RAF Croughton vs Brackley Town FC Soccer game

Yesterday a bunch of soccer players from RAF Crougton got together and played the first team from Brackley Town Football Club. The team plays in the Southern League - Western Division where they currently lay 4th of 20. Their current record this season is 4W - 2D- 2L and they exited the FA Cup in the First Qualifying Round.

I started the game at Left Back and did pretty well until I hurt my knee on a tackle in the 2nd half. The first half didn't go to plan as we were ineffective and trailed 6-0 at the half. We regrouped in the locker room (where we finally had time to talk and work on a strategy as a team). We came out in the second half and played much stronger...(plus, I'm sure, they took it a bit easier...though it was hard to tell since there were hard tackles and playing all over the field)...and were able to play them evenly for the second 45. The game ended 7-1.

Blenheim Palace & The Great British Cheese Festival

This past Saturday we went to Blenheim Palace. Blenheim Palace was built for and given to the First Duke of Marlborough for his services for England in the Battle of Blindheim (Blenheim) on the banks of the Danube on 13-Aug-1704.

Between 1796-1798, Robert Southey commemorated the battle by writing the poem "The Battle of Blenheim."

Before we even came to England I had seen that Blenheim was hosting the Great British Cheese Festival. The kids and I had been trying different types of cheeses over the past year or so I thought that this would be something fun to do. There was a British foods section where you could sample and buy foods ranging from sausage to brandy to snacks to black pudding...Yes we did try a sample of the pudding...It was unlike anything I had tasted before.

After making our way through those vendors and making note of particularly good items we went into the cheese tent. In this tent you could sample hundreds and hundreds of different cheeses from around Britian. We tried our best with to sample as much as possible. Afterwards we went back and got some blue cheeses (Olxford Blue, True Blue You, Wensleydale Blue Cheese) and some non-blue (Linconshire, Wensleydale with Carmelized Onions, and others....).... Hook Norton Brewery was there and had an old-fashioned beer wagon led by two Clydesdale horses. the funniest part was that the drivers were giving the horses some beer. The weather didn't cooperate very well so we went into the Wallace & Gromit theater tent which was showing W&G DVD's.

Afterwards we went up to the actual palace and took a tour of the main building. The great hall was simply amazing with its 65 foot ceiling. The library currently houses some 10000 volumes. Currently, the 11th Duke of Marlborough lives in the private wing of the palace.

Beachborough School

Here is a link to the official Beachbourough School web site.

Last week (Mon-Thursday) Natalie went with her Form 2 class (and the Form 1 class from school) to Skern Lodge in Cornwall. Some of the things they got to do were zip lines, T\Trapeeze, swimming, etc. She was exhausted on Friday morning but she had a great time.

Pictures Addition

Pictures have been added for Beachborough, Christ Church College (Oxford), more Oxford pictures, Oxford Faces, and Waddesdon Manor!...

Enjoy!

Pictures On Line!

Please go here to see some pictures of our time here in England!

Buckingham Palace

Jenn and her mother took a took of Buckingham Palace on 18-Sept. They took the train down from Bicester (just like our first London trip).

We gave the kids the "weekend off" and didn't plan any trips around.

Waddesdon Manor - Buckinghamshire

We made more use of the National Trust pass and went to visit Waddesdon Manor. It was built in the late 19th century by the Rothschild family and has since been given to the National Trust to run.

Inside the house was room after amazing room. The kids were pretty bored with this but afterwards we went out to the back gardens where the kids could run around and pick up chestnuts. In the back garden I ran into two couples from Warrenton, VA, who were touring England.

When we got to the Manor we ate lunch right next to the rose garden and Aviary. The rose garden had amazing color and scents. Natalie and I walked around smelling all the roses trying to figure out which one was our favorite.

The Avaiary had a collection of exotic and tropical birds....very colorful. All in all we spent most of the afternoon there (1-5).

Christ Church College (Oxford)

Now that we're old hats getting to Oxford we ventured there and decided to see Christ Church College. We brought our lunch and ate it on the grass of the Christ Church park before taking a self-guided tour of the college.

The dining room of the college is very reminiscent of the dining hall in the Harry Potter movies. In fact Christ Church's dining hall was the basis for the one in the HP movies. One of the other famous literary connections (there are many) with Christ Church is Charles Dodgson, the author of Alice in Wonderland.

The chapel in Christ Church contains an amazing glimpse into the history of the oxford and the college, too. St. Frideswide's Shrine is the oldest relic in the chapel and dates to the 13th century. St Frideswidedie became a nun in the Oxford monastery, which was founded on her behest. She was buried in her monestary around which grew the town of Oxford.

Cadbury World (Wales trip home)

Today was a driving day mostly. I knew the kids would hate that but I had a surprise for them (Natalie knew but Colin and Rachel didn't). Right on the way home was Cadbury World which is located in Birmingham, England, at the site of one of Cadbury's chocolate factories. We tour a tour which included chocolate history and company history. Along the way each of use got 4 candy bars and samples. The kids were able to write there name in chocolate in the demonstration area.

While the gift shop had the same candy bars that you can get in stores. It was still fun getting some there....

The only other "exciting" part of the trip home was trying to get out of Birmingham. While the signs leading to Cadbury World were great. The signs to leave and get back to the M5 left alot to be desired. There was only 1 time that I had to due a U-turn in the middle of an intersection because I couldn't go down a road!

All-in-all I had a great time doing things during this vacation that I have never done and may never get the chance to do again. The snippets of Welsh history that we got along the way at the castles only increased my desire to read more from the time of the Celtic arrival circa 500BC through Llywelyn through the Welsh Rebellion in the 1400s to today.

Wales Vacation - Day 5

We had to get up and our early today so that we could make it to Llanberis on the edge of Snowdonia National Park to ride the Snowdon Mountain Railway to the top of Mt Snowdon, the highest peak in England & Wales. The track to the top of the mountain winded up from the valley along the edges of the smaller mountains. As you climbed above Llanberis you were able to look out over the plains in the distance and the valleys on either side of the tracks. A few sheep ranchers still maintained a residence and flocks in the valleys. Along the way you would see remains of old stone buildings and slate quarries.

As we continued to climb we entered the cloud layer. The top of the mountain was completely cloud covered (it usually is) but we still climbed up the 15m or so from the station itself to the top of the mountain. The only strange sight here was right at the top of the mountain, which was completely rock covered) was a sheep that had climbed up following grass. The sheep found a patch was was eating away. In fact, all along the train ride up and back you could see sheep at the tops of the mountains!

When we got back to Llanberis we went to the Welsh Slate Museum to get a feel for the life in the slate mines. There was a slate splitting demonstration and you could take a tour of what was once a working quarry and factory. It was closed in the 1960s.

Our last stop for the day was our final castle, Conwy Castle. Conway and Caernarfon have alot in common. Both are built on the water's edge, have a bastide town within it's extended city walls, and dominate the local vicinity with its size. At this point our legs & knees were killing us from all the stair climbing. However, we weren't going to let this hold us back from some of the best tower views looking over the town. The town walls are in pretty good shape. It is over 3/4 miles long and has 21 towers. All of which can be seen peeking out behind houses and other modern structures.

The kids were simply amazing with the all walking and climbing that was required. I hope that they got as much out of it as I did. Reading about history is one thing but being able to see, touch and climb on it is another.