Woburn Abbey

Today Matt and I drove out to the Safari Park at Woburn Abbey and saw lots of animals. It was a nice day out.
Although the stripes look black in the photo, the zebras looked more reddish brown in person.
Cattle or bison, originally from Africa.
Warning sign.
Siberian tiger prowling around his mate's cage. The other two males were patrolling the edge of the fence, keeping a close eye on the wolves in the next enclosure.
Canadian wolves and bears, pictured here, were kept in the same enclosure. This one seemed to be happy playing the bathing beauty for the crowd of watching cars.
The lioness was making a beeline for one of the adult males, who was isolated from the rest of the pride. One of the park rangers chased after it in her Range Rover, forcing the cat to return to the pride. We noticed the lions were under close surveillance. Not sure what was up. Security concerns? Possible plots?
MONKEY!!! One climbed on our car. Unfortunately, I was unable to get a clear shot.
Some very bored looking camels. to be honest, most of the safaris inmates looked like they could do with a dose of Prozac.
This rhinocerus was being a bit of a bully. He moved into the road and tried to block cars.

River Thames

I've been staying at Matt's since Friday, and it's rained more during the past two days than it has all summer. Here are the swans making their way down the Thames in spite of the deluge. We've had a lazy morning, but we're hoping to go out for a drive should the rain let up.

Bod View

A view of the upper reading room in the Bodleian Library on my way back from lunch. Note the number of vehicles parked in the lane. It looks like the local colleges have the workmen out in force, fixing broken locks, plumbing, flooring, who knows what.

It rained a bit this morning but the sun is out again. My new room has lots of windows, but it's only possible to open one of them. I'm feeling a bit drowsy from a lack of fresh air.

Random Pics

Two mounted police officers in Corn Market. Taking pictures is okay, but whatever you do, don't question the horse's sexual orientation.
At a black tie dinner with a fellow Mertonian. I'm really going to miss the candlelit four-course meals with wine.
Earlier this year, the cobblestones off Cattes Street were refreshed. It looks fairly labour intensive, but the results are worth it.
Pretty as a basket full of freshly-laid farm eggs although not as tasty.
Matt on a bridge in Magdalen Deer Park. It's a very pretty walk and when we were there the spring flowers were in bloom.
From Merton Street, leading up into Oriel Square.
The Clarendon Building. I took this picture early in the morning, on my way to catch a coach. Originally, the building was home to the Oxford printing press; however, now it's been absorbed by the library and houses various adminstrative offices.
Snowy day, 2005.

Buckingham

The English Faculty, where I teach during the summer, is housed in a converted milk factory. My office is on the corner of the top floor. It gets pretty hot during the day, so I can't imagine what it was like when they were bottling milk. Every Tuesday I'm there from 9 until 5, so I leave Oxford just after 7 and don't get back much before 8 in the evening. It's a private university that offers an accelerated two-year BA, which means the students only have a few weeks break between terms. It's pretty intense, but I'm grateful for the opportunity to teach.

New Room

This weekend Matt helped me move into my temporary room, which is an August ritual at Merton. I'm living on Holywell Street now in a lovely pink panelled room at the front. It's a big space and a big mess at the moment. Once I sort out tomorrow's lecture for Buck., I'll tidy things up. Not much else to report. It's a grey day; the tourists seem depressed. Fall feels like its just around the corner. Where did the summer go?

Cambridgeshire

This weekend we were in Cambridgeshire for a wedding. On our way home, we did a little sightseeing. Luckily, Matt enjoys walking around cathedrals as much as I do.
Peterborough Cathedral's unusual triple front features statues of Saint Peter, Paul and Andrew, to whom the church is dedicated. The first church on the site was 655, making it one of the oldest Christian centres.
The decorated wooden ceiling dates back to the thirteenth century. Unfortunately, the picture doesn't capture how magnificent it is.
Henry VIII's first wife, Catherine of Aragon, was buried here. Her remains are up at the alter, directly across from the former resting place of Mary Queen of Scots, who was reinterred in a much grander style in Westminster by her son King James I after he acceded the throne.
We then drove on to Ely, crossing the Cambridgeshire fens, which look an awful lot like the prairies at home. Ely Cathedral is visible from miles away, 'rising like the prow of a ship from the flat landscape'. Matt said that or something similar.
Ely Cathedral, though almost as old as Peterborough, is nowhere near as nice. The masonry is ridiculously elaborate, which may have been an attempt to cover up shoddy workmanship. The northwest transept collapsed in the fifteenth century and was never replaced.

