December Part I

    It’s hard to believe its December 25th and I'm sitting in my kitchen, in Maryland, writing this. December seems to have flown by in a flurry of snow, ice, reading, and writing end of term essays! I am going to break this down into manageable sized chapters….

Part 1:

      Early in December, Sofia and I had a lovely weekend in Gargrave, visiting my Uncle Hugh.  We rode the train from York to Gargrave, which takes about two hours. It’s a pretty journey through North Yorkshire, passing by lots of small towns and picturesque fields, lined by stone walls and inhabited by wooly sheep. We passed through Skipton, where my Granny and Granddad Mardall lived, and I spent many summer days.  The Gargrave train station reminds me of the scene from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, when the children first go to live in the country. You step of the train, and away it goes, and then suddenly you are there all alone with just the birds for company, wondering how you are going to get your cases up the huge flight of stairs to the road. Once you reach the road, there's not a sign post or other clue, as to which way you are meant to go to get to Gargrave, which is actually just at the bottom of the hill. I suppose it’s not a place lots of tourists would take the train to. 

     We walked down the lane past the village church, crossed the river and landed at Estate Yard, where Uncle Hugh has his antique shop, workshop, and home.  We wiled away the afternoon drinking tea, catching up with Uncle Hugh, and learning the ins and outs of rugby. In the evening we attended a fundraiser for a group that supports Care-givers in Yorkshire. This was the most unusual fundraiser that I've ever been to. The English, it seems, will do almost anything to raise money for charity, and this evening they were fire-walking! Not what I imagined I'd ever see on the outskirts of Skipton! Since then I've heard of men growing mustaches for charity, getting them cut off again, shaving their heads, and women climbing mountains. My Auntie Pat walked Hadrian’s Wall for charity, and my friend Louise bungee jumped off of a crane over River Thames!  They are a very caring, socially conscious people, and a bit loony to boot!

     The next afternoon, after a brisk walk along the canal and around the village (see photo at bottom of page), Uncle Hugh and his friend Marcia took us to a traditional pub for lunch, which served the likes of roast beef, mallard duck, and bangers and mash. I had a life changing moment at the end of the meal, when we discovered sticky toffee pudding. Well sticky toffee pudding is basically sponge cake soaked on hot caramel toffee served with a side of icecream. I highly recommend you try it. Anyone who knows me well, could tell you that I'd rather eat dessert than dinner, any day. We had sticky toffee pudding for dinner the next 2 days running! It's a good thing I'm walking 3-5 miles a day!
Stay tuned for Part 2...

Scaling York Minster

Scaling York Minster

     Last week was so very exciting for me. I have been visiting York Minster since I was quite young, and have long been fascinated by cathedrals.  The idea that these buildings were made by hand with no modern tools or machinery is amazing. So last week was exciting for me, because I got to go where not many do; up the scaffolding!

     The East façade of York Minster has been under-going renovations for some time now. It began with renovations needed to the masonry, but once the scaffolding was up, it became apparent that the stained glass was in need of some help too, so all of the stained glass has been removed for cleaning and conservation. 

     We began our tour with Nick Teed, who is head conservator at the York Glaziers Trust. He took us around the outside of the building to show us all the variations in historic and modern protective glazing (covers and protects the stained glass on the outside).  After going around the exterior, we went inside for an up-close look at some panels which have been monitored for the last year with 3 different types of protective glazing schemes.  We entered through a door in the corner of the Minster which led to a circular staircase. We went up, round and round on some very steep stone steps, and popped out about 20 feet up onto a narrow ledge. The heating radiators, which are a modern addition, took up half the ledge, so it didn’t leave much space to walk along. It was kind of like being on a high diving board; It looked so much higher once we were up there.  It didn’t help that the stone railing was only about knee high either. After a close examination of these great windows, in situ, we went back down the stone stairs to regroup.

     Our next foray was into the scaffolding on the inside wall of the East facade. We went up with the purpose of inspecting the grooves in the masonry, which would partially hold the stained glass in place. You could see where it had been moved and new grooves were cut into the stone, and also where the iron bars had corroded and been replaced with brass fittings.   About halfway up the wall, we went through a little Alice-in-Wonderland style door. It looked like we had all drank the bigger potion as we bent over and shimmied through. We emerged onto the outer scaffolding with a dizzying and drizzly view across the city. We were quite high up at this point, and I have to admit I was holding on pretty tight, although it was perfectly safe.

     It was really spectacular to see the new work that the masons and stone carvers are doing. I’ve always admired the weathered gargoyles and spouts on old churches and buildings, but the new carvings were just as impressive, and quite bizarre as they are meant to be.  The old stone-work was so weathered it looked like melted wax. It’s impressive what a little water can do over time.

