It is time to summarize our last fortnight in England. As I mentioned, we battled floodwaters to get to Oxfordshire, but the rain did not prevent us from enjoying our last two weeks. Our accomodation in Oxfordshire was a converted dairy farm in Abingdon, 6 miles south of Oxford. It has a rural setting but was a 10-minute walk to the River Thames and to the Abingdon "city centre". Our time here included visits to the Oxford. There, we saw Christchurch College where Lewis Carroll (Alice in Wonderland) taught, and the "Great Hall" scenes from Harry Potter were filmed (Hogwarts dining hall.) I also did a "C.S. Lewis" tour of Magdalene College where Lewis taught from the 30's - 1956 (before Cambridge.) We enjoyed our trip to The Kilns, Lewis' longtime residence in Oxford. From Abingdon we were also able to enjoy: *The Abingdon Abbey-destroyed by Henry VIII's men in the 1500's *Legoland Windsor-Tim's favorite! *Jane Austen's Home in Chawton (Hampshire) & her burial site at Winchester Cathedral.-Kathy & Emily are huge Jane Austen fans. Winchester is another wonderful city filled with history. There, we also saw the Round Table of the legendary King Arthur fame. *"The Eagle and the Child" We ate 2 meals at this Oxford pub. It was the meeting place of the the group that called itself "the Inklings" which included C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein (Lord of the Rings trilogy author)and others. They dubbed their meeting place "The Bird and the Baby" & met every Tues. evening. (The 1st readings of the Narnia books & Hobbit's stories occurred there. *Basildon Park-a manor that doubled as "Netherfield" in the 2005 "Pride and Predjudice" movie. *Windsor Castle-residence of the royal family and the site of St. George's Chapel *Stratford-Upon-Avon (in Warwickshire), where we saw the birth & burial place of Wm. Shakespeare. Another charming city. *Blenheim Palace-the magnificent residence of the Duke of Marlborough and the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. (The 1st Duke of Marlborough back in the 1700's was John Churchill, an ancestor of Winston.) *Stonehenge - the ancient rock structure dating back to 2000 B.C. in Wiltshire *Stourhead-a home & most beautiful gardens also in Wiltshire. and... *The Vale of the White Horse - A carving on a Oxfordshire chalky hillside dated to be from 1000 B.C. set above a beautiful valley. Our 5000 mile, 11-hour trip home was uneventful, but any flight that lands safely is a good flight. We spent two nights in Phoenix to try to reset our internal clocks to Mount. Std. Time. We thank God for this wonderful opportunity made possible by a Lilly grant and the wonderful people at Shepherd of the Pines Lutheran Church. We look forward to seeing you all again and to share some of experiences with you. We have grown in wisdom and understanding, but mostly in the awe of our great God and Savior and his wonderful creation. Blessings to all, Todd, Kathy, Emily, Nathan and Tim "The Arnolds"
Sorry I have not written in a while. We have had very limited internet access. This will have to be brief. I'm in the office of Kingfisher Barns in Abingdon, our accomodations while in Oxfordshire. We had to travel through some flooding to get here and were even stranded in Chesterfield for the night last Monday, the 25th. So far here we've seen Abingdon, toured Oxford and C.S. Lewis' home "The Kilns."(for me) We went to Legoland(especially for Tim), Jane Austen's home (for Kathy and Emily) and Winchester Cathedral. Today we plan to see Windsor Castle. I will write a thorough update of these last two weeks when I return home. We plan to be back in Payson on the 11th and are looking forward to seeing everyone again. Until then...cheers! Todd
We just spent a wonderful week in England's Lake District with our friends, the Jacksons, from Salford near Manchester. Our base was Pine Lake, a time-share resort near Carnforth in Lancashire. The Jacksons were kind enough to share one of their weeks with us and to act as our guides in touring the region - and what beautiful region it is! I can only briefly highlight all that we saw and did. On Sunday we took a loop that included stops in Arnside (a beautiful seaside town) on Morecambe Bay (Irish Sea); Silverdale (where we visited the Pepperpot - a monument to Queen Victoria at her Silver Jubilee in 1887) and Warton (George Washinton's ancestral home.) Monday we drove to Lakeside in Cumbria and on the southern tip of Lake Windermere boarded a boat and cruised to Bowness - home of the "World of Beatrix Potter" attraction (really fun!)and walked through the delightful village before cruising home. On Tuesday we visited a medieval castle called Sizergh and then in the evening drove down to Salford to see the Jackson's son, Robert, starring in a play "Pirates of Penzance" at his college. (He'll be studying acting in London beginning this fall.) On Wednesday we crossed Lake Windermere on a ferry and visited HillTop (Beatrix Potter's home and the villages of Hawkshead and Ambleside. We visited sites associated with the poet William Wordsworth and author Charlotte Mason. On Thursday we took a train from the historic Carforth train station to Ravenglass, where we boarded a miniature train (formerly a mining train) to Eskdale in the georgeous Lake District. The large train followed the coast of the Sea and the small train followed a wonderful valley. Both were quite interesting and beautiful. Friday we began with a trip to Kendal. On our way to the famous 1657 Chocolate House we saw Kendal Castle and a "burner" on top of a high hill used as part of a ancient communication system to warn of the coming of the Spanish Armada. At the Chocolate House we ate a fabulous piece of chocolate cake a had a chocolate drink. They were great! We celebrated our last night a Pine Lake with a wonderful dinner at the Silverdale Hotel with the Jacksons. After dinner we walked down to the shore of Morecambe Bay and walked a bit through the village. This morning before checking out at Pine Lake the kids enjoyed one last trip to the pool and feeding the ducks, swans and geese at the lake. Tonight we will stay at the Travel Inn in Salford and will attend church with the Jacksons tomorrow before heading towards Abingdon and Oxford on Monday for the last two weeks of our trip. It was a wonderful week in the North of England.
