The White Cliffs of Dover is the name given to the English coastline facing the Strait of Dover and France. The cliff face, which reaches a height of 350 feet, owes its striking appearance to its composition of chalk accented by streaks of black flint. The cliffs, on both sides of the town of Dover in Kent, stretch for eight miles. On a clear day, the French coast (about 20 miles away) is visible from the cliffs and the chalk cliffs of the Alabaster Coast of Normandy in France are part of the same geological system. The chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite (CaCO3) residual from single cell algae. The black flint is the remains of sea sponges and siliceous planktonic micro-organisms that hardened into the microscopic quartz crystals.
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John and Emily with a backdrop of the White Cliffs of Dover. It was quite a warm day, near 70°F.
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| John and Emily resting at the White Cliffs of Dover, they flew all night so although they don't look tired they most likely are. |
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| John, Emily and the White Cliffs of Dover with the Port of Dover in the background left. |
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| A panoramic shot of the English Channel with Calais, France on the horizon. |
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| Walking back from the White Cliffs of Dover, Emily and John with Dover Castle in the background. |
Dover Castle
After the Battle of Hastings in October 1066 AD, William the Conqueror recognized the strategic location of Dover and established an outpost there. However, it was William the Conqueror's great grandson, King Edward II, that constructed the castle in 1188 AD. Dover Castle has been described as the "Key to England" due to its significant defensive position and is the largest castle in England.
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| Emily, John and Sister Burkinshaw approaching the Dover Castle complex. |
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| Emily and John at the entry to Dover Castle. |
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| Queen Emily and King John seated on their thrones in Dover Castle. |
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| Emily and John climbing one of the large circular staircases in Dover Castle. |
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| John and Emily on the roof of Dover Castle with it's ancient battlements and the current Union Jack flag. |
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| John in front of the ancient fireplace (they almost always have a real fire burning in one of the two fireplaces in the castle) with a chessboard on the table. |
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| John and Emily in the lower left corner of the picture providing a size reference for Dover Castle which is purported to be the largest castle in England. |
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| John and Emily at the gate to the Dover Castle complex along with Sister Burkinshaw who decided to "photobomb" this picture. |
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| John with one of the cannons within the perimeter of the Dover Castle complex. |
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| John and Emily on the south side of the Dover Castle complex. |
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| We always have to smile when we see this sign. Dover is near Folkestone where the Channel Tunnel (Chunnel) begins. Rather than take a ferry across the channel, many drivers drive their cars on to a train which carries them under the channel from mainland Europe to England. England and Ireland are the only countries in Europe which drive on the left. |
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. Founded in 597, the cathedral was more recently rebuilt in the Gothic style following a fire in the 12th century. It was here that the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, was martyred in 1170 by four knights sent by King Edward II (builder of Dover Castle). Geoffrey Chaucer wrote his famous "Canterbury Tales" about the pilgrims that came from all over Europe to seek special blessings at the Shrine of Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral. Today Canterbury Cathedral is the home of the Archbishop of Canterbury who is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England and the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The Anglican Communion consists of all the churches outside of England who follow the doctrine of the Church of England with the exception of swearing allegiance to the British Monarch (King or Queen).
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| Emily and John at the Christchurch Gate which provides entry to the Canterbury Cathedral grounds. The statue of Christ in the gate is copper and has weathered to a green color (copper sulfides and sulfates). As missionaries, wearing our tags, we usually are allowed to enter without paying, this time they also allowed our guests the same courtesy : ). |
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| John and Emily in front of Canterbury Cathedral. |
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| Canterbury Cathedral is a beautiful Gothic design. |
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| Emily and John in front of the Becket Martyrdom Altar. The sculpture on the wall represents the four swords of the knights who brutally killed Archbishop Thomas Becket at this location in the cathedral on 29 December 1170. |
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| John and Emily at the site where, from 1220 to 1538, the shrine of Thomas Becket stood. When Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church and declared himself Supreme Head of the Church of England, he ordered the shrine destroyed and confiscated all of the gold, silver and gems left by pilgrims. Some of these riches can be seen today among the British crown jewels at the Tower of London. Today both the Church of England and the Catholic Church honor Thomas Becket as a saint. |
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| Emily and John in the beautiful Gothic cloisters of Canterbury Cathedral. |
London Temple
The London England Temple was the 12th operating temple of the church, dedicated September 7, 1958 by President David O McKay. In 1992, the single endowment room which held 250 patrons was revised to make four rooms holding up to 70 patrons each Also added were 8,500 square feet with a fourth floor including additional sealing rooms. The temple site include 32 acres of beautiful gardens. The Temple regularly serves patrons in over 30 languages and, on a good week, performs over a thousand endowments.
