Here are some more pictures of Prince William’s Official State Visit to New Zealand. He spent the second day of his trip opening the new New Zealand supreme court and seeing the sights. Stay tuned for further updates.

Prince William New Zealand Official State Visit Day 2 Pictures is a post from: Anglotopia.net

It’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that I was in England this time last week. It’s been a whirlwind week as I got back to work, jet lagged and sad that our time in Britain was over.

I’ve just now had the time to start going through the 600+ pictures that I took on the trip and now I’d love to share the best ones with everyone.

I’ve put them on flickr on the Official Anglotopia Feed Here. I’ve also embedded a slideshow below. I’d love to hear your thoughts on my pictures!

Cheers!

Pictures of England: Check out the Pictures from our Trip to England is a post from: Anglotopia.net

One thing that was heavily requested in the recent Anglotopia user survey was more pictures. Ask and you shall recieve. I’ll try to do one giant picture post of week, focused on a place in Britain – my goal is to go county by county, but we’ll see.

Up first this week is my favorite county, Dorset.

A little bit about Dorset from the Wikipedia:

Dorset (or archaically, Dorsetshire), is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town has been Dorchester since at least 1305, situated in the south of the county. Between its extreme points Dorset measures 80 kilometres (50 mi) from east to west and 64 km (40 mi) north to south, and has an area of 2,653 square kilometres (1,024 sq mi). Dorset borders Devon to the west, Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north-east, and Hampshire to the east. Around half of Dorset’s population lives in the South East Dorset conurbation. The rest of the county is largely rural with a low population density. Dorset’s motto is ‘Who’s Afear’d’. It’s the only county with no Motorway running through it.

Dorset is famous for the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site, which features landforms such as Lulworth Cove, the Isle of Portland, Chesil Beach and Durdle Door, as well as the holiday resorts of Bournemouth, Poole, Weymouth, Swanage, and Lyme Regis. Dorset is the principal setting of the novels of Thomas Hardy, who was born near Dorchester. The county has a long history of human settlement and some notable archaeology, including the hill forts of Maiden Castle and Hod Hill.

Pictures of Dorset

The Flag of Dorset

Location of Dorset in England

Map of Dorset

Dark Clouds over Bournemouth Bay – Bournemouth Dorset – Picture from Freefoto.com

Iconic Deck Chairs in Bournemouth – Picture from Freefoto.com

Dorset Beach Huts – Bournemouth England – Photo from Freefoto.com

St John’s Church, Tolpuddle, Dorset – Photo from Freefoto.com

River Avon, Christchurch, Dorset – Photo from Freefoto.com

Street in Christchurch, Dorset – Photo from Freefoto.com

Twynham Castle, Christchurch, Dorset – Photo from Freefoto.com

Thatched Cottage, Tolpuddle, Dorset – Photo from Freefoto.com

Gold Hill, Shaftesbury, Dorset – Photo from Freefoto.com

Sunset, Old Harry, Handfast Point, Dorset – Photo from Freefoto.com

Corfe Castle, Dorset – Photo from Freefoto.com

Wareham Quay, Dorset – Photo from Freefoto.com

Water Mill, Sturminster Newton, Dorset – Photo from Freefoto.com

Cerne Abbas, Dorset, England – Photo from Freephoto.com

The Cerne Abbas Giant, Dorset, England – Photo from Freefoto.com

Britain’s smallest pub, Godmanstone – Photo from Freefoto.com

Swyre, Dorset, England – Photo from Freefoto.com

Chesil Beach seen from near Abbotsbury, Dorset, England – Photo from Freefoto.com

Chesil Beach, Dorset, England – Photo from Freefoto.com

Pictures of Britain: Beautiful Pictures from All Over Dorset is a post from: Anglotopia.net

This is my last retrospective, luckily these four weeks “off” have replenished my reservoir of interesting and even death-defying tales. Every year during the first week of August the Hartlepool Carnival takes place at the Headland which is culminated with the Carnival Parade. Below I relate my first experience with this parade.

