England: In Pictures
Don't worry, I'm not posting all 300 pics I took! But here are some of the better ones.
16 January:
The National Football Museum in Preston.
There's a gorgeous statue/fountain of Sir Tom Finney, a famous footballer, in front of the museum. It's based on a famous photo called Splash.
17 January:
In Manchester, we passed the BBC and saw a TARDIS in the lobby. Like you do.
19 January:
We went to another museum in Preston, and Nathaniel spotted this plaque on a building opposite:
20 January:
Back to Manchester. It had snowed a tiny bit the night before!
The Wheel of Manchester was pretty cool, although we didn't go up in it. Here's just a bit of it, visible between some buildings.
Tiny frogs in an exhibit at the museum. Anyone know what they are? Poison dart frogs, maybe?
24 January:
Jodrell Bank. There were several radio telescopes, but the biggest one - the Lovell telescope, named after Bernard Lovell, who was the first director of Jodrell Bank - was where all the photographers were gathered. I got a few nice pics of it.
Here's a shot with some random people in it, just for scale, and so you can see some of the structure that holds it up and changes its angle:
The lesser-spotted boyfriend:
26 January:
Blackpool!
We spent a decent amount of time on the North Pier, although we did wander round elsewhere. The pier had a nifty old-looking carousel:
It was highly detailed. This is the ceiling!
Nathaniel liked it too.
North Pier gave us a great view of Central Pier, where the ferris wheel is:
In this pic you can see the Big One (roller coaster) on Pleasure Beach as well. It's so big that it looks like it's on Central Pier, but it's actually well behind it!
It also gave us a great view of Blackpool Tower:
Not too far from the piers was the Washington Monument!
(Actually it's a war memorial.)
North Pier's benches were quite ornate and pretty as well:
And the few little stands had cool designs:
Wandering away from North Pier, we found a very pretty row of houses:
Blackpool Tower from near the base:
Cool architecture was everywhere, particularly on the Grand Theatre, which is a historical building (built in 1894, making it Victorian):
And right near where we parked was this interesting-looking attraction:
28 January:
Back in Manchester, I found this very amusing monitor at Piccadilly train station. It was supposed to be showing the times of upcoming trains. It's running Windows NT and apparently an application error has occurred. What a surprise.
30 January:
The Stockport Air Raid Shelters. Awesome.
Bunks:
Bedpans on a bunk in Sick Bay. Taken with a flash as it was really quite dim in there, although for the most part I tried to avoid using the flash so you could get a feel for how dim it was. This was not a bright, cheerful space.
Bunks and supplies in the 'Nursing Mothers' room:
Toilet:
Sign on toilet:
First Aid was a bit better lit:
Are you my mummy?
The men's toilets. The women's looked exactly the same. White-balanced so you can see, as it was quite dark in there and the flash didn't make for a good picture.
A corridor with coat hooks, benches, and war-era posters:
31 January:
Back to Blackpool for the Doctor Who Museum!
We passed this sign several times driving around, but I couldn't get a good picture of it while we were moving. This is the best one I could manage. The sign says 'Horse Manure - FREE - Fill Your Own'. Free crap, anyone?
TARDIS console:
A Navarino, from the three-part episode Delta and the Bannermen in 1987:
The first ten Doctors, although David Tennant's didn't have his name and years up yet:
Bessie, the Third Doctor's car:
Photo of the Doctor driving Bessie:
A Slitheen, who debuted in Aliens of London in 2005:
A scarecrow (left, from the two-part episode Human Nature and Family of Blood in 2007, and headless for some reason) and Novice Hame (right, who debuted in New Earth in 2006):
The Dalek guarding the museum entrance:
01 February:
Chinese New Year! We went to Manchester, but not before I got a nice shot of Reebok Stadium (home of Bolton Wanderers football club) near the Horwich Parkway train station:
Nathaniel waiting for the train:
Manchester wishes everyone a happy new year!
