England

Murder by the Book at Cambridge University Library

Posted on September 10, 2024 by Louise Jayne

My main motivation for travelling to Cambridge in August was to attend the Murder by the Book exhibition at Cambridge University Library (I had intended to get this post up before it finished on August 24th but a family medical emergency – now largely resolved – impacted all my plans). I’d never been up to the part of Cambridge where the library is located before which is the main research library of the university. Designed by Giles Gilbert Scott (designer of the red telephone box among other things) it opened in 1934.

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Grand Safari Trail at the Grand Arcade Shopping Centre, Cambridge

Posted on August 23, 2024 by Louise Jayne

Recently I was in Cambridge for a couple of days to visit some museum exhibitions but I didn’t have any plans for after my arrival late in the afternoon of my first day in the city. A chance mention of this trail on social media lead me to head out to the Grand Arcade Shopping Centre in the middle of Cambridge to see it for myself. There are 13 animals to find that are made from tiny bricks (they are part of BrickLive and therefore, as they are keen to point out, NOT Lego). The exhibition ends on 27th August.

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Nottingham Carnival Parade

Posted on August 20, 2024 by Louise Jayne

On Sunday afternoon I headed out to the Victoria Embankment in Nottingham to watch the Nottingham Carnival Parade. In fact, because my bus dropped me off at one end of Wilford Grove I walked along to the end of that stretch of road as I knew that was part of the parade route, rather than heading closer to the river. It proved to be a pretty good spot and I got there early enough to be at the front with plenty of space around – it definitely got busier as time went on.

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Attenborough Nature Reserve – August 2024

Posted on August 15, 2024 by Louise Jayne

After putting in some long hours at work recently (the joys of being self-employed!) I decided to take a random day off to enjoy the sunshine and headed out to Attenborough Nature Reserve. I’ve been here before a number of times but this time I travelled there from Nottingham on the train (an all day ticket is £3.70 and the journey takes around 10 minutes). Attenborough is a tiny station with only two platforms but the nature reserve is well signposted from there and it only takes about 5-10 minutes walk through some streets lined with very beautiful houses to reach one of the entrances to the reserve.

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Cambridge Statues

Posted on July 2, 2024 by Louise Jayne

Cambridge is a city where interesting sculptures and statues are at every corner, some ancient and some significantly less so. This post is about some of the pieces that caught my eye starting with this one outside the Department of Engineering. Dating from 1967 it is called Construction in Aluminium and was made by Kenneth Martin. Apparently it represents a formula used in jet propulsion and is one of about 40 sculptures in Cambridge with the specific aim of bringing public spaces back to life after World War II.

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The Gates of Cambridge University Colleges

Posted on June 25, 2024 by Louise Jayne

As mentioned before some of the Cambridge University Colleges charge for you to visit and some allow for photography on site in designated areas but all of the college gates can be seen for free and are certainly worth paying attention to. The first is that of St. John’s College which was built in 1516. The college arms in the middle are flanked by mythical beasts called yales that have elephant tails, antelope bodies, goat’s heads and large horns. The detail really is stunning.

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Corpus Christi College, Cambridge

Posted on June 18, 2024 by Louise Jayne

One highlight of Cambridge is of course the beautiful university buildings. They are the home of students first and foremost so visits during term time are obviously quite restricted. Some of the colleges charge for tours and some have set up areas to allow you to take photos for free, which is the case with Corpus Christi which had a little area near the entrance set up for tourists to take photos.

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Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences, Cambridge

Posted on June 11, 2024 by Louise Jayne

The Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences is a free museum right next to the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. It was founded in 1728 after a Dr. John Woodward bequeathed his collection of almost 10,000 fossils, shells and archaeological artefacts to the University of Cambridge; Adam Sedgwick expanded on the collection and so when he died the museum was set up in his honour. The museum isn’t very large but is chock full of specims everywhere you look. The entrance (those with mobility issues can access a lift) has some lovely stairs decorated with these animals that make a nice introduction to the museum.

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Sheep’s Green and Coe Fen, Cambridge

Posted on June 4, 2024 by Louise Jayne

If you’re looking for a bit of greenery in Cambridge you can look no further than the Backs and Sheep’s Green and Coe Fen Nature Reserves. It can be found along the west bank of the River Cam and steps away from the busier streets of the city.

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Colwick Woods, Nottingham

Posted on May 9, 2024 by Louise Jayne

One Sunday last month it was a surprisingly sunny day and I decided to venture out to Colwick Woods. I’d realised while looking at new to me green spaces in Nottingham that although I’ve been to Colwick Country Park a number of times I’d never been to the nearby woods. 50 hectares large it is an ancient woodland that has been around since at least the early 1600s and even possibly longer as well as part of it being farmland that was abandoned in the 1950s.

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