Posts Tagged With: architecture

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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Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge

Posted on May 7, 2024 by Louise Jayne

I was a bit on the fence about visiting the museum at first – I feel like museums of anthropology in particular have a lot of caveats attached to their collections related to colonisation and theft. To be fair to the museum they are aware of this themselves with the below sign greeting visitors in the entrance and their website stating they were one of the first museums to return items to their country of origin in 1961. The latest items to be returned when I visited were some Aboriginal spears stolen by James Cook and his men from Australia in 1770.

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St Edward King and Martyr, Cambridge

Posted on April 9, 2024 by Louise Jayne

I stumbled across St Edward’s Church while going on an early walk around the city; as best I could tell the church wasn’t actually open to go inside at the time. The church is named for Edward the Martyr a 10th century king of England and half-brother of his successor, Aethelred the Unready. Supposedly Edward, who became king in 975 when he was just 13 was murdered by his step-mother in favour of Aethelread and as such became a martyr.

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The Corpus Clock, Cambridge

Posted on April 2, 2024 by Louise Jayne

The Corpus Clock is one of Cambridge’s most famous sites. Designed by John C. Taylor and inaugurated by Stephen Hawking in 2008 it is a clock with no hands with three circles of dots to show the hour, minute and second. Unfortunately when I was there last March someone (I believe still unidentified) had attacked the clock with a hammer, for reasons unknown. Thankfully it’s protected by a screen so no damage was done to the actual clock but it did mean that I didn’t get to see it working, nor see the large grasshopper that sits atop it. It has now been restored and is working once again. You can see what it usually looks like and see it in motion here.

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Charles Darwin’s House in Cambridge

Posted on March 26, 2024 by Louise Jayne

This rather unprepossessing house at 22 Fitzwilliam Street is where Charles Darwin lived from 16th December to March 1837, after he returned from his voyage on the Beagle. It was during this time that he started writing up his notes and organising his specimens.

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Great St Mary’s Church, Cambridge

Posted on March 5, 2024 by Louise Jayne

Long time readers will know that one of my favourite things to do is visit churches – not for any spiritual reason but architecturally and historically, and if it’s possible I take the opportunity to climb up into towers and onto roofs. Great St Mary’s is often recommended because its tower gives great views of the city, so I duly put it on my list of things I wanted to do.

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