I was able to get an internet connection at our friends', the Jackson's, in Salford (Manchester area) so I will do a quick update. We left Cambridgeshire on Thursday and made our way to Yorkshire via Sherwood Forest. We stopped first at a little villge called "Arnold" just north of Nottingham. At Robin Hood's Sherwood Forst we ate at the Forest Table restaurant, then walked through the forest to the Major Oak tree (nearly 1000 years old)under which Robin Hood and his merry men hatched their plans. Leaving there we went to a wonderful B&B in Ripon (Yorkshire). Friday we spent the day in York, visiting the York Minster (cathedral), the famous Shambles shopping area, and the Jorvick Viking center - a recreated viking village at the original archeological site. Saturday we made our way to the Lake District, stopping at the Bronte Parsonage Museum in Haworth, home of the Bronte sisters (Charlotte, Emily and Anne)of literary fame. Our home while visiting the beautiful Lake District will be the Pine Lake Resort near Carnforth. The Jackson's have a time-share there that they are sharing with us. It is wonderful! I will fill you in on our time there at the end of the week. Till then... Todd
Before I update you on the last few days, I wanted to let you know that over the next few weeks we will be on the move and less likely to have internet access. Communication may be a little less frequent. We'll do the best we can. I'll close, later, with our internary. This weekend there were some activities at the Church in Cambridge that we participated in. On Friday they held a pizza party as a farewell to departing students at Westfield House. It included a talent show. Somehow, I convinced Nathan to play his song on the piano that he does both "forwards and backwards." The wonderful people there even included us in the farewell since this past Sunday was our last in Cambridge. After 8 weeks, we did make some friends. (Hopefully, maybe some will visit Arizona someday!) On Saturday our kids participated in a "football match" (that's English for "soccer game") between the Westfield House students and the Youth of Resurrection Lutheran (plus some ringers from Luther-Tyndale Lutheran Church in London!)at a wonderful park in Cambridge. It was a lot of fun. On Monday, we went to visit a place we saw during our bus tour of Cambridge last week: the Cambridge American Cemetary. It is a wonderful and most moving place, where many American soldiers who perished in WWII in Europe are buried or memorialized, including Joseph Kenenedy, Jr. and the band leader, Glenn Miller. On Tuesday, we took one last trip to the North Sea at Sheringham and visited another National Trust site nearby in Felbrigg, Norfolk. Thursday we leave the Old Porch House and Haddenham after 8 weeks. We will stay in the Yorkshire area for two nights at a bed and breakfast, stopping first to visit Sherwood Forest of Robin Hood fame (a stop on our English Literature tour!) Then we will spend a week in the Lake District (Pine Lakes resort near Carnforth). Beatrix Potter's home is definitely on the agenda. After two days in Manchester to visit our friends, the Jackson family, we will spend the last two weeks in the Oxford area, so that I may continue my C.S. Lewis studies. We have 2 months down and one to go... Blessings to all, The Arnolds
On Wednesday, we made our third trip to London. Our goal was to visit Ben Franklin's London home and the British Museum. We started with Franklin's home. Though born in Boston, he lived at 36 Craven Street in London from 1757 - 1775, serving as sort of a representative of the colonists to the British government. We all know that when he returned to Philadelphia, he had a significant role in the U.S. during the Revolution and as a founding father. The house was great to visit. They has a costumed actor-the daughter of Franklin's landlord-giving the tour and telling interesting personal and professional stories. He was, indeed, quite a man. Writer, printer, publishser, politician, statesman, inventor of the Franklin Stove and bifocal glasses. He also started the U.S. Postal system and conducted several scientific experiments with electricity. My friends in Arizona will be interested to know that Franklin even wrote the first paper on "Cooling by Evaporation" after an experiment conducted right here in Cambridge, England. Thanks, Ben, for our Evap Coolers! The British Museum was huge...and free! Free is good! The highlight was seeing the Rosetta Stone - which is a huge chunk of stone, discovered by Napoleon's soldiers in Egypt in 1799. It contains an edict by Ptolemy V regarding the repeal of some taxes.It was written in two Egyptian languages (including heiroglyphics) and in Greek. By 1825 it had been translated and consequently allowed for the translation of many ancient Egyptian heiroglyphics that had previously been undecipherable. After the museum, we walked down to the Covent Gardens neigborhood. Covent Gardens has a huge market square, street players and had a large Malaysian festival going on at the time. Ben Franklin held many meetings in the cafes of this neighborhood and it is also the setting for the play (and movie) "My Fair Lady" which is based on George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion" which itslef was inspired by Ovid's "Metamorphisis" (The rain in Spain falls mainly in the plain!) It was a nice trip to London. We especially enjoy the train rides there and the "Underground" subway rides. The whole experience leads us to think "Toto, I don't think we are in Kansas any more." It's so different from home. I've gone on long enough. Cheers! Todd