Last weekend was the Hartlepool carnival which was culminated with a “parade”. I use the term parade very loosely. First of all, there wasn’t really any theme to speak of. Usually when there is a parade I expect there to be an occassion or theme like “Thanksgiving” or “Independence Day” or even “The Red Wings won the Stanley Cup… AGAIN!” It doesn’t really matter what the theme is, I just like know that there is some theme or purpose for the parade. This was not the case with Hartlepool’s carnival parade. I think the only theme I might have been able to draw, since it was the only recurring costume was The Canoe Man:

If I never mentioned it before, there was a big story this year that made international headlines when a man from Hartlepool faked his own death in an insurance scam. John Darwin, now know as “The Canoe Man” was a neighbour of ours, living just a few doors down from us here on the sea front. In 2002 John Darwin was out canoeing one day in the sea (its actually more like kayaking) and he never returned. His body was never found after the Coast Guard searched for him and he was pronounced dead and his wife was awarded his life insurance money. For the past 5 years John Darwin has been living in a “secret room” in their home, but his act was up when he and his wife tried to purchase some property in Panama. When he realized the police were getting close to discovering his scheme he stumbled into a London police station claiming amnesia and no knowledge of the past 5 years but the police saw through his act and he was arrested. He and his wife were recently sentenced to 6 years in prison for their scheme.

In true English spirit, instead of sweeping this man under the rug or trying to keep it on the hush while the story blew over, the people of Hartlepool have embraced the Canoe Man and he is the butt of every joke and quite possibly the only theme that could be found in the parade.

Back to the parade, it can best be described as a bunch of drunk people dressed in Halloween costumes wandering aimlessly down a street lined with children. There were only two floats, one with the local beauty pageant winners and another that had an Easter theme- in August. The only thing I could think was that maybe they didn’t disassemble their Easter parade float and decided to recycle it for this parade. The only other theme, which is thoroughly English, was “men dressed as women”. We have a hula girl…

Her Majesty the Queen…

and of course, Amy Winehouse…

Mr. Winehouse was probably my favorite because right before this photo was taken he walked off the street, through the crowd and into the pub across the street and emerged with a pint of lager. I think it pretty much summed up the whole spirit of the parade. Other than the photos I have posted here, people pretty much wore whatever costumes they had and entered themselves into the parade. There was a troupe of Elvises, the characters from the Wizard of Oz, zombies, and numerous other random costumes with no relationship whatsoever to each other.

Well, that was my first experience with an English “parade” but I have to believe that there are better parades to be seen in England.

This year I didn’t bother to go to the parade, although I did hear from my driving instructor that it started about 3 hours late. I have found that my attitude toward this parade is shared by most people and people avoid going to it, or at least they avoid going to it sober.

I mentioned that I believed there must be better examples of parades in England but as it turns out, parades are more of an American thing. At least the candy-throwing, float-towing and band-marching parade I as an American am used to. However I have found that whether on a large scale or a small scale, Brits are experts when it comes to military parades. This year I watched in wonder as hundreds of horses marched in time and a mounted band played challenging military march music, The Trouping of the Colour was one of the most impressive “parades” I have ever seen. The American parade is less about skill and more about organization, but The Trouping of the Colour is the epitome of both.

But Brits don’t even need all the resources of the Royal Family to put on a solemn military parade. This year on the anniversary of D-Day the surviving WWII veterans in Hartlepool marched through the town square. They were a small group, with nothing but a small boom box to play the music they marched to, but they organized and carried out this parade on their own in such a moving way. It was sad how few people came to see their little parade. My husband and I were among only about 20 spectators but the men and women still marched along paying no notice to how many people they were marching before.

Dispatches from the North: Retrospective Part IV is a post from: Anglotopia.net

August 1st will be my one year anniversary of living in the UK. I live in such a beautiful place, I can never put my camera down. Here is my year in review as told by the photos I have taken.

August 2008

Within my first weeks of arriving here my husband took me to a nearby castle, it was my first visit to a real English castle. Some of the outdoor scenes of the first Harry Potter movie, like Harry’s first flying lesson, were filmed here at Alnwick Castle which is home to the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland.

September 2008

In August my husband and I embarked on a dream honeymoon. First we spent a few days in Giverny fulfilling my lifelong dream of visiting Claude Monet’s house and gardens and then we spent a week in Paris. To get there we took a train direct from Hartlepool to London, then First Class from London to Paris on the Eurostar before taking a small train up to the edge of the Normandie province where Giverny is nestled along the Seine.

October 2008

My husband is in the Royal Navy and has seen almost every port city in Europe and parts of the Caribbean and Africa. He says the tide here in Hartlepool is one of the most extreme he has seen. At high tide the water comes right up to this sea wall and at low tide it recedes several hundred yards.