     A bonus of this visit was that another local University, York St. John’s, was having its graduation ceremony in the Minster, while we were there. So as we looked over masonry schematics in the far back corner, the choir was signing, the organ was playing, and we even heard the Archbishop’s welcome to the families!   

Life Without a Car

Life Without a Car

Well after several weeks of frustration, I have finally moved out of the hostel and into a townhouse, or as they call it here, a terraced house.  Sofia arrived from the States last Monday and we got the keys on Tuesday morning.  The house is unfurnished, which has meant a lot of expenditure that I wasn’t exactly planning on. You forget how much you need in a house until you are starting from scratch again. It’s been interesting to say the least and exhausting to say the most, trying to furnish the house without a car. We walk into the town center on most days and after the first evening of trudging home in the rain with our arms full of shopping bags; we have since taken the bus home when shopping. There is one bus that actually stops almost at our front door, which leaves the town center every half hour until 5:30. After 5:30 it only goes every hour, which of course we found out the hard way; sitting at the bus stop for 55 minutes, when we missed the 5:30 bus.

If we are not shopping, we usually walk to and from town and the University, which is about 3 miles round trip, not including all the back and forth in town. I’m hoping to be super fit with all this walking! I don’t have a set of scales yet (they are on the shopping list) but I hope I have lost a pound or two.

So not having a car is a new experience. The last time I didn't own a car was 15 years ago, when we lived in Costa Rica.  Buying furniture took a 45 minute walk to an industrial park and back again. Luckily they deliver! And trips to Sam’s Club are definitely out. Besides not having a car, our fridge is smaller than the one I had in my college dorm room, so buying food is pretty much a daily occurrence. This is not a problem since we walk past several groceries stores, 2 bakeries, and 2 green grocers on the way home. We also have a corner store at the end of the block, which is open until 9pm. What a novelty, being able to walk to buy milk, eggs, a newspaper etc! I love it!

So I promised on Facebook that I would tell you what a dongle is. A dongle is a receiver for a cel phone signal that transmits wireless internet service. So you can get internet service without being hardwired into a phone or broadband. The downside is that you are charged for bytes of service. Right now we have 2 GB for one month. We’ve used up half of that in 3 days! Lucky for us, but more for them, we can “top up” anytime. Eventually we’ll be able to get regular broadband, but without having any credit we’ve had a hard time getting some things set up and that was one of them.

Our internet and phones are pay as you go.  I walk past the phone store every day on my way in to the University, so that is easily handled. Getting the house was a bit more complicated. In the end I  had to pay for the whole 6 month contract in advance plus a month and a half of security deposit! Well at least I don’t have to worry about paying the rent now for a long while. (We’ll just have to get used to eating ramen noodles!)

My classes at the University are very interesting. This past week I turned in formative essays on value-led conservation philosophies and comparing local windows to methods described in historic texts. I also did a presentation for the class on The Soane Museum’s Stained glass collection in relation to Gothic Revival architecture and the Romantic Movement. http://www.soane.org/. In basic glass handling and conservation we have been experimenting with manual versus chemical cleaning methods for stained glass. We use ultra-high powered microscopes to determine which methods are working best versus which are damaging the glass in the process.  To get an idea of how this applies in the field, check out this article about a British art conservator. http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2010/oct/24/british-restorer-lost-giotto-masterpiece. The program she started in was similar to my program, but focused on regular painting as opposed to painting on glass, which is the focus of mine.  I’m not assuming I’ll be famous one day, but you can imagine the possibilities of where this could all lead.

So that’s me caught up for now. We are off to the library to pick up our Library/York cards, which get us into the local attractions free, and then to the newly refurbished Yorkshire Museum for an afternoon of browsing.  http://www.yorkshiremuseum.org.uk

All the best to you and yours,

xoxo Clare

A Day in the Life of a Stained Glass Conservation Student

     Today was an excellent day in my glass world. First thing this morning in my Stained Glass Conservation and History class my partners and I gave a presentation to the group on our experiment  using an ancient text as an instruction manual on breaking glass with a hot poker and grozing the pieces to fit using old fashioned tools. Our power point presentation went very well and was well recieved by the head of our course.
     After a lunch break and making a few more appointments to see properties, we went back into the workroom for Basic Glass Handling and Conservation, which is the hands on part of the course. Our class today was led by the head of the York Glaziers Trust, whose main task is to conserve the Medieval glass in York Minster. The first half of the class was a lecture/discussion on how and why to document the process of conserving any stained/painted glass window. It was very interesting, because he brought along copies of a series of historic documents showing the documentation of a particular window begining in the 1600's and progressing up to the present conservation of the window.
     The more exciting half of the class came in the second half, when we were asked to inspect and assess various pieces of glass, the majority of which were between 600-800 years old! We had some basic instruction on photographing the glass in situ or on a light box, which can be very tricky due to the lighting, and then we all went round looking at each others sets of glass to see various types of problems that arise in glass over the course of its 800 year old life. Its very surprisng how some of it looked almost new, while other pieces were so coroded, they were as thin as tissue paper.So that is a day in the life of a Stained Glass Conservation student.
      I hope you have a good weekend! I'm meeting up with my Auntie Mary tomorrow morning, and will have a brief respit from the hostel tomorrow night, as I will be sleeping in Skipton!