It hardly seems possible that June is here and we are nearly two-thirds finished with our sabbatical trip. We have just 11 days left here at Old Porch House in Haddenham in the Cambridge area before we head north to Yorkshire and the Lake District. We've settled into a bit of a routine. School - which ends this week - in on Mon., Tues., Thurs. and Fri. mornings. Tuesday is my day at Westfield House (Lutheran Seminary in Cambridge)for tea with the staff and study time. Wed. is our big day out, Thursday is Market Day in Ely and shopping at the supermarket and Sunday is church and "visit Cambridge" day. This past Wednesday we went to two National Trust properties, the first - a Tudor (1500's) mansion near King's Lynn in Norfolk and the second a Georgian (1700's) townhouse in Wisbech. Both had wonderful gardens and so much history. The Peckover faimly in Wisbech were a Quacker family who ran the Pecover Bank and were huge supporters of the Abolition of Slavery Movement in England in the late 1700's. They were the financial supporters of Thomas Clarkson of Wisbech who is featured along with William Wilberforce and John Newton in the Movie "Amazing Grace." (2007 is the 200th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in England in 1807.) Friday we went to a Farmland Museum in nearby Waterbeach located at a former Abbey of the Knights Templar built in the 1100's. Saturday at the market square in Ely they had a special "French Market" and we spent the day alongside the River Great Ouse and walking around the city of Ely. (We found an indoor pool that we will probably go to on Monday after school.) Today - Sunday - there was a baptism at church. One of my seminary professors, Dr. Robert Rosin from St. Louis, was there, also.(He will be teaching a 4-week course there at Westfield House. It's a small Lutheran World!) After chruch we walked down to the city centre (that's how they spell it!) of Cambridge and took an open-top double-decker bus tour through the city. It was such a beautiful day and the trip was just marvelous. In my studies of the life and work of C.S. Lewis, I am now reading the book "God in the Dock." I finished Lewis' "Pilgrim's Regress", an allegory of Lewis' spiritual journey from atheism to Christianity. I was inspired to write an allegorical story of my own which will be based on the common "all paths lead to God" post-modern notion that is so prevalent today. It's starting to take shape but I'm working on it in my spare time - I have a bit of that here for the first time in long time! Till later - cheers! Todd
I noticed that it has been a week since I have written an update, so I will give you the highlights of the past several days. On Wednesday the 23rd, I turned 50 years old. I received a wonderful sweater purchased from the Edinburgh Woolen Mill shop (Kathy's favorite shop in Ely) and a Cambridge Universtity shirt. We celebrated by going north again to the North Sea shore in Norfolk. This time we went to the beach in Brancaster. The kids had a marvelous time. We ate lunch at a restaurant called The Ship. It had been in service since 1746! After lunch, we went to another fatastic manor called Houghton Hall near King's Lynn. The 5-acre walled garden was magnificent and included a croquet green. Nathan, Tim and I played a game while Kathy and Emily enjoyed the garden. What a memorable birthday celebration! Thursday, we added a picnic and a walk along the River Great Ouse to our market day in Ely. On Saturday, our friends from Manchester, Graham and Ann Jackson, came for a visit. They stayed in a bed and breakfast in a nearby village so we had all day. The highlight of our visit was a trip to the Mill where we had seen the Swan's nest. The eggs were now baby swans. We took, with the Jacksons, that wonderful hike through the thicket to St. Ives. The Jackson's will be our hosts when we visit the Lake District in a couple of weeks. On Sunday, I preached the sermon "The Gospel - Clear and Powerful" for Pentecost Sunday at Resurrection Lutheran Church in Cambridge...my first outside of the U.S.A. A contingency was visiting from a Lutheran Seminary in Germany for a friendly "football" match with the seminarians from Westfield house, so the church was packed and had the feel of the first Pentecost day, with several languages represented. It was really an honor and a privilege. Yesterday (Monday) we went to the Ely Museum to get some local history. We found out that the weekly outdoor market day that we have been going to has been going since 970 A.D. Isn't that amazing! There is so much history here: the Roman conquest in 1066, the Saxon invasions of the 12th century and on and on. We have just over two weeks here before we move on...still so much to see...
