History, Art, and Shopping in Newcastle

Once again, the challenge of finding internet access has raised its head. Funny, I had thought that England would be easier than Spain--especially since in London there seemed to be an internet cafe or workpoint on every corner. But here in the north, public internet is limited to libraries, all of which are closed by 5:30 just as I'm finishing with the day's touring. Well, I'm taking time this morning, a travel day for me, to make an entry.

Two days ago, I stayed mostly in and around Newcastle. I visited the Roman Wall Museum at the suburb of Wallsend. This is the location where the Romans built a fort that anchored the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. If you're not familiar, the Romans conquered the English mainland early in the second century AD, but those pesky Scottish and tribesmen kept making trouble, so the Roman emperor Hadrian ordered that a wall should be built streatching across the Tyne valley all the way across England. At Wallsend, archeologists have uncovered the largest fortification of the wall and reconstructed a part of the remaining wall. I wish that I had time to do the "Wall Walk"--about 90 miles. It's supposed to be historically interesting but also a lovely view of the Penine Mountains and the English countryside. No time this trip--maybe next time!

In the afternoon, I spent time in downtown Newcastle. First, I visited the Laing Art Gallery which features Brisith painting from the 18th to the 20th century. What this means, to my delight, is that they have several works by Pre-Raphaelites. Look them up if you're not familiar--they painted sensuous works often using mythological allusion. Four works by John Martin were there--one, "The Bard," I've used in World Lit I in the past. Even better, there was William Holman Hunt's "Isabella and the Pot of Basil," a haunting work made more poignant because the model for Isabella was Hunt's wife who died just before the painting was completed. For me, the highlight was Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones' "Laus Veneris," a richly colored painting of reclining female figures taken from the German Tannhauser legend.

To round out the day, I stopped by Grainger Market, an indoor shopping market built in 1835. There were antiques, fruit and veggies, butcher shops, and an optical shop that has been in that location since 1852. In 1882, a pair of entrepreneurs named Marks and Spencer opened a penny goods shop; today "Marks&Spencer" is one of England's largest retailers, but they still maintain a shop in Grainger Market. At one shop I bought hot "Northumberland Stew"--corned beef, carrots, white potato, sweet potato, onion, and celery. As Andy Taylor would say, "Gooo-ood!" There were used book shops where I spent some time sorting through dusty books until I found treasure! I bought British editions of "Something Wicked" and "Buried Secrets"--both Silhouette novels by Evelyn Vaughn, who is better known as Tarrant County College's own Yvonne Jocks! As I was leaving I tried a Scottish Bap. This one had pork, dressing, and pease porridge on it. Now, when the woman making this up asked, "do you want your pease porridge hot or cold?", how would you have responded?! I wanted to say something like, "Ummmm, nine days old?" Anyway, I had it hot, and it really was delicious.

Yesterday, I visited Holy Island, my next to last pilgrimage. I think I'll write about it tomorrow--I need a little more time just to think about the experience. In the mean time, I'm heading south.