The Burning of Guy Fawkes

In England, the 5th of November is commemorated each year with fireworks and bonfires culminating with the burning of effigies of Guy Fawkes.  Guy Fawkes was a Catholic terrorist who plotted to blow up the British Houses of Parliament and King James I, the Protestant King of England (on Nov. 5, 1605).  On the very night the Gunpowder Plot was foiled, bonfires were set alight to celebrate the safety of the King.  Hence, it has become known as Bonfire Night.

Remember, remember the 5th of November
the Gunpowder Treason and plot,
I see no reason why Gunpowder Treason
should ever be forgot.

We remembered.  (Although we wished we would have remembered back in July when fireworks were on sale...) Still, we managed to pull together the other traditions - a bonfire, good food, friends and even a 'guy.'
Traditionally, the 'guys' are made by children by filling old clothes with crumpled newspapers to look like a man. Then they display their 'guys' to passers-by and ask for "A penny for the guy."  We modified a little bit - I sewed the Guy from an old bed sheet, then let the kids decorate him with fabric markers and stuff him with newspaper.

It was all in good fun, though once the flames really got going we couldn't help but discuss the absolutely evil torture of death by fire...  Oh well, who wants a hot dog?

The Beginning of the End

May 23, 2011

The sea container arrived and the packing began.  The girls finished up their last week of school before the half term break and we moved into a hotel.

Emily's class had a special "Pirate Day" assembly:

The next day the school hosted a special assembly in honor of Amy & Emily.

To the tune "New York, New York" the Primary School bid farewell to the girls. Their classes made special memory books for each of them and we presented our quilt.

Alnwick and York

After another day absorbing the beauties of our country cottage (and watching the Royal Wedding on the telly!), we packed up and headed south towards home... making a few special stops along the way.

Alnwick Castle is the second largest inhabited castle in England, and has been the home of the Percys, Earls and Dukes of Northumberland since 1309.  More recently, it has been the filming location for many Hogwarts scenes in the Harry Potter movies.

Not only was the castle an amazing tour, but there were several activites on the grounds as well.  We enjoyed learning about archery, swordsmanship, and the kids even got to do an introductory course in broomstick flying.

We continued our southerly journey to the magnificent city of York where we stayed for the night.

York is famous for several things.  One is that it's one of only a handful of ancient walled cities with the wall still in tact.  Despite restrictive health and safety laws in this country, we found it amazing that this very tall wall has few railings.  This made Auntie quite nervous.  The rest of us enjoyed tormenting her (just a little bit).

York is also famous for its cathedral - Yorkminster.  It's the only other 'minster' in England.  The other being Westminster in London.

Finally, the other thing York is renowned for is its fabulous shopping.  From antique shops, the outdoor market and the famous 'Shambles' street, York had many treasures to offer.

...and then we arrived home.  Tired, but satisfied with another great holiday in the UK.

Yorkshire

We headed north on a Friday, stopping at the market in Stamford (a personal favourite), then through the beautiful Yorkshire Dales to 'the Angel of the North' in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. 

We stayed overnight in Newcastle, then visited a portion of Hadrian's Wall and a fantastic Roman museum before departing for Scotland.





Roman Bath House - any guesses what room this is? The Romans were a very public people!





Hadrian's Wall - the original foundation.  Built to keep out 'the barbarians to the north' of England.  A full-size replica of the original was also on-site (pictured on the left).

Cadbury, Cambridge and the Coast

With only a few days left for touring England, we decided to re-visit some old favourites.  First stop - Cadbury Chocolate Factory in Birmingham.  Plenty of free tasting along the way and we learned a thing or two about how those delicious Easter eggs are made.

Cambridge is always a fun place.  The colleges were closed for student examinations so we focused our energy at the outdoor market, shops, and viewing a few unique landmarks along the way... like the Cricket Clock.

The next day we drove to the Norfolk coast and took a Seal Boat Tour at Blakeney Quay.  The seals were very large this time of year and many were swimming in the sea right up next to our boat. 

The afternoon was sunny and the beach seemed very inviting even though the wind was a bit cool -  not too cold that the girls weren't willing to get quite wet though!  We enjoyed building sandcastles, flying kites and searching for shells on the beach.

London

We still haven't explored everything London has to offer.  Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle & Auntie wanted to tour Westminster Abbey but we've toured the abbey 4 times already.  So we got them to the abbey and then walked a few blocks - across the Thames - to the Imperial War Museum instead.  Matt had to work in Peterborough so it was just us girls for the morning.

Like most of the museums in London, the War Museum is FREE!  And was probably the best museum we've seen yet.  It was full of real wartime tanks, submarines, missiles, etc. and plenty of hands-on activities.  Our favourite (but also scary!) adventure was trying "The Blitz Experience" which is a realistic simulation of what it was like to be inside an Anderson Shelter during the German bombing raids in London.  It was complete with sights, sounds and even smells!



Anderson Shelter



WW2 evacuation propoganda



There was a special exhibit on display titled "Children at War" and featured stories and real people on site to talk about what WW2 was like for children.  We met a lovely old man who was evacuated out of London as a child.  Amy and Emily asked him lots of questions.  Lots.  He was very kind and interesting. We also toured a life-size replica of a house from the 1930s as well as a school.  I love the poster (above right).  I think it's still good advice.

After a lovely picnic lunch in the sunshine, we met up with the relatives set off for the Tower of London.  We saw the crown jewels and plenty of Henry VIII's armoury as well as the torture chambers and London's famous Tower Bridge.

We spent an enjoyable evening in Covent Garden - eating at a lovely pub and watching street performers - before finding a train back to Peterborough... after a short diversion to Hogwarts.