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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Abbotsford: The Home of Sir Walter Scott

Posted on August 13, 2024 by Louise Jayne

As I’d been to Edinburgh before a lot of my stay there was using the city as a base and going on day trips by train. The one I was most excited about and proved to be excellent was Abbotsford, the home author Walter Scott had built in 1811. I caught the train from Edinburgh Waverley Station to Tweedbank Station which took around one hour. One useful thing the house provides is free transport from the train station to the house. It’s volunteer lead so isn’t always available – you can find times and a phone number to see if it’s happening on the day you’re traveling on the house website – but the day I travelled it was waiting just outside the station, and I was the only passenger! If it isn’t there the house is a 20 minute walk away that is described on the house website, or you can get a local bus. There is also of course a car park at the house if you’re driving.

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Greenock, Scotland

Posted on July 30, 2024 by Louise Jayne

As I mentioned in my previous post I visited Greenock last year because my grandmother was born there and her grandparents moved there from England for work. I’ve done a lot of family tree research over the years – particularly during the COVID lockdowns – and this was a chance to explore some of the places she, her mother, aunts and grandparents lived and worked.

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McLean Museum and Art Gallery, Greenock

Posted on July 16, 2024 by Louise Jayne

Part of my reason for travelling to Scotland last year, and Greenock in particular, was to do some family tree research. My paternal grandmother was born in Greenock, her grandfather having been moved up there from Kent in the early 1900s to work at the Torpedo Factory which was, at the time, an extremely secretive job. My first stop therefore was to the McLean Museum where I had been hoping to find more information about the factory. There was, in fact, barely any mention of it that I hadn’t already found elsewhere – a veil of secrecy seems to still hang around the details – but there was plenty of other items of interest in the museum.

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Calton Hill, Edinburgh

Posted on July 9, 2024 by Louise Jayne

Back in October last year I spent just under a week in Edinburgh, using it as a base to explore other areas of Scotland as well as the city itself. This was my second visit to the city – you can read my previous posts about Edinburgh Castle, the National Museum of Scotland and Edinburgh Zoo. With the exception of the zoo which I revisited, I wanted to visit places that I hadn’t managed to the first time. One of these was Calton Hill which I headed to straight after checking in to my accommodation (The Elder York Guest House – highly recommended). Situated to the east of the city it is one of the best places to get a view of Edinburgh.

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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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