November 2008

In late November we got a little dusting of snow on the sea front. I was delighted as I wasn’t expecting to see much snow at all, especially this close to the sea. I was quite surprised when I woke up to find snow on the ground and surfers in the water.

December 2008

The Boxing Day dip is an annual event that happens the day after Christmas. Its a charity run on a whole different level. Instead of running 5K or a half marathon, these participants start at the nearest pub where they prepare for the event by downing brandy and hot toddies. Then they run all the way down the beach and into the freezing cold North Sea. In fancy dress, of course. This is the aftermath.

January 2009

In January my husband and I took a mini break to the Lake District. It was a wonderful getaway and there is so much to do in this area we will be able to return for years to come and do something different every time. My favorite activity was taking a lake cruise on England’s largest natural lake, Windermere.

Febraury 2009

Living on the east coast it is always worth it to get up early to see sights like this. On this day in February I woke up to a bright and silent morning with a blanket of snow that didn’t last much past this sunrise.

March 2009

Sometimes I feel like I live surrounded by an ever changing work of art. On this bright March day I decided to take my camera out when the tide had receded to capture the unique landscape. After the winter all of the rocks are bare, but you can see the beginnings of a new crop of plant and algae life on the rocks. Now in the height of summer these same rocks are completely covered in a thick layer of sea grass, algae, mussels, barnacles and other sea life.

April 2009

Easter marked my parent’s first visit to England. We had a busy schedule which was fun for Jason and I because we got to be tourists in our own country. My absolute favorite place in England is York. I think it has more to offer than any other city in England, even London. York Minster is the most breathtaking structure I have ever had the pleasure of exploring. It is so massive that it has a heavenly air and it is full of light, unlike so many other cathedrals which tend to be a bit dark and depressing.

May 2009

In May my husband and I started our family. We adopted a dog from Dogs Trust. Max is 2 years old and as far as we can tell he is some kind of dingo, at least that is the story we are sticking to. He is in heaven, playing on the beach every day and chasing after sea gulls. In my opinion there is nothing more picturesque than a man and his dog.

June 2009

I have seen more rainbows this year then I saw in all my 25 years before moving to England. I have countless photos of rainbows, but unless they are as brilliant as this one it is very difficult to capture the colors in a photograph. This was the most vivid rainbow I have ever seen and the amount of color that translated into this photo is proof of that.

July 2009

This summer we have had a “heat wave” by British standards with some days climbing into the 80s. On these hot days the sea water gets warm and is crystal clear and blue. These are perfect days for family outings on the beach. We love playing fetch in the water with Max’s favorite softball which I brought all the way from Chicago.

Dispatches from the North: A Year in Photos is a post from: Anglotopia.net

This is part in an ongoing series where I will feature some of my Photography of London and England up until we leave for our trip in November. I’m an avid amateur photographer and love sharing my photos. If you’d like to see all the pictures in this series check out the gallery here.

This picture is from my second trip to London in 2004. It’s the Lancaster Gate Tube Stop, which was the tube station that was in the neighborhood near our hotel (Thistle Lancaster – which is no longer a hotel). It’s a great tube stop because it’s central and you can quickly get access to any part of London.

It’s also one of the oldest stops on all of the Underground and you can see it in the old tiles on the walls, the old stairs leading the trains and ticket hall. You can just feel history standing on the platform.

I love standing on a tube platform, waiting for the next train. There is nothing better than the feeling of the wind rushing through the station as a tube carriage approaches. The wind, the sound and the smell – rodents scurrying along the tracks. Local Londoners may not appreciate it, but I count it as one of my Anglophile Zen Places. I could stand there all day.

What’s your Favorite Tube Stop?

Pictures of England – The London Underground is a post from: Anglotopia.net

I came across this really cool Scotland Themed Flickr photoblog the other day. It’s old pictures of Scotland from the Library of Congress compared with a picture taken today. The result is pretty stunning.

Here are two great examples:

See the whole series of pictures here.

Stunning Pictures of Scotland Then and Now is a post from: Anglotopia.net

This site is an really cool archive of old pictures from the UK.

From the site:

This website is an archive of old photos of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, including England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and the Republic of Ireland (which of course is not in the United Kingdom).

This website was launched in July of 2006, with the idea of preserving old pictures in perpetuity, and displaying as many old photographs as we can of England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.

