The Edgsons in England

Sadly our time in England has to come to an end. As you can see through the blog it was a wonderful experience and we have made so many forever memories.
As we conclude our blog, we leave you with a quote from
William Shakespeare:
"I GO, AND IT IS DONE"
(Macbeth)

But not to worry! We have our new assignment and our new blog will be up in the spring of  2013!!

Stay tuned for:

THE EDGSONS IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC ISLANDS!!!!

Before we left England, we headed to London one last time. We LOVE London!! What a blessing it was, while being in the UK, that we were able to become so familiar with the 'vibe' of the city! Now that we are gone we miss it terribly.This visit took us again to the

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED KINGDOM.  

A 'must do' of Artie's before we headed back across the pond! The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is the supreme court in all matters under English law, Northern Ireland Law and Scottish Civil Law.

THE SUPREME COURT OF

THE UNITED KINGDOM

Inside COURTROOM 1

The official badge of the Supreme Court. It comprises both the Greek letter omega (representing finality) and the symbol of Libra (symbolising the scales of justice).

The four floral emblems of the United Kingdom:

a Tudor rose, representing England, conjoined with the leaves of a leek, representing Wales; a flax for Northern Ireland; and a thistle, representing Scotland.

One of my favorite pictures~~

looking at BIG BEN

"I will do right to all manner of people after the
laws and usages of this realm."

and yes this is

 ABRAHAM LINCOLN!!

Right on the front lawn of the
Supreme Court in Parliament Square!

When we stepped out of the court house it seemed odd to see a statute of Abraham Lincoln but the statue was unveiled in a elaborate ceremony in 1920. It was installed to commemorate 100 years of peace between Britain and the USA after the end of the War of 1812.

We enjoyed our last day in London and I
even enjoyed the day in court with Artie especially
seeing all of the lawyers with wigs on!
Very British!!

BEDLAM IN 1828

The Bethlem Royal Hospital, also known as BEDLAM was a hospital for the treatment of mental illness located in London. The word bedlam, meaning uproar and confusion, is derived from the hospital's prior name. Although the hospital was the forefront of humane psychiatric treatment, for much of its history it was notorious for cruelty and inhumane treatment – the epitome of what the term "madhouse" or "insane asylum" might connote to the modern reader. The inmates were first called "patients" in 1700, and "curable" and "incurable" wards were opened in 1725-34. "In the 18th century people used to go to Bedlam to stare at what the public considered lunatics. For a penny one could peer into their cells and view the freaks of the show of Bethlehem."  Entry was free on the first Tuesday of the month. In 1814 alone,
there were 96,000 such visits.

This is the building today!

The building is no longer used as a hospital and it is now the offices of one of the Church's London law firms. In fact the law firm uses the former cells located in the basement for file storage. We had the pleasure of venturing into the 'bowles' of what was once the old hospital BEDLAM.

ENTER IF YOU DARE!!!!!
It was really quite spooky. You could almost hear the noises that would have been made as we walked passed the 'cells'.

Just another fun adventure in the city of London!  

BLEEDING HEART YARD is a cobbled courtyard off Greville Street in the
Farringdon area of the City of London.

Bleeding Heart Yard is featured in the Charles Dickens novel Little Dorrit as the home of the Plornish family. Urban legend has it that the courtyard's name commemorates the murder of Lady Elizabeth Hatton, the second wife of Sir William Hatton, whose family used to own the area. It is said that her body was found here on 27 January 1626, torn limb from limb, but with her heart still pumping blood.
(Oh, don't you love old English legends!!!) Our friend, Daniel, took us there for lunch. Before we went into the restaurant Daniel read to us from Little Dorrit (one of his favorites). It was really special to have him read it. His beautiful British accent reading Dickens! 

"It was a place much changed in feature and in fortune, yet with some relish of ancient greatness about it. Two or three mighty stacks of chimneys, and a few large dark rooms which had escaped being walled and subdivided out of the recognition of their old proportions, gave the Yard a character. It was inhabited by poor people, who set up their rest among its faded glories, as Arabs of the desert pitch their tents among the fallen stones of the Pyramids; but there was a family sentimental feeling prevalent in the Yard..."

It almost felt like Lady Hatton was about
 to come around the corner!!!

DOVER CASTLE is a medieval castle
in the town of Dover. It was founded in the
12th century and has been described as the
"Key to England"
due to its defensive significance throughout
history. It is the largest castle in England.

The Castle grounds also contained one of

Dover's two 80-foot Roman lighthouses.
 It is the round building on the
middle right in the picture.

The WARTIME TUNNELS 

The first tunnels under Dover Castle were
constructed in the Middle Ages.

The outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 saw the tunnels converted first into an air-raid shelter and then later into a military command centre and underground hospital.  In May 1940, as France fell before the German advance, the tunnels became the nerve centre for  'Operation Dynamo' - the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force and French troops from Dunkirk's beaches. It was fascinating to go through the tunnels! There was reenactments of what it would have been like during the time.

Last year we went to LLANDUDNO for our anniversary, located on the IRISH SEA. This year we went to HASTINGS & DOVER (next post!!)located on the ENGLISH CHANNEL!HASTINGS is a beautiful seaside resort! There is evidence of prehistoric settlements at the site of the town. Flint arrowheads and Bronze Age artifacts have been found. So the settlement was already a port when the Romans arrived in Britain for the first time in 55 BC!

We rode the tram up to the top
of the hill. The tram was put in for the 'rich'
people who lived on the top!!!

The tunnel took exactly one year to build. VIEW OF THE TOWN OF HASTINGS FROM THE TOP

HASTINGS was the head port
of the Cinque (pronounced 'sink') Ports
in medieval times. For centuries it was an
important fishing port, although nowadays
much reduced, it still has the largest
beach-based fishing fleet in England.

This is the town of BATTLE today,
where the
BATTLE OF HASTINGS
took place in
1066.

The Battle of Hastings occurred on 14 October 1066 during the Norman conquest of England, between the Norman-French army of William the Conqueror and the English army under King Harold II. It took place at Senlac Hill and was a decisive Norman victory. King Harold had claimed the throne shortly after Edward the Confessor died in January 1066. Some sources say that Edward had verbally promised the throne to his cousin, William, the Duke of Normandy, but decided on his deathbed to give it to Harold. So William took Harold's crowning as a declaration of war.
THE BATTLEFIELD

Harold II was killed in the battle and legend has it that he was shot through the eye with an arrow. He was the last English king to die in battle on English soil until Richard III was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field. The battle marked the last successful foreign invasion of the British Isles. Although there was further English resistance, this battle is seen as the point at which William gained control of England, becoming its first Norman ruler as King William I.
BATTLE ABBY

The ABBY was built by
WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR
in honor of all the blood that was shed in the battle.

This plaque reads:
"THE TRADITIONAL SITE OF THE HIGH ALTAR
OF BATTLE ABBEY FOUNDED TO COMMEMORATE
THE VICTORY OF DUKE WILLIAM ON 14 OCTOBER 1066.
THE HIGH ALTER WAS PLACED TO MARK THE SPOT
WHERE KING HAROLD DIED."