Greetings from Geordieland

Video of the Famous Silver Swan

2010-02-07T13:04:00.000-08:00

Here is the Silver Swan chiming. Sorry about the odd angle!

The Bowes Museum

2010-02-07T12:29:00.000-08:00

This past week my "field trip class" went to the famous Bowes Museum. It is about an hour south of Newcastle.

The outside of the Bowes Museum.

This is a statue outside the entrance of the museum.

The following are art and antiques in the Bowes Museum.

These pictures are from - what I like to call - the Blue Room.

The following pictures are from the textile gallery at the museum. I think they have something like 60,000 pieces in the entire collection and the ones displayed are unique in a museum setting because the viewer can see them at a 360 degree angle in the glass.

This is corset for a very small waisted woman.

The museum is most famous for the Silver Swan. It is over 200 years old but has clock pieces inside that allow it to move about as it chime each day at 2 o'clock. I will post a video of the swan in action.

In one room you could do a demo with lights to show how delicate the antiques were to moisture in the air.

Hadrian's Wall and the Newcastle Royal Theatre

2010-02-07T11:51:00.000-08:00

About two weeks ago my British Colloquium - or "field trip group," as we like to call it - went to Hadrian's Wall. It was built by the Romans about 1,900 years ago to separate England and Scotland. There is a section about an hour west of Newcastle that is the most complete remaining part of the wall and has ruins of the fortress that the Romans used when guarding the wall.

The wall is out in the middle of nowhere.

There were lots of sheep everywhere!

This is what is left of the fortress and barracks.

The wall.

This is what us left of the Roman toilets.

These raised the floor of the dining hall in order to heat it from beneath.

This is what they believe the area looked when it was functioning.

These were recovered from the ruins.

The next day we went to see "The Woman in Black" at the Newcastle Royal Theatre! Below are some pictures of the inside of the theatre before the show started.

Newcastle upon Tyne and St. James Park

2010-01-23T06:47:00.000-08:00

These pictures are all from the area around Northumbria University, including Eldon Square and Grainger Town and were taken over a few days - so you'll notice some pictures have snow on the ground, some have rain, and others have a clear sky!

These are from Quayside, down by the Tyne river.

These pictures are from the Castle Keep, which is all that remains of the Castle Garth. The castle had been under siege in the Civil War in 1644 and the keep became the last resort for the Royalists, who surrendered in October 1644.

These shots are on the way back to the university from the Castle Keep.

These last pictures are from outside and in St. James park, where I saw Newcastle United play West Brom in the Championship on January 18th. The Championship is the number two league in England and Newcastle United are currently at the top of the table, meaning they will most likely be allowed to move back up to the Premier League for next season. The match ended 2-2.