“It’s so close to London. Come visit!” insisted my great-niece. “You can get around on foot or by bike on the cobblestones.”
That sounded dandy, so off we went to Cambridge, England, a college town my niece assured us was full of history and charm.
She had that right! The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have quite a city for themselves. This university town, which inspired Catherine’s and William’s royal titles, is only 50 miles from London – great for a day trip or overnight stay.
It’s perfect for relaxing walks and museum visits surrounded by medieval buildings and extensive green spaces.
Cambridge University. All photos by Norma Davidoff or courtesy of Visit Britain.
The Campuses
How did it feel to be in the same spaces as DNA discoverers Francis Crick and James D. Watson, economist John Maynard Keynes, novelist E.M. Forster, and actor Dudley Moore, who are all Cambridge grads? Energizing, actually.
All around are stately buildings from the Middle Ages on. The great stone edifices that comprise the 31 colleges have elaborate, carved wooden doorways that grace entrances.
Everything is landscaped in an English garden way with hydrangeas, daisies, and fuchsias bordering the buildings. Lush grasses flourish in the courtyards, often the size of football fields or tennis courts.
But beware! Visitors are forbidden to walk on the grass. This is a privilege reserved for students.
We particularly liked Christ College, where scientists Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin, as well as actors John Cleese and Emma Thompson, studied. Speaking of Darwin, we purposely went to see his digs at Christ College, which date from 1450.
“C. Darwin” remains written on the entrance of his three-story dormitory. Further into the squares and buildings of Christ College grows the famous mulberry tree that John Milton wrote about.
The statue of Darwin at Cambridge University. All photos by Norma Davidoff or courtesy of Visit Britain.
This garden’s plants resemble those Darwin found during his historic voyage of discovery. The garden holds a life-sized sculpture of Darwin as a student sitting on a bench. We were lucky that visitors are welcome to walk the grounds and climb the stairs to Darwin’s room.
In a constellation of star-power buildings, King’s College glitters prominently. Founded in the 15th century, its late English Gothic structures are imposing. The college’s crowning glory is the chapel commissioned by the Crown: several King Henrys planned it.
In between doing away with a few wives, Henry VIII saw it through to completion. Touring that building alone would have been enough!
Punting
Nothing says Cambridge like a punt on the Backs. So we treated Nina and her husband Justin to a punt with us.
Punts are wooden boats that ply this narrow river, only 30 feet wide and 3 feet deep. The Backs are just that – the back side of the imposing medieval buildings that surround the 31 colleges that comprise Cambridge.
It’s an easy, relaxing way to learn about the university, particularly if someone else is doing the punting. Developed over the centuries, several bridges now span the Cam. Nina and Justin thought the most unusual one was the covered Bridge of Sighs.
You can rent your own punt or pay for a chauffeur-guide – a wise alternative unless you’ve got college-age musculature. So we chose to punt with a guide.
We were both amused and educated about Cambridge in a very short time. Boats passed, filled with tipplers lifting glasses, while their punter did the heavy lifting. We saw a cow on the riverbank and heard a mash of Italian, Hindi, and English coming from boats named Steps to Heaven, Hat Trick, and (no surprise) Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Scudamore’s, like most large operators, provided cushions, blankets, and brollies (umbrellas) just in case. Remember it’s England.
Around Town
After we treated Justin and Nina to lunch at the nearby Galleria Restaurant with its two protected terraces that overlook the Cam, we watched the punts glide . . . as well as collide . . . while we dined on succulent roast lamb and portobellos with quinoa.
The Eagle Pub in Cambridge. All photos by Norma Davidoff or courtesy of Visit Britain.
Another day, we trotted off to an historic pub called The Eagle. It dates from 1525. This is an important landmark, as it is where university scientists Crick and Watson announced their discovery of DNA – the secret of life.
We marveled at that while savoring butternut squash risotto along with other high quality pub grub. We chose to dine outdoors, but there were several rooms inside, too.
