Back and Forth Across the Pond

I am rather annoyed. I had a couple dozen photographs on this page, all resized, and several paragraphs of writing. I went to remove a duplicate photo when everything on the page disappeared. I hit "undo" but nothing happened. Everything was wiped out. So now I get to start again. *sigh* Today is New Year's Eve. Steve had to go to work for a bit, so I was using the time to try and get a blog post published. I've been happily engaged with all the fun times associated with the holiday season, so I've not been posting here (obviously). Now that the magical time is drawing to a close alongside 2013, it's time to get back on the blogging wagon. Unfortunately, Steve is now on his way home so I'm not sure I will actually get this posted today. Time will tell, I suppose. After Steve had been in England for about a week, we set off on a week-long driving tour. Our roundish circuit took us into northwest England, the Scottish Borderlands, and down into Englan...

Preston is Steve's home town. Most of his family still lives there, so every trip to the U.K. includes times spent there. We were staying with one of Steve's sister and her husband in Penwortham, a suburb of Preston. We decided to take a walk into the city centre on one particularly pretty day. These are the photos I took along the way. Preston sits on the banks of the River Ribble. We crossed a foot bridge on our way and I noticed the normally serene Ribble was more than a bit turbulent. The bridge in the photo carries the gas mains into Middleforth (another suburb), which is to the right. Lots of white water on the Ribble. After we crossed the river, we followed the route that took us into Avenham Park. I was thrilled by the autumn foliage. A bit more of Avenham Park. The tall building is an old hotel. And the statue is of the Earl of Derby, a patron of Preston whose family lived (and pretty much politically controlled) Preston for generations until...

This is the final installment of my stroll around Stratford-upon-Avon. This is the Shakespeare Memorial Fountain and Clock Tower, but everyone calls it the American Fountain because it was gifted to the city by an American. Journalist George W. Childs of Philadelphia had it built in 1887 to honor both Shakespeare and Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. The fountain no longer has any water. The dedication plaque and the tiny little access door. I felt a bit like Alice in Wonderland with that door. I was quite taken with the ornate signage on the Old Bank. The magpie in me quite liked the glittery gold squares. I walked by the Stratford Hotel again. Perhaps this shot better illustrates the lean of the building. This is the tree in the garden at Nash's Place that I mentioned in the second part of my Stratford blog. You can almost see how bright the leaves are. That's the theatre's tower peeping through the canopy. I walked down t...

As I write this quick post, I've been home a week. I am going to continue with my England posts, though, because I took dozens of photos everywhere I went and I've enjoyed sharing them with you. I must admit, it's nice to be back where I can upload my photos quickly. Most of the time, I could only upload one photo a minute in England. I never thought I'd actually appreciate Comcast! So I am home, but my photo adventures continue. I hope you'll stick around for the ride.

After I left the riverside, I made my way around the town center. What I think I love most about Stratford-upon-Avon is the mix of old and older architecture. You've got Tudor buildings alongside Victorian which but up against Georgian. The architectural hodge-podge adds to the quaint charm of the town. While the specific Shakespeare houses are noted, the rest of the Tudor-era buildings (with an exception here and there) don't boast of their history. They're just shops or restaurants . . .  Or the public library. This is the restored 16th-century timber house where Shakespeare was born. You can't appreciate how twinkly this Christmas shop actually was. I felt it was imperative that I have a browse around inside the store because I try to buy a special ornament every year. I like unusual ones, so I settled upon Santa dressed up as a Beefeater. Each Christmas, when I put it on our tree, I will remember my lovely day in Stratford-upon-Avon. ...