We had another refreshing night’s sleep; the bed was so comfy. To manage my breakfast portion sizes, I chose a few selected items from the full English breakfast.

After breakfast we relaxed in our room before it was time to visit friends (Wiggia and Mrs W). As we left the carpark, we got a bit confused by the one-way system around the Assembly Hall, our SatNav which is normally reliable was just as confused as we were. Perhaps we shouldn’t have had those few minutes in our room after all! Eventually we were on our way, arriving at our destination a short time later.

It was lovely to see them both for a chat and catch up. We were treated to delicious scones and cakes followed by a tour of their lovely garden with its amazing view looking over the countryside. As we were leaving Mrs W presented Mr C with a card and present for his birthday.

Back at the billet we couldn’t find a parking space in the hotel car park so we tried the other nearby car park where there were spaces. Mr C didn’t want to pay the price, we had already paid to stay the Assembly House car park at a discounted rate. We returned to the Assembly House to find one lonesome parking space waiting for us.

It was time to chill out in our room some more before heading to Norwich castle, stopping along the way for a refreshing drink in the same café as the previous day. The castle has only recently re-opened after five years of extensive renovations to make the castle and museum collections more accessible to visitors. We visited the Boadicea and antiquities collections first followed by the Norfolk Regiment’s  regimental displays. Our next priority was the Castle Keep with its related collections and roof top view. I was impressed with the way the castle and museum collections are presented. We didn’t have time to see everything, even though we left just a few minutes before closing. Hopefully we will get the opportunity to return soon to see what we missed and re-visit some things that we enjoyed most.

With time to spare we returned to the Murderer’s Arms for a glass of wine (for me) and beer for Mr C which we enjoyed in the afternoon sunshine before returning to the Assembly House. Back in our room we chilled out some more before it was time to dine in the nearby Paolo’s Italian restaurant. The food, service and ambience were perfect. The sun was shining and as I looked out towards the market square and church, I almost felt I was sitting outside in continental Europe.

The Murderer’s Arms called us for one last drink; the next day we were leaving the Assembly House for Windsor and the Sir Christopher Wren.

All too soon our holiday had come to an end and it was time to return home. As we we were checking out of the hotel I couldn’t resist photographing the two permanent residents in their cosy home underneath the hotel reception desk.

We were in no rush to get home, allowing us to choose one last adventure. We decided to visit Berkeley Castle, which has some fascinating exhibits within its walls. On our way to the castle we heard singing as we walked past St Mary the Virgins’ Church. Later in the day, after lunch, we visited the church which has a lovely interior interesting historical features.

Before visiting the church we visited the castle’s butterfly house briefly (it was so hot and humid), where a butterfly took a fancy to me and almost landed on my head. I flinched (oops) and it fluttered on by…

We also visited Dr Jenner’s House and Museum which is next to the castle. Dr Jenner was the pioneer of vaccination against smallpox leading to its eradication.

Once we had finished exploring we headed home in glorious sunshine, stopping off to pick up some tasty ingredients to enjoy fine dining (at home) later in the day.

After two days of travelling, we decided to give the car a rest. In the morning we walked around Sherborne looking at its interesting architecture along the way. We visited the Abbey, which is a fabulous building. As we entered we were warmly welcomed by one of the Abbey greeters, she was very knowledgeable and informative. After our visit Mr C was drawn into a second hand bookshop where we also enjoyed a cup of tea.

Next we visited the museum and a cook shop before enjoying lunch in Oliver’s Coffee House.

After lunch we walked to Sherborne New Castle taking in Paddock Gardens along the way. It was an unusual and slightly strange experience walking to, rather than driving to, a stately home. As we arrived it started to drizzle so we decided to visit the house first. This was a good call because by the time we had finished the tour of the house we emerged into brilliant sunshine allowing us to enjoy our walk around the estate.

We chilled out in the hotel before dining in ‘The Green’. The food was delicious and the staff were polite and friendly. Once again we stopped of at The Half Moon before returning to the hotel.