This guy was making absolutely amazing artwork using people's names. We just had to have one with both our names on it; Nathaniel is currently keeping it in his room. The art is so beautiful that you have to look for a minute before you can read the names - from the left, Andy, Mark, John, and Laura. (The one between John and Laura has a dragon and a rooster, and some Chinese writing, but no English names.)
Ours (click to see it bigger):
The dragon made its slow, dancing way through the streets! It was hard to get a good shot with the constant movement and the people everywhere.
Palm trees. I said I was going to tropical England! Loads of people had palm trees in their front gardens, everywhere we went; I have no idea why.
There were fireworks after dark, but I didn't manage to get any pictures of them, sadly!
04 February:
Liverpool!
This is the legacy sculpture:
And its accompanying sign:
The Liver Building, with the Liver Bird - the symbol of Liverpool - on top. Please note that it rhymes with 'fiver', not 'giver'. According to local legend, they are a male and female pair, the female looking out to sea (Our Prosperity), whilst the male looks towards the city (Our People). Nathaniel says the female is watching for the seamen to return safely home and the male is making sure the pubs are open.
See how pretty and spread out it is? Lots of room to breathe.
Liverpool has Duck Tours too! (I think they call them the Yellow Duckmarine, though, after the Beatles song Yellow Submarine.) Picture taken from the Albert Dock.
Part of the Albert Dock, with Liverpool in the background:
Cranes over Liverpool:
Sun on the water, taken from the Albert Dock:
Sunset:
05 February:
Southport!
This was too good not to share. I should send it to http://failblog.org/ or somewhere similar. If you don't know what's wrong with it, please learn the difference between the words 'guilt' and 'gilt'. I keep imagining this mirror saying things like 'Why don't you ever call your mother?' when you look into it.
A seagull near a pretty bridge:
Ice on the water near the shore:
06 February
Off to Ambleside in the Lake District. (Did you know that there's only one lake in the Lake District? All the rest are meres or waters, but only one - Bassenthwaite Lake - actually has the word 'lake' in its name.)
Snowy mountains, as seen from the M6. I've never seen mountains all smooth like that, with or without snow.
Panorama of the water, just across the road from where we parked (click to see it bigger):
A couple sat near us decided to feed the birds. I think they got a bit more than they bargained for.
We just had these two little fellows hanging out near us as we ate our sandwiches:
It really was beautiful.
It was such a pretty town, complemented by the mountains in the background:
Nathaniel didn't mind the cold too much.
Walking back to the car, we saw that the moon had risen over the mountains:
Sheep! I saw lots of sheep during my time in England, but this was the closest I got to them.
07 February:
Off to Chester this time, to see the city walls and all the other cool historical stuff it has to offer.
There were a bunch of different architectural styles around the city, and they were all really pretty. I seem to be a Tudor fan, because the ones I took pictures of were Tudor or Victorian mock-Tudor.
The Northgate Rows, which date from the 13th century:
The Tudor House, which of course dates from Tudor times (1603 according to experts, despite the plaque saying 1503), was a bit crooked:
St Mary's Hill, an old cobbled street - it used to have packhorses going up and down it, on their way to and from the city centre markets:
One view from atop the city walls (you could go up some stairs and walk along on them):
River boats, which looked like they belonged on the Mississippi, actually on the River Dee. They were called the Mark Twain and the Princess Diana. Nice juxtaposition there.
A coffin actually in the wall at the ruins of the southeastern chapel at the church of St John the Baptist. It says 'Dust to Dust'.
Zoomed out so you can see how high up that coffin is (it's dark, but it's at the very top right):
Cool-looking Chester tour bus:
The Eastgate Clock, installed in 1899 to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee (60 years of reign) in 1897, over the east gate in the city walls. VR stands for Victoria Regina, which means Queen Victoria.
Bishop Lloyd's Palace, built in 1615. His daughter married Theophilus Eaton, who founded the settlement at New Haven, CT, and their grandson Elihu Yale founded Yale University.