This is a free to view website, that doesn’t sell images, purely displays them for your pleasure. It will never be complete, and is already (2009) one of the most useful of resources available on the internet, enjoying literally millions of hits a year.

Check out Old UK Photos here.

Strange Things I learned in Australia

Interesting list from the Matador travel network of the strange and interesting things the author learned about Australia.

From the Article:

They aren’t called operating hours but trading hours.

And, for some reason, businesses stop “Trading” around 6 pm. I know Aussies love to be slackers but why close a store at 6? What about the after work people? This is true for not only small towns but also big cities like Sydney. I tried going shopping at 7 to find everything closed!

Check out the rest of Strange Things I learned in Australia here.

Gorgeous Pictures of Australia

This is a really cool travel guide website to Australia that also features some fantastic pictures. The best part is that if you select the sideshow function, you can get beautiful wallpaper sized images. Definately worth a visit if you’re looking for a new desktop wallpaper.

Check out Pictures of Australia here.

Persephone Books

This suggestions comes via a regular Anglotopia reader, Else. I’ll let her explain them:

They specialize in British (and some U.S.) women writers and books for women (not sappy romances, by the way, but good drama, etc.). Many are historical. I think they are worthy of being included as a link. It’s been a wonderful source of Britishness for me. Check them out!

Thanks Else!

Check out Persephone Books here.

Tudor Primary Sources

This is a fantastic resource, especially if you’re doing research for a paper or novel. It’s a database of primary sources from Tudor England such as letters, journals and poems.

From the site:

Primary sources are important historical documents which allow readers an unparalleled glimpse into the past. They are written from the perspective of a participant or observer and can include letters, speeches, diary / journal entries, and manuscripts.

Check out Tudor Primary Sources here.

Anglophile Links: Link Friday Weekly Roundup is a post from: Anglotopia.net

From the cool blog, Little Aussie Cynic, comes a series of pictures of interesting Australian Road signs.

It’s also a really cool blog. Definitely worth subscribing to.

Check them Interesting Aussie Road Signs here.

Interesting Australian Road Signs is a post from: Anglotopia.net

I’ve come across this picture several times over the last week, so I thought it was worth a share with you guys.

Personally, I hate American football, it’s boring, unnecessarily complicated and too commercialized. I find real football much more exciting.

Just don’t sneeze, you might miss the only goal.

The Difference Between Football and Football is a post from: Anglotopia.net

I found this funny post today while browsing the web. It’s a series of pictures showing all the creative uses people have made out of skips (dumpsters to the rest of us).

Some people turned them into pools, skateboard ramps, living rooms and even a ping pong table. I never knew a skip could be so versatile!

Click here to check out the rest of the pictures. Be warned, they may be NSFW (not safe for work).

Creative Uses for a Skip is a post from: Anglotopia.net

Google Recently teamed up with LIFE magazine to digitize their entire archive and post it for free on the internet, available to all. Many of the pictures are stunning and provide an unique insight into the life of yesteryear.

I did a search through the gallery to find pictures that might interest my fellow Anglophiles and it was a gold-mine of awesome picture. I’ve pasted some of the best LIFE Magazine pictures of London below.

What’s great is that if you really love a picture, you can buy a beautiful print directly from LIFE. Prints are reasonably priced. If you want to browse the Google LIFE gallery, click here. If you’d like to see British pictures, search for British related keywords. You can also download higher quality versions, many large enough to make desktop wallpapers.

Anglophile Pictures – London Through the Ages: Pictures from LIFE Magazine is a post from: Anglotopia.net

I came across this pretty cool site put together by Rob Gardiner. He’s a photographer with an interesting twist, he uses a homemade pinhole camera. He’s taken some pretty cool pictures of London and a few years ago did a tour of the London Underground Circle Line on foot, taking pinhole pictures along the way.

The pictures provide a new way to look at London, makes it look very erie and deserted. The way he caught the light was just brilliant. He managed to make the Thames look like a sheet of glass. Pretty cool if you ask me. I’m a digital photographer myself, but I appreciate some of the really cool things you can still do with film.

Here’s a couple samples.

St. Paul’s Cathedral

The London Eye

Parliament – St. James Tower

London Street

Thames Barrier (Not on the Circle Line – from another set)

To see the whole collection, check out NYCLondon.com here.

Anglophile Pictures: London with a Pinhole Camera is a post from: Anglotopia.net