After breakfast we called into Waterstones so that Mr C could pick up the latest book in a series that he is reading. After that he had to join a work teleconference for an hour or so. Whilst he was doing this I walked around Chichester photographing things I had seen whilst we were sussing out restaurants.

We met at Cloisters Cafe before heading to the Cathedral, only to find that a university graduation ceremony was about to start. We decided to visit the Cathedral later in the day and headed, instead to the Novium, which is a museum that houses the remains of Roman Baths and artefacts as well as a display on smuggling. There was also a temporary exhibition (on tour from the V&A) about the history of board games. As a board gaming lady I found the display interesting and nostalgic with games old and new.

Lunch was in the Chichester Cafe which is one of a few run by the Real Eating Company. The food they serve is nice and fresh and a little different. I opted for a hummus, beetroot and mozzarella toastie with salad leaves, beetroot and carrot; it was delicious.

After lunch we headed to the Pallant House Gallery where two birds looking like dodos sit atop pillars to the main entrance. They are in fact ostriches, which are from the crest of the Peckhams for whom the house was originally built. Pallant House is home to a collection of modern British art. The gallery also has a programme of temporary exhibitions, the current one being ‘Virginia Woolf: an exhibition inspired by her writings’. It would be fair to say that I enjoyed the gallery more that Mr C did.

Following our visit to the gallery we sat outside a small cafe, soaking up the rays with a glass of wine before returning to the Cathedral. We enjoyed the Cathedral and it had some interesting art. As we arrived one of the stewards mentioned to us a piece of modern art that was currently being displayed in the Cathedral. When I picked up the leaflet to find out what it was supposed to be I noticed that there were other pieces of art both inside and outside the Cathedral. I had seen the artwork that was outside earlier in the day and had mistaken one for a billboard frame and the other as being something to do with the roof renovations.

We relaxed in our room before dining in the Jetty in the Harbour Hotel. I chose Haddock and Chips which was delicious. Before returning to the B&B we went to a nearby pub called The Park, which was bustling with people, although most of them were outside due to the glorious weather.

A 28 year old man, Lucius Duccius Rufinus, from Viennes in France died in Eboracum after a career as the standard bearer for the Ninth Legion. The soldier carrying the standard of the legion would have been a central target for the enemy.*

The army had its own specialist craftsmen. Tilers made floor and roof tiles stamped with the legion’s name and number. This one was fired in the legionary tilery next to the River Foss. Marked with LEG IX it was made by the Ninth Legion.*

Greek-inspired patterns and the spirits of the seasons decorated the floor of a large Eboracum residence. Although many other mosaics were discovered on the floors of this grand house, only this one survives.*

Even in small towns such as Catterick in North Yorkshire, influential artists and craftsmen provide the latest wall designs for their homes.*

* Information from sign boards next to the exhibits

On my first visit to the Mary Rose in in September 2014 she was behind perspex as she was being dried out as part of the final stages of work undertaken to preserve her. The view of her was to some extent obscured by the tubes that were in place to dry her out.

When I heard that the drying process was complete and that the Mary Rose was now completely unwrapped I knrw I had to visit again. It was lovely to see the full view of what remains of her without screens and drying pipes obscuring the view. The exhibition blew me away. The ship is alternately illuminated to reveal the ship and then darkened to show living displays to various areas that bring ship to life. On arrival at the top level of the exhibition we found that the view of the ship was completely open without even the Perspex.

You can learn more about the ship and the museum here.

One of the Vindolanda museum articles was a small fragment of a clock/calendar device. I found it fascinating.

This bronze fragment was found during excavations between the east granary and the principia (headquarters building) in 2008.

On it can see written SEPTEMBER, K(alendae), N(onae), ID(us), and AE (quinoctium). These letters clearly indicate that it was part of a timekeeping device or calendar. The ides were the first day of the month, the nones of September fell on the fifth, and the ides of September occurred on the thirteenth and the autumn equinox was on or near the twenty-third.