09 February:
I took some photos from the plane as I was flying home.
16 January:
The National Football Museum in Preston.
There's a gorgeous statue/fountain of Sir Tom Finney, a famous footballer, in front of the museum. It's based on a famous photo called Splash.
17 January:
In Manchester, we passed the BBC and saw a TARDIS in the lobby. Like you do.
19 January:
We went to another museum in Preston, and Nathaniel spotted this plaque on a building opposite:
20 January:
Back to Manchester. It had snowed a tiny bit the night before!
The Wheel of Manchester was pretty cool, although we didn't go up in it. Here's just a bit of it, visible between some buildings.
Tiny frogs in an exhibit at the museum. Anyone know what they are? Poison dart frogs, maybe?
24 January:
Jodrell Bank. There were several radio telescopes, but the biggest one - the Lovell telescope, named after Bernard Lovell, who was the first director of Jodrell Bank - was where all the photographers were gathered. I got a few nice pics of it.
Here's a shot with some random people in it, just for scale, and so you can see some of the structure that holds it up and changes its angle:
The lesser-spotted boyfriend:
26 January:
Blackpool!
We spent a decent amount of time on the North Pier, although we did wander round elsewhere. The pier had a nifty old-looking carousel:
It was highly detailed. This is the ceiling!
Nathaniel liked it too.
North Pier gave us a great view of Central Pier, where the ferris wheel is:
In this pic you can see the Big One (roller coaster) on Pleasure Beach as well. It's so big that it looks like it's on Central Pier, but it's actually well behind it!
It also gave us a great view of Blackpool Tower:
Not too far from the piers was the Washington Monument!
(Actually it's a war memorial.)
North Pier's benches were quite ornate and pretty as well:
And the few little stands had cool designs:
Wandering away from North Pier, we found a very pretty row of houses:
Blackpool Tower from near the base:
Cool architecture was everywhere, particularly on the Grand Theatre, which is a historical building (built in 1894, making it Victorian):
And right near where we parked was this interesting-looking attraction:
28 January:
Back in Manchester, I found this very amusing monitor at Piccadilly train station. It was supposed to be showing the times of upcoming trains. It's running Windows NT and apparently an application error has occurred. What a surprise.
30 January:
The Stockport Air Raid Shelters. Awesome.
Bunks:
Bedpans on a bunk in Sick Bay. Taken with a flash as it was really quite dim in there, although for the most part I tried to avoid using the flash so you could get a feel for how dim it was. This was not a bright, cheerful space.
Bunks and supplies in the 'Nursing Mothers' room:
Toilet:
Sign on toilet:
First Aid was a bit better lit:
Are you my mummy?
The men's toilets. The women's looked exactly the same. White-balanced so you can see, as it was quite dark in there and the flash didn't make for a good picture.
A corridor with coat hooks, benches, and war-era posters:
31 January:
Back to Blackpool for the Doctor Who Museum!
We passed this sign several times driving around, but I couldn't get a good picture of it while we were moving. This is the best one I could manage. The sign says 'Horse Manure - FREE - Fill Your Own'. Free crap, anyone?
TARDIS console:
A Navarino, from the three-part episode Delta and the Bannermen in 1987:
The first ten Doctors, although David Tennant's didn't have his name and years up yet:
Bessie, the Third Doctor's car:
Photo of the Doctor driving Bessie:
A Slitheen, who debuted in Aliens of London in 2005:
A scarecrow (left, from the two-part episode Human Nature and Family of Blood in 2007, and headless for some reason) and Novice Hame (right, who debuted in New Earth in 2006):
The Dalek guarding the museum entrance:
01 February:
Chinese New Year! We went to Manchester, but not before I got a nice shot of Reebok Stadium (home of Bolton Wanderers football club) near the Horwich Parkway train station:
Nathaniel waiting for the train:
Manchester wishes everyone a happy new year!