It's been 5 days since I last updated you and so much has happened. On Wednesday the 16th we went up north to Holt and boarded the North Norfolk Railway steam engine train for Weybourne. In Weybourne, we set out on foot, first to the Sheringham Park National Trust site. It featured a 360 degree view gazebo on top of a hill that had 113 steps up. The view of the North Sea coast and the Norfolk countryside was fabulous. From their we hiked the coastal footpath along cliffs above the North Sea to the next train station in Sheringham. What a wonderful walk. We then took the train back to Holt for the end of a great day. Friday, the boys and I visited the village "bowling green" and watched a lawn bowling game of the Haddenham Bowls Club, which has been meeting for over 100 years! We arranged to learn how to play and "give it a go" (as they say here) next week, probably Friday. On Saturday we used our family rail pass to head down to London for our second all-day trip there. After about 1 1/2 hours on the train (75 miles,) we arrived at the King's Cross station and took the underground to Westminster, where we toured the Westminster Abbey - the location of the coronation of every monarch since William the Conquerer (William I) in 1066! Awesome! Most of the Kings and Queens are buried there too! Kind of creepy! After that, we saw Buckingham Palace (Elizabeth II was too busy for tea!), the Royal Mews, Hyde Park, Harrod's department store and Kensington Gardens. Tried to get in to see Tony Blair at "10 Downing Street" but he was tied up, too, according to all the security people! Today (Sunday) we went to church in Cambridge, then visted the Wimpole Hall and Farm. It was a great place and also featured, today, a reenactment of a skirmish from the Jacobean revolt (mid- 1700's) when the Scots(Rebels) and the English (Redcoats) went at it. Tonight we watched the film "Miss Potter" with the Innes' (owners of the place we are staying - the Old Porch House) which was especially interesting for us since we will be seeing Beatrix Potter's house in the Lake District in a few weeks. (Beatrix Potter, by the way, is the author of the children's books featuring Peter Rabbit and Jemimah Puddle Duck.) Tuesday I plan to spend some time at Westfield House - the seminary of the Ev. Lutheran Church of England - to prepare for the sermon I will preach at Resurrection Lutheran in Cambridge next Sunday, Pentecost Sunday. Wednesday will be my 50th birthday! Will update you again soon... Todd
It has rained quite a bit the last several days...this is more normal than the great weather we experienced the first three weeks here. But Sunday was the first day that our plans were altered by the inclement weather. We has planned to attend a local festival called "Blossoms and Bygones"...but it was just too wet. The event featured tractor-pulled wagons that take you through the village to local historical sites and gardens...but we couldn't make ourselves do it in the pouring rain. In any event, it was a still nice day. In the morning we went to a Church of England worship service at the Ely Cathedral. This magnificent 12th century structure is really incredible, considering the fact that Ely is not much larger than Payson population-wise. The liturgical service was not unfamiliar at all and we felt very much at home with the worship style. After church we got lunch at Three Kings - the Haddenham pub. In the evening, after the rain subsided, we went to a barbeque and gathering hosted by the owners of the Old Porch House - the house we are living in. It was a lot of fun and we got to visit with some of the locals. On Monday afternoon, I went to the weekly lectionary lesson Bible study at Westfield House. The entire faculty and all the students attend. With me visiting, there we 15 in attendance. We did a complete exegetical study on Acts 2:1-21 which is the passage for Pentecost Sunday and also the one I will be preaching on on May 27. Needless to say, it was very helpful for me as sermon preparation. On Tuesday, while Kathy and the kids did school, I went to Huntingdon (15 miles west) to re-visit the Oliver Cromwell Museum (Huntingdon is where he lived his first 30 years.) We went on April 20th, but I have since read a biography on Cromwell that I got at the library, so I wanted to return to see some of the documents of his "Protectorate" that I has read about. I am like everyone else here in England. I still can't figure out if he was a hero or a villian! In the afternoon we went back to the Wicken Fen - a wonderful nature preserve about six miles from here - for a long walk and ended up finishing the walk in the rain... On Wednesday we're heading up north again. I'll tell you all about it next time. Till then... Todd
12 July 2007 at 8:15 a.m.
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arnoldfamily (Todd Arnold) says…
It is time to summarize our last fortnight in England. As I mentioned, we battled floodwaters to get to Oxfordshire, but the rain did not prevent us from enjoying our last two weeks.
Our accomodation in Oxfordshire was a converted dairy farm in Abingdon, 6 miles south of Oxford. It has a rural setting but was a 10-minute walk to the River Thames and to the Abingdon "city centre".
Our time here included visits to the Oxford. There, we saw Christchurch College where Lewis Carroll (Alice in Wonderland) taught, and the "Great Hall" scenes from Harry Potter were filmed (Hogwarts dining hall.) I also did a "C.S. Lewis" tour of Magdalene College where Lewis taught from the 30's - 1956 (before Cambridge.) We enjoyed our trip to The Kilns, Lewis' longtime residence in Oxford.
