Oxford and Blenheim

As we travel we like to see a variety of types of buildings and historic places. But we also are not much interested in over-dosing on any one thing. So we made it a goal to see a palace or two, a major garden or two, etc. The advice for palaces was to definitely see Blenheim where Churchill was born. Our original plan called for a stop in Oxford with a visit to the palace. But it turned out to be just as easy to visit on a day trip from London. The trip started from Paddington Station, about a 15 minute walk from our hotel.

The station proper sits behind a nondescript office building so there’s not much to see until you get inside. We were there early – no crowds to contend with.  This is the station from which the train goes to Heathrow – about every 20 minutes. For most of the day there are a LOT of people moving through the concourse. That’s one reason that the view above looks the way it does – two tracks have been taken out to provide an extra wide platform zone. The other reason is that the trusses and skylights on the right have been cleaned and restored and those on the left have not (yet).

Part way down the platform sits the rail god (dog).

And some of that extra space has been set aside for bicycle commuters.

I didn’t see any management or organizational structure – not sure how it works. But over all, another great 19^th century travel space for us 21^st century travelers.

About traveling by train in England, a few observations:

 

•        Generally good service at a variety of levels to most parts of the country
•        Generally very helpful ticket agents
•        Not inexpensive – we had pre-purchased about half of our trips to save money
•        Many trips heavily booked; but reserving seats pretty easy to do (when you reserve seats and get to the train, there’s a reservation stub already there)

•        Some inter-company glitches.  The British National Railway has been broken up. A variety of companies run the various lines, each usually in a coherent part of the country. Some companies are better than others.  We had a couple cancelled trains and waits.

•        But riding and not having to drive was a pleasure – just watch the countryside go by.

We arrived in Oxford and took time for coffee at a shop in the main square.

Oxford University is made up of a large number of colleges; so many of the ‘public’ buildings you see belong to one or another of them. We decided to take the bus out to Blenheim (half an hour away) and see more of the town on our way back. The approach to a major palace is almost as important as the building itself.

We were walking so we got the full 18^th century experience.  Most people arrived by car.

Or – by one of the fleet of tour buses, parked, not so elegantly, as a welcoming committee.

The gate itself is impressive – and this is only the ‘side door’.

Even more dramatic looking out from the courtyard.

And it all leads to   –   the gift shop and information booth !

Blenheim Palace is a monumental country house situated in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England, residence of the dukes of Marlborough. It is the only non-royal non-Episcopalcountry house in England to hold the title ofpalace. The palace, one of England’s largest houses, was built between 1705 and circa 1722. Blenheim Palace was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

Its construction was originally intended to be a gift to John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, from a grateful nation in return for military triumph against the French and Bavarians at the Battle of Blenheim.  However, it soon became the subject of political infighting, which led to Marlborough’s exile, the fall from power of his duchess, and irreparable damage to the reputation of the architect Sir John Vanbrugh.

Designed in the rare, and short-lived, English Baroque style, architectural appreciation of the palace is as divided today as it was in the 1720s.  It is unique in its combined usage as a family home,mausoleum and national monument. The palace is also notable as the birthplace and ancestral home of Sir Winston Churchill.

The building of the palace was a minefield of political intrigue by Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough. Following the palace’s completion, it became the home of the Churchill family for the next 300 years, and various members of the family have in that period wrought various changes, in the interiors, park and gardens. At the end of the 19th century, the palace was saved from ruin by funds gained from the 9th Duke of Marlborough’s marriage to American railroad heiress Consuelo Vanderbilt. The exterior of the palace remains in good repair.  (thanks to Wikipedia for this history)

The floor plan seems straightforward, formal and symmetrical, with a couple of interior courts for light.

But the scale is deceiving to say the least – here’s a panorama of the main entry court.

This was one of the places where we concluded after our visit that the guided tour was worth the time.  We would not have made sense of it otherwise. The docent (man in striped tie) starts you out with an overview in the main entrance hall.

