17
Sep
2009
St Pauls Cathedral
St Paul’s Cathedral is certainly an icon of London. The images of the great dome standing above the smoke of WWII is certainly one that will live in our collective conscious for years to come. Officially the Cathedral Church of Paul the Apostle, the church is at least the 5th St Paul’s to sit on this site. The first according to Bede was built in 604 AD.
Crossing Over
This photo was taken from the pedestrian bridge that connects Bankside with the City of London. It’s taken at a very shallow depth of field in order to accomplish the dreamy feel of this image. The only thing in focus at all is the dome and the mass of humanity before it become little more than a blur. This church was built after the last was destroyed by the great fire in 1666. The fire leveled the city but remarkably took no human life. The fire shaped everything about the city we know today, built in stone to lower the risk of fire consuming it. The dome was a point of much debate. The architect, the renowned Sir Christopher Wren was determined that the new St Paul’s would have a dome like St. Peter’s in Rome. Several iterations of the design were rejected before Wren decided not to show any more models to the public for criticism. When it was completed in 1708, some loved it, some hated it, and others couldn’t care either way. Today it’s hard to imagine the sky line of the old city without it.
Old And New
Another view of St. Paul’s From Bankside. The view is much changed since WWII. The buildings adjacent to the Thames were destroyed in the war and newer generations of buildings have grown up between the River and the cathedral. And more recently, the millennium bridge was built as a pedestrian walkway to connect the City of London with Bankside on opposite sides of the River Thames. London as a city has never gotten stuck in a particular style. As a growing metropolis, new and exciting architecture is always fighting for space beside the classics. Much as the classics, these are sometimes met with mixed reactions. When the Millennium bridge was completed in 2000, there was a noticeable wobble and the bridge was closed, repaired and reopened in 2002. This led to its nickname The Wobbly Bridge.
Iconic St Paul's
Another black and white image of St. Paul’s. The depth of field and processing was intended to provide a little of the feel of the old images of St. Paul’s amidst the smoke from the Blitz of WWII.
To see more of London and Great Britain, please check out my Britain Prints Gallery.
15
Sep
2009
Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge (informally Cambridge University) is the second oldest university in the English speaking world. It was established in 1209 and consists of 31 colleges dotted around the landscape of modern Cambridge.
Kings From The Cam
The Backs is the view of the colleges from the River Cam. The chapel on the right is quintessential Cambridge. This Chapel is both the symbol of Kings and the logo of the city council of Cambridge. Although locally the college is simply referred to as Kings, this is King’s College of Our Lady and St. Nicholas in Cambridge. Established in 1441 by Henry VI, the gothic styled chapel took a hundred years to complete.
Kings
This is the street side view of Kings – you can really feel that gorgeous gothic style in this black and white print. The exterior height of the chapel is 94 feet tall and the interior ceiling contains the largest fan vaulting in the world.
Emma
This college is known as “Emma” locally – it is Emmanuel College. It was established in 1584 and intended to be a place of religious training for puritans. It’s scope has broadened over the years, but it had strong ties to the Puritans of New England. In fact, Harvard University was named for an alumni of Emma, John Harvard. The baroque building in the center is the chapel and was designed by the renowned English architect, Sir Christopher Wren in 1677. The care of the lawn here is apparent down to the little green garden tractor you’ll see waiting parked in front of the chapel!
This is only a taste of Cambridge. It would easily take days to document all the colleges never mind the rest of the architecture in this city. I hope I get the opportunity to some day. To see more of England and the UK, please check out my Britain Prints Gallery.
13
Sep
2009
Around Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is well known as the home of the University of Cambridge. The heritage of the area is ancient, having been the site of habitation since well into pre-history. It was occupied in Roman times as Duroliponte. In Saxon times, it was Grantebrycge. The name of the place continued to mutate through the ages, becoming Grentabrige or Cantebrigge with the river at the heart of it becoming known as the Granta. Eventually, the name became Cambridge, and just the part of the River in Cambridge became the River Cam. Even today, north of Cambridge, it’s still the River Granta.