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| John and Emily on the southwest side of the London Temple. |
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| John and Emily at the reflecting pond of the London England Temple. |
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| Emily and John with a stunning sunset on the bridge over Eden Brook on the Temple grounds. |
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| John and Emily in front of the flower beds on the east side of the London Temple. |
Edinburgh Scotland
Edinburgh has been the recognized capital of Scotland at least since the 15th century. It is the seat of the Scottish Government, the Scottish Parliament and the supreme courts of Scotland. The city's Holyrood Palace is the official residence of the monarch in Scotland. In 1707, the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland were joined by the Acts of Union and became the United Kingdom of Great Britain.
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle is a historic fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh from its position on the Castle Rock. Archaeologists have established human occupation of the rock since at least the 2nd century AD. There has been a royal castle on the rock since at least the reign of David I in the 12th century but from the 15th century, the castle's role changed to military barracks with a large garrison. As one of the most important strongholds in the Kingdom of Scotland, Edinburgh Castle was involved in many historical conflicts and 26 sieges have taken place in its 1100-year-old history, giving it a claim to "the most besieged place in Great Britain and one of the most attacked in the world".
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| Edinburgh Castle from the Princess Street Gardens which gives an impressive view of the castle which was built upon the plug of a 350 million year old volcano. The castle base is 430 feet above sea level with rocky cliffs 260 feet high on three sides (north, west and south) so access is only from the east making it much easier to protect. |
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| Elder and Sister Burkinshaw in the Princess Street Gardens with Edinburgh Castle in the background. The steep cliffs give the castle a formidable appearance and would have deterred most attackers from the outset. |
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| John and Emily from the garden side looking at the volcanic rock and the border wall built into the cliffs. |
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| Sister Burkinshaw, John and Emily at the entrance to Edinburgh Castle. |
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| Emily and John just before entering the castle proper. |
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| John and Emily making their way up the stairs just inside the castle to the top level. |
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| John and Emily in front of the Scottish National War Memorial which was built in 1927 and commemorates Scottish soldiers, and those serving with Scottish regiments, who died in the two world wars and more recent conflicts. |
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| John at the entrance to the Scottish National War Memorial, |
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| Emily and John in front of the Crown building at Edinburgh Castle where the Scottish Crown Jewels or "Honours of Scotland" are stored. |
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| The Honours of Scotland (the crown, sceptre and sword of state) informally known as the Scottish Crown Jewels, dating from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, are the oldest surviving set of crown jewels in the British Isles. Included is the "Stone of Destiny" which is an oblong block of red sandstone which has been used for centuries for the coronation of the monarchs of Scotland, and later the monarchs of England and those of the United Kingdom. It was most recently used for the 1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. |
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| The Great Hall of Edinburgh Castle |
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| Emily in front of one of the red phone booths which are ubiquitous throughout the United Kingdom and this one is located within Edinburgh Castle. |
National Museum of Scotland
The National Musuem of Scotland has collections covering science and technology, natural history, and world cultures. The most interesting exhibit we saw was entitled "Wild and Majestic" and tells the fascinating story of how tartan, bagpipes and rugged, wild landscapes became established as enduring, internationally recognized symbols of Scottish identity and how Scotland became established in the popular imagination as a land of wilderness, heroism and history.
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| John, Emily and Sister Burkinshaw in front of the Scottish National Museum. As you can see, it was a bit damp, but we forged on, undeterred by the liquid sunshine! |
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| It was a little dryer once we got inside the Scottish National Museum. |
Greyfriars Bobby
We had a nice dinner at Greyfriars Bobby Restaurant. It is named after a Skye Terrier who became known in 19th-century Edinburgh for spending 14 years guarding the grave (located in nearby Greyfriars Kirk or Church) of his owner (John Gray) until he died himself on 14 January 1872. The story is well known in Scotland through several books and films.
On the menu at Greyfriars Bobby is haggis, the national dish of Scotland, a type of pudding composed of the liver, heart, and lungs of a sheep (or other animal), minced and mixed with beef or mutton suet and oatmeal and seasoned with onion, cayenne pepper, and other spices. The mixture is packed into a sheep's stomach and boiled (traditionally).
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| Sister and Elder Burkinshaw in front of Greyfriars Bobby Bar (it is actually a restaurant but it is called a bar) in Edinburgh. |
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| John, Emily and Sister Burkinshaw sitting at Greyfriars Bobby Bar. |
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| John and Emily who decided to share an appetizer of Haggis, Neeps and Tatties (Haggis is described above, neeps are mashed yellow turnips and tatties is mashed potato). |
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| John and Emily are taking their first bite of haggis! |
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| This picture says it all! "What have we put in our mouths?" |
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| After their exotic appetizer, John and Emily ordered a main course of "Toad-in-a-Hole" which is a traditional British dish consisting of sausages in a Yorkshire pudding, served with onion gravy and vegetables. These particular sausages were made from haggis. |
Holyrood Palace
Holyrood Palace is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland, Queen Elizabeth II. Located at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Palace has served as the principal residence of the Kings and Queens of Scots since the 16th century, and is a setting for state occasions and official entertaining. The queen spends one week each summer at Holyrood Palace for official business and then spends the rest of her time in Scotland at Balmoral Castle (originally purchased by Queen Victoria) which is 100 miles north of Edinburgh in Cairngorms National Park.
