Dipet Update

Following in Tolkien’s Footsteps

On Saturday we toured the Sarehole Mill and its surrounding area.  Although the weather was cool and wet, we wandered around. Tolkien lived here between the age of 4-8 and apparently had the most vivid memories of the area. He wrote that he used these memories as inspiration for various sections of his famous novels, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The Moseley Bog was particularly interesting, with lots of holly and ivy but also a bubbly brook (and I mean that quite literally), and some intriguing trees and a lost little wall in the middle of the wooded bog. Tolkien apparently said that the Moseley Bog and the forest that surrounded it was his inspiration for the forest around Tom Bombadil’s house.

Here is the Sarehole Mill. It was operational until early this century, when electricity and the internal combustion engine made it uncompetitive.

There was a European Robin flying about inside trying to get out by flying through windows. Pete was able to catch it and release it outdoors.

There were some very interesting windows inside that make for dramatic photography.

The roof tiles you can see in the pictures through the window are made of fired clay and are held on to this strapping by gravity.

Here is the mill pond. It rained off and on all day. Quite dreary, but definitely made it an authentic English experience. It reminds us of the Wet Coast.

These are some images from Moseley Bog. You can understand how this might fuel the imagination of a young child.

In some places the logs had been purposely carved with chainsaws to look like mythical creatures.

Here we are, dripping wet, but still in good spirits.

Diana

Doors of Brum

There are lots of beautiful doors and gates here. For some reason they often have doorknobs closer to the centre of the door than the outside edge.

The jewellery shops have a bit of an odd practice. They keep their doors locked even when the shop is open and you have to knock to be allowed in.This is especially the case when there’s only one person in the shop, but some larger shops follow the same practice.

This is an elaborate gate into a courtyard. Most of the courtyards in the area have been converted into parking lots.

See! A doorknob in the middle of the door. We’re not sure why.

And another.

This semi-organic geometric pattern is quite interesting.

And an old lock. There are a few of these hanging about as well.

St.Paul’s Square

I work on St.Paul’s Square, a seven or eight minute walk from our flat.

St.Paul’s Anglican Church is one of the oldest churches in Birmingham. It’s doing a long slow fade, with attendance down to less than 50 people per day over two services.

It has a gorgeous old steeple that we can just see from the living room window of our flat.

Apparently during World War 2 a couple of bombs landed on the west side of the square and blew out all the windows in the church except this one. This window has a mural painted on the inside of it. During the war the window was sandbagged from top to bottom, which saved it from being damage.

The square itself is a beautiful place to be. There are groomed lawns and tree-lined walkways. During the noon-hour there are scores of people relaxing on the benches or on the grass.

Pete

Bits of Brum

Being somewhat stranded in the Jewellery Quarter near the centre of Birmingham, we’re inevitably learning the history of the area. Birmingham is known locally as Brum, and the locals are called Brummies.

This year is the centenary of one of the founders of the city–Matthew Boulton. There are several historical buildings run as museums through the city council as tokens of what this man and his family and friends gave to the city. This month there is a special show in the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery celebrating Matthew Boulton–table ware metal work was his specialty.  The kids and I went through the show this week–no photography allowed though so I can’t share the gems found there.

Walking the city we’ve come across some little bits and bites that caught our attention that we could photograph.  Here are just a few.

Diana

Keele Hall

In search of more people interactions we invited ourselves to the home of the Drijfhout family, who attend the Solihull Presbyterian Church we attend. Originally from the Netherlands, the family moved here about 5 years ago when Falko was hired as a chemist and lecturer at Keele University. The Drijfhout family home is on the campus. On the Saturday we visited with them there were some free organized tours of several areas of the campus including Keele Hall, the adjoining lakes (ponds), and some other locations. With these tours there was a free lunch at the chapel as well as a BBQ at the student hangout for dinner. We joined others on the tour of Keele Hall which is a beautiful old mansion originating from the 1500s and restored in the 1800s. Think Jane Austin splendour.

Between meals we played ‘football’ and volleyball. With four adults and four children we had some pretty good games.

Here are some photos I took with comments from Pete.

Here’s the facade of Keele Hall. It’s made of a local sandstone that has a bit of clay in it, giving it a unique pink cast.