With all that verdant 700-year old grass, my husband and I decided to picnic one day. For provisions, we chose Cambridge Cheese Co. in All Saint’s Passage because it sells local cheeses and accompaniments.
We took our spread to a place on the Backs by Queens College. There were several other large greens we could have selected, as Parkers Piece, Jesus Green, or Christ’s Pieces are all welcome to picnickers. We almost caught a cricket game at the same time.
Concerts
Justin had been a choral singer in college and was enthusiastically knowledgeable about the concerts in town. Choral and organ music are part of the Cambridge experience in several of its colleges: King’s, St. John’s, Trinity, Clare, and Trinity Hall.
Usually, free concerts are held in the early evening when school is in session. The music is both secular and religious with many varied events. King’s is renowned for concerts during Easter Week, the Cambridge Summer Music Festival, and Christmas Eve. Broadcast worldwide, that concert “is” Christmas for many Britons.
We checked the individual college websites to find out what was happening when we were there. St. John’s College, which resembles a wedding cake, was offering Evensong concerts, as well as jazz sessions. We were hooked and happy! We would have attended more, but there was so much to do and see in town.
Museums
We walked to the Fitzwilliam Museum to take in first-rate works of art in a grand building. A plus: no entrance fee. This museum is filled with treasures and is itself a treasure.
Magnificently outfitted with marble, wood, and elaborate ceilings, the rooms felt intimate, yet elegant. The museum offered easy-to-read explanations of culture and history, which made the exhibits more meaningful to all of us.
Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. All photos by Norma Davidoff or courtesy of Visit Britain.
Fitzwilliam’s collection encompasses oil paintings from old masters like Gainsborough and Breughel, and Impressionists like Degas and Corot, to art by Picasso and America’s Larry Rivers. We took in Italian etchings, fine furniture, and more.
The natural world was of interest to my husband, so we hurried off to the University Museum of Zoology. It’s also free of charge, as are seven other university museums.
We scrutinized specimens donated by Charles Darwin from his voyage on the Beagle. There are skeletons, fossils, shells, and animals preserved by taxidermy – stuffed but not stuffy. We knew the museum by the large boned “creature” outside that looks like the remains of a dinosaur or some sort of abstract sculpture. (It’s actually a finback whale skeleton.)
Beyond the colleges lay other historic sites with contemporary joys. A rare, round church known as St. Sepulchre dates from the 11th century.
Near the tourist office on the town square is an open-air market that has been operating for centuries. It’s filled with local produce and foods along with witty British souvenirs.
All this and more make up Cambridge – a wonderful place to be!
North Staffordshire is the heart of the celebrated English pottery industry. The decorative European porcelain industry started in the late 16th century when traders traveling the Silk Road brought back decorated porcelains mostly from Cathay (China) to grace the palaces and tables of royal houses and European aristocracy.
Mainly provided by the Dutch East India Company, porcelain from China and Japan represented wealth, importance, and refined taste. As the competition for prestige between the European monarchies heated up, demand for these decorative products also grew.
King August II of Poland, Elector of Saxony, “invited” Johann Friedrich Böttger, an alchemist who was assisting Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus (a mathematician and scientist experimenting with producing hard-paste porcelain), to create a factory that would supply decorative items and tableware to the Elector’s palace. In 1709, the Elector established the first European hard-paste porcelain factory by placing Böttger’s laboratory at Albrechtsburg Castle in Meissen. Production started officially in 1710.
Classic Meissen Zwiebelmuster (Blue Onion) setting. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
Augustus’s patronage attracted to Meissen some of the finest painters and sculptors throughout Europe as staff artists. The first successful ornamental items had gold decorations applied upon a fired clay body and were finely engraved before they received a second firing at a lower temperature. Multicolor enameled painting imitating Oriental designs was introduced by Johann Gregorius Höroldt in 1723, with an extensive palette of colors in what is now viewed as a fanciful chinoiserie style.
This marked the beginning of the classic, much-desired and collected Meissen porcelain. One of the most popular and collectable Meissen designs, the Blue Onion (Zwiebelmuster) pattern, has been produced since the mid 18th century!