As an aside, Holyrood refers to a holy pole or rod relic which was alleged to be the part of the cross upon which Jesus died. Saint Margaret (c. 1045–1093), a Saxon Princess of England, fled from the Normans to Scotland in 1066 and is said to have brought the "Holy Rood", a fragment of Christ's cross, from Hungary or England to Scotland with her. It was known as the Black Rood of Scotland. It was kept in Holyrood Abbey which was built by her son in Edinburgh. However, it was eventually destroyed in 1540 during the English Reformation (probably under direction from Henry VIII). The ruins of Holyrood Abbey are adjacent to Holyrood Palace.
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| Emily and John at the gate to Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh. |
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| Holyrood Palace was originally established by Mary Queen of Scots. |
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| Holyrood Palace with the vestiges of Holyrood Abbey on the left. |
Monuments
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| The Robert Burns Memorial commemorates Scotland's National Poet Robert Burns (1759-1796). Burns most famous poem is "Auld Lang Syne" (which is Scots for "old long since" and is intended to convey our phrase "days gone by"). The peak at the right is another ancient volcano and is a reminder of the geologic past of Scotland. |
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| Elder and Sister Burkinshaw at the Walter Scott Monument in the center of Edinburgh. Walter Scott was a Scottish historical novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of both including Ivanhoe, Rob Roy and The Lady of the Lake. The memorial is purported to be the largest monument to a writer in the world. |
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| John and Emily in front of the Walter Scott Monument with the sculpture of Scott in the center. There are 68 statues on the monument, not counting Scott and his dog, that represent characters from his writings. |
Arthur's Seat
Arthur's Seat (named after the legend of King Arthur) is an extinct volcano which is considered the main peak of the group of hills in Edinburgh and forms most of Holyrood Park, described by Robert Louis Stevenson as "a hill for magnitude, a mountain in virtue of its bold design". It is situated just to the east of the city center, about 1 mile east of Edinburgh Castle. The hill rises above the city to a height of 822 feet and provides excellent panoramic views of the city and beyond.
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| A daytime view of Arthur's Seat, on the left, from the road. It definitely looks like an old volcano! |
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| Emily, Sister Burkinshaw and John walking up the trail to Arthur's Seat at about 5:45am to be there before sunrise at 6:18am. |
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| John and Emily along the trail to Arthur's Seat with Edinburgh and the North Sea in the distance. |
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| Elder Burkinshaw at the top of Arthur's Seat. |
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| Emily, Sister Burkinshaw and John silhouetted by the sunrise on Arthur's Seat. It was very windy -- Emily and Sister Burkinshaw are holding on to the monument -- tightly!! |
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| A panoramic shot of Arthur's Seat, the city of Ediburgh and the North Sea with the sun rising. |
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| John and Emily watching the sun rise from Arthur's Seat. |
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| Near where we parked, there was a pond with some beautiful swans and a few ducks. |
The Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is a historic region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands. The Scottish Highlands are one of the most sparsely populated regions in Europe, with many mountain ranges dominating the region, and includes the highest mountain in the British Isles, Ben Nevis. Whereas the Lowlands population is around 5 million, the Highlands is about 700,000 even though it is geographically larger. Life in the Highlands is hard and winters are long. However, as previously mentioned, the Highlands are romanticized in literature, movies and television for it's beautiful wilderness, heroism and history.
Kelpies
The Kelpies are 100-feet-high horse-head sculptures depicting kelpies (shape-shifting water spirits from Scottish lore) in the town of Grangemouth which is the home of the 210,000 BPD refinery owned by INEOS and previously owned by BP. The sculptures were completed in October 2013 and are intended to be a monument to contribution of the horse to Scotland.
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| Emily petting one of the kelpies. |
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| John and Emily with the Kelpies. |
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| Emily and John at the base of the Kelpies providing some perspective on 5-6 feet versus 100 feet. |
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| Stirling Castle which was one of the most favored Royal Scottish residences before the Union with England. Mary, Queen of Scots, was crowned here in 1542. |
Glencoe
Glencoe or Glen Coe is a glen of volcanic origins in the Highlands of Scotland. The scenic beauty of the glen has led to its inclusion in the Ben Nevis and Glen Coe National Scenic Area and it is romantically described as the "soaring, dramatic splendour of Glen Coe." The journey through the glen on the main A82 road is described as "one of the classic Highland journeys". The main settlement is the village of Glencoe located at the foot of the glen.
