On the way to Lincoln for a surprise visit to a good friend. Our first stop, the Woburn Safari Park in Bedfordshire.
Woburn Safari Park
The Safari park opened in 1970 by the 13th Duke of Bedford, but there had been a private collection of exotic animals there since 1804 and the 6th Duke of Bedford.
The definition of cheeky monkeys:
Lions and other carnivores:
Bears:
Lemurs:
Penguins:
Parrots:
White rhinos, elephants, Bactrian camels, antelopes etc.
Galleries of Justice, Nottingham
Next stop is Nottingham and one of its most popular attractions, the Galleries of Justice. We arrived just on time for the afternoon tour, led by the Sheriff of Nottingham himself :P.
The whole of Nottingham seems to be red. I was told later that it used to be much more red in the past.
Lincoln
A very beautiful market town in the East Midlands. It was founded by the Romans as Lindum (after the Celtic "Lindo", meaning "pool") and became a typical Roman prosperous town with baths and all. After the Romans left, it was conquered by Angles from Germany and later Danes, before William the Conqueror and his Normans arrived and built a castle in 1068. Since the bishop of Lincoln, Hugh of Wells, was one of the signatories to the Magna Carta, the castle holds one of only four surviving copies (the others in the British Library and Salisbury Cathedral). In the past, the Magna Carta was kept in Lincoln Cathedral, the tallest building in the world between 1300 and 1549, and still probably the most impressive gothic building in Britain.
Lincoln is an example of a small city benefitting greatly from its new university. Thinking of it, that's actually why we visited it this weekend.
Oh, and the food is great too! Lincolnshire sausages, game pies, cream tea ...
