UKRJ S1 Ep. 12 By boat to Puffin Island

By boat to Puffin Island – UK Rail Journeys Series 1 – Episode 12

Day 3 of The Welsh Dragon and we board the Island Princess for our voyage by boat to Puffin Island. The sun is shining, the sea is calm and the boat is at the end of the pier.

Click on a ‘thumbnail’ to view the photographs that accompany this podcast:
We join the Island Princess

Beaumaris has many pubs, restaurants and cafes, so we’ve had our lunches in a number of different places. I found a really good ice cream parlour just behind the high street.

I’m not sure whether I’d come to Beaumaris for a beach holiday because the beach is both narrow and very stony. The Bulkeley Hotel, on the sea front, looks out to sea, past the Lifeboat station which is home to a B Class lifeboat.

By boat to Puffin Island:

We board our boat and our skipper gives us a very interesting commentary during our voyage. It is very informative and tells us about the things we should look out for.

I include parts of the commentary in this podcast in order to give you a flavour of the trip. Maybe it will persuade you to visit Beaumaris and take a voyage on the Island Princess.

Puffin Island:

There are many species of birds on Puffin Island, in addition to the Puffins. Many of these migrate here to breed, they then spend much of the rest of the year over the water.

In the 12th Century St. Seiriol founds a monestary on the island, it’s remains are still there. There is also a disused telegraph station on the north eastern tip of the island. The telegraph station was part of a chain sending information about cargo ships to Liverpool. Often the cargo was sold in Liverpool before the ship arrived!

The island is home to one of Britain’s largest great cormorant poulations, there are also guillemot, razorbill, kittwake and shag nesting along with smaller populations of common eider and black guillemot.

A rat poulation grew and seriously diminished the puffin population. Two tonnes of rat poison were used to eradicate the rats. Since then the numer of puffins is increasing.

Listen to the podcast to hear the full story.

Up Snowdon by rail:

Join me in a couple of weeks for our trip on the Snowdon Mountain Railway.

Links:

To find out more about Puffin Island please follow this link. You’ll find all the details you need.

To visit the Steam Dreams website please follow  this link.

This podcast is also available through Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Castbox , Deezer, Podchaser, Spotify, Stitcher and Vurbl and others.

Music:

AKM Music has licensed Steam Railway and Trance for use in this podcast.

© The MrT Podcast Studio 2022

Food for Thought TH 2021 Ep 15

Season 2021 – Talk 15 – Food for Thought

In  Food for Thought Andrew Cole tells us about diet through the ages and dispels many myths.

There is no image gallery available with this talk.

Medieval times:

Many believe that the peasant population has a poor diet at this time. Andrew agrees that the diet may have been boring but argues that people had enough to eat.

At this time many poor people keep pigs which can live in a forest and can look after themselves. Agricultural peasants tend to keep cows, so have dairy produce such as buttermilk, cheese, or curds and whey in their diet.

People of all types eat pottage, a thick soup with meat, vegetables, or bran.   Bread is a staple for all classes, although the quality and price varies depending on the type of grain.

The wealthy eat far better as their estates provide freshly killed meat, river fish, fresh fruit and vegetables. Although for many centuries people believe that fruit and vegetables need to be cooked.

Tudor times:

Cooked vegetables are often onions and cabbage, but in the late Tudor period, new foods from the Americas start to be eaten. These include tomatoes, potatoes and peppers.

The poor eat whatever meat they can find. Rabbits, ‘game’ birds, chicken and fish, whilst the rich eat more costly varieties of meat. Herbs are grown to flavour dishes.

All classes eat bread as their main source carbohydrates.  The quality varies, the cheapest is a mixture of rye and wheat. The middle classes eat wholemeal  whilst the wealthy eat bread made of white wheat flour.

Pies:

Pies are popular through the ages, they are convenient and can be eaten without plates and cutlery. They often contain good nutrition and are an early convenience food.

Listen to the podcast and hear Andrew tell the full story with thoughts about some of today’s supposedly healthy diets..

Please note:

This podcast is a recording of a talk given in the Farnham Maltings during Covid restrictions. These required open windows and doors and so there is some noise on the recording from other activities.

About this podcast:

This podcast is an edited recording of a talk first given to the Farnham u3a World History Group.

The Farnham u3a site is here.

You can also listen using Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Castbox , Deezer, Podchaser, Spotify, Stitcher and Vurbl and others.

AKM Music licenses Media Magazine for use as the theme music.

© The MrT Podcast Studio and Farnham u3a World History Group 2018 – 2022

UKRJ S1 Ep 11 Beaumaris Castle

Beaumaris Castle – UK Rail Journeys Series 1 – Episode 11

Day 3 of The Welsh Dragon and we board our coaches after a leisurely breakfast, I’m heading to Beaumaris Castle because I’m swapping the train for a coach, a castle and a boat today.