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| A panoramic view of Loch Leven near Glencoe |
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| Sister Burkinshaw with her umbrella on the banks of Loch Leven. |
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| Emily and John with the backdrop of a volcanic mountain near Glencoe. |
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| Sister Burkinshaw with wild ferns and a Rowan tree with it's distinctive red berries. The berries are very sour but edible for humans and are rich in vitamin C and are used to make a jelly to accompany meats. |
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| Emily and John along the River Coe at An Torr. |
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| Sister and Elder Burkinshaw on the bridge over the River Coe with the mountains of Glencoe in the background. |
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| Emily with the "Three Sisters of Glen Coe" in the background. |
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| A panoramic view of the "Three Sisters of Glen Coe." |
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| The plaque about Glen Coe and the tragic story of the Clan MacDonald. |
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| One of the most egregious incidents which contributed to the split between the Lowlands and the Highlands was the Massacre of Glencoe which took place in the glen on 13 February 1692. In 1691, King William the Third, recognizing the resurgence of the Jacobite cause, ordered all the clan chiefs to sign an oath of allegiance by 1st January 1692. Maclain of Glencoe delayed signing the oath and when he arrived in Fort William on the prescribed date, he found he had to go to Inveraray. Difficult travelling and the absence of a sheriff meant that Maclain did not sign the oath until 6th January 1692. Maclain returned to Glencoe believing his signature was accepted. It was however decided to punish Maclain. Campbell of Glenlyon led a group of some 128 soldiers who stayed with the MacDonalds for some 12 days and then turned on their hosts in the early morning of 13th February, killing 38 of them whilst some tried to escape into the snowy hills. It is remembered even now over 300 years later. |
Fort William
Fort William, with a population of about 10,000 is the second largest town in the Scottish Highlands. Because of it's proximity to Glencoe and Ben Nevis, we stayed here. Fort William was originally an outpost established during the Cromwell period in the late 1600's.
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| It was quite a rainy afternoon when we hiked up to Steall Falls ("An Steall Bàn" in Scottish Gaelic which means "The White Spout"), as you can see from Sister Burkinshaw's raincoat. |
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| A panoramic view of Steall Falls in Glen Nevis with the "Water of Nevis" river in the foreground. |
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| Emily and John with Steall Falls in the background. Steall Falls is the second largest waterfall in Scotland with a single drop of over 400 feet. |
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| Here is John showing the only way to get across "The Water of Nevis" river along this cable bridge. |
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| After our outing to Steall Falls, we had a nice dinner at The Clan McDuff Hotel. John had steak and ale pie with chips (9:00), Emily had cullen skink which is Scottish fish soup (12:00), Sister Burkinshaw had the British favorite fish and chips (3:00) and Elder Burkinshaw had lasagna with Scottish mince (6:00). |
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| John and Emily after dinner took a walk along the banks of Loch Linnhe which we could see from our rooms at the Clan McDuff Hotel. |
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| A silhouette of Elder and Sister Burkinshaw walking along the banks of Loch Linnhe in Fort William, Scotland. |
Ben Nevis
Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in the British Isles with an altitude of 4,411 ft above sea level. From the Ben Nevis visitor center to the summit is 5.25 miles with 4435 feet (0.84 mile) of vertical ascent. The summit, which is the collapsed dome of an ancient volcano, features the ruins of an observatory which was continuously staffed between 1883 and 1904.
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| Ben Nevis (without the rain and fog) where the actual summit is back and to the left of what appears to be the highest point. |
So Elder Burkinshaw drove John to the Glen Nevis Visitors Center and he started his hike to the summit at about 4:30am. Elder and Sister Burkinshaw went to the Visitors Center about 6:30am and hiked up about 1.5 miles when we met John coming back down around 7:45am and he was obviously traveling faster than we were. He made it back to the Visitors Center about 8:15am so he completed the 10.5 mile trip with almost a mile vertical climb in under 4 hours!
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| Elder and Sister Burkinshaw hiking up the trail to Ben Nevis and the sheep who shared the trail with us, for Sister Burkinshaw the natural look was in for this morning walk. |
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| We saw a sheep munching on ferns as we made out way up the trail. |
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| Elder Burkinshaw with the sign pointing towards Ben Nevis on the right and to the Visitors Center on the left. |
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| A panoramic view of Glen Nevis from a quarter of the way up towards Ben Nevis. |
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| This was the cairn marking the spot of the Ben Nevis summit (4,435 feet). |
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| This is John at the Ben Nevis summit with the observatory ruins in the background. He made the hike up and back (10.5 miles with a 0.84 mile vertical climb) in under 4 hours! John said that at the summit it was snowing, windy and very cold though there was no accumulation, but it didn't allow for a lot of pictures. |
The Lake District
The Lake District is a mountainous region in North West England famous for its lakes, forests and mountains (or fells), and its associations with poet William Wordsworth ("The best portion of a good man's life is his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love."), author Beatrix Potter (Peter Rabbit) and John Ruskin (Ruskin School of Art at Oxford University). All the land in England higher than 3,000 feet above sea level lies within the Lake District as well as the deepest and largest natural lakes in England, Wast Water and Windermere respectively.
