Harry Potter and Hampton Court

Whew!  It’s been a fast two weeks!  Despite the continuation of strike action here on campus, I’m still chugging along – trying to use this time to get some quality archival research done while also working on my mid-term assessment essays!  My colleagues and I had to contend with some snow last week, but I’m happy to say that we’ve now returned to the rainy, mid-40s conditions that I’ve grown to know and love here!

Snowy day on campus!

Awesome sunset earlier this week -- the old West Pier is visible out in the Channel.

As far as my research, I found some really interesting medical and sanitation reports this week that will be crucial to the urban studies portion of my project.  I’m currently working to map out (and juxtapose) the poorest and the wealthiest regions of Brighton as they developed in the nineteenth century, in the hopes that I might then be able to look for evidence of interactions and or altercations across social class boundaries in the town. 

All (boring? I hope not!) interludes about research aside, I also did some regional travel this week in and around London!  I got to see Warner Brothers Studios, the place where the Harry Potter films were made; Hampton Court Palace, a tudor-style behemoth that housed the likes of Henry VIII and William III; and the changing of the guard ceremony in London!

I’ll start with Harry Potter, as it constituted a large and very important part of my (and apparently just about everyone else’s!) childhood.  I was pretty excited to see many of the sets and props used in the filming of the movies – and I thought I had a pretty good idea of what everything would look like when I arrived – but gosh, was I surprised!  It was incredible to experience up close the sheer attention to detail that the hundreds of set, prop and makeup artists employed to make J.K. Rowling’s work come to life. 

About to go up to Dumbledore's Office!

Just four Razorbacks in front of a winged cousin

Seeing all of the sets and reading about Rowling’s influence on the production design of the movies brought me back to when I was in second grade – sitting on a miniature stool in the elementary school library and reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone for the first time.  In Rowling’s own words, “the stories we love best do live in us forever.”  

Diagon Alley!

A 24:1 scale model of Hogwarts used in filming!

The day after the Harry Potter studios trip, my roommate, Justin, and I spent a day exploring West London.  We watched the changing of the guard ceremony in the morning – which featured a special performance by a troop of Irish bagpipers – before exploring London’s Chinatown and visiting Winston Churchill’s underground headquarters during WWII.  It was a day of contrasts.  Sunshine and royalty in the morning, followed by rain and, well, in Churchill’s own words, “blood, toil, tears, and sweat” in the afternoon. 

The Changing of the Guard Ceremony was a much grander affair than I expected it to be.  It featured two different marching bands, some 40 or so soldiers, and at least a couple thousand eager tourists.  My roommate and I stood outside of St. James’s Palace (located about half a mile up the street from Buckingham), where the old guards and an Irish bagpipe regiment started their march to Buckingham Palace.  We jogged (rather frantically, I might add, as they were marching pretty fast) alongside this cohort until we reached the Palace, at which point we had to jockey for position but ended up getting a pretty good spot in front of the gates to watch the ceremony.  We watched the guards switch places and the band play a short, 20 minute concert on the steps of the palace before donning our rain gear and continuing on our way.

Buckingham Palace in the early morning (before the ceremony)

Irish Bagpipe Regiment marching from St. James's Palace to Buckingham

The Churchill War Rooms, my favorite part about this particular visit, were awe-inspiring.  The tiny underground rooms that served as Churchill and his cabinet’s headquarters during WWII were exceedingly small and humble in composition.  The space was used very efficiently – Churchill’s own (10 x 15 foot, I’d say) room doubled as his office.  My audio tour guide told me that Churchill's subordinates always knew he was awake and not far away when they started smelling cigar smoke!

Despite the (no doubt) copious amount of smoking that went on in them, the rooms were meticulously preserved – left exactly as they were in 1945 at the conclusion of the war, when the employees rushed to the rooftop to see the cheering crowds in the street.  The war rooms also included a very impressive museum that cataloged and contextualized Churchill’s life.  I certainly learned a lot that I didn’t know!  For instance, I had no idea that Churchill’s political career started after he made a name for himself by escaping from a Boer prison in South Africa in 1899!  He also wrote numerous books -- including a four volume "History of the English Speaking Peoples," published in 1956! The man was a legend, and I loved learning more about his life. 

This weekend, I attended an international student trip to Hampton Court Palace, Henry VIII's old Renaissance stomping grounds (and later home to William and Mary, who built a baroque addition to the palace, as well as George I and George II).  

The palace was a red brick maze punctuated by towers, chimneys, and towering courtyards with chimneys on top!  The well-manicured palace gardens were also very impressive.  Outside, we saw "the largest grape vine in the world," as well as a large herd of deer descended from Henry VIII's original hunting stock.  However, my favorite part about the visit to Hampton Court was watching and interacting with a group of actors in period dress as they played out a drama between Henry VIII and his sixth wife, Catherine Parr (spoiler alert, Catherine was not one of the wives that Henry had beheaded, so everything turned out okay)!

Front entrance to Hampton Court.  Notice the Tudor Roses on the flags to the left!

The Baroque portion of the Palace viewed from the French-style privy gardens

For me, this next week will be all about essay writing, researching, and hoping that the strike is resolved soon!  I hope you have an excellent week too, and I thank you very much for reading this post. 

Until next time,

BD