This is a bust of Princess Margaret. Apparently she’s the patron of the university or something like that. Anyway, she visited once, and so they gave her a permanent place in the Hall.

There were lots of beautiful carvings around in wood and stone. All of this was done by hand.

Several of the rooms have ceilings constructed with gold leaf. As you can see, a pretty pricey place for what was originally a private residence.

One of the rooms was being set up for a wedding. This was on top of the cake. I’m not sure what this says about the future of this marriage. All in good fun, I’m sure!

More carved stone. Can you say “ostentatious”?

There were rhododendrons blooming everywhere in all sorts of colours. It made for a beautiful walk.

Here are the kids taking a break on the lawns. Lovely weather, as you can tell.

Diana

In Search of Green Space

We’re living in a section of the city centre of Birmingham called the Jewellery Quarter. It literally is stocked full of jewellery shops and factories all willing to give you pounds for your gold. This area boasts two old cemeteries and a church square around St. Paul’s. We find this green space somewhat limiting; you can only run around and play so much in an old cemetery. So we regularly use our Saturdays to find green space. One Saturday we spent a day at the Birmingham Nature Centre, a small zoo. Wallabies, lemurs, peacocks, lizards, turtles, were a few of the favourites.

I think the photos will speak for themselves here.

This peacock was outfitted in full regalia. The hilarious thing was that he was coming on to the turkeys in the pen, and they couldn’t have cared less.

Here’s what the peacock doesn’t want you to know. The white fuzzies are his real tail.

This wallaby was carrying around a joey that was half her size. Quite the load to bear.

This grey crane had the most beautiful tail feathers.

The kids were pretty impressed with the lemurs.

As you can see from this smiling face.

Meerkats are cute, no matter where you find them.

Four unsupervised children by the water that can be a hazard. Where are their parents? What is this world coming to?

Our girls have the greatest smiles.

And the greatest faces.

Diana

No More Chocolate Please

We joined two families from the Solihull Presbyterian Church we’ve been attending at the Cadbury Chocolate Factory last week Tuesday. There was a total of nine children all roughly the same age as our own. This interaction with other kids was really great for our kids.

The tour begins with each person receiving two chocolate bars. Mmmm, yummy. We saw some processing but mostly it was a name branding show. There was some material about the history of the area and about the family who started the chocolate company and built a fair bit or the town up to what it is now.

Photography wasn’t allowed, unfortunately, so we couldn’t capture some of the more spectacular moments of the trip. The kids really loved the little car track where we toured a miniature chocolate village through all kinds of seasons and landscapes. Think tot roller coaster ride idea.

Throughout the tour there was more chocolate handed out.  And at the end of the tour we had more chocolate–this time it was melted and we could chose our own treats to be added–cookie bits, wine gums, rice crispies, gummy bears etc.  We were chocolated out by the end–but I couldn’t skip out on the bargain chocolate treats in the gift shop and came home with at least a few weeks of chocolate. 

The kids were very excited to see a playground to play on (the first we’ve seen so far) and went racing for it before we headed back home.  Unfortunately Jonathan fell off almost immediately and we were really scared that he had a broken right arm at the elbow (he broke his left arm in June of 2007).  Thankfully his arm was feeling better by the time we got through the train system back to our flat. It bothered him for a few days, but he’s been fine for all of this week.Other than Jonathan’s incident with the monkey bars, the kids had a wonderful time and I am definitely stocked up in the chocolate department.

Here’s the whole group of us, thanks to a friendly Brit who took a photo for us. Joining us were an American family from Michigan on the left and a Dutch family in the middle.

Diana

Escape Out of the City

We made a trek out to Bristol to visit friends Dave and Elsie Beldman and their three children this past weekend. The kids had a wonderful time playing with other children (which are rather scarce in our part of the city) and their toys of course. “And they have a backyard, Mom.” As parents, we caught up on family, friends, and future hopes and plans.

The train ride there and back allowed us the chance to view the country side and spring blooms (also scarce in the city).

We made a visit to a beach in Weston-Super-Mare on Monday where the kids could run for miles (if they wanted to), play in the tidal sands, and laugh and play, as all children need to.