Castlerigg
The stone circle at Castlerigg is one of around 1,300 stone circles in the British Isles, Stonehenge being the most famous. It is widely thought that the stone circles served a ritual or ceremonial purpose, particularly in relation to solar and/or lunar alignments. In some cases, they were also used as cemeteries, with burials being made in and around the circle. Various archaeologists have commented positively on the beauty and romance of the Castlerigg ring and its natural environment saying the site was "one of the most visually impressive prehistoric monuments in Britain. It was constructed about 4,500 years ago during the Early Bronze Age.
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| John and Emily at the Castleigg stone circle. |
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| Sister and Elder Burkinshaw at the Castlerigg stone circle. |
Grasmere Gingerbread Shop
Victorian cook Sarah Nelson invented Grasmere Gingerbread in 1854 in the English Lake District village from where it gets its name. A unique, spicy-sweet cross between a biscuit and cake, its reputation quickly spread and it is now enjoyed by food lovers all over the world. Today, the business is run by the third-generation and every day visitors to the shop are greeted by the wonderful aroma of freshly baked Grasmere Gingerbread hanging in the air.
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| The Grasmere Gingerbread shop |
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| The story of Grasmere gingerbread, which we all loved--not so much, not enough sugar! |
Preston Temple
The Preston England Temple is the 52nd operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and is actually located in the town of Chorley, 10 miles south of Preston. It is the centerpiece of a 15-acre complex that includes a stake center, a missionary training center, a family history facility, a distribution center as well as temple patron accommodations and temple missionary housing. President Hinckley dedicated the Preston England Temple on 7 June 1998. The temple has four ordinance rooms and four sealing rooms, and is the largest temple in Europe, at 69,630 square feet with the London England Temple the second largest at 46,174 square feet.
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| Emily and John in front of the Preston Temple. |
Tooley's Boatyard, Banbury
In 1778, the Oxford canal was constructed to provide a cheap and reliable supply of Warwickshire coal bringing much growth and prosperity to the town of Banbury. The dry dock at Banbury was established to build and repair the narrow wooden horse-drawn boats which regularly traveled up and down the newly constructed Oxford Canal network and was therefore vital to the evolution of the Industrial Revolution in Banbury.
Although the dry dock is currently name after the current owner, from 1837 to 1864, the owner was Benjamin Roberts, Emily's 3rd Great Grandfather.
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| Emily and John at Tooley's Boatyard which had been Roberts' Boatyard from 1837 to 1864. |
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| Emily and John in front of the original forge or blacksmith shop at Tooley's Boatyard. |
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| John and Emily in front of the forge that is still used today. Look at the size of the anvil! |
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| John and Emily at the Oxford canal with some of the narrow boats in the background. Today the narrow boats are motor-driven rather than drawn by horses. |
Oxford University
The University of Oxford, established in 1096 AD is the oldest English-speaking university in the world and the world's second-oldest university in continuous operation after the University of Bologna. After disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk in 1209, some academics fled north-east to Cambridge where they established what became the University of Cambridge The two ‘ancient universities’ are frequently jointly called ’Oxbridge’. The history and influence of the University of Oxford has made it one of the most prestigious universities in the world.
Oxford University has about 12,000 undergraduate students and about 12,000 graduate students and is made up of 39 constituent colleges. It does not have a main campus, and its buildings and facilities are scattered throughout the city center. All undergraduates live in their individual college and teaching is organized around weekly tutorials with their respective college, supported by classes, lectures, seminars, and laboratory work provided by university faculties and departments; some postgraduate teaching includes tutorials organised by faculties and departments but graduate students are not assigned to a specific college. It operates the world's oldest university museum, as well as the largest university press in the world and the largest academic library system (the Bodelian Library) nationwide. In the fiscal year 2018, the university had a total income of £2.237 billion, of which £579.1 million was from research grants and contracts.
