Magdalen College, Oxford

At last I have got around to beginning to finish my Oxford posts. There are another 5 after this one on Magdalen College

The College of St. Mary Magdalen is one of my favourites. The combination of architecture, gardens and history, added to the fact that it borders the River Cherwell, all make it rather attractive to me.

The college was founded in 1458. The Porter’s lodge brings one into St. John’s Quadrangle, named after the hospital of St. John the Baptist, which occupied this site from 1180. The hospital was absorbed into the college and much of it remains, including the Old Kitchen and in the walls along the High Street.

Passing the Chaplain’s Quadrangle, The Great Tower and The Chapel, one comes to the Cloisters and Hall. The Cloisters are very picturesque and I can just see in my mind, scenes from the film, Chariots of Fire. Walking through the bar one comes out onto the riverside and some beautiful gardens.

Magdalen has seven Fellows who have been awarded Nobel Prizes in Medicine, Chemistry, Physics and Literature but the main interest for me is the fact that this was the college of C.S. Lewis. This is just a taste, for as you can imagine there is far too much history and information to go in a blog.

A walk to Hadleigh Castle Ruins

While staying at Leigh we had one of our regular walks to Hadleigh Castle ruins. It is a pleasant but hilly walk from the house once you leave the road.
So, put on your boots and come on the walk with me. First I will give you a bit of history.


The ruins of two towers, one almost standing to its original height, and some of its curtain wall are all that remain of Hadleigh Castle, overlooking the Thames estuary and Essex marshes.

The construction of the castle began in 1230. It was built for Hubert de Burgh, who had been Chief Justiciar to King John and had acted as regent for the young King Henry III. Hubert's relationship with the young Henry did not remain amicable and Henry confiscated Hadleigh Castle. Henry continued the building work and substantial additions were made in the mid 14th century by Edward III, it is these later additions that are most visible today.

It became the custom for Hadleigh to be granted to a tenant for life, reverting to the King on their death. By tradition the tenants were usually the king's consort, most notably belonging to three of King Henry VIII's wives - Catherine of Aragon, Anne of Cleves and Catherine Parr. In 1551, King Edward VI sold the property, allowing its stone to be used for other building projects.

So off we go on our walk - hope you enjoy

The easy bit

Down we go



See the castle on the horizon in the distance

Getting nearer to the hill

But first over the stile

Halfway up the hill

Nearer the top

Nearly there

Up the castle mound

We are there - what happened to the sun that came out for 2 minutes

It almost came back

Yes, it was school holidays

Lead melting hearth of the 16th century

South Tower remains 13th century

That's it for today - we are on our way back

Soon be home

Back along the front to the house

Confessions of a Blogging Addict

Since I began blogging in January this year I have found it to be very enjoyable and it is amazing how one can make friends over the Internet. I liken it to having pen-friends in other countries when I was a child in one sense, but in another sense the scope of this kind of communication is far more reaching.

I never imagined that people whom I had never met would end up praying for each other and taking a genuine interest in each other’s families. There are the ‘swaps’, the ‘giveaways’, the recipes and all kinds of things like gardening advice. Sometimes I find myself deeply absorbed in thinking about the people that I am getting to know well, especially those where we have exchanged E-mail addresses and can therefore chat about things that it may not be possible to write about on a public blog. Who would have imagined this. It is also possible to feel rejected and left out, this sounds bizarre but it is true.

It has also been very humbling for me to have people tell me the difference my input has made in their lives. I don't take this lightly. I myself was helped by someone else's writing on Impatience. I somehow lost the blog site, but being prone to imaptience it was good for me to read.

I have always been very interested in other people’s lives (I am a keen biography reader) and I genuinely like getting to know people and how life is for them through their blogs. It also helps keep a good perspective when you realise in the end that we are all basically the same, having the same goals for our children, the same painful issues to deal with. The same excitements and so on and so on and so on. There is not a lot of difference in our towns and cities these days with the globalisation that we have.

In wanting to write posts of interest with accompanying photos it has also made me much more aware of my environment and what is around me. I have also learned a lot from other people’s posts and from researching things for my own posts.

So here are the positives, and there are many more, but for me it can also become very addictive. I am having to watch this issue as there are things that I have neglected since I started blogging. Things like card making, knitting, reading, daily walks, writing, backing up my computer, sorting and printing photos, and I guess, other things. I was reading in a very good book recently that it is very beneficial to spend some time each day doing something that one really enjoys and not to feel guilty about it.

So there’s the rub. Not giving up blogging by any means but prioritising and putting it in it’s rightful place and having the right attitude to it. For me, I am an “A” Personality which means I am a perfectionist and want everything done yesterday. I will keep going and not stop way past the time when it would be prudent for me to do so. This can carry over into my blogging. I have so many things that I want to post about that I could be sitting at my computer all day and every day. I also can spend hours catching up on all my blogging friends which I love.

However, like everything else in life I know that it is God who is in charge of my life and I can trust Him. Whatever we try to fight in our own strength, fights us back. I see that I must hand this over to Him like every other issue in my life and know that He will have it in it’s rightful place. So yes, I am going to continue blogging and keeping up with your posts but I am trusting God that I will be more relaxed about it and not feel that I have to post every day, even though I may want to.