A detail from the Prior's door, on the south side of the nave. I think.

While at Ely, we visited the stained glass museum. I think this is a piece from Normandy, dating back to the Middle Ages.

Infirmary Common, within the Cathedral grounds

Uffington

After spending the day slobbing around the house, either reading the papers (me) or watching bad tv (Matt), we decided to get out and do something. I wanted to see a Norman castle, but there were none close by, so we decided to go visit the Bronze Age remains at Uffington Castle. In this photo you can just make out the kites flying in the sky. It was a beautiful evening: windy but bright and clear. Here we're half-way up the hill looking out onto Vale of White Horse in Oxfordshire.

The chalk horse at Uffington is spectacular. Unfortunately from our position on the hill, it was impossible to get clear view. Later on we stopped on the road home, hoping we'd get a clear view, but it was still difficult to see.

Here's an aerial view I pinched from the web.

A detail of the chalk horse, taken from the top of the hill.

LIke Silchester, the area is run by National Trust in conjunction with the local farmer. The hill is used for grazing. The lambs are getting so big now. Here is one with a ewe.

Another lamb with sheep. Some of the lambs looked black but others were dark brown.

Uffington Castle was on the other side of the hill. The summit is approximately 290 metres. It's a nice gentle walk to the top if you're fit. I was puffing pretty heavily all the way.

Not quite as much castle as I was expecting. All that remains are the ditch and walls. On the day we visited the castle grounds were filled with grazing sheep.

Matt in front of the remains of the castle. The weather had changed by the time we got to the top and we were surrounded by rain clouds.

And at the end of the day, we were too tired to cook, so we stopped in at the local fish and chip shop on our way home. Matt had the cod, but I had the scampi, which were very tasty.

Faculty Library

This summer, I'm working at the English Faculty Library, pictured. In theory, it should be a nice quiet place to catch up with my reading, but in reality it's been quite busy. Although most students have gone home for the holiday, there are a number of summer schools running. Blake, Shakespeare and Virginia Woolf seem to be the most popular authors; however, I did help someone find the Canadian Literature section yesterday.

Silchester

Last Sunday, Matt and I drove out to Silchester to see the old Roman town there. Here he is standing on the remains of the wall. Silchester is unique since, unlike many other Roman cities and towns, it was abandoned. It remained untouched for close to 2000 years and was only recently excavated. At the moment, it's surrounded by grazing land.

We walked along the walls, which are quite high! There were lots of other people out and about, walking their dogs, etc. It was a really nice evening.

This is the amphitheatre. I don't know if I was able to capture its essence, but if you're thinking 'parking lot' that's pretty close. Archeological aren't sure what the amphitheatre was used for. A few small bones were found in the area but little else. Interestingly, it's just outside the city walls. Either it wasn't worth protecting, or they wanted to keep the carnival and civic separate.

A designated organic farm, as per DEFRA and the EU. We thought the name might be a play on words!

The effects of the drought are pretty obvious in this picture. I'm not sure if this is a marsh or the water table, but as you can see, the cattle are pretty keen to graze on what little green grass there is.

View of pasture from the wall

Holidays in East Anglia

Orford Castle in Suffolk


Unremarkable beach, but it is near the nuclear power plant at Sizewell, which the fictional Larksoken is based on in P.D. James' Devices and Desires


Matt and Barney, the dog, on the boardwalk at Southwold


View of Norwich from Mousehold Heath


Cloisters, Cathedral, Norwich


High tide at Felixstowe