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| A plaque (above) commemorating Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley and Thomas Cranmer who were burned at the stake at the location of the black brick cross in the street (below). It is a stark reminder that until the 1800's, religious beliefs were often a matter of life or death. These three prominent church officials died because they supported Queen Lady Jane Grey who supported the English Reformation and the Church of England but who was deposed and executed by her half-sisters Mary I and Elizabeth I who were devout Catholics but James VI (who commissioned the King James Bible) who followed Elizabeth restored support of the Church of England which has existed to this day. |
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| The entrance gate to New College at Oxford University. |
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| The dining hall of New College (full name is the New College of St Mary). During their three 8 weeks terms, undergraduate students at New College eat here each day. |
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| The reredo (large altarpiece placed behind the altar in a church) in the New College chapel. The first row of statues are Old Testament prophets and Kings, the second row of statues have Mary and Baby Jesus at the center surrounded by various Saints and Medieval Church of England leaders, the third row has the crucified Jesus at the center with his apostles, the fourth row are various and sundry angels with the Lamb of God (Agnus Dei) at the center and the fifth row is God the Father in the center with Jesus and the Holy Ghost surrounded by angels. This reredo created no small controversy because it shows the Father, Son and Holy Ghost as separate and distinct individuals in direct conflict with the Nicean and Athanasian creeds which, drawing from Greek Philosophy, make the Father, Son and Holy Ghost a single entity (i.e. "... the Father is God; the Son is God; and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet they are not three Gods; but one God") |
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| John and Emily in the inner courtyard of the New College chapelin front of a large oak tree that was used in the filming of "Harry Potter of the Goblet of Fire." It was beneath this tree that Professor Moody turns Malfoy into a ferret. |
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| A look down one of the beautiful Gothic cloisters at New College chapel, Oxford. |
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| John in the courtyard of New College, Oxford University |
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| The gardens at New College which show part of the original wall around the college built in the early 1200's to protect the students from the townspeople. |
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| Emily in front of the Radcliffe Camara which is a part of the Bodelian Library. |
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| The main entrance to the Bodleian Library (named for its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley) is the Tower of the Five Orders, so named because its columns show each of the five orders of classical architecture: Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and Composite. Ironically, however, the building itself is designed in Gothic style. At the top is a statue of King James VI and I (who commissioned the King James translation of the Bible which we use today and which retains about 70% of William Tyndale's Bible translated from Hebrew and Greek). King James hands a book representing his Bible translation to Fame and on his left, he hands a book representing his library which he donated to the University of Oxford. |
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| Sister Burkinshaw at the elaborate wooden door marked in the center by the face of a wise lion. This is the “Narnia Door”, said to have inspired C.S. Lewis’s wardrobe door that the Pevensie children walked through in “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It is located just opposite the Oxford University Church of St. Mary the Virgin. |
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| Elder and Sister Burkinshaw and Emily enjoying an English tea-time treat before we left Oxford University; scones with clotted cream and jam! They were delicious! |
Tower of London
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| Emily and John with the River Thames and the Tower of London in the background. |
Borough Market, London
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| John and Emily enjoying a Scotch Egg which is a hard boiled egg covered with deep fried ground sausage. |
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| John and Emily with some great donuts from the Borough Market in London. |
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| Sister Burkinshaw enjoying the last of a fresh squeezed lemonade at the Borough Market in London. |
Churchill War Rooms
The Churchill War Rooms comprises the Cabinet War Rooms, a historic underground complex that housed a British government command center during the Second World War. Construction of the Cabinet War Rooms, located beneath the Treasury building in the Whitehall area of Westminster, began in 1938 and became operational in August 1939, a week before Britain declared war on Germany. The War Rooms remained in operation throughout the Second World War, before being abandoned in August 1945 after the surrender of Japan.
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| While Emily and Sister Burkinshaw visited the State rooms at Buckingham Palace Elder Burkinshaw and John toured the Churchill War Rooms. John with the portrait of Sir Winston Churchill in the Churchill War Rooms in the basement of Whitehall |
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| The command room where Churchill and his ministers met to make decisions and analyze progress during the Second World War. |
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace is the London residence and administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the center of state occasions and royal hospitality. Originally known as Buckingham House, the building at the core of today's palace was a large townhouse built for the Duke of Buckingham in 1703 on a site that had been in private ownership for at least 150 years. It was acquired by King George III in 1761 as a private residence for Queen Charlotte and became known as The Queen's House. During the 19th century it was enlarged with three wings around a central courtyard. Buckingham Palace became the London residence of the British monarch on the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837. The palace has 775 rooms, and the garden is the largest private garden in London. The state rooms, used for official and state entertaining, are open to the public each year for most of August and September and on some days in winter and spring.
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| John and Emily in front of Buckingham Palace. |
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| John with the Queen Victoria Monument and Buckingham Palace in the background. |
Brief video of Buckingham Palace
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| Buckingham palace white drawing room. |
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| Buckingham palace throne room. |
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| Buckingham palace ballroom. |
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| Buckingham palace grand staircase. |
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| Buckingham palace gardens. |
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square is a public square in Central London commemorating the Battle of Trafalgar, a British naval victory in the Napoleonic Wars over France and Spain that took place on 21 October 1805 off the coast of Cape Trafalgar. In 1844, the 169-foot Nelson's Column was placed in the center of the square guarded by four lion statues. Surrounding the square are the National Gallery on the north, St Martin-in-the-Fields Church to the east, Canada House to the south and to the southwest is the Mall, which leads to Buckingham Palace via Admiralty Arch.
Admiralty Arch
The Admiralty Arch adjoins the old Admiralty Building which housed the First Sea Lord or head of the British Navy and hence the name Admiralty Arch. It was originally designed as a memorial to Queen Victoria I and later was used for government offices. In 2012, it became a Waldorf Astoria luxury hotel and luxury four apartments.
