Monday, October 18, 2010

Edale Hike in the Peak District


I love Cambridge, don't get me wrong, but it is quite lacking in Nature and hills. The steepest climb would be a bridge. Luckily I was able to get out of our lovely old city and into the sticks. I joined the CU Hillwalkers Society and hopped along for a day trip to Edale in England's Peak District.
This map shows the section of the country I was in. Cambridge is toward the southeast. The drive was somewhere between 3 and 4 hours. We took a bus.

Once arrived, my classmate and I joined the group going on one of the harder hikes. We had a 10 mile hike ahead of us on Kinder Scout, which kind of seems like a mesa. The group was mostly grad students ranging from Bulgaria to Argentina. Everybody was fantastic! Here's the down-to-earth folks I've been looking for.

The hills are gently rolling and covered with low-lying brush and grasses and sheep. We were lucky to have a sunny day!






After scaling the appx. 2000 foot Kinder Scout, we traversed the top of the plateau. This area was covered in moorlands, which are wet area with heather brush covering a thick layer of peat. Gullies form and the area is generally tricky to traverse, wet, spongy, and muddy! The wet peat is good at eating shoes and generally causing slips and a mess. But lots of fun!
Moor peat!
Scaling the peat canyon!
After traversing the muddy moors, we headed along the
plateau edge and down toward our pick up point at a pub (of course) at 6pm. The "gritstone" along the edge is interestingly eroded, making for interesting scenery. This landscape was a pleasant surprise. I had no idea what to expect, but I can't wait to go hiking again!  
Sheep with a view.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Matriculation

 I walked around the Cambridge University Botanical Gardens the other day. I haven't seen much color change in the deciduous trees around. The chestnuts have lost most of their leaves but they just shrivel and turn brown. The picture to the right shows a relatively secluded pond and a pretty tree that doesn't compare to what I'm missing back in New England.
A crazy flower in the greenhouse. Supposedly from China.

Here's a shot of all the new graduate students at Pembroke lining (or que-ing?) up for the matriculation ceremony. People have different "gowns" depending on their level of education. They basically differ by length and by sleeves. We all went into the old library and sat and waited to pledge our obedience (weird!) to Pembroke or something. I honestly couldn't really understand the praelector very well. I signed a big book with a fountain pen. The room had some really old books in there that I think might be matriculation registers from the past (?)

They are very ceremony minded over here.

Monday, October 4, 2010

...

 I'm living at Pembroke right now, but here are some photos from Wyton. To the left is one of the stained glass windows in Cathy's house. The colors are so vibrant in real life. The picture doesn't do them justice.
One of the last days I was in Wyton I took a long walk to St. Ives. The walk more or less follows the river past grazing pastures, orchards, and the "Thicket" which is an older forest.
Duckweed?  
Mushrooms in a wildlife area

Beautiful willow over a little tributary.

I moved into Cambridge on Friday and got settled into my new room at Pembroke college on Saturday. I live in the New Court area which was built in the late 1800's. Not super old, but still great.

New Court

Me! Handwritten staircase directory.