England’s small towns are really interesting to walk around and enjoy the old buildings and see how they have been repurposed for shops and for other purposes.
Ely
Ely is an important town for England. This is where Oliver Cromwell looped for 10 years when he became the Lord protector after executing King Charles the first. This was the first attempt to create a republic which ultimately failed when Charles II became king evidently because Oliver‘s son failed to effectively carry on his father‘s leadership abilities.
Oliver Cromwell‘s homeThis is a visitor center as well as the house itself A little different history here. Actually during the 1500s England was not kind to the Jewish population.The dining room Entrance to the kitchen Moss growing on the side of the building Schizophrenic Shop. It’s an optician selling boots which have hearing problems. Just joking Saint Mary’s Church where Cromwell attended A cute old building
Winchester
This was a very complete graffiti wall Inside Winchester Cathedral The map of the inside of the cathedral There is an interesting collection of silver upstairs. This is from the 1700s A view from the silver collection area During the Civil War these windows were destroyed. After things settled down they took the glass shards and created what you see nowThe first bishop is buried hereThis is the original door from the 1100sThe place where the clergy sat during official ceremonies One of the original alters from the 1100s Yes, Jane Austen was buried hereThe spicy chicken above was a little bit sweet and not spicy. The salmon sushi was England style so the rice was very poorly made. William Walker spent weeks underneath the foundation during a flood and helped shore up the pilings so the cathedral would not collapse. He is memorialized here
Portsmouth
The HMS warrior As I was looking at the ship my cousin was on this Viking cruise ship passing by just as I was in Portsmouth. We later met up in London. I waved to her but she didn’t get my messageThis is the perfect EV Very quintessential British fish and chips The map of the dockyard. You have to pay 51 pounds to see everything. I didn’t pay so I got to just walk around the pier since it was already a little late in the afternoon and there was not enough time to see everything I just like this photo of the HMS warrior One of the ships inside the boat museum which is included in the free pier walk around The figurehead for the BenbowThe Royalcrest with the national flag A navy ship docked maybe for repairsThis is a strange version of the tardisNelson’s ship. This is a very extensive museum inside and probably very interesting.So Henry the eighth was walking on this pierThe Spinnaker tower
in the southwestern end of Cornwall you will find this little port and fishing village which is Quaint little Porthleven, a very nice place to spend the day, walk around, get some food, enjoy the seagulls flying overhead and slowing down. Spent some time to go out to the very point where the old church is which is now a memorial building. I went there when the tide was not high but by the time I left the tide was so low that all the boats in the port we’re just stranded.
This is the view from the main road
PORTHLEVEN HISTORY
The word porth in the Cornish language means port and elvan is the Celtic Saint who came to these shores in the 5th century along with many others to preach the Christian faith.
They are quite a few fishing boats in the harbor Looking back towards the main part of town These guys were not the only ones who decided to take a dip in the very rough and cold waters in the harbor An old Cannon pointed towards the other side of the port The sea was pretty rough that day
the ship inn Click on that pub name on the left here and you will get their website. It’s a pretty interesting place.This was the Café restaurant I decided to have something to eat and I settled for what you will see below This was the seafood chowder which was very nice but needed some salt at minimum. It was £9. Even the butter is from CornwallLooking back at the tone Pasties has a little different meaning in US English. Here in England it means pastries but in Cornwall they have this pie type pastry with something in it, closed up on one side. The flavors are very bland but it’s interesting food. These are some very old houses leading up to the church As you could see in the photo below, this is the old school Above the front door Some Cornish GaelicA good place to sit and below you will see why This is the chat bench Some more Cornish Gaelic The ice cream parlor was packed with customers so I had no choice but to sit outside. Quite a few people watched me as I ate my ice cream in the cold and windy salt sea air. Actually it was kind of fun and the ice cream was very delicious. A very old row of townhouses These townhouses are on a street or walkway with the same name as the street I used to live on as a kid Here’s a view of the townhouses and looking back from the harbor opening to the town These old guys have been sitting here and chatting for many years I wonder if it’s good weather to go fishing I did not rent this place but I saw this badge for one of these townhouses. It might be an interesting place to stay but it seems they rent out only by the week. Right now it’s not that expensive but the price of course increases as it gets close to tourist season
From Tallinn, Estonia I decided to fly directly to England and the “cheapest“ airline was Ryan air which landed at an airport north of London. Cambridge is not too far from the airport and I wanted to stay away from London since I’ve been there twice, it’s very expensive and I wasn’t really interested in walking around right now in the city. The cheap airline started at US$27 and then when you pick the $27 flight schedule the price bumps up to $55. Then when you select the cheapest ticket which means you can carry on a 10 kg bag and something under the seat the price jumps up to $77. Then when you click to check out the price jumps up to $100. I have never seen that happen before and it’s something you need to be aware of because it’s not really a nice way to lure people into a flight. It’s called “bait and switch“ but when you switch three times that’s a little bit extreme.
so booking Cambridge for one night was a good decision since there was really not all that much I wanted to see. I rented a car at the airport and so I was free to do a much more vigorous schedule than having to wait on public transport.The Lithuanian lady who owned the guest house ( A & B guest house, about $80 a night) explained Oxford is the masculine city and Cambridge is the feminine city of the two. So it seems Oxford is a little bit more crowded and bustling and Cambridge is a little more calm and sedate. Anyway that’s what she told me. So I spent one day in each of the cities just looking around, noticing a lot more modern buildings than I was expecting but the last time I had been in England outside of London was in 1971, 55 years ago so …….
What would England be without the iconic telephone boothActually this is what I left in Estonia the morning I left. It was -9°C and snowingThe Hawaiians are taking over the world with all their poke bowl shops. Actually what they sell is not Hawaiian poke, it is this shopkeepers idea of poke which turns out to be anything on top of a bowl of rice instead of the Hawaiian style of some raw fish with a little bit extra on rice.Our lady churchLike most cathedrals it’s a beautiful approach to the altar Someone was practicing on the organ
They still had the cresh scene on display. It was pretty intricateThe front of the church The polar research Institute named for the famous explorer Scott This is probably a very appropriate name for this road. I bet there’s a tennis court somewhere around hereThis is a very quintessential England shop area If you down the street I just really like the name of the school and the building itselfAnd I like this building also Corpus Christi College Chapel. And you know the English translation means the body of ChristSaint Catherine’s College This is also quintessential but I love the names of the shops kind of like something out of a Harry Potter novel. I wonder, is Samuel smiling?Saint Catherine’s College from another point of view My first fish and chips since getting off the airplane. The fish was good, the fries were filling and nice, and I hate peas but that seems to be something that is served for so many meals in England which is maybe the reason I have not been here so often. An evening view of the city Nice colors We have a saying in Japan, “even monkeys can fall from tree trees“. In this instance it just means that even a practiced Photographer can sometimes make a mistake and take a photo of his hand
Oxford
This is the nice college city with the little canals going through it. But it was much too cold of course to be on a paddle boat This is a nice building which obviously has been remodeled since many of the windows have been blocked up but still nice architecture The larger canal where you can rent all sorts of boats and floating devices I think this is a hotel and a restaurant but I didn’t go inside. I just like the building and since it’s on the river it might be a nice place to stay A view down the street Tom tower, christ Church University of Oxford. Only certain people can get in like student students, professors and administration
Saint Martin’s Church Tower This was my hotel outside Oxford in the countryside, The Upton country park guest house, golf course and resort. Needless to say it was too cold and rainy to play golf.