Then you go through a couple of smaller rooms where personal artifacts of Winston Churchill have been displayed, including this imperial portrait – without cigar. It’s hard to imagine growing up in such a huge place with all of its history, thinking that you were the heir to it all.  Preparation for Prime Minister.

There were a number of examples of his artwork, including this one.

The interiors of the main rooms include huge murals and tapestries designed to remind you – and your guests – of the grand events in the lives your ancestors. These are often famous battles where prominent people are featured in key roles – with the most prominent on the white horse of course.

Dining was formal (and on axis).

The somewhat less formal library at the end of the tour contained this statue of Queen Anne.

She faced across the room and out the windows to the Fountain Terrace, accessed from the tower stair on the right side of this view.

 

Heathrow Airport

Landing at Heathrow was quite the architectural experience. (We also left from Heathrow a month later, so these pictures are a mix). It’s huge; and terminal 5 handles all the international traffic.

This is a photo of the main terminal 5 building. taken from one of the two remote concourses reached by underground train. Not many terminals dwarf 747’s. Since we arrived at one of these remote concourses we rode the train and then took escalators and elevators to customs and then to the transit level again.

It’s initially overwhelming but also remarkably open and clear. Everything’s clear and well signed. We found our way to this level, bought our “Oyster” cards (for use on the tube, bus, and light rail systems) and located the tube station.

This turned out to be a minor adventure – mostly because we were tired. But before showing that I thought I’d walk you around the terminal. The nature of the terminal 5 buildings is that they are big, open glass boxes, held up by sculptural columns and girders.

Within this framework, but held away from it, are the various floors with the various arrivals and departures functions. Open escalators and glass elevators move you through the spaces. The effect is impressive but not confusing because you can see the path. And when you arrive, at ticketing for instance, the space is open and well lit.

The daylighting highlights the structure which clearly articulates the space and at the same time reflects the light into the space. Getting to the departures area includes navigating the requisite shopping mall,

but even this is handled fairly well in the way it opens up to the main waiting and circulation areas.

And the curvature of the roof focuses your view towards the windows and the airplanes. It was interesting to me to see how some of the smaller functions were handled. Here, the departure lounges are woven into the sculptural columns.

You can decide if you think this is an intrusion, but I liked it. And again, the skylights are used to articulate the building structure. It helps break down the scale of what is a very long building. Here’s a larger waiting area at one end of the building – different treatment. I couldn’t tell if the white discs had a function other than visual. They weren’t lighting or speakers and didn’t look like acoustical treatment.

The sculptural columns line the two long sides of the building. The structure is more straightforward. And here’s a small café where we had lunch – in one ‘corner’ of the building.

It shows clearly how the ‘regular’ floors to the left are held away from the glass wall to the right so the sculptural columns can rise freely up to the roof.

Finally, both arriving and departing, the system of escalators provides views at apron level.

This is very cool in today’s air travel world where the apron level is normally off limits. You really get a sense of the planes and their scale.

01 Arriving In London

As most of you know, we went to England and Scotland this past summer.

I took pictures and Jane kept a journal.  We thought we’d share our impressions. In the past I’ve done this sort of thing as a day-by-day blog. But since we were there for a month, that could be a day-by-day slog. So, while we’ll be generally chronological, we’ll also move a topic at a time. We flew British Air non-stop from Seattle to Heathrow, just west of London. It was a long overnight flight with not enough sleep; but we survived. Here’s some of the bucolic countryside not far north of the city.

No mile by mile grid here. As luck would have it, the flight came in over the city and then went west to the airport. Here’s an overview that happens to include the area where our Parkwood hotel was located. We were about a half block from Hyde Park on Stanhope street.

It was a fairly easy bus or tube ride into the busier parts of the city near the Thames, though in truth we walked it a number of times just to explore. You can easily see the London Eye Ferris wheel with Westminster and Big Ben to the left, but on the other side of the river. When we come back into town, I’ll include a map to orient you. Just before we landed, another coincidence – we went right over Kew Gardens. Later in our stay we spent a lovely day exploring them, Kew, and the upper Thames.

The gardens are the triangular wooded area.  Thames is to the left.