Lest you think industrial espionage is a modern treachery, Samuel Stöltzel, a kiln master at Meissen, stole and sold to Claude Innocentius du Paquier, a minor court official in Vienna, the secret recipe developed by Böttger. By 1717, a competing factory, part of the Viennese Imperial Palace, was set up by du Paquier.
By 1780, about 50 porcelain manufacturers were operating in Europe. Each palace had its own fine porcelain workshop, which is the reason a number of today’s better known brands have “Royal” or “Imperial” as part of their name.
The formation of a solid middle class in Europe, especially in England during the 19th century, expanded the demand for high quality porcelain table settings, decorative items, and crystal to decorate their residences. They were not aristocracy, and they did not have palaces. But they desired to decorate their homes the same way as the upper classes.
Spode Indian Tree plate. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
During the Victorian and Edwardian eras, the demand for decorative items and elaborately designed homeware continued to grow. Numerous entrepreneurs opened porcelain factories and decorating workshops in the Stoke-on-Trent area, where clay, sand, wood, coal, and other source materials were readily available.
Numerous well-regarded artists and artisans were hired to create forms and designs, and by the early 20th century, there were more than 100 factories and workshops operating in towns around Stock-on-Trent. While a number of the better producers are no longer in business and exist today only as antique collectibles or brands produced by other factories (Royal Doulton, Minton, Meakin, Royal Worcester, Spode Copeland, etc.), others still operate there and create exceptionally beautiful products.
Wedgewood Museum Portland vase. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
As part of our visit to “The Potteries,” as the area centered on Stoke-on-Trent is still known, we visited the Josiah Wedgwood & Sons factory that opened a museum on the Wedgwood Barlaston campus in late 2008. Wedgwood is now part of the Waterford, Wedgwood, and Royal Doulton (WWRD) Group currently owned by Fiskars Corporation, a Finnish company that owns exceptional porcelain and crystal producers Arabia, Iittala, Royal Copenhagen, and all the WWRD associated brands.
Thanks to meticulous production and design notes, and samples that the Wedgwood family and the factory managers retained throughout the years, the museum now houses a very impressive collection from very early products created in the 1800s to the latest designs.
The Barlaston campus also contains the present-day factory where decorative items, homeware, and jewelry are still created by skilled artisans based on techniques and craftsmanship developed in the mid-18th century.
Wedgewood Museum exterior. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
We arrived late from London on a Friday and only had sufficient time to visit the museum and no time to do the factory tour that is one of the most interesting parts of a visit. (I did that tour 8 years ago.) If you are interested in iconic premium dinnerware or porcelain decorative items, a guided tour of the factory and a visit to the on-site shop are indeed musts.
But hard-paste porcelain is only one of the bases upon which decorative items are produced. Clay-based pottery, thicker and non translucent compared to decorative china, but handsomely adorned and then glazed over, can also be used as a base to create delightful and very collectible decorative products.
Moorcroft decorator at work. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
The highlight of our Stoke-on-Trent trip was a visit to another, little-known producer of very collectible pottery art, W. Moorcroft.
Moorcroft is a “creator of art pottery, fiercely independent, small and almost alone in its pursuit of quality at the highest level” to quote their promotional material. They have been creating exceptional collectible art pieces for more than a century.
The company was originally founded as a design studio in 1897 within a larger ceramics company, James Macintyre & Co. Designs came from 24-year-old William Moorcroft, who personalized each piece of pottery with his own signature. In 1912, Moorcroft moved his staff to his own factory in the town of Burslem, where Moorcroft pottery is still made today.
Money to start the new company came from Liberty of London, and Liberty continued to control Moorcroft until 1962. W. Moorcroft Ltd. is now controlled by the Edwards family and has been since 1993.
Catherine Gage is Director of Marketing and Publicity, and she was at hand to guide us through the workshop and studio. Every piece is hand-decorated from start to finish and signed. It is an amazing process that can be seen by appointment.
