in ruins, of course. This
part of the ramparts looks like it got rammed.
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The moat was dry, but green.
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Another HDR photo of the castle remains.
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Me & Eliz exploring.
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The view of the surrounding countryside was lovely as
well.
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Nick (taken by Mashhuda).
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Mashhuda was also taking photos of us unawares.
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Eliz posing as an archer.
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Posing as...? (Shiva?)
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Team Red
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A Prius with the driver on the right.
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Fish & Chips
We sat down to a traditional English lunch in Chester,
where we subsequently explored the old city wall.
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Elizabeth took this arty shot of the grocery carts before
being told by two flirty security guys that photography
was not permitted on store premises.
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Mashhuda & Nick on the main walk in downtown Chester.
The clock in the background is a major landmark mounted
atop one of the old city gates.
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Me in front of said gate.
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Mash & Eliz before the main cathedral.
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Chester Cathedral
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These are the windows to the cathedral courtyard.
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A view from the high-rent pews.
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Mashhuda took this nice photo of Elizabeth in front
of some of the older stained glasswork.
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Mash also shot this of a bishop's tomb back of the pipe
organ.
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The front of the pipe organ, complete with practicing
organist.
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Heater
This was a coal-fired heater, several of which were
scattered about the main pews.
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Some of the sculptures were quite nice.
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I liked the way the light from the courtyard played
on the hallway, and asked Eliz to pose for me.
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These guys volunteered their own pose, celebrating the
end of the races that were going on that day.
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Eliz was very fond of the traditional English phone
booths, which are getting harder to find in spots, though
there seemed to be plenty around Chester.
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The city streets were an interesting mix of many different
periods.
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I have a whole series of facade photos. This is one
of the nicer ones.
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A lamp post adorning and alighting the northern wall
of the city.
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This is where King Charles was purported to have his
last stand in 1645.
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I guess this could have been my last stand (but it wasn't).
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The lucky people living in this housing row had their
yards backing up onto a canal.
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Enjoying tea and saying "good-bye" to our friends for
a bit, as they had work the next day.
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We spent all of Monday in Chester, wandering the city
on foot and taking in the sights. This is a view of
the River Dee south of the city.
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Another nice on in the facade series.
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A somewhat eerie antique doll shop.
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Another tourist shot this for us.
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Queen Victoria Park (I think) under the northern wall.
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Another part of the park.
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A view of some (evidently disused) boats along the canal.
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A "boat lift," a.k.a. a lock to move boats to different
levels in the canal.
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One of the nicer canal boats. People commonly use these
as an alternative to outrageous apartment prices in
the U.K.
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Chester street life.
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People enjoying their midday meal.
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Where will the youth of the country congregate to use
their mobiles, once all the phone booths are gone?
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Eliz took many of these photos -- the statue featured
in the middle is either a knight or a king, in full
armor.
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Elizabeth loved this hat shop, and wished she could
have visited it with her daughters.
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Our view out the sub-street window of a lovely little
"tea house" Eliz spotted.
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Enjoying an English lunch together. Note the various
wall constructions.
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I liked this scene of young people out of school, relaxing
in the cathedral gardens.
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A close-up of the town clock.
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St. John's Church
This is an old church south of the city wall, near the
River Dee and adjacent an old Roman ampitheater that's
been recently excavated.
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There were a few old frescos on the columns, all but
disappeared now.
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Effigy of a Lady
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At a nearby park, children played on the pieces of the
old Roman ampitheater that had apparently been left
out for that purpose.
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Eliz & I crossed the Queens Park Bridge to the park
continued on the opposite bank of the River Dee.
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Buoys & Gulls
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Exploring a little side-street west of the main Cathedral.
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This area was called "The Rows," where the main walks
and shops were raised a floor above the street by housing
on the lower level.
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Yet another photo in the facade series. (I'm not showing
you 1/10th of them!)
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Deterioration in portions of the old Roman structures
has forced the city to some extreme measures.
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Don't lean on it too hard!
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Some tweeners enjoying a semi-sunny afternoon in Grosvenor
Park.
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A (hopefully) drinking-age fellow insisting on having
his photo taken with a brew in each hand.
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In the evening, we enjoyed a lovely meal at a local
pub (The Cross Keys) recommended by our B&B hostess.
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Cheshire Cat
On the walk home, we happened upon the Cheshire Cat.
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He was most insistent on some attention...
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So, naturally, we obliged.
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The following morning, we took a cab to the rail station,
where we boarded a train to London. Here we are in
the afternoon in front of a quintessential row of houses.
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Here is the view out our hotel window. Someone had
a garden party that evening, which made sleeping quite
a challenge.
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Smart cars were taking up half-spots everywhere!
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Kensington House
This is the main gate to the palace where the reigning
Queen Elizabeth grew up, which was rebuilt for Diana
& Charles.
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This is the walkway to The Orangery, a grand tea house
in Kensington Garden, where we had some grand tea (with
cakes).
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The Orangery
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Relaxing after our tea.
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We then took the London Underground (or "Tube") to visit
the Tate Modern, which was fab.
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I wasn't permitted to take photos in any of the exhibits,
but was allowed to use my camera in the other areas.
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Here is a photo I took in one of the exhibits.
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We just barely made it to the museum shop, which closed
the same time as the exhibits (6pm).
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Afterward, we walked to Covent Gardens, crossing the
Millenium Bridge, shown here.
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These are the Halls of Justice, which were some of the
most amazing buildings I've seen, anywhere.
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Quite a sculpture, eh? eh?
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The front entrance, I think. Justice through intimidation.
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A slightly wider view.
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Covent Gardens
Not really a garden so much as a set of restaurants
and shops. I'm sure there's a logic to British naming
conventions, but they don't seem to use it.
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One of the many street performers who frequents the
area.
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This is the pub where we had dinner.
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No shortage of beer, or beer drinkers in England.
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The food at this place was amazing.
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Afterwards, we visited this very unusual clothing store
nearby. Yes, the mannequins are hanged.
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The following morning, we took the train down to the
coastal city of Brighton to meet one of Elizabeth's
distant cousins.
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That's Suzie Gimpleson (a.k.a. Gilson) on the right.
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Suzie is a semi-retired actress and drama teacher.
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She is also a ventriloquist, and has an act we wished
we had time to see that day.
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That afternoon, we met up with my friend John, who happened
to be in London entertaining some relatives earlier
the same week. We had lunch on the sidewalk of a popular
Chinese restaurant (not bad), then headed back for the
train station. The flowers were a gift from Suzie,
which we left to Mashhuda & Nick as they weren't going
to make it back home intact.
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Our original train was supposed to leave from Euston
Station, but a switching problem in Rugby had disrupted
all departures, so the three of us ended up taking a
different train out of St. Pancras, instead.
Page created Aug 23 2008 7:23:15a