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January 30 | February 23 | April 8

Earlham College England Program
Spring Semester 2004
Program Leader: Jonathan Diskin

Another Letter from England

The past month has seen us leave London twice for outings and then return to what feels more and more like home. Since we returned from Ireland, we have been a busy group as well. We toured the Saatchi Gallery on Friday and went to Hampton Court yesterday and today the group is coming over to our flat for tea. I found the Saatchi surprisingly interesting and the Hampton's collection of wealth is spectacular to behold. Diane provided an introduction to the formal gardens for us all, and then we were off to explore the Tudor and Stuart buildings on our own. Despite the bombings in Madrid, London goes on as usual, with new announcements about vigilance on the Tube... recycled messages from thet days of IRA bombings no doubt.

We went to Liverpool and Manchester in late February and retruned from a nine day trip from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland a week ago. These trips have helped contextualize London. We can now get a glimmer of what the divide between the Midlands and the Southeast is all about and we began to grapple with the long, factious, vexed relationship between England and Ireland in general and the historical tensions in the North.

In Liverpool and Manchester we toured sites connected with our readings about the Triangular Trade in Slaves, British exports of cloth and finished goods and the import of raw materials from the Caribbean and the US Colonies. The Docks in Liverpool which was the center of this physical activity are impressive and beautiful, and some of us were able to take a guided walk of sights linked to the role of slavery and the slave trade in shaping Liverpool. In Manchester we concentrated on industrialization by walking the old Canals at Castlefield and touring the wonderful Museum of Science and Industry. Of course, we explored each city as much as we could while there as well and were left wanting just a bit more.

The trip to Ireland was spectacular. Mervyn Love and Terry Boyle, who run Earlham’s Northern