Click on a ‘thumbnail’ to view the photographs that accompany this podcast:
So how do you pronounce Beaumaris?

If you ask an English person (and probably many others) they’ll say ‘Bowmaris’ however if you listen to the locals they’ll say ‘Bewmaris’ – as in Beaulieu of Motor Museum fame.

So now you know!

By coach to Beaumaris:

We’ve got various optional tours today and I’ve chosen the tour to Beaumaris, to see the castle, and Puffin Island. Our coach takes us from the Premier Inn in Caernarfon across the Britannia Bridge across the Menai Strait, which often has strong tides, and on to the Isle of Anglesey.

The coach travels along some busy narrow roads and we stop for about 25 minutes because of road works. No one seems to be doing anything! No men at work! We finally get going when the road mending crew drives off with their equipment.

Beaumaris Castle:

The castle is described both as ‘a fortress of near-perfect symmetry’ and an unfinished masterpiece. It was the last of Edward I’s Welsh royal strongholds – and, to many, the greatest one.

Edward and his architect James of St George used the countryside as a blank canvas using  the ‘beau mareys’, or ‘beautiful marsh’, on the Menai Strait. They’ve already built great castles at Conwy, Caernarfon and Harlech and this is to be the most magnificent, the crowning glory.

It’s an immense fortress with near-perfect symmetry. There are four concentric rings of formidable defences, including a water-filled moat with its very own dock. The outer walls have 300 arrow loops.

By the 1320s a lack of money and trouble in Scotland stopped building work. The south gatehouse and the six great towers in the inner ward would never reach their intended height and the Llanfaes gate was abandoned after very little work. However the castle was used as a defensive fortress until after the Restoration of Charles II in 1660.

Whilst Edward’s dream never came true it is on the global stage as one of  Edward’s masterpieces. Gloriously incomplete Beaumaris is perhaps the supreme achievement of the greatest military architect of the age.

By sea to Puffin Island:

Join me in a couple of weeks for our boat trip to Puffin Island.

Links:

To find out more about Beaumaris Castle please follow this link. You’ll find all the details you need to plan your visit.

To visit the Steam Dreams website please follow  this link.

This podcast is also available through Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Castbox , Deezer, Podchaser, Spotify, Stitcher and Vurbl and others.

Music:

AKM Music has licensed Steam Railway and Joseph McDade has licensed The Tavern for use in this podcast.

© The MrT Podcast Studio 2022

Ruskin TH 2021 Ep 14

Season 2021 – Talk 14 – John Ruskin

In his talk about John Ruskin Alan Freeland tells us the story of the life of this English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath who lived in the Victorian era.

Click a thumbnail below to view the image gallery that accompanies the talk.

Early life:

Ruskin’s parents are first cousins and he is an only child. His father imports sherry and wine and is a founding partner and business manager of Ruskin, Telford and Domecq. Ruskin’s mother is the daughter of a publican in Croydon and first joins the household as companion to Ruskin’s grandmother.

He is born on 8 February 1819 in London. His father and mother shape his childhood with their contrasting, and ambitious, influences.

His father helps develop his Romanticism and they share a passion for the works of ByronShakespeare and Walter Scott whereas his mother is an evangelical Christian and teaches young John to read the Bible. He commits large portions to memory and the language, imagery and parables have a profound and lasting effect on his writing.

Ruskin’s childhood is spent near Camberwell and has few friends of his own age possibly because he is educated at home. 

Travel:

Childhood travel exerts a great influence on Ruskin and helps form his taste. He sometimes accompanies his father on visits to clients at their country houses, which exposes him to English landscapes, architecture and paintings.

In 1835 he visits Venice for the first time which he calls that ‘Paradise of cities’. It provides the subject and symbolism of much of his later work.

These tours give Ruskin the opportunity to observe and record his impressions of nature. He writes elegant poetry and his early notebooks and sketchbooks are full of visually sophisticated and technically accomplished drawings.

Fame and influence:

As his influence grows he reaches a stage where he can affect the success of an artist and, because of this, he has a major disagreement with Whistler which results in a Court case.

Listen to the podcast and hear Alan tell the full story with readings of Ruskin’s work by Lorna Thomas and Charles Stuart.

Please note:

This podcast is a recording of a talk given  on Zoom and there are occasion sound ‘glitches’.

About this podcast:

This podcast is an edited recording of a talk first given to the Farnham u3a World History Group.

The Farnham u3a site is found here.

You can also listen using Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Castbox , Deezer, Podchaser, Spotify, Stitcher and Vurbl and others.

AKM Music licenses Media Magazine for use as the theme music.

© The MrT Podcast Studio and Farnham u3a World History Group 2018 – 2022