John Rylands Library

Today Hubs and I visited John Rylands Library.  What a beautiful and interesting place!

"The John Rylands Library was founded by Enriqueta Rylands in memory of her husband John Rylands. In 1889 the architect Basil Champneys designed the striking gothic building, which took ten years to build and was opened to public readers on 1 January 1900.

The library became part of The University of Manchester in 1972 and currently holds the Special Collections of The University of Manchester Library. Mrs Rylands' memorial to her husband is now part of the third largest academic library in the United Kingdom, and the Deansgate building houses over 250,000 printed volumes, and well over a million manuscripts and archival items."  John Rylands Library

They just don't make buildings like this any more!

Beautiful high ceilings

Spot the peeping dragon!

The main hall of books

Day 4 - the blogging challenge starts to take its toll

I'm taking part in Jen from Conversion Diary's 7 Posts in 7 Days Epic Blogging Challenge.

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I had a lovely birthday.  The hubster and I went out for a meal, it was delightful.  Except it didn't agree with my stomach.  I was awake 'til silly-o'clock with a very large and growly belly.  I often have stomach issues, it's the cross I have to bear [note melodramatic tone].

We are on holiday in Cornwall with my Mum and Dad at the moment.  When I came down in the morning Mum had decorated the living room of the cottage we are staying in with streamers and...wait for it...Red Nose Day balloons! No expense spared on the decorations then. LOL

We visited St Michael's Mount during the day.  It's an old castle and church, there used to be a monastery there.  It is so called as there is a legend about some fishermen seeing Archangel St Michael in 495 AD standing high on a rocky ledge.  

Ay me! Whilst thee the shores and sounding seas
Wash far away, where'er thy bones are hurl'd;
Whether beyond the stormy Hebrides,
Where thou perhaps under the whelming tide
Visit'st the bottom of the monstrous world,
Or whether thou, to our moist vows denied,
Sleep'st by the fable of Bellerus old,
Where the great vision of the guarded mount
Looks toward Namancos and Bayona's hold:
Look homeward Angel now, and melt with ruth;
And, O ye dolphins, waft the hapless youth.

~Lycidas, John Milton

I have lots of photos, but I'll upload them when I get home I think.  Here's one from my phone camera:

St Michael's Mount is accessible on foot during low tide and we walked over, we got back just a the water was starting to cover the path.  The above photo was taken as the water had become too deep to cross on foot.

After that we drove back and got ready to go out for our meal.

A lovely day...apart from the stomach issues, ha.

Hugs.

Dr Livingstone, I presume?

On this day in history...

Dr David Livingstone was a Scottish minister and missionary who wanted to end the slave trade. He discovered the Victoria Falls, which he named after the British monarch of the time.

On one of his trips to Africa he went missing. The concern grew so great that in 1871 an American publisher sent one of his reporters, the Welsh born Henry Morton Stanley, to find him.

After quite a few months on this day, 10th November 1871, Stanley and his entourage of almost 200 men found Livingstone in a small village called Ujiji. According to Stanley's biography, he was found because Stanley, whilst in that area, heard a voice say in English, 'Good morning sir!' Obviously surprised to hear an English voice Stanley said, and I quote, 'Who the mischief are you?' (LOL) The man told him that he was Livingstone's servant and that Livingstone was in the village of Ujiji.

When Stanley first laid his eyes on Livingstone he was shocked at how he had aged yet put on a 'stiff upper lip' so as not to offend the man, and greeted him with those well known words, 'Dr Livingstone, I presume?'



Quotes and extra details taken from here.