There were people offering donkey rides on the beach. Being Dutch, we didn’t inquire about the price and our kids knew better than to ask. Seeing the donkeys made us have second thoughts about playing in the sand.

Emma enjoyed the sand and the space freed up by the tide. All the tiny bumps in the sand are worm castings. Worms eat the sand, digest any organic material, and defecate the clean sand.

Some of the worms are more romantic than others.

Hannah found a playmate. They got along famously.

Here’s our troupe on our way back to the train station. We missed the first train by about 30 seconds and had to wait for half an hour for the next one.

Pete figured out a way to return by train directly into the Jewellery Quarter and we both felt that it was rather like returning from Narnia. Back in the city again.

Cheers,
Diana

This One’s For Eddie

One of the pleasures of going to England has been the opportunity to get together with some online acquaintances that I probably wouldn’t have met with face to face otherwise. Today I met with one of these acquaintances who I’ve read and corresponded with online off and on for a number of years. It was a real pleasure to put a face to a name and get to know Alastair a little better.

Before we left home, I went out for coffee with some friends of mine. One of them asked me to get a picture with a British bobby while in England.

As I was walking around with Alastair, I mentioned to him that every time I saw a bobby, I felt guilty because I remembered the request. Alastair said that he had a camera, and offered to take a picture of me. So off we went and asked. The police officer was very gracious, even offering to allow me to wear his hat.

So, Eddie, here are the pictures. And thanks, Alastair. Now I don’t have to feel guilty for the rest of the trip.

Walking the Streets

While Pete figures out the ins and outs of doing business British style, the kids and I are busy walking the streets in our neighbourhood. Within 30 minute walks there are several attractions to visit. We’ve visited the local free museums which include The Jewellery Museum, The Pen Museum, and the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.

The Jewellery Museum was very interesting. In 1981 the people running the Smith Jewellery business decided that the recession was too much for them and they closed and locked the doors and left everything as it was. You’d think there’d be enough modernization in the business of jewellery making by then, but apparently they were too cheap to modernize, and it all looked pretty antique. A very fascinating tour takes about an hour and is filled with interesting facts about the jewellery trade. Very fitting, since we are living smack in the middle of what is known as the Jewellery Quarter.

These stamps were used to create jewellery popular during WW2. Soldiers would give them as gifts to loved ones because swallows always returned.

The Pen Museum was literally full of pen nibs. Apparently Birmingham (or Brum, as the locals call it) was the centre of manufacturing for the pen industry before prior to the ball-point pen. When the ball-point pen came out, of course this local industry went downhill.

I had no idea there were so many different kinds of nibs. But then again, I only used ball-point pens for my schooling years–and what a relief. The mess the kids made of their papers and clothing was enough for me at one sitting, never mind every day. There were a few too many items and displays in one place for me but the kids each were able to use the machines to cut, emboss, slit, curve, and slice their very own pen nibs, which made the museum a hit for them. There was a scavenger hunt to find different aspects of pen industry history which the kids really enjoyed as well.

The BMAG (Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery) was amazing! I have to admit I haven’t been to too many museums and none lately. There were items there from, it seemed, all times and places. It was just incredible to see items from the 1st century. It’s hard to believe the preservation of things that old when we can hardly maintain things from our own times. Although there were definitely replicas there were also authentic items and it put me in awe of the things that people of all times and places have made and done.

This Grecian urn reminded us of recent art lessons at our home school co-op.

The kids were especially fascinated by this mummified crocodile.

The National Sea Life Centre is the favourite attraction for the kids.

Jonathan appeared to be a little concerned every time this ray swam by.

This hands-on exhibit was a hit. One of the staff members pulled crabs, starfish, and sea anemones out of the touch pool for the kids to look at and touch.

Since we had to pay to get into this exhibit we decided to get a year pass. We’ve been twice already. Yesterday, the kids and I brought our sketch books and had a great time trying to draw some of the fish we saw.  There were some frustrating moments as the kids adjusted to the idea that the fish just wouldn’t sit still–who’s heard of fish sitting still anyway!  I personally believe that the kids’ drawings are superior to my own since they seem to draw with abandon while my drawings look rather stiff in comparison. Maybe I’ll get around to posting some of their drawings some time next week.

Cheers,
Diana