Moorcroft designer at work. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
It is a fascinating view into a bygone time before assembly line production and the use of pre-printed image transfers. The production technique is unique and is reminiscent of a vividly colored cloisonné piece, but made out of clay. Many of the designs are in an Art Nouveau style and are created in limited and/or numbered small-production editions. While every item is a valued and valuable piece of art, it also sadly means that each design has a limited life. We met four of the five current full-time designers and two of the three part-time designers.
Bishop Hypericum Golden Jewell. Photo courtesy of W. Moorcroft Ltd.
Rachel Bishop, a very talented artist, is the Senior Designer on the team, and her Art Nouveau styled writhing plants and flowers grace many of the best-selling Moorcroft pieces. Rachel’s arrival brought a resurgence of the complex tubeline designs, a process visually reminiscent of the cloisonné Chinese design process, as she championed the skill of tubelining that William Moorcroft introduced in 1898 with his Florianware designs.
Lovatt Forever England. Photo courtesy of W. Moorcroft Ltd.
Also at the meeting was Vicky Lovatt, another of the talented designers whose clarity of design lines and imaginative use of color makes her work very desirable by Moorcroft collectors. Vicky joined Moorcroft in 1999 as a painter. Many of her designs are floral, though often exotic and unusual.
Bosson’s Queens Choice. Photo courtesy of W. Moorcroft Ltd.
Emma Bossons is the only artist in the studio with a formal fine arts background. Her Queens Choice and Anemone Tribute are vivid examples of exceptional decorative art. Emma’s work has become popular with Moorcroft collectors. She became the youngest female member of the Fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts. When the British Royal Mail produced a series of first day covers to acknowledge Stoke-on-Trent prominent ceramicists, three leading RSA members were chosen – Josiah Wedgwood, Sir Henry Doulton, and Emma Bossons.
Paul Hilditch at Moorcroft. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
Paul Hilditch, one of the part-time designers, has an impressive oeuvre of work, and we were fortunate to watch him fashioning one of his creations. Paul’s design style is one of intricacy. He is fascinated by Moorcroft’s tubelining process, and the majority of his designs are easily recognizable, as the surface of each piece is almost fully covered in raised tubelining decorating the entire surface.
Hilditch Memories from My Past. Photo courtesy of W. Moorcroft Ltd.
Time did not allow us to visit any of the other still operating factories. In order to get a good overview during an area visit, give yourself at least four full days for exploring this fascinating industry and its remaining exceptional producers. For more information, contact:
To a Brit, the only thing better than fish ‘n chips is fish ‘n chips with a pint. That’s why Grosvenor F’sh Bar in Norwich, England partnered with The Birdcage across its cobblestone street in the picturesque medieval city in Norfolk. Both businesses are housed in historic buildings at St. Gregory’s Green, Pottergate, in the heart of the well-known Norwich Lanes.
Lauren Gregory, owner of The Birdcage suggested to Christian Motta, one of the owners of Grosvenor F’sh Bar, that customers be allowed to take their fish ‘n chips to the pub. “We only had the downstairs seats, and a lot of people didn’t want to go downstairs because they don’t like being underground,” he says. “Also, a lot of people like to have a drink, and we don’t have a license.”
Both businesses began to promote the exchange, including on social media, and it took off. “We put menus on the tables in The Birdcage, and I advertised The Birdcage in my shop,” Motta says. “We started slowly, but it went so well that we started delivering to The Birdcage, too. People come in to our shop and order, go over to the pub, buy their drink, and we bring their food over. Fridays and Saturdays, the pub is full of people eating fish ‘n chips.”
The Birdcage’s website mentions the collaboration, “Bringing in your own fish ‘n chips is also positively encouraged. Opposite the venue is situated one of the best fish and chip shops in Norfolk, Grosvenor F’sh Bar. They offer a range of traditional fish dishes alongside some quirkier offerings such as a ‘Wacko Taco’ and the brilliant ‘Bass with Sass’.”