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| Emily and John in front of Admiralty Arch which separates the Mall leading to Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square. |
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| Emily and John with the monument to Lord Admiral Horatio Nelson in the background at Trafalgar Square. Also visible are two of the four bronze lions at the base and the National Gallery behind that. The square is always very active! |
The National Gallery
The National Gallery is an art museum founded in 1824 which houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The collection is small compared with many European national galleries, but encyclopedic in scope; that is most major developments in Western painting "from Giotto to Cézanne" are represented with important works.
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| John and Emily on the front portico of the National Gallery. |
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| Emily posing in front of "At the Theater" by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. |
Piccadilly Circus
Piccadilly Circus located on London's West End is a round open space at the junction of Regent Street with Piccadilly. Circus is a Latin word meaning "circle" so it is similar to a city square but round. It is close to major shopping and entertainment areas in the West End and is particularly known for its video display and neon signs, similar but smaller than Times Square. There is a very large souvenier shop just down the street and lots of restaurants.
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| Emily and John at Piccadilly Circus in front of the Angel of Christian Charity erected in 1892–1893 to commemorate the philanthropic works of Lord Shaftesbury. |
Westiminster, London
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| John and Emily on Westminster Bridge over River Thames with the London County Hall (now a Marriott Hotel) and the Eye of London in the background. |
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| John and Emily on Westminster Bridge with Parliament (undergoing rennovations along with Big Ben) in the background. |
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| John and Emily in front of Hyde Park Chapel Sunday morning. |
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| Emily and John on a beautiful Sunday in London with the Prince Albert Memorial behind. |
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| John and Emily in front of Royal Albert Hall. |
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| Emily and John standing by the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain in Hyde Park. |
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum is the world's largest museum of applied and decorative arts and design, as well as sculpture, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The V&A covers 12.5 acres, 145 galleries and its collection spans 5,000 years of art, from ancient times to the present day, from the cultures of Europe, North America, Asia and North Africa.
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| Emily and John at the Victoria and Albert Museum. |
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| Emily at Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Station, where we made a quick stop to get a picture for the Sam and Caleb. |
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| Sister Burkinshaw and Emily in front of St Pancras Train station in London which, among other things, is the starting point for the Eurostar train that runs under the Channel to Paris. |
The British Museum
The British Museum, established in 1753, is dedicated to human history, art and culture. With its collection of over eight million works, it is the largest and most comprehensive in existence having been widely sourced during the era of the British Empire. Its ownership of famous objects originating in other countries is disputed and remains the subject of international controversy.
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| Emily and John in front of the British Museum. |
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| John and Emily with the Rosetta Stone at the British Museum. The Rosetta Stone was discovered in 1799 and is inscribed with three versions of a decree issued at Memphis, Egypt in 196 BC. The top and middle texts are in Ancient Egyptian using hieroglyphic and demotic scripts, while the bottom is in Ancient Greek. The decree has only minor differences among the three versions, so the Rosetta Stone became key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs, thereby opening a window into ancient Egyptian history. |
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| John studying the Assyrian Lion Hunt reliefs which were taken from the North Palace of Nineveh. Carved in about 640 BC, they are regarded as the masterpieces of Assyrian art. They show the ritual "hunt" where captured Asian lions were released from cages for the king to slaughter with arrows, spears, or his sword and originally painted. |
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| John and Emily in front of the Nereid Monument which is a sculptured tomb built in Lycia (part of what was then Persia but today Turkey) around 390 BC. It took the form of a Greek temple on top of a base decorated with sculpted friezes. It was discovered by British traveller Charles Fellows in the early 1840s and was shipped to the British Museum, where it was reconstructed to show the east façade. |
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral, the seat of the Bishop of London and the mother church of the Diocese of London. The original church, dedicated to Paul the Apostle dates back to 604 AD. The present cathedral, built in the late 17th century, was designed in the English Baroque style by Sir Christopher Wren and was part of a major rebuilding program after the Great Fire of London in 1666 which destroyed theOld St Paul's Cathedral. The cathedral is one of the most famous and most recognisable sights of London. Its dome is among the highest in the world and the building's size is second only to Liverpool Cathedral.
Services held at St Paul's have included the funerals of Admiral Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, Sir Winston Churchill and Baroness Thatcher; jubilee celebrations for Queen Victoria; peace services marking the end of the First and Second World Wars; the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer; the launch of the Festival of Britain; and the thanksgiving services for the Silver, Golden and Diamond Jubilees and the 80th and 90th birthdays of Queen Elizabeth II.