From Abingdon we were also able to enjoy:
*The Abingdon Abbey-destroyed by Henry VIII's men in the 1500's
*Legoland Windsor-Tim's favorite!
*Jane Austen's Home in Chawton (Hampshire) & her burial site at Winchester Cathedral.-Kathy & Emily are huge Jane Austen fans. Winchester is another wonderful city filled with history. There, we also saw the Round Table of the legendary King Arthur fame.
*"The Eagle and the Child" We ate 2 meals at this Oxford pub. It was the meeting place of the the group that called itself "the Inklings" which included C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein (Lord of the Rings trilogy author)and others. They dubbed their meeting place "The Bird and the Baby" & met every Tues. evening. (The 1st readings of the Narnia books & Hobbit's stories occurred there.
*Basildon Park-a manor that doubled as "Netherfield" in the 2005 "Pride and Predjudice" movie.
*Windsor Castle-residence of the royal family and the site of St. George's Chapel
*Stratford-Upon-Avon (in Warwickshire), where we saw the birth & burial place of Wm. Shakespeare. Another charming city.
*Blenheim Palace-the magnificent residence of the Duke of Marlborough and the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. (The 1st Duke of Marlborough back in the 1700's was John Churchill, an ancestor of Winston.)
*Stonehenge - the ancient rock structure dating back to 2000 B.C. in Wiltshire
*Stourhead-a home & most beautiful gardens also in Wiltshire.
and...
*The Vale of the White Horse - A carving on a Oxfordshire chalky hillside dated to be from 1000 B.C. set above a beautiful valley.
Our 5000 mile, 11-hour trip home was uneventful, but any flight that lands safely is a good flight. We spent two nights in Phoenix to try to reset our internal clocks to Mount. Std. Time. We thank God for this wonderful opportunity made possible by a Lilly grant and the wonderful people at Shepherd of the Pines Lutheran Church. We look forward to seeing you all again and to share some of experiences with you. We have grown in wisdom and understanding, but mostly in the awe of our great God and Savior and his wonderful creation.
Blessings to all,
Todd, Kathy, Emily, Nathan and Tim
"The Arnolds"
On The Last "Fortnight"
3 July 2007 at 12:29 a.m.
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arnoldfamily (Todd Arnold) says…
Sorry I have not written in a while. We have had very limited internet access. This will have to be brief. I'm in the office of Kingfisher Barns in Abingdon, our accomodations while in Oxfordshire.
We had to travel through some flooding to get here and were even stranded in Chesterfield for the night last Monday, the 25th.
So far here we've seen Abingdon, toured Oxford and C.S. Lewis' home "The Kilns."(for me) We went to Legoland(especially for Tim), Jane Austen's home (for Kathy and Emily) and Winchester Cathedral. Today we plan to see Windsor Castle.
I will write a thorough update of these last two weeks when I return home.
We plan to be back in Payson on the 11th and are looking forward to seeing everyone again.
Until then...cheers!
Todd
On Oxfordshire and the South and West of England
23 June 2007 at 8:09 a.m.
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arnoldfamily (Todd Arnold) says…
We just spent a wonderful week in England's Lake District with our friends, the Jacksons, from Salford near Manchester. Our base was Pine Lake, a time-share resort near Carnforth in Lancashire. The Jacksons were kind enough to share one of their weeks with us and to act as our guides in touring the region - and what beautiful region it is! I can only briefly highlight all that we saw and did.
On Sunday we took a loop that included stops in Arnside (a beautiful seaside town) on Morecambe Bay (Irish Sea); Silverdale (where we visited the Pepperpot - a monument to Queen Victoria at her Silver Jubilee in 1887) and Warton (George Washinton's ancestral home.)
Monday we drove to Lakeside in Cumbria and on the southern tip of Lake Windermere boarded a boat and cruised to Bowness - home of the "World of Beatrix Potter" attraction (really fun!)and walked through the delightful village before cruising home.
On Tuesday we visited a medieval castle called Sizergh and then in the evening drove down to Salford to see the Jackson's son, Robert, starring in a play "Pirates of Penzance" at his college. (He'll be studying acting in London beginning this fall.)
On Wednesday we crossed Lake Windermere on a ferry and visited HillTop (Beatrix Potter's home and the villages of Hawkshead and Ambleside. We visited sites associated with the poet William Wordsworth and author Charlotte Mason.
On Thursday we took a train from the historic Carforth train station to Ravenglass, where we boarded a miniature train (formerly a mining train) to Eskdale in the georgeous Lake District. The large train followed the coast of the Sea and the small train followed a wonderful valley. Both were quite interesting and beautiful.
