Windsor Castle 20.03.07

On Saturday, Phil kindly offered us a ride to Windsor Castle as it was something we all wanted to see, being the tourists that we are.

After a good hour and a half drive we arrived in Windsor and found a carpark about 15 minutes walk away. The crowds were not too bad, as it was not yet school holidays, but there were still plenty of people walking the grounds.

After paying the entry fee (almost 15 pounds each! - 35 Aussie dollars) we headed into the Castle.

Gardens inside the Castle

Big Hat...

Windsor Castle is the largest and oldest occupied castle in the world, is one of the official residences of Her Majesty The Queen. The Castle's site includes 900 years of British history. It covers an area of 26 acres and contains, a royal palace, a chapel and the homes and workplaces of a large number of people.

From the website:
‘The State Apartments are furnished with some of the finest works of art from the Royal Collection, including paintings by Rembrandt, Rubens, Canaletto, Gainsborough and the famous triple portrait of Charles I by Sir Anthony van Dyck.
In 1992 fire destroyed or damaged more than 100 rooms at the Castle. By good fortune the rooms worst affected were empty at the time, and as a result, few of the Castle's artistic treasures were destroyed. The highly acclaimed restoration work, completed in 1997, is a testament to the extraordinary skills of some of the finest craftsmen in Europe.

Armed Guards




One of Phil's patented jumping shots

King George IV's private apartments (the Semi-State Rooms) are among the most richly decorated interiors in the Castle.

Sorry, but visitors are not allowed to take photos inside the buildings, hence i have grabbed these from the website!

Inside some of the State Apartment Rooms

Large displays of Weaponry and Armor we located in entrance halls to warn visitors of the Power the Monarch had.

Typical Apartment Room (left) and one of the Armor Rooms

Painting

St George's Chapel is one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in England. It is the spiritual home of the Order of the Garter, the senior order of British Chivalry established in 1348 by Edward III. Within the chapel are the tombs of ten sovereigns, including Henry VIII and his third wife Jane Seymour, and Charles I. Among the highlights of a visit to Windsor is Queen Mary's Dolls' House, the most famous dolls' house in the world.

The Drawings Gallery shows changing exhibitions of material from the Royal Library at Windsor Castle. The special display below is shown alongside a selection of treasures from the Royal Library. The current exhibition was of the Photographs to celebrate the 80th Birthday of The Queen.’

There were a number of famous portraits taken by Joan Bown, so it was great to see a famous Bown family member! Not sure how closely related we are though…

Typcial Portraits by Photograpghers, including Joan Bown

‘Windsor Castle is the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world. Over a period of nearly 1,000 years it has been inhabited continuously, and altered and refurbished by successive monarchs

Great Dining Hall

The twentieth-century history of the Castle is dominated by the major fire that started on 20 November 1992. It began in the Private Chapel, when a spotlight came into contact with a curtain and ignited the material. It took 15 hours and one-and-a-half million gallons of water to put out the blaze. Nine principal rooms and over 100 other rooms over an area of 9,000 square metres were damaged or destroyed by the fire, approximately one-fifth of the Castle area. The next five years were spent restoring Windsor Castle to its former glory. It resulted in the greatest historic building project to have been undertaken in the UK in the twentieth century, reviving many traditional crafts. The restoration was completed six months ahead of schedule on 20 November 1997 at a cost of £37 million. Seventy per cent of the necessary revenue was raised from opening Buckingham Palace's State Rooms to visitors in August and September.’

For more information feel free to check out this site:
http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/page557.asp

Gardens inside the Castle


The old Murder Holes are within the arch roof


Views from the Castle


Chapel on the left

And inside the Chapel:

It was also St Patrick Day today!

Here's to St Patricks Day - Cheers



The view of Windsor over a pint of Guinness...

We finished the afternoon off with a late lunch and Guinness at one of the local Pubs, with a view from our window out onto the towering Windsor Castle.

Some other interesting things happened on this day, being St Patrick's Day. The Irish won their first ever game of world cup cricket in the West Indies, so we had a pint of Guinness to celebrate. And no real surprises, the English lost the Rugby against Wales, even though they were a far better side. Who would want to be an English sports fan?

HMS Cattistock 15.03.07

Upon arriving at work on Thursday, a Naval Warship was moored right next to the office building, and after working during the morning I headed down at lunch for a closer look.

The HMS Cattistock was built in 1982, and it is currently assigned to the Fishery Protection Squadron, while still maintaining her primary role as a minehunter within the 2nd MCM 2 Squadron.

All in all, an impressive Warship, but also a really unusual site, considering it can moor itself right next to our work building in the centre of town.

The ship has a displacement of 685 tonnes, a length of 57m and a width of 10m. It generally has 42 crew on board, with a 30mm close range gun, and a remote control mine disposal system.

I am not sure why it came into the Bristol Harbour, however it is celebrating its 25th year of service, and over the weekend it was open to the public on the lower deck (for a entrance cost of course).

Union Jack blowing in the breeze


The view from our Boardroom Window over the Warship

Bath Rugby 10.03.07

Big thanks to Alastair, who couldn't make it to see the Bath Rugby Union match vs the Northhampton Saints, so he kindly offered his tickets to us!

We headed to Bath on the train for the day, starting with a traditional Pasty at the Bakery before heading to the ground for the game.

Local Abbey


River Avon in Bath


Bath Abbey in the background

The Bath side started the game strong, with numerous tries almost putting the Saints out of the game, but in tradional style, they let Northhampton back into the game. A good thing for us was that every try was scored at our end of the ground. The Bath lads held on for a 22 - 17 win which was a great relief for the home fans totalling about 10,000 people.

Views from our seats


Scrum Pack


Scoring a Try!


A Streaker of sorts...

At half time a guy wearing a really bad red dress ran around the pitch to the crowds delight, and he was almost caught by the security staff chasing him. He did managed to evade them and hightail it over the boundary fence and into the crowd!

Overall we had a great day at the Rugby enjoying the Guinness on tap (along with ciders, ales) and a coffee at the local coffee shop to finish off the afternoon. As the cool breeze came in, we decided to head home for tea and relax after the game.

Views around Bristol 03.03.07

River Avon

We went for a walk through the eastern suburbs of Bristol to see a new part of Bristol.

Tight packed homes in Bristol suburbia

On the way we enjoyed views along the River Avon, where some locals were fishing. Not sure if they caught anything but the swans were also here waiting for a free feed.

River Avon


River Avon

Swans on the River Banks

On our way back into Bristol, we finally made it to St Mary's Church, which is located only 100m from our apartment. We had been planning on seeing this Church wince we arrived last year, but only got around to it now.

St Mary's Church

The Church is almost 900 years old. The inner porch and base of the tower are the only remaining original sections of the building that remain when the land and building were given to the church group by King Henry the 1st. Most of the church as it stands today has been there since the 15th century.

The size of the Church is a reflection of the wealth in Bristol during its time as the major shipping port in the United Kingdom. With high levels of trade, generous donations were received to aid in the Church's construction and maintenance over the years.

It is noted within the Church near the donation boxes that St Mary's Church now requires 2000 pounds a day just to keep it maintained.

Further information on the Church can be found at:

http://www.stmaryredcliffe.co.uk/

Views inside the Church




Stained Glass Windows


Internal Roof Structure


Lady Chapel


Pipe Organs


St Mary's from the rear gardens

The Church is a great landmark for Bristol, and a must see for any visitors to the area. We are fortunate enough to be able to see the steeple of 86m in height from our apartment, and the large bells are always being played during the week, often for up to an hour as it is practiced by the bell ringers to perfect their timing.