Grosvenor F’sh Bar in Norwich, England. Photo by Melanie Votaw.
The idea became so popular that the two businesses started a “Fizz ‘n Chips” promotion on Fridays. Customers get a “meal deal” when they buy food at Grosvenor and a glass or small bottle of Prosecco at The Birdcage. They pay for their Fizz ‘n Chips at the pub and bring a ticket to Grosvenor Fish Bar to place their food order. The shop then finds customers in the pub via a numbered receipt.
As a result of the partnership, the pub has become busier and even underwent a redesign to look more like a bistro, taking out some of its booths and adding more tables. Word of mouth spread quickly in town. “People will walk past,” Motta says, “and remark, ‘Oh, that’s the place where you can get your fish ‘n chips and have a drink.’”
What if you could take a walk down Diagon Alley? Well, you can! I did, and it was a thrill. Warner Brothers Studios Studios just outside of central London opened its doors on March 31, 2012 so that fans can experience the world of Harry Potter up close and personal.
Walking down the actual Diagon Alley was the high point of my visit to the Harry Potter sets. Photo by Melanie Votaw.
The opening to Dumbledore’s office. Photo by Melanie Votaw.
I took the train to a nearby town, and double decker buses were right outside the station waiting to take us to the studio. Once inside the exhibit, we were shown a film in which Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson (who played Harry, Ron, and Hermione) talked about the family atmosphere on the set and the great talent of the artisans who created the sets and artifacts we were about to see.
Well, they weren’t kidding. The sets, costumes, props, masks, and animatronics on display were a tribute to the many designers who brought author J.K. Rowling‘s imagination to life. As I walked through the various sets and exhibits, I was continuously inspired by the creativity and skill of these people behind the scenes. Their attention to detail was, without exaggeration, staggering, and everyone involved with the films clearly took great pride in their work. Books were inscribed inside, for example, and each box containing a wand in Olivander’s was carefully created, labeled, and stacked. In Snape’s potions class, dust was deliberately placed on the bottles.
The first set you see during your self-guided tour is the Great Hall where the Hogwarts students ate their meals. It’s just as big as you would expect it to be in real life, and it’s still a “hot set,” which means it’s ready for shooting.
You’ll also see the cupboard under the stairs where Harry slept at his aunt and uncle’s house, the inside of the Burrow where the Weasley family lived, Dumbledore’s office, the Gryffindor boys’ dorm room, Hagrid’s hut, the Ministry of Magic atrium, and more.
Harry Potter costumes. Photo by Melanie Votaw.
While not all of the sets still exist – some were built and torn down, as there’s only so much space on a film studio lot – Warner Brothers has left many intact. These sets and exhibits take up a great deal of room, but the ka-ching factor makes it all worthwhile. They will rake in an unfathomable amount of money from visitors, not just from admission sales but from the gift shop. They sell just about every Harry Potter-esque item you can imagine, from relatively inexpensive chocolate frogs to wands to sweatshirts to games to costume replicas that cost in the neighborhood of $150 U.S. and up. If your pockets are as deep as your love for the world of Hogwarts, you can walk away with just about anything you want.
One of the Wizard’s Chess pieces from “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.” Photo by Melanie Votaw.
Artifacts include the life-sized chess pieces from the first film, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the flying car and the giant spider model (Aragog) used in the second film, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and a multitude of costumes, wands, books, brooms, masks for characters like the goblins, and models for characters like the house elves from all of the movies.
You get an idea of the size of the Hogwarts model that was used for some exterior shots when you see the people standing next to it. Still, it’s hardly life-sized. Photo by Melanie Votaw.
For me, one of the most impressive works of art is the model of Hogwarts castle, which was used for many of the exterior shots of the school. The model is miniature but quite large for a model and exquisitely detailed. I walked all around it and took many photographs. In the image above, the people standing below it give you an idea of the scale.
Animatronic Buckbeak that moved a bit in the exhibit, making it easy for both visitors to the set and the actors who made the film to believe the creature is real. Photo by Melanie Votaw.