Friday we began with a trip to Kendal. On our way to the famous 1657 Chocolate House we saw Kendal Castle and a "burner" on top of a high hill used as part of a ancient communication system to warn of the coming of the Spanish Armada. At the Chocolate House we ate a fabulous piece of chocolate cake a had a chocolate drink. They were great! We celebrated our last night a Pine Lake with a wonderful dinner at the Silverdale Hotel with the Jacksons. After dinner we walked down to the shore of Morecambe Bay and walked a bit through the village.
This morning before checking out at Pine Lake the kids enjoyed one last trip to the pool and feeding the ducks, swans and geese at the lake.
Tonight we will stay at the Travel Inn in Salford and will attend church with the Jacksons tomorrow before heading towards Abingdon and Oxford on Monday for the last two weeks of our trip. It was a wonderful week in the North of England.
On Our Week in the Lake District
19 June 2007 at 9:40 a.m.
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arnoldfamily (Todd Arnold) says…
I was able to get an internet connection at our friends', the Jackson's, in Salford (Manchester area) so I will do a quick update.
We left Cambridgeshire on Thursday and made our way to Yorkshire via Sherwood Forest. We stopped first at a little villge called "Arnold" just north of Nottingham. At Robin Hood's Sherwood Forst we ate at the Forest Table restaurant, then walked through the forest to the Major Oak tree (nearly 1000 years old)under which Robin Hood and his merry men hatched their plans.
Leaving there we went to a wonderful B&B in Ripon (Yorkshire). Friday we spent the day in York, visiting the York Minster (cathedral), the famous Shambles shopping area, and the Jorvick Viking center - a recreated viking village at the original archeological site.
Saturday we made our way to the Lake District, stopping at the Bronte Parsonage Museum in Haworth, home of the Bronte sisters (Charlotte, Emily and Anne)of literary fame.
Our home while visiting the beautiful Lake District will be the Pine Lake Resort near Carnforth. The Jackson's have a time-share there that they are sharing with us. It is wonderful! I will fill you in on our time there at the end of the week.
Till then...
Todd
On Now in Northwest England
12 June 2007 at 12:13 p.m.
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arnoldfamily (Todd Arnold) says…
Before I update you on the last few days, I wanted to let you know that over the next few weeks we will be on the move and less likely to have internet access. Communication may be a little less frequent. We'll do the best we can. I'll close, later, with our internary.
This weekend there were some activities at the Church in Cambridge that we participated in. On Friday they held a pizza party as a farewell to departing students at Westfield House. It included a talent show. Somehow, I convinced Nathan to play his song on the piano that he does both "forwards and backwards." The wonderful people there even included us in the farewell since this past Sunday was our last in Cambridge. After 8 weeks, we did make some friends. (Hopefully, maybe some will visit Arizona someday!)
On Saturday our kids participated in a "football match" (that's English for "soccer game") between the Westfield House students and the Youth of Resurrection Lutheran (plus some ringers from Luther-Tyndale Lutheran Church in London!)at a wonderful park in Cambridge. It was a lot of fun.
On Monday, we went to visit a place we saw during our bus tour of Cambridge last week: the Cambridge American Cemetary. It is a wonderful and most moving place, where many American soldiers who perished in WWII in Europe are buried or memorialized, including Joseph Kenenedy, Jr. and the band leader, Glenn Miller.
On Tuesday, we took one last trip to the North Sea at Sheringham and visited another National Trust site nearby in Felbrigg, Norfolk.
Thursday we leave the Old Porch House and Haddenham after 8 weeks. We will stay in the Yorkshire area for two nights at a bed and breakfast, stopping first to visit Sherwood Forest of Robin Hood fame (a stop on our English Literature tour!) Then we will spend a week in the Lake District (Pine Lakes resort near Carnforth). Beatrix Potter's home is definitely on the agenda. After two days in Manchester to visit our friends, the Jackson family, we will spend the last two weeks in the Oxford area, so that I may continue my C.S. Lewis studies.
We have 2 months down and one to go...
Blessings to all,
The Arnolds
On The Arnolds are On the Move!
7 June 2007 at 10 p.m.
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arnoldfamily (Todd Arnold) says…
On Wednesday, we made our third trip to London. Our goal was to visit Ben Franklin's London home and the British Museum.
We started with Franklin's home. Though born in Boston, he lived at 36 Craven Street in London from 1757 - 1775, serving as sort of a representative of the colonists to the British government. We all know that when he returned to Philadelphia, he had a significant role in the U.S. during the Revolution and as a founding father. The house was great to visit. They has a costumed actor-the daughter of Franklin's landlord-giving the tour and telling interesting personal and professional stories. He was, indeed, quite a man. Writer, printer, publishser, politician, statesman, inventor of the Franklin Stove and bifocal glasses. He also started the U.S. Postal system and conducted several scientific experiments with electricity. My friends in Arizona will be interested to know that Franklin even wrote the first paper on "Cooling by Evaporation" after an experiment conducted right here in Cambridge, England. Thanks, Ben, for our Evap Coolers!
