NEH 2019: England

NEH 2019: England Day 8

In lieu of a post about my day, I thought I’d include a poem by Wordsworth. While famous, it’s not my favorite Wordsworth poem. It also happens to be an excellent example of how people misunderstand Romanticism. I’ll talk more about the Lakes in a later post.

I Wandered Lonely as A Cloud
By: William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud

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That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed—and gazed—but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

NEH 2019: England Day 7

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Day 7 was the event I had been waiting for. We were traveling through the Lake District. We had hired a coach and a private guide and had four days to explore some of England’s most beautiful landscapes. Despite having been to the UK four times previously, I had never been to the Lakes. While it is a very popular tourist destination, it is not easy to access it without a car.

The Lakes is of particular interest to me because it is the home of one of England’s greatest poets, William Wordsworth. My academic research has focused on Wordsworth and the other Romantics. The Romantic poets, and Wordsworth especially, were known for their admiration or veneration of nature. I had read the poetry, and I had visited beautiful places, but I was not prepared for what the next four days would hold.

We had a private guide. He was pretty amazing. He had drive scientific teams in Antarctica, done geological work on volcanoes in Costa Rica, was an expert wood-worker, and the Lake District is his home. He also happened to be 72, had recently had two knee replacements, and was still in better shape than most of us. He knew every back road, could identify every rock, and kept finding us edible plants to try. In short, he was the perfect guide.

NEH 2019: England Day 6

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Day 6 of our England trip was a day for folks to scatter for their own interests. I made a trip with our resident scholar to Durham. We chatted about the Holy Roman Empire (which I still don’t fully understand) and mottes and baileys and what it’s like to be an academic at colleges that prioritize teaching. (Overall it’s pretty great, although it makes it hard when you feel like you should be producing more academic content.)

Durham was chilly and beautiful on this day. It’s a steady climb to the cathedral, but worth it. It may be worth asking why I would ride a train for an hour to see another cathedral. I mean I’ve seen a lot of the past few years. And yet they continually amaze me. Durham, in particular, has some unique charms. The Venerable Bede is buried there, as is Cuthbert. One of my favorite modern theologians, N. T. Wright was bishop there. The cathedral is more Norman than Gothic, and while I prefer Gothic, this was something new. They also have incorporated a lot of modern art in the windows and installations. Durham is old, and yet still a vibrant religious community. As an added bonus they filmed scenes from Harry Potter and Avengers: EndGame here. (I talked the volunteer coordinator into letting me into the chapel that they used for McGonagall’s classroom. She also showed me the hallway they used for Fluffy’s corridor in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, but it is no longer safe for visitors to traverse. Venerable Bede’s shrine was used for scenes from Thor’s home in Avengers: Endgame.)

Upon returning to Harrogate I strolled the city and took in the wholly surprising views of the surrounding countryside from my hotel. I planned to visit the spot where Constantine was crowned Emperor in York, but there is only so much a person can handle in one day.

NEH 2019: England Day 5

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Day 5 began with an early morning train to York. From there it was a tour through the North York Moors National Park and out to Whitby. If in reading one of your English novels you’ve read about a moor, the adjective that preceded it was almost certainly "desolate". That is the reputation of this place. The moors are highlands, but the soil is too acidic for trees. Instead, these hills are covered in heather growing in rich purples and reds. In addition to the heather, one can find sheep. A lot of sheep. The fluffy (and smelly) beasts are everywhere. They rule the roads and the hills and the occasional shrubbery. I cannot express the amount of joy that these animals bring me. If I thought they would do well in the Florida climate, I'd be starting a flock. 

Despite the reputation of the moors, I found them quite beautiful. My favorite portions of this day were the occasional stops on the moors. We would stop on some ridge where we could amble about for a few moments until the driver grew impatient. Perhaps the beauty of the moors was enhanced by my experience seeing them in the middle of summer on a beautiful day. If one were to hike through them in the rain or snow, bleak and desolate may be the only apt description.

In addition to the moors, we stopped in the seaside town of Whitby. This was the home of the famous Captain Cook and the site of the ruined abbey that helped inspire Bram Stoker to write his novel Dracula. The abbey sits atop a ridge overlooking the ocean, and the views are quite stunning. The town itself has moved from an important producer of fish to a key tourist destination. It was interesting to see the kids playing in the surf while I was putting on my jacket and looking for something warm to eat, but such is life in the North of England. The fish and chips were good and the abbey was wonderful, but I wasn’t in the moods for the crowds. I could have done with some more of the moors and the isolation they provide.

I did find myself wondering at this juncture: what am I to make of nature? I believed that the moors are a unique landscape deserving of our protection, but the question is why? Is there intrinsic value in the land itself or the ecosystem? Is my desire to preserve this space pure sentimentality or a belief that the aesthetic value of the place is enough to warrant its protection? Is there something intrinsically good in beauty? Or is it simply I want it preserved so that a select few of us humans can enjoy it and appreciate it? These are the thorny questions that “nature” forces us to confront.

NEH 2019: England Day 3

Peter, Viktoryia, and I in front of the gardens of Christ Church College, Oxford.

Oxford called and I responded. Oxford is but a short from London, but I have never been able to make it before this day. It was, therefore, with a touch of excitement that Peter, Viktoryia, and I boarded a train for those hallowed halls of academia.

We toured the Bodleian library. I wish I could show you the photos, but most of those spaces had a strict policy against the taking of pictures. Perhaps it is due to the row upon row of priceless books. They told us that the smell of old books has been shown to increase intelligence. I’d like to believe that to be true, but my guess is that the smell of old books is often accompanied by the reading of old books. Even at Oxford they confuse causation and correlation.

We continued the day with a climb to the top of the bell tower in the University Church of St. Mary, a visit to Oxford’s Christ Church College, and a meal at the Bird and Baby. I often find the draw toward specific spaces odd. Is there something special about sitting in the pub, or at the table that a famous author used. Cognitively I don’t think there should be, but experientially there is. My favorite childhood authors Lewis and Tolkien met at this pub weekly with some friends to discuss life, literature, and read the nascent drafts of their works. Eating a traditional pub meal beneath the photo of Lewis and the gaze of Tolkien was a special experience. I was glad I boarded the train.