My England

But for the weather, I love England to bits. In fact I suspect I may be an Anglophile*. I fell in love with the country when I first went there to study for a year at the end of 1974. Then in the late '70s - early '80 I lived and worked there another four years. After that life consumed me and I have only been back once in 1995 to attend a British Council Summer Course.

So, why do I love England? First, because London is there, and you will also never tire of visiting the great museums, art galleries, theatres, monuments, markets and parks. There is the Trafalgar Square, Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, British Library, St Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, etc. Second, because there are the beautiful towns and countryside, especially in Spring and Summer. Third, because I love the people. Everywhere you go, you are greeted with love; 'Good morning, luv', How are you doing, luv?'... (I wonder if this still happens today?)

Art on the weekends at Bayswater (1974)

At Whitehall with the Gerstenbergs from Germany (1975)

The great thing about museums here is that there had never been admission charges (till today). The British Museum has such a fantastic collection that it required me quite a few trips to see everything, though now I can only recall the mummies. Oooo... There is also the Victoria & Albert Museum, or V&A, in South Kensington. At this museum of art and design, I remember the fantastic clothes exhibits.

I used to live very near Sadler's Wells Theatre, well-known for ballet. And student concession/matinees meant that I could see quite a number. Other theatres were very accessible by tube/underground, and I have seen Agatha Christie's very, very long-running The Mouse Trap, Billy, Jesus Christ Super Star, even the raunchy (read nude) Oh, Calcutta! (did someone just go pink in the face?). I am still trying to recall other shows I had seen, but unlucky for me the souvenir programmes I bought then have all been lost in transition. Sheesh... all the hard work waiting backstage for autographs gone to waste!

The Parks (Regents, Hyde) especially in spring and summer are truly beautiful sights to behold. I recall the daffodils (my favourite), camelias, roses, hydrangeas, rhododendrons, etc.

At the Serpentine, Hyde Park (1975)

The other cities/towns/sites visited include Bath, Beaulieu, Boscombe, Brighton, Bristol, Bournemouth, Cambridge, Chester, Coventry, Isle of Wight, the Lake District, Lancaster, Liverpool, Manchester, New Forest, Oxford, Reading, Southampton, Stonehenge, Stratford on Avon, Wells, Windsor, York, etc.  I think I pretty much covered the whole of England, except for Cornwall.

Bath, a city in Somerset was first established as a spa by the Romans in AD43, with baths built around hot springs. In the Georgian era it gained fame as a spa town and many buildings of beautiful Georgian architecture were built including the Royal Crescent.

At the Roman baths of Bath (1975)

Dancing in front of Bath Abbey (CNB 1975)

In the background is the 18th Century Pulteney Bridge,
Bath, built by Robert Adam (1975)

At Brighton, the Pavilion building was most impressive.  And here at the pebbled beach you will find the Englishmen and their women sunbathing at their favourite spot in all of England.

Brighton in Summer (1975)

The Brighton Pavillion (2005)

One of the best moments I experienced in England was going to Stonehenge, one of the Wonders of the World. This Neolithic and Bronze Age prehistoric stone monument on the Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire is now a Unesco World Heritage site. At the time that I was there, one could walk among the ancient stone pillars and touch them! (Now, I think you can only look at them at a distance behind a fence).

Me and a wonder of the world - Stonehenge (1975)

Of course we had to visit both Oxford and Cambridge Universities, the premier seats of learning in the UK. I went with friends to Oxford, but alone to Cambridge.

With friends at Jesus College, Oxford (1975)

At the University of Cambridge (1975)

At Salisbury I was lucky to spot some dancing men at the shopping centre there. They turned out to be Morris dancers and the Morris folk dance is always done by men only. They often wear bells on their feet and wave handkerchiefs around. Quite interesting really, to see some burly looking men dancing away.

With the Morris dancers at Salisbury  (1975)

Another memorable BC trip was to the Isle of Wight, the little island south of England. We stayed at a very nice private hotel there and experienced authentic English homecooked food there.

The BC group posing in front of the Granville Private Hotel

Pretty thatched cottages in the Isle of  Whight (CNB 1975) 

 

My favourite spring flowers, IoW (1975)

The Lake District is another part of England (the North West) that feature in the British Council trips. In the 19th century this beautiful scenic area was muse to the likes of Wordsworth, Coleridge, etc. Wordsworth was inspired, by daffodils on the shores of Ullswater, to write his famous poem 'I wandered lonely as a cloud'. In the early 20th century, Beatrix Potter lived in the area and wrote her famous Peter Rabbit books.

Standing on the waters of Lake Ullswater (1975)

With co-trippers from Holland & the Philippines
in the Lake District (1975)

Posing by Lake Grasmere (1975)

Liverpool - home of the Mersey and the Beatles. Remember the Gary & the Pacemakers' song 'Ferry 'cross the Mersey'? Well, we did cross the Mersey on the ferry when we were there.

On the ferry, crossing the Mersey with three
Liverpudlians (1975)

English literature lovers of course do not forget to visit Shakespeare country. Not only did we visit his memorial at Stratford on Avon, but also stopped by his wife Anne Hathaway's cottage/farmhouse  in Shottery nearby. Did you know that they were married in 1582, when he was only 18 and she 26?

At Anne Hathaway's cottage in Shottery (1975)

* A person who loves England or English things (OALD)