This guy was making absolutely amazing artwork using people's names. We just had to have one with both our names on it; Nathaniel is currently keeping it in his room. The art is so beautiful that you have to look for a minute before you can read the names - from the left, Andy, Mark, John, and Laura. (The one between John and Laura has a dragon and a rooster, and some Chinese writing, but no English names.)
Ours (click to see it bigger):
The dragon made its slow, dancing way through the streets! It was hard to get a good shot with the constant movement and the people everywhere.
Palm trees. I said I was going to tropical England! Loads of people had palm trees in their front gardens, everywhere we went; I have no idea why.
There were fireworks after dark, but I didn't manage to get any pictures of them, sadly!
04 February:
Liverpool!
This is the legacy sculpture:
And its accompanying sign:
The Liver Building, with the Liver Bird - the symbol of Liverpool - on top. Please note that it rhymes with 'fiver', not 'giver'. According to local legend, they are a male and female pair, the female looking out to sea (Our Prosperity), whilst the male looks towards the city (Our People). Nathaniel says the female is watching for the seamen to return safely home and the male is making sure the pubs are open.
See how pretty and spread out it is? Lots of room to breathe.
Liverpool has Duck Tours too! (I think they call them the Yellow Duckmarine, though, after the Beatles song Yellow Submarine.) Picture taken from the Albert Dock.
Part of the Albert Dock, with Liverpool in the background:
Cranes over Liverpool:
Sun on the water, taken from the Albert Dock:
Sunset:
05 February:
Southport!
This was too good not to share. I should send it to http://failblog.org/ or somewhere similar. If you don't know what's wrong with it, please learn the difference between the words 'guilt' and 'gilt'. I keep imagining this mirror saying things like 'Why don't you ever call your mother?' when you look into it.
A seagull near a pretty bridge:
Ice on the water near the shore:
06 February
Off to Ambleside in the Lake District. (Did you know that there's only one lake in the Lake District? All the rest are meres or waters, but only one - Bassenthwaite Lake - actually has the word 'lake' in its name.)
Snowy mountains, as seen from the M6. I've never seen mountains all smooth like that, with or without snow.
Panorama of the water, just across the road from where we parked (click to see it bigger):
A couple sat near us decided to feed the birds. I think they got a bit more than they bargained for.
We just had these two little fellows hanging out near us as we ate our sandwiches:
It really was beautiful.
It was such a pretty town, complemented by the mountains in the background:
Nathaniel didn't mind the cold too much.
Walking back to the car, we saw that the moon had risen over the mountains:
Sheep! I saw lots of sheep during my time in England, but this was the closest I got to them.
07 February:
Off to Chester this time, to see the city walls and all the other cool historical stuff it has to offer.
There were a bunch of different architectural styles around the city, and they were all really pretty. I seem to be a Tudor fan, because the ones I took pictures of were Tudor or Victorian mock-Tudor.
The Northgate Rows, which date from the 13th century:
The Tudor House, which of course dates from Tudor times (1603 according to experts, despite the plaque saying 1503), was a bit crooked:
St Mary's Hill, an old cobbled street - it used to have packhorses going up and down it, on their way to and from the city centre markets:
One view from atop the city walls (you could go up some stairs and walk along on them):
River boats, which looked like they belonged on the Mississippi, actually on the River Dee. They were called the Mark Twain and the Princess Diana. Nice juxtaposition there.
A coffin actually in the wall at the ruins of the southeastern chapel at the church of St John the Baptist. It says 'Dust to Dust'.
Zoomed out so you can see how high up that coffin is (it's dark, but it's at the very top right):
Cool-looking Chester tour bus:
The Eastgate Clock, installed in 1899 to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee (60 years of reign) in 1897, over the east gate in the city walls. VR stands for Victoria Regina, which means Queen Victoria.
Bishop Lloyd's Palace, built in 1615. His daughter married Theophilus Eaton, who founded the settlement at New Haven, CT, and their grandson Elihu Yale founded Yale University.
09 February:
I took some photos from the plane as I was flying home.