When complete the calendar would have been a circular disc about 30cms in diameter. Every two days a peg (not found) would have been moved into the next hole, indicating the correct date.

The exact nature of the particular device, of which this fragment was a part, is unclear. Cicero wrote a personal calendar into which a peg was inserted to mark the date (Att. 5.14.1,, 15.1). This fragment may have been part of a similar calendar, however the Roman architect and engineer Vitruvius (De arch. X8.8-15) wrote about a much more complicated device which was meant to measure varying of day and night-time hours throughout the year, the so-called anaphoric water clock (Latin: horologium hibernum) and an alternative theory is that this fragment could have been part of a similar mechanism. This is one of only three ancient portable calendars ever found, joining a Celtic one engraved on a bronze tablet unearthing in Coligny, France in 1897, and a Roman bronze menologium (register of months) from a well at the site of le Cagnot at Grand, France, in 1886.

The Vindolanda calendar is however unique and the first object of its type to come from Roman Britain. Whatever the original instrument looked like, this small piece give us an insight into the means by which life on the frontier was structured and the importance of remaining synchronised with the outside world.*

*From a signboard next to the clock fragment

Vulcan XH558 is reaching the end of her flying days and over the weekend she flew a couple of farewell fly past tours. I was able to stand on a grassy mound at Cosford in order to watch her fly by.

We heard her before we saw her because her approach was obscured by the Cold War Hangar. All of a sudden she popped out round the side of the building, tilted her wings towards the crowd and was gone…

Cosford was heaving so we went into one of the hangars to wait for the queues of traffic exiting the site to die down. We visited an art gallery which we were pleasantly suprised to find was exhibiting a different display than usual. It was an exhibition of art commemorating WWI so all the paintings were of WWI aircraft. We spent some time enjoying the paintings, of which there were several that I would happily hang on the walls in my home. By the time we had finished viewing them the traffic had eased and we were able to make our way home.

These photos are from a previous visit to Cosford when Vulcan XH558 treated us to an aerial display before heading off into the distance.

The weather was perfect for a visit to Cosford to watch Vulcan XH558 on one of its farewell flights. We allowed plenty of time to get to Cosford because I had a feeling the car parks would be fairly full. We had to queue to get in and cars were being squeezed onto every available grassy verge. The Vulcan’s pilot treated us to a spectacular ten minute air display where he banked sharply, climbed steeply and  impressed us with the noise of the Vulcan’s after burners. It was a treat to watch the world’s last flying Vulcan in one of its final flights.

After the flypast we decided to to go inside the hangars for a while until the queue of cars trying to leave the RAF museum calmed down. As I was looking at the WW1 aeroplane display, I heard one of the curators say that they hadn’t been expecting quite so many people and that the gates had had to be closed. When we went inside for a drink in the Refuel Restaurant we noticed it had run out of food. The visit wouldn’t have been complete if we hadn’t gone to see the Cosford Museum Vulcan in the Cold War Hangar; the Vulcan is a magnificent machine.

The Avro Vulcan is an iconic example of British aerospace engineering at its world-beating best. Its impressive list of technical achievements includes being the first successful large delta wing aircraft, leading directly to Concorde and the Space Shuttle, and delivering performance and agility so close to a jet fighter’s that it was given a fighter-style control column in place of the traditional bomber pilot’s yoke. Today that agility allows XH558 to deliver amazing air displays, which unfortunately must finish this year as her time as a flying aircraft draws to an end.

But XH558 is not just for the pleasure of seeing her giant delta profile appear low over the trees and pull up near vertically as she climbs high into the sky. She is an iconic example of that remarkable period of intense post-war innovation that made British aviation technology the envy of the world. As the many displays at her hangar demonstrate, this allowed her to play a fascinating role in keeping the peace during the Cold War, a period of terrifying global tension. It’s a truly remarkable story.

It is my turn at Vision & Verb and today I am talking about the Swiss Transport Museum. I invite you to join me there.