Southend Pier

Our Friday walk while we were at Leigh was along Southend Pier. Southend is Essex’s largest town and is a couple of miles along the coast from Leigh.

The pier is the longest leisure pier in the world – 1.33 miles.
It was first opened in 1890 and has survived 2 world wars, boat crashes and a number of fires. The last fire was in October 2005. You will see some of the effects of this in the following photos.

There is a train running along the pier and the fire took out the station and amusement areas and cafes. The council installed a temporary station and fixed a temporary walkway to connect the undamaged parts.
Some years ago there was a theatre at the end of the pier (as on many British seaside piers) and on this particular one, Helen Mirren had her first taste of acting as Southend was her home town.
We are not taking the train, preferring the sun on our faces and the wind in our hair. You are welcome to join us on this walk.

Looking down the length of the Pier





We are now on our way





Here comes the train - it will get there before we do - it will take us about 25 minutes to the very end


Almost there but look at this fire damage

And this is where the train station used to be

We have arrived and are looking at the Lifeboat Station

We are now at the very end, on the upper deck, above the Lifeboat station

We will take a break and have some refreshment while watching the ships go by

This Turnstone came and shared our Flapjack

Looking out now to the North Sea

See the ships at anchor waiting for the tide

You can just faintly see the Wind Farm in the top left hand corner

We are looking back towards London, and facing the sun, which gives this interesting picture




We are now about to descend the steps back onto the main deck of the pier and retrace our steps back to the Promenade




Hope you are not too tired!

Well if you are then you can get the train

We'll see you there

Cherry and Almond Cake

Suddenly felt like doing some baking today. My cake store in my freezer was getting very low and with cool, wet and windy weather is seemed like a good time to replenish a little.

Had to have some Cherrry and Almond cake right away but will keep some Peanut Butter Chip Cookies until tomorrow.

I have a friend and neighbour who has broken both her arms so I was able to give her some home made cookies. Her husband was drooling when he realised they were Peanut Butter. As with the Butterscotch Chips, we are unable to buy them here in England.

CHERRY AND ALMOND CAKE

175g (6 oz) butter 175g (6 oz) caster sugar
3 eggs 300g (10 oz) self-raising flour
250g (8 oz) glace cherries 50g (2 oz) ground almonds
5 tablespoons milk

Line and grease a deep 7 inch cake tin.
Cream the fat and the sugar together until light and fluffy.
Beat in the eggs one at a time, adding a tablespoon of flour
with the last two.
Carefully fold in the remaining flour, then fold in the cherries,
ground almonds, and enough milk to give a dropping
consistency.
Place in the prepared tin and bake in a pre-heated oven 160C,
325F or Gas Mark 3. for 1 ½ to 2 hours.Leave in tine for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack

Rockin' Girl Blogger Award!

I love skies and this one was no exception. Taken at the back of my house the night before we went to Leigh.

Now down to business. Marie of Wild Rose nominated me for the Rockin' Girl Blogger award.

Thank you Marie I am honoured.

As I did not know what this award signified I suggested to Marie that I could just make up my own!!! However I got a little more organised than that and found the originator of the award through Google. Here is what she said: Someone who you feel is:

Inspirational, Funny, Kind, Sweet.

Well I hope that is the case.

You can find everyone on my sidebar

So I forward this on to 5 others:

Maddy's Glass House

Tales from Pixie Wood

Susie's Space

Jeannie's Bliss Blog

From Under the Maple

Back from Leigh-on-Sea

We are back after a rest and a change. We are grateful to our friends who offer us their home whenever they go away. We actually have a key and can use their place anytime they are not there. As it is only 35 minutes from home we have sometimes just gone down and based ourselves there for a day. It is just so different from our area in the London suburbs. I just love the sea and the boats.

We go down to Leigh with no agenda and just chill out and do just what we feel like doing at any given time. Read, watch videos, walk, swim, sleep late, browse the thrift/charity shops or just lie around in the sun (when it is there!).

This particular trip the day we arrived (Saturday) was hot. Sunday it was in the 80’s and we had friends from our church come down and join us for a picnic by the water on Two Tree Island. This was quiet and peaceful. As it was a weekend and so hot the beach area and the old town next to the beach was a seething mass of people. It is only a very small area and there were people sitting everywhere there was a space. The sea was full of children playing and swimmers. The boat wharfs were crowded with teenagers hanging around and showing off their diving skills from the high wharf. There are two pubs down on the waterside and a place that sells seafood where people sit outside at the bench tables. These areas were so busy that there was hardly a space even on the concrete quayside.

From then on, although we only had one day of rain, the temperatures plummeted and the area became quiet again. The downside for me was evening high tides during the week so, coupled with the change in temperature; I did not get a swim. However we enjoyed the week and the change of pace.

I have posted so many photos of Leigh on previous blogs that you can check out if you are interested. On the sidebar under Leigh-on-Sea.

So I now have photos of things we did while away, a walk to a castle ruins, a walk along Southend Pier, a day at Hyde Hall gardens that I will be posting separately. I might even get to finishing the many posts I still have to do on Oxford before we go away for a week’s holiday in The Cotswolds in September.

The children out on their boats at the sailing club
A ship on it's way to Sweden passing the house

An ex-Royal Naval ship now converted to a sailing club clubhouse