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| John and Emily in front of St Paul's Cathedral. |
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| The chapel and quire of St Paul's Cathedral. |
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| The Rotunda of St Paul's Cathedral |
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| Selfie of Elder and Sister Burkinshaw in St. Paul's Cathedral as we were waiting for their 4:45pm Sunday organ concert. You can see the organ console between Elder and Sister Burkinshaw and the pipes above and to the right of Sister Burkinshaw. |
Over the past nearly 18 months as we have served at the London Temple, it has been a great blessing to us to see for ourselves so many places of historical significance and to have many of our family with us on these trips. These opportunities and the knowledge gained however come with an obligation. Philosopher George Santayana said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Hopefully we can learn from the past and that is why the scriptures are so important to us. We teach the Gospel of repentance which means we learn from past mistakes and we strive to change and improve each day.
In this week's Come Follow Me lesson (2 Corinthians 1-7) we learn an important lesson about forgiveness. The following is quoted from Scot and Maurine Proctor in Meridian Magazine:
Paul refers briefly to a man we really know nothing about in 2 Corinthians 2, verses 5-11, who had caused some great offense in their community. Paul asked the Saints to forgive him. We really don’t know about the nature of the man’s offense or the severity of the pain that was caused by his sin or transgression—but, does it really matter? The teaching is the same: We are to forgive in all circumstances.
In Doctrine and Covenants, Section 64, verses 9-11 we read this powerful directive from the Lord Himself:
"9 Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin."
How can this be? The one who has been hurt by another’s transgression, if she withholds her forgiveness, there remains in her the greater sin? The Lord goes on in His direction:
"10 I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men.
"11 And ye ought to say in your hearts—let God judge between me and thee, and reward thee according to thy deeds."
Now, let’s add Paul’s teaching to the Corinthians in chapter 2 on this so we can understand the answer to this withholding of our own forgiveness:
"9 For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye be obedient in all things.
"10 To whom ye forgive anything, I forgive also: for if I forgave anything, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ;"
And then listen carefully to this in verse 11:
"11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices."
What an insight from Paul! If we withhold our forgiveness from anyone—then Satan can get an advantage on us.
And how does he do that? If we carry any added burdens in our hearts like resentment, jealousy, injustice, hatred or unfairness—Satan truly has an advantage on us. He can work those things into his own mission, which is to fight against and spurn the Savior Jesus Christ and His mission and atoning sacrifice. Satan will cause our focus to change from growth and wholeness to stagnation and fractured thinking. He will take us from light and joy to darkness and misery. He will carefully lead us from fulfilling relationships to division, strife and contention with those we should love. And all this because we have withheld our forgiveness!
Small tiffs and little offenses are part of life. We are like those dodge’em rides at amusement parks—cars that careen a bit and occasionally bump into each other. How can I offend thee? Let me count the ways.
Hardly anyone gives us as much deferential treatment as we wish they did. Often our best efforts go unnoticed. People misread our motives. They think we are mad when we are only depressed. People leave us out of conversations and lunch gatherings. Some people are proud and they want to make us feel small. We don’t like the way people think or the way they do things.
If this is true with friends and strangers, how much more does it happen in this tight, little laboratory of life called a family? With the constant buffeting against each other through the winds of life, offenses come—large and small. We can be irritated with our place in the family, irritated about who makes decisions and what they are, irritated by the tone someone takes toward us.
Ironically, we can find ourselves offended because someone else is always so easily offended. Oh, how uncomfortable it is to be constantly walking on eggshells around each other, worried that someone will take offense.
Isn’t it so difficult to be constantly weighing your words, wondering what might offend someone else? To be continually self-conscious in case you stumble into a land mine?
The challenge in a family is that we fall into patterns with each other and we find we are not dealing with one offense, but who we see as repeat offenders whose tendencies seem particularly designed to bother us.
Yet here is a fundamental truth. Offenses grow and shrink in our minds depending on how much air time we give them. They are like poison ivy. Give it enough food, sunshine and water, and it can grow up to be quite a healthy toxin.
Because some things sting us, it is easy to replay them in our minds. They seem to have their own emotional power that needs to be played out. Again and again an offense can roll around and we can find we develop quite a healthy case against the offender. Somehow, emotionally, it just seems like we have to play it out until that sting goes away.
Often, that stung emotion, too, seems like it will be salved if we tell the story to someone else or if we explode at the offender himself. Ah, now I feel better. That building pressure inside of me has been relieved.
And that pressure is worse if somehow the offense seems unjust. We didn’t deserve the treatment we got. We should have had better. That other person is just small, uncaring, and neglectful of our feelings and needs.
Of course, the problem with these strident, inner and outer dialogues is that instead of relieving our feelings, they are fueled. The more we replay our narrative about how badly we have been treated, the more it grows.
Well and here’s the danger. We have given the offense a power it should not have had or ever deserved. We have let it live instead of relegated it to the vast library of long-term storage in our heads where it can die a deserved death.
And all this because we withhold our forgiveness and do not allow the Lord to create in us a new heart! Let us not play into Satan’s tactics and, as Paul says so clearly, let us truly not be ignorant of his devices!
We love you all and are grateful for your support. We have but 3 more weeks and then we'll be home!
Elder and Sister Burkinshaw
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