The British Museum was huge...and free! Free is good! The highlight was seeing the Rosetta Stone - which is a huge chunk of stone, discovered by Napoleon's soldiers in Egypt in 1799. It contains an edict by Ptolemy V regarding the repeal of some taxes.It was written in two Egyptian languages (including heiroglyphics) and in Greek. By 1825 it had been translated and consequently allowed for the translation of many ancient Egyptian heiroglyphics that had previously been undecipherable.
After the museum, we walked down to the Covent Gardens neigborhood. Covent Gardens has a huge market square, street players and had a large Malaysian festival going on at the time. Ben Franklin held many meetings in the cafes of this neighborhood and it is also the setting for the play (and movie) "My Fair Lady" which is based on George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion" which itslef was inspired by Ovid's "Metamorphisis" (The rain in Spain falls mainly in the plain!)
It was a nice trip to London. We especially enjoy the train rides there and the "Underground" subway rides. The whole experience leads us to think "Toto, I don't think we are in Kansas any more." It's so different from home.
I've gone on long enough.
Cheers!
Todd
On London - Part 3
3 June 2007 at 11:18 a.m.
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arnoldfamily (Todd Arnold) says…
It hardly seems possible that June is here and we are nearly two-thirds finished with our sabbatical trip. We have just 11 days left here at Old Porch House in Haddenham in the Cambridge area before we head north to Yorkshire and the Lake District.
We've settled into a bit of a routine. School - which ends this week - in on Mon., Tues., Thurs. and Fri. mornings. Tuesday is my day at Westfield House (Lutheran Seminary in Cambridge)for tea with the staff and study time. Wed. is our big day out, Thursday is Market Day in Ely and shopping at the supermarket and Sunday is church and "visit Cambridge" day.
This past Wednesday we went to two National Trust properties, the first - a Tudor (1500's) mansion near King's Lynn in Norfolk and the second a Georgian (1700's) townhouse in Wisbech. Both had wonderful gardens and so much history. The Peckover faimly in Wisbech were a Quacker family who ran the Pecover Bank and were huge supporters of the Abolition of Slavery Movement in England in the late 1700's. They were the financial supporters of Thomas Clarkson of Wisbech who is featured along with William Wilberforce and John Newton in the Movie "Amazing Grace." (2007 is the 200th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in England in 1807.)
Friday we went to a Farmland Museum in nearby Waterbeach located at a former Abbey of the Knights Templar built in the 1100's. Saturday at the market square in Ely they had a special "French Market" and we spent the day alongside the River Great Ouse and walking around the city of Ely. (We found an indoor pool that we will probably go to on Monday after school.)
Today - Sunday - there was a baptism at church. One of my seminary professors, Dr. Robert Rosin from St. Louis, was there, also.(He will be teaching a 4-week course there at Westfield House. It's a small Lutheran World!)
After chruch we walked down to the city centre (that's how they spell it!) of Cambridge and took an open-top double-decker bus tour through the city. It was such a beautiful day and the trip was just marvelous.
In my studies of the life and work of C.S. Lewis, I am now reading the book "God in the Dock." I finished Lewis' "Pilgrim's Regress", an allegory of Lewis' spiritual journey from atheism to Christianity. I was inspired to write an allegorical story of my own which will be based on the common "all paths lead to God" post-modern notion that is so prevalent today. It's starting to take shape but I'm working on it in my spare time - I have a bit of that here for the first time in long time!
Till later - cheers!
Todd
On Time is Flying!
28 May 2007 at 9:52 p.m.
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arnoldfamily (Todd Arnold) says…
I noticed that it has been a week since I have written an update, so I will give you the highlights of the past several days. On Wednesday the 23rd, I turned 50 years old. I received a wonderful sweater purchased from the Edinburgh Woolen Mill shop (Kathy's favorite shop in Ely) and a Cambridge Universtity shirt. We celebrated by going north again to the North Sea shore in Norfolk. This time we went to the beach in Brancaster. The kids had a marvelous time. We ate lunch at a restaurant called The Ship. It had been in service since 1746! After lunch, we went to another fatastic manor called Houghton Hall near King's Lynn. The 5-acre walled garden was magnificent and included a croquet green. Nathan, Tim and I played a game while Kathy and Emily enjoyed the garden. What a memorable birthday celebration!
Thursday, we added a picnic and a walk along the River Great Ouse to our market day in Ely.
On Saturday, our friends from Manchester, Graham and Ann Jackson, came for a visit. They stayed in a bed and breakfast in a nearby village so we had all day. The highlight of our visit was a trip to the Mill where we had seen the Swan's nest. The eggs were now baby swans. We took, with the Jacksons, that wonderful hike through the thicket to St. Ives. The Jackson's will be our hosts when we visit the Lake District in a couple of weeks.