Punting On The Cam
This photo was taken while punting on the River Cam. Punting is simply gliding on the River in a flat wooden boat while someone propels it with a long stick pushed against the river bottom. I say simply because it can be very amusing to watch an amateur try it and since boats can be rented without pilot, you can do this yourself. My London Walks group gladly allowed someone else to do the piloting. The views on the river are pretty gorgeous. As pretty as Cambridge is, there’s no doubt some of the best of the architecture is reserved for what they call The Backs. This view is most likely one of the many colleges that form Cambridge but I’m not sure which one. Loved the lone duck in this one. He had been attempting to solicit food from us.
Streets of Cambridge
This is another little slice of Cambridge, a fairly typical street view of this storied city. Gorgeous architecture from across the centuries. And a ubiquitous bicycle! Cambridge has the highest level of bicycle use in the UK, with over 25% of residents using a bicycle to commute. This photo for me really reflects what you’d gather of Cambridge from your average day trip.
Fields Of The Lost
Now, my fellow Americans can feel free to tell me if this was my personal ignorance or not, but I had never heard of the American Cemetery near Cambridge. One of our early stops, this is the place of burial for over 3,000 members of the American forces who died during WWII. There’s also a memorial wall with the names of the missing and a chapel. As most war memorials tend to be, it’s both a sobering and beautiful place with row upon row of white crosses in a park like setting.
For more prints from England and the rest of the UK, please visit my Britain Gallery.
10
Sep
2009
City of St Albans
St Albans has a long history connected to London. It was once a day’s ride from London, so became a major stop for the coach trade. Today at about a half hour by train, it’s become a charming bedroom community. But the history here is longer still, being the site of an ancient Roman town and the first Christian martyr from Britain.
St Albans Clock Tower
St Albans is home to the only remaining 15th century clock towers in England. This tower was apparently something of a snub to the nearby monastery clock tower also visible from the town. The locals were basically saying we run our own lives here. It was nearly demolished in the 18th century but was saved and restored and stands today as a museum in the center of town.
St Albans Abbey
This is known as the Abbey to the locals, although it’s actually in current times a cathedral of the Anglican church. There have been a succession of buildings in this general area dedicated to St Alban. The original roman town was in fact relocated to be nearer this place because of its heritage as the site of the death of St Alban. He was martyred in this area sometime before 324 AD and became the first Christian martyr in Briain. For years this was a site of pilgrimage, hence the relocation of the village to be nearer the visitors (and their trade). The tower at the rear of this picture is what remains of the original Norman structure from 1077. The rest is romanticized Gothic from a 19th century restoration. The wealthy benefactor fancied himself an architect and chose the style of the restoration, apparently not in keeping with what had been there. This shot includes an interesting atmospheric anomaly. As you can tell by the light on the church, the sun was behind me, but there was some sort of reflection/diffraction of light in the cloudy sky, so truly a unique photo of this old church!
For more photo prints of Britain, please check out my British prints gallery.
8
Sep
2009
Villages and Towns of Southern England
There’s a special charm to the small villages I’ve seen in southern England, centuries of history, often with one or two grand old building but otherwise fairly simple places.
Church of St Cyriac
More often than not, the village’s church is one of the grander buildings. In the small village of Lacock in Wiltshire, their Church of St. Cyriac was very picturesque. Granted the whole village is lovely – and because of its vintage charm often used in period movies/serials like Pride and Prejudice. Although there has been a church here at least since Norman times, the present one was built in the 15th century when times were prosperous due to the wool and cloth trade.
St Johns Church Glastonbury
Another grand church also from the 15th century is St Johns Church in Glastonbury. Glastonbury is a bit bigger and is well known because of the annual Glastonbury music festival. The towns shops reflect a lot of this free spirit but like any old English town, it has a long history. Archaeology shows that there’s been a church on this site since at least the 9th century. The current church, though, is most impressive and imposing!
Dark Tor
I hinted a bit at the history of this place, not unlike many places in this part of the country, there are many legends about this place, chiefly of Arthur. Some believe that this Tor, which once rose out of a marshy land long since drained, is fabled Avalon. The gorgeous old tower in this shot, however, is much more modern. It’s all that remains of a 14th century church that once stood here. It was destroyed during the dissolution of the monastic system in 1539 and the tower was restored in modern times. It’s a bit of a climb through pastures, but on a paved path and affords a wonderful view of the town. The darkness of this shot definitely feels like something from a legend or tale.
For more prints of Britain, please check out my Britain Gallery.
