Travels of a Fish Nut

Emmeline Pankhurst is a pretty important person. Through her leadership of the Women's Social and Political Union she was instrumental in getting British women the vote. 2018 is the centenary of women's suffrage (although it was only partial, being granted only to women over 30 with property or husbands with property; full suffrage only came in 1920 1928*) and the celebrations have brought renewed attention on the women who fought for their (our) political representation.  Emmeline is memorialised in a statue that stands in Victoria Tower Gardens, right by the Houses of Parliament. I stopped by to pay my respects when I was there in July. Emmeline Pankhurst statue It's right by the entrance and pretty hard to miss when you enter the park from the Houses of Parliament end. So I was surprised and quite indignant when I read a few months ago that a non-profit organisation proposed to move the statue . According to the article, they originally wanted to move it to...

I've been on a Cadfael binge recently so when I found out that one of the finest surviving medieval monasteries in the UK wasn't that far from home, I just had to go. Cleve Abbey in Washford, Somerset is a small Cistercian abbey that was established in 1198 and was converted into a house following the Dissolution of the Monasteries.  Mum and I went down on an overcast day, though it brightened up by the afternoon. To get to the abbey you have to go over a little bridge that crosses the Washford river. It was a lovely little river, fast-flowing with clear water and there were lots of damselflies including this young male beautiful demoiselle (its name, but also a perfect description), Beautiful demoiselle ( Calopteryx virgo ) The first building we see is the gatehouse, The gatehouse According to the information board it's the most complete in the country, despite being remodeled twice, Remodeling in the gatehouse The buildings are remarkably...

It's been a long time since I used this blog for its original intended purpose, which was to talk about what I've been up to. So I'm going to rectify that with a couple of posts on my recent holiday back to the UK. While I've been to the UK several times since I started my PhD the previous times have either involved hospital visits or as a break between conferences. This was the first time it was just for a holiday. And what a holiday! There'd been a heatwave for the previous couple of weeks before my arrival and I was concerned that it would end as soon as I touched down at Heathrow. I needn't have worried. Instead, on our approach to Heathrow I began to realise that the complaints about the heat hadn't been exaggerations. My much-missed green and pleasant land had turned distinctly brown. As soon as we realised that I'd be home for Hampton Court Flower Show, mum and I arranged our traditional weekend away. We normally go on the final Sunday...