On Sunday, I preached the sermon "The Gospel - Clear and Powerful" for Pentecost Sunday at Resurrection Lutheran Church in Cambridge...my first outside of the U.S.A. A contingency was visiting from a Lutheran Seminary in Germany for a friendly "football" match with the seminarians from Westfield house, so the church was packed and had the feel of the first Pentecost day, with several languages represented. It was really an honor and a privilege.
Yesterday (Monday) we went to the Ely Museum to get some local history. We found out that the weekly outdoor market day that we have been going to has been going since 970 A.D. Isn't that amazing! There is so much history here: the Roman conquest in 1066, the Saxon invasions of the 12th century and on and on.
We have just over two weeks here before we move on...still so much to see...
On Now...Half a Century Old!
20 May 2007 at 1:12 p.m.
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arnoldfamily (Todd Arnold) says…
It's been 5 days since I last updated you and so much has happened. On Wednesday the 16th we went up north to Holt and boarded the North Norfolk Railway steam engine train for Weybourne. In Weybourne, we set out on foot, first to the Sheringham Park National Trust site. It featured a 360 degree view gazebo on top of a hill that had 113 steps up. The view of the North Sea coast and the Norfolk countryside was fabulous. From their we hiked the coastal footpath along cliffs above the North Sea to the next train station in Sheringham. What a wonderful walk. We then took the train back to Holt for the end of a great day.
Friday, the boys and I visited the village "bowling green" and watched a lawn bowling game of the Haddenham Bowls Club, which has been meeting for over 100 years! We arranged to learn how to play and "give it a go" (as they say here) next week, probably Friday.
On Saturday we used our family rail pass to head down to London for our second all-day trip there. After about 1 1/2 hours on the train (75 miles,) we arrived at the King's Cross station and took the underground to Westminster, where we toured the Westminster Abbey - the location of the coronation of every monarch since William the Conquerer (William I) in 1066! Awesome! Most of the Kings and Queens are buried there too! Kind of creepy! After that, we saw Buckingham Palace (Elizabeth II was too busy for tea!), the Royal Mews, Hyde Park, Harrod's department store and Kensington Gardens. Tried to get in to see Tony Blair at "10 Downing Street" but he was tied up, too, according to all the security people!
Today (Sunday) we went to church in Cambridge, then visted the Wimpole Hall and Farm. It was a great place and also featured, today, a reenactment of a skirmish from the Jacobean revolt (mid- 1700's) when the Scots(Rebels) and the English (Redcoats) went at it.
Tonight we watched the film "Miss Potter" with the Innes' (owners of the place we are staying - the Old Porch House) which was especially interesting for us since we will be seeing Beatrix Potter's house in the Lake District in a few weeks. (Beatrix Potter, by the way, is the author of the children's books featuring Peter Rabbit and Jemimah Puddle Duck.)
Tuesday I plan to spend some time at Westfield House - the seminary of the Ev. Lutheran Church of England - to prepare for the sermon I will preach at Resurrection Lutheran in Cambridge next Sunday, Pentecost Sunday.
Wednesday will be my 50th birthday!
Will update you again soon...
Todd
On The North Sea and London...again
15 May 2007 at 11:27 a.m.
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arnoldfamily (Todd Arnold) says…
It has rained quite a bit the last several days...this is more normal than the great weather we experienced the first three weeks here. But Sunday was the first day that our plans were altered by the inclement weather. We has planned to attend a local festival called "Blossoms and Bygones"...but it was just too wet. The event featured tractor-pulled wagons that take you through the village to local historical sites and gardens...but we couldn't make ourselves do it in the pouring rain. In any event, it was a still nice day. In the morning we went to a Church of England worship service at the Ely Cathedral. This magnificent 12th century structure is really incredible, considering the fact that Ely is not much larger than Payson population-wise. The liturgical service was not unfamiliar at all and we felt very much at home with the worship style. After church we got lunch at Three Kings - the Haddenham pub. In the evening, after the rain subsided, we went to a barbeque and gathering hosted by the owners of the Old Porch House - the house we are living in. It was a lot of fun and we got to visit with some of the locals.
On Monday afternoon, I went to the weekly lectionary lesson Bible study at Westfield House. The entire faculty and all the students attend. With me visiting, there we 15 in attendance. We did a complete exegetical study on Acts 2:1-21 which is the passage for Pentecost Sunday and also the one I will be preaching on on May 27. Needless to say, it was very helpful for me as sermon preparation.
On Tuesday, while Kathy and the kids did school, I went to Huntingdon (15 miles west) to re-visit the Oliver Cromwell Museum (Huntingdon is where he lived his first 30 years.) We went on April 20th, but I have since read a biography on Cromwell that I got at the library, so I wanted to return to see some of the documents of his "Protectorate" that I has read about. I am like everyone else here in England. I still can't figure out if he was a hero or a villian! In the afternoon we went back to the Wicken Fen - a wonderful nature preserve about six miles from here - for a long walk and ended up finishing the walk in the rain...
On Wednesday we're heading up north again. I'll tell you all about it next time. Till then...
Todd
On Rain, Rain, Go Away