Another of my favorites of the tour is the animatronic creature named Buckbeak, which was featured in the third film, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The beast actually bowed to me as I approached it, and it looked so real that I could have easily convinced myself it was alive. The filmmakers wanted to make it easy for the young actors to believe, and I’m sure they accomplished that goal.
A Privet Drive set. Photo by Melanie Votaw.
On the grounds of the studio lot outside the indoor sets, you will find two buildings from Privet Drive, including the home of Harry’s aunt and uncle. You will also find the Hogwarts bridge, the Knight Bus, the house where Harry’s parents lived and were murdered, and the gravestone where Voldemort attacked Harry in the fourth film, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
The Knight Bus on the Harry Potter set in London. Photo by Melanie Votaw.
Gringotts Bank – I loved the eskew facade. Photo by Melanie Votaw.
Even with all the wonder around me, Diagon Alley was still by far my favorite. The designers purposely made all of the buildings slightly askew, which gives you a feeling of being off balance. You’ll either hate it or love it (like me). As I strolled down that street (also a hot set), it was like entering a fantasy. All I needed was Daniel Radcliffe to stroll with me, our wands in hand. Of course, in this fantasy, I would also go back in time and become younger to even out our ages. But … ahem … maybe this is a separate fantasy that’s better kept to myself.
The Harry Potter gift shop at Warner Brothers Studios UK. Photo by Melanie Votaw.
After completing the tour, I felt enormously humbled and overwhelmed by the amount of work that went into the films. You could spend hours looking at each item and set closely, but the average amount of time spent on the tour is three hours. If you’re in London and you’re a Harry Potter fan, visiting Warner Brothers for this tour is an absolute must. You won’t be disappointed. You must buy your tickets in advance, however; no tickets are sold on site. Visit the Warner Brothers UK website for tickets and information about how to get there. And while you’re in London, check out Platform 9-3/4, which has been added to King’s Cross train station in honor of the books and movies. There are also several Harry Potter tours in London to take you to different sites where they shot on location.
The term “champor-champor” is a Malay expression which loosely translates to “a bit of this and a bit of that.”
The restaurant is located in South East London and I find it irresistible as it makes me feel transported to exotic locations through a cuisine that I like. The food at Champor-Champor is Malaysian but with a pronounced Thai influence and a few Indian dishes thrown in; most of the dishes are of the classic, savory and spicy East Asian variety.
For starters, we selected the Crab and Fish Begedil with Pineapple Kerabu. The Begedil is a crab and fish potato cake with a delicate golden exterior and moist interior; the Kerabu was an accompanying salad of ripe shredded pineapple and coriander leaves dressed with lime juice, soy and sweet chili. The saucy salad required us to dip the toast accompanying the dish to gather up every bit. We also tried a Green Papaya, Crispy Tofu and Pomegranate Som-Tam salad that was also very delicious.
For palate cleansers, we had a taste treat; a warm lemongrass barley soup which was very refreshing and perfect for a cool evening as well as a Rambutan and Korean pepper granita that kept us going from one palate cleanser to the other to savor each of the different tastes.
Photo by Nick A. Ross
For our main courses we selected the Lamb Shank braised in blue Sumatra coffee, red wine, dried red chilli and the King Prawns yellow turmeric curry. The lamb was sweet hot and the sauce was brilliant; braising the shank in the coffee and red wine gave the lamb a very unusual and unique taste; one that I will try to duplicate in my own kitchen. The prawns were served in a large bowl where the prawns floated in a deliciously spicy sauce.
Dessert was chocolate & chilli cheese cake for both of us — I can’t resist a good chocolate cake.
As a beverage we decided on traditional Asian teas; Jasmine Flower for me and Fresh Mint for my friend.
We were at Champor-Champor for an early evening meal. By the time we were ready to depart the restaurant was very full and humming. An exceptional kitchen will always bring out the foodies, no matter where in the world it is. This restaurant is highly recommended if you love tasty good Asian food!
