The Moments You Remember

Some of you may have noticed some new photographs streaming in lately. If you’ve been patiently awaiting some explication of these photos, here it is. They were taken during a trip J and I made with my parents from London to Yorkshire to the Cotswolds to Oxford and back at the beginning of May. We had a wonderful time together and saw many impressive and beautiful sights along the way, which were even more glorious to behold during a ten-day stretch of clear, sunny days without a single spot of rain. One does not take this for granted in England.

However, I promise to refrain from giving a play by play of our adventures in England. Instead I thought I’d try to pick out some of those moments or images that my memory is likely to single out for preservation. There was a time when I deliberately avoided taking too many photographs, because I thought it would interfere with my ability to appreciate the moment fully. I’m far less rigid on this point now, since I’ve come to realize how quickly the stunning details of an experience fade in the mind’s eye. But there are those experiences and snapshots that remain clear and evocative years later, and I thought I’d try to describe a few of the ones that I believe fall into that category.

Days 1 and 2: York, Yorkshire Dales

1-Private Evensong in the Crypt of York Minster 

We began a tour of the Undercroft, Treasury and Crypt of York Minster just before Evensong. I will always remember the joy of exploring the layers of history that made up the foundations of the Minster while listening to the beautiful singing just overhead. The accoustics of the Undercroft and Crypt seemed to amplify the voices of the singers, particularly the high voices of the boys, over the sounds of the powerful organ, and it was soul-piercingly beautiful. My mother and I sat in silence for twenty minues in the crypt, just in front of one of the old Norman pillars of the cathedral, appreciating the sacred beauty of the moment.

2-The Moors, the sheep and the Australian Shepherds at Goathland

We took a charming old steam train through the North York Moors and eventually stopped off at a small town called Goathland (though I almost hate to mention it, apparently this was a station used during the filming of Harry Potter). We ambled down the road past pastures of black-faced sheep, looking out over the dales. Whenever we passed a local with a dog, it was without fail an Australian Shepherd. This was true sheep country. Since my parents have had a couple of sweet Australian Shepherds and J and I have thought about adopting one, it was fun to encounter so many of them and even to find them enshrined in one of the local church’s stained glass windows.

3-Bumping along the back roads of Yorkshire in a double-decker bus

We were on our way back from Pickering after our steam train experience, and it just seemed inviting to climb to the top level of the bus, which afforded good views of fields of cows and sheep and a chance to peek behind those notorious English hedges. As we were jostled along at surprisingly high speeds along a narrow road that was not the least bit smooth, I felt that at any moment inertia might get the better of us all. I thought I might lose my lunch, but it was pretty unforgettable.

Days 3 through 5: The Cotswolds (an area in Oxfordshire peppered with well-preserved medieval villages that reached their height during the fifteenth-century wool boom)

1-Staying at the Lamb Inn in Burford

The Lamb was such a charming, atmospheric inn, its original building dating from the fifteenth century. We may have had the smallest room in the inn, but it was also in the oldest part of the inn, which pleased us immensely. For a couple of history nerds, there’s just nothing like lounging about in bed or taking a shower while admiring the intricacies of the late medieval wood beams supporting your ceiling. The lounge and pub (with its flagstone bar) were also lovely, and Burford’s high street, lined with late-medieval buildings built from the honey-colored stone of the Cotswolds, was the perfect setting for an evening stroll.

2-Exploring the church at Northleach (one of the most impressive in the Cotswolds)

Of course, I was immediately impressed by the age and humble beauty of this church, built during the wool-boom of the fifteenth century. There were so many details to appreciate and explore, like the fifteenth-century brass memorials set into the floor, depicting the merchant benefactors of the church with sheep at their feet, a pre-Reformation pulpit in the shape of a goblet, and the contrast between the flat wooden roof of the Nave and the vaulted ceiling of the older Chancel. Yet what really enhanced the experience of exploring those details was the intimate feel of the church, lovingly preserved as a place of worship by the people of the parish. We even had a brief conversation with a local man of the church in his 80s, who had volunteered to show visitors around. He happily told us some stories from his experiences in the church and pointed out the acoustic advantage of the concave pillars in the Nave.  Depending on where one chose to sit on a given Sunday, the minister’s voice either would be distinct and clear or quiet and distant–ideal for dozing, he noted wryly.

Days 5 and 6-Oxford

1-Football on Christ Church Meadows

No, I didn’t play. And I don’t have a picture for you. But our first encounter with Christ Church College was standing outside its walls, looking out across the green meadows towards the Thames and watching students engaged in a game of football–English football, mind you. It was a quintessential Oxford moment.

2-Books!

We wandered into Blackwells bookshop (the main university bookshop with miles of books), and I’m sure we could have browsed for hours. There were so many affordable books. But we limited ourselves to an hour in the secondhand section on the third floor. I came away with a pretty, older edition of The Hobbit, and J came away with a handful of intriguing history books. Later on, J stopped into a small secondhand bookstore across from Christ Church College and picked us up a beautiful first edition of C.S. Lewis’s Surprised By Joy, the perfect memento of our time on Lewis’s old turf.

I suppose now that I’ve now committed these memories to writing, they’ve taken on a different character. Still, I hope they give you an idea of some of the moments that made a lasting impression. In the next day or so, J may comment on some of the things that stood out to him, so you’ll have the chance to see our journey through the eyes of another beholder, perhaps one who is a bit less prone to nostalgia.

-HDE