Winter in Britain, Nottingham and Leeds

Well, it seems that the true British winter has set in for the last two weeks or so. We were definitely spoiled previously with quite a bit of sun and just a little rainfall since out arrival. But now we are paying the price as three named storms hit the British Isles one after the other. First there was Dudley – not too bad with only some stronger winds and a lot of rain each day. Eunice decided to strike late last week, shutting down the trains and most places closing all day Friday due to the extremely high winds and drenching rains. A warning went out encouraging everyone to stay home if they did not need to go out. Tress fell and there were a few casualties, as well as a lot of damage in various places across the Island. This was then followed by Franklin, which is currently blowing outside and dropping more rain as I write this (Monday morning, 21 Feb).

With most everything we need being inside the Manor, there was no real need to go out and it was easy to ride out the storms. The only real struggle for me was the rattling of the windows and hearing the heavy rain fall at times. Sometimes it was nice, but when the rattling wakes you up at night, it is not enjoyable. However, last week a small group of us had made plans to go to the local pub for a nice Sunday dinner. We made reservations and all had been looking forward to it all week. Last night we met up and headed out the door. There was a slight drizzle, but nothing we couldn’t deal with for the mile walk up the driveway to the pub. (Or so we thought!)  Within a minute after stepping outside, the winds kicked up and the rain truly began. We made it to the gatehouse outside the Manor and huddled together to discuss our situation. As we stood there, the rain began to come down in earnest with the winds blowing harder. Yes, we met Franklin head on and decided to give him the right of way. Oh well, so much for dinner at the pub as we rushed to get back inside the Manor! Dripping and laughing, we ended up having a nice dinner in the Refectory with our other colleagues and students. We decided on a “Rain Check” for our dinner out. 

However, I did manage to go out on two trips the past two weeks.

I decided to take my first train and ride up to Nottingham for the day on Friday, 18 Feb. It was a nice sunny morning with a slight wind, so I bundled up and walked the three miles into town to the train station.  There I bought my ticket, got instructions on where my train would be, headed over and waited, as my train (located on the track behind me) took off. Argh! I followed the directions and even confirmed Track 3 from the electric signage. That other train behind me was on Track 4.  Oh well…  in my preparations, I knew there was another train at 10:44 so I checked to make sure I knew what it looked like, tripled checked the track number and was ready. All went smoothly and I arrived in Nottingham shortly after 11am. 

Hanging out with Robin Hood

The ground below the city of Nottingham is sandstone and perfect for digging caves. At this time, they have uncovered over 800 caves below the city. Therefore, the City of Caves was a “must see” for my trip. (Along with having my picture taken with Robin Hood – his statue!) Winding my way through the tunnels as the audio-tour narrated the various functions and descriptions was fascinating. One room was below a pub and in the 1700s when there was political unrest and riots, stories told of clandestine meetings in this room. There was a small hole in the ceiling and legend had it that a young boy would stay upstairs and if the opposition entered the pub, he would drop a pebble down the hole to warn the men down below. They also had several (caves) rooms that served a tannery, slums and even one converted to a WWII air-raid shelter. 

Carved stairway entrance/exit

One of the Tannery Rooms

I plan to return to Nottingham to tour the castle and see more, but as I mentioned, I did get my picture with Robin Hood (the statue) that was located just outside the castle. And around the corner from his statue was the Maid Marion Car Park, a five-story parking garage! 

Two bobbies on the beat in Nottingham

Life in the Manor continues with a nice routine of classes and activities, as well as many excursions and trips on the weekend. This past weekend (Saturday) I was asked to courier (chaperone) the Leeds day trip. It was on the tail end of Storm Eunice, but she seemed to have calmed down that morning, so the trip was a go and all went well. While in Leeds, I decided to first go visit the Royal Armouries Museum. Once I was inside this five-story building, I began to wander through armor and swords exhibits. As I passed a window, I saw it raining pretty hard outside so I took my time in the museum. Moving up to the floor with guns used in war, I looked outside again and say it snowing! Huge flakes coming down and I decided I’ll stay inside for a while longer. Two hours later, I can tell you I’ve seen countless guns, knives, arrows and spears, as well as numerous variations on armor and even learned a number of little-known details about the battles of Agincourt and Waterloo!

Exhibits in the center of the main staircase

Another armor exhibit

Well, I had reached my capacity to hang out in the museum any longer, so I walked through the snow and found a pub nearby where I had a pint and late lunch. I remained there reading a book at my table near a fire until the snow stopped. By this time, I had an hour before we would load back into our coach. What to do? On my list of things to see was the Corn Exchange and it was nearby, so that’s where I headed next. The building was oval shaped with the ceiling domed by opaque glass and little shops side-by-side on the two floors surrounding the open center space. Originally farmers would bring their corn and other crops to this building where they were inspected, thus the need for the glass ceiling, and each crop was then given a ranking that was used to set the price for the whole crop from that farm. While wandering around the shops I ran into two colleagues who had just ordered tea. I joined them and had an enjoyable respite before heading back to get on the bus, count everyone and then ride back to Harlaxton. 

Snow falling on the Leeds dock yard

Enjoying a pint as it snows outside

The Leeds Corn Exchange

As the new week starts, it is hard to believe that we are approaching the half-way mark of the semester! Next week is the Mid-Semester Break and I have a trip planned to see Hadrian’s Wall in northern England. But even more exciting and hard for me to believe is that Tori and Mike will have their baby in less than a month now (19 March), Collin has just been reunited with his dog Saint, and Cissy will be there with Tori for the birth of our granddaughter! What an exciting month March will be!! So please check back in a few weeks if you want to hear more. Until then, wishing everyone an amazing day and I hope you do not ever forget to stop and notice the truly wonders of our world, both in nature and those our hands create!

"Home"

Taken on my walk back from my trip to Nottingham as I came up the main circle drive