First Walk To Glass Centre and Back

It is now day 3 in Sunderland and I’m beginning to feel at home! Yesterday I felt very nervous and one heck of a time trying to connect securely to WIFI. But by the end of the day all the problems had been solved.

On Sunday I walked in the lovely sunshine to the National Glass Centre and sat in the sun outside the cafe and ate chocolate cake. 18ºC! It takes about 30 minutes from the residences at a leisurely pace, so I shall be keeping up my walking. Plus I have several flights of stairs to my room on the 3rd floor (4th in Canada) which will do me good. I share the flat with 4 others – two of whom I’ve met. I usually have the kitchen to myself when cooking which is fine. Its tidy.

Today we had our first class of Critical and Professional Contexts in Contemporary Art and Design with Dr Alex Moschovi and Gary Powers. The MA Ceramics & Glass, Photography and Fine Arts students altogether. It was a lively seminar discussion group on the subject of the word ‘modern’. Our first writing homework was set!!

So here are a few photos from my walks. A heavy fog descended yesterday midday – beautiful. Sunderland is an interesting mix of modern and old architecture, run down and clean streets. A photo essay must happen soon.

View from the riverside near my flat. I cross the bridge to walk on the other side.

View of the River Wear and the docks in the background.

The Tom Cowie Campus of the University of Sunderland on the left.

A riverside metal sculpture. All along the river walks are maps and commerative placques in honour of the once thriving ship building industry.

I watched the creation of this glass pumkin at the glass centre. There are demos all the time for the public.

The architecture on the corner of the National Glass Centre

My cosy bed/sofa. Very comfy.

The thick fog of yesterday…

…continued

 

Lyme Regis Adventure

After a week of settling in here at brother Kevin’s, plus shopping for university essentials, we travelled to Lyme Regis in Dorset for a weekend at Belmont House. This wonderful Georgian house is owned by the Landmark Trust and is available for holiday rentals. It has been restored to its original state, but with the addition of wonderful modern plumbing and cooking facilities. I joined brother Kevin and wife Fiona, friends Jenni, Horst, Jenny and Jane for a delightful weekend of walks and company.

Belmont house was at one time owned by a ‘Mrs’ Eleanor Coade who pioneered the development and use of Coade Stone, a mixture of clay, flint and glass that was harder than stone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coade_stone It was used extensively to create sculptures and architectural detailing from the 1760s to the 1840s.

Lyme Regis and the surrounding coastline is renowned for its fossils. Jenny and Jane signed up for a guided fossil tour along the beach while the rest of us meandered our way toward Charmouth looking casually for fossils. It was a really hot day – not conducive to walking up steep hills, but we managed anyway. The following photos are from the Belmont House, Lyme Regis seafront, and our walk.

The Belmont dining room

coade stone detail

coade stone detail

coade stone detail

coade stone detail

coade stone detail

We walked to the first distant peak

Lyme Regis

Lyme Regis sea gull and ammonite lamps

the harbour and cobb where Captain Wentworth caught Louisa Musgrove in Jane Austen’s novel ‘Persuasion’

when the tide goes out the boats really lean over!

fishing nets on the cobb

Kevin and me on the cobb

Charmouth

Golden Cap where Kev and I stayed with the family in 1968

Walking down into Charmouth

my fossil finds apart from the two million year old tree given to me by Jane