Home Sweet Home?

     Well sorry to say, I am still in the hostel. As nice as it is by hostel standards, I would much prefer to be in my own house by now. Its a frustrating system over here. They don't have what we call the muliple list system, so for every house you want to see, you have to go to the individual agent who has it listed. Things also go very quickly, so if you see it on their website or with a sign hanging out front, it's already been rented. To make a long story short, I think I found the place this morning. I have to do the paperwork on Thursday and hope to move in on Friday or Saturday. The houses here are quite small by American standards, but this one does have 2 bedrooms, a dining area and sitting room, AND most importantly a washer and drier! (Its surprising how many times you can wear a pair of pants/jeans when you have too!).
    On a better note I had a lovely weekend getaway at my Auntie Pat's house. She lives in a town called Bingley, which is about an hour away in the car, but on the train only takes about 35 minutes. She invited Auntie Lyn,  Uncle Dave, Uncle Hugh, and his friend Marcia over for dinner, so it was a little reunion of sorts. I stayed over and had my first good nights sleep in 4 days. (The disco behind the hostel is only closed on Mondays) It was so awesome!
     In the morning we went to my first "car boot sale". Think garage sale on wheels. Everyone pulls into a parking lot with all their junk to sell in the boot (trunk) of their car. I picked up my first Toby Jug, a tea pot commemorating the Queen's Golden Jubilee, and some York Minster coasters. I am such a tourist! 

My First Days in York

     I arrived in York on Sunday, and was met at the train station by my Auntie Linda, which was a lovely way to be welcomed to my new city. After a walk through town and a nice lunch, she left me to get settled at the Ace Hostel. The Ace is a great place in the center of town, housed in a newly renovated Georgian building, with lots of amenities. I thought I might not like sharing a room with 10 strangers, but so far there has only been one or two other people (all women, by design) in the room. It is a bit strange, especially sharing a tiny bathroom, but everyone is very nice and considerate. All but one of my roommates has been from Asia and traveling around Great Britain on their own.
     Monday started with a meeting to review the course with Sarah Brown, the course Director, who was most apologetic for her fellow countrymen at the visa office. Apparently there have been a lot of recent changes in the law, to the extent that one of the course professors has not been able to come from India, where he is part of the team working to conserve the Taj Mahal. I definitely feel that I am in lofty company, as most of the professors share similar distinctions! Monday ended with presentations by all of the 2nd year students, detailing their summer workshop placements and experience; they inlcuded placements in Germany, Scotland, York, Canterbury, and MOMA in New York City.
     I won't bore you with the details of running around doing administrative things, but there have been a lot. Tomorrow should see me with a bank account and cel phone at long last, and I hope to see several rental properties before the day is over.
     Today was the busiest and most exciting day by far. I have been grouped together with 2 other students. Our task was to read several texts from the 1400s, which gave instruction on how to make stained glass windows during those times. Most were written by monks or other clergy, and included glass making, cutting, painting, etc. After reading the texts we had to try to reproduce the results using one of the texts as a guide. So I spent most of the morning and then the afternoon, creating a chalk-covered board on which we drew our design with a piece of lead, and then trying to cut a piece of glass using a RED HOT POKER! The chalk board was easy, but it took us about 4 hours to cut one piece of glass! It was a lot of fun!
     In the middle of the day we had a lecture by Dr. Peter Gouldsborough on the Philosophy of Conservation, which was very interesting and thought provoking, but not as much fun as playing with a red hot poker! and with that thought I will say Good night!

A Begining of Sorts

I'll start by bringing you up to speed on my final days in America, as many of you won't know how things "turned out". Without belaboring the point too much, I finally obtained my student visa by taking the train from Wilmington, up to New York City, on the day before I was due to leave. After letting my file sit on his desk for 6 days untouched, the visa officer couldn't possibly overnight the visa/passport back to me to arrive on a Saturday, even if I paid for and included the prepaid UPS envelope, when I mailed the passport to him. He did not mind if I wanted to bring it in myself and wait for him to place the sticker in my passport. Needless to say, this did put a strain on my packing schedule, but I did finally get the visa! The funniest part of the whole story was that when I did turn up in New York at the visa office, the officer handling my case had called in sick! I can't imagine why! It's a good thing I am tenacious.