Leicester

The city of Leicester was to be our base for a week. In March I did an online course on England  in the Fifteenth Century which coincided with the reinterment of the body of Richard III in Leicester Cathedral, therefore when the itinerary for the cricket tour was announced I was pleased to see that there would be time to explore part of this city.

We stayed at the Central Travelodge Hotel in Leicester which has an information board on the wall explaining that the hotel is built on the site of the Blue Boar Inn (originally the White Boar Inn) where Richard III stayed before riding off to the Battle of Bosworth. But Leicester is more than just Richard III and has more than 2,000 years of recorded history. This board is just one of the many information boards recording the city's extensive history.

We spent some time exploring the city and found a number of buildings and statues providing an insight into the Leicester of today as well as yesterday.

Sport is important in most large cities in Britain and Leicester is no exception. The Sporting Success statue commemorates the year 1996-1997 when Leicester had success in three sports - soccer, cricket and rugby.

The Haymarket Memorial Clock Tower is located at the junction of five streets in the centre of Leicester and the four figures depicted on the tower are of major benefactors to the city. The tower was completed in 1868. The figures are of Simon de Montford, William Wigston, Gabriel Newton and Thomas White.

The old Guildhall building (dating back to 1390) near the cathedral is another reminder of Leicester's past.

The High Cross is another reminder to the medieval history of the city. This is the last of eight similar pillars that would have had a dome shaped roof with the cross on top to signify that this was a market town. The market cross was constructed in 1577 and was partly demolished in 1773. This pillar had been located near Leicester Marker from 1977 but was relocated to its present position in the new Jubilee Square in 2014.  There is a mark on the nearby footpath showing where the original structure once stood.

Leicester Market continues to be a busy part of life in Leicester.

There are a variety of stalls each day but the many fruit and vegetable stalls are particularly popular.

Walking in one of the side streets I found this Seamstress Statue, a monument to the hosiery industry once important in the area.

Another monument to Leicester's industrial past is illustrated in this sculpture near the river.

The River Soar plus canals flow through part of the city and are crossed by a series of bridges.

Leicester consists of many shopping precincts, perhaps the most modern one being Highcross, an illusion to the city's market past. A variety of shops, restaurants plus a cinema are located at Highcross.

By contrast also in this area is an older building, now a restaurant, dating back to 1573. The building was constructed as a school by Thomas Wigston. In later years the building was used as a carpet factory and later as a booking office for a transport company.

The home of the Wigston family was built in 1490 for Roger Wigston, a wool merchant and politician. Additions have been made to the home over the centuries.

 This view from the hotel window shows a panorama of rooftops plus the spire of Leicester Cathedral. Each evening we could hear the peel of the bells from the cathedral.

The oldest church in the city is St Nicholas' Church originally built in Saxon times but remodelled many times since.

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

On 20 July we travelled from Wrexham to our next location at Leicester after stopping at the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct at Trevor in north east Wales.

 Arriving at Trevor, a village in the County of Wrexham, we found a number of canal boats lined up on either side of the canal leading to the aqueduct.

We then set off using the walkway at the side of the aqueduct and looked at the great views below.

Colourful canal boats passed us as they travelled along the aqueduct towards Trevor.

At the end of end of the walkway it was possible to climb down some steps to view part of the structure of the aqueduct.

The stone aqueduct was built between 1795 and 1895 and is part of the Ellesmere Canal. Thomas Telford (1757-1834) was engineer of the project. The aqueduct has 18 piers with 19 arches and is 38 metres in height. The water in the aqueduct is contained in a metal trough. The Horseshoe Falls near Llangollen supply the water for the aqueduct. The aqueduct is an impressive structure.

The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct forms only one part of the extensive canal system that exists throughout the UK.

Back near Trevor we watched the canal barges turn into another canal to continue their journey.

Hampton Court Palace

While visiting East Molesey on 30 July I went for a walk along the banks of the Thames to Hampton Court Palace. Built 500 years ago this Tudor palace is a most impressive building.

The palace is an easy walk along the banks of the Thames River from the East Molesey cricket ground. Numerous water birds, including swans, can be seen during the walk.

It is quite a busy stretch of river with a variety of boats.

When crossing the bridge the castle comes into view.

The gates announce the celebration of the 500 year history of the palace.

The impressive palace buildings can be viewed from the driveway.

Although there is a charge to view inside the palace buildings and the inner gardens including the maze members of the public can freely wander around the outer grounds.

The extensive rose gardens also provide another panorama of the palace buildings.

Some of the roses are very beautiful.

The vegetable gardens are also worth a visit.

Lavender bushes line the path.

Flower pots on sticks support the mesh used to protect the cabbages and other vegetables.

There are also more colourful floral displays.

Back across the bridge and a view of some of the houses lining the river banks.

I also passed the shopping centre on the way back to the cricket ground.

An enjoyable way to spend an hour or two.

Game 13 against Surrey at East Molesey

The final game on this VOSCA tour of England was against Surrey at East Molesey Cricket Club on 30 June. The Australian team had played a game against England on this ground at the end of June. It is not just a good ground on which to play cricket but as it is also close to the Thames so it is a good place to go for a walk.

After taking their bags into the Changing Rooms a number of the players from both teams went out to inspect the pitch and discuss the prospects for the match.

Meanwhile Karen, Nola and Lyn chose their initial position to watch the game.

Members of both teams posed for the pre-match photo and then the match began.

The sun came out and Surrey batted first. Gordon Cowling and Robin opened the bowling and, as usual, bowled tightly making it difficult for the batsmen to score runs. However the out-field was quick and the small boundaries meant that when a batsman did get the ball away it often went for four runs. Gordon got two wickets during his eight wicket spell while Robin was unlucky not to also pick up wickets although he did bowl two maidens during his eight overs. Graeme Cook and Greg Watsford each took one wicket and David Green was again successful with three wickets. At the end of the innings Surrey had scored 220 runs with the loss of seven wickets. In reply Victoria could only manage 175 runs losing six wickets in the process. Dick Stumbles again batted well retiring after making 53 runs.

It was a convincing victory to Surrey but once again the match had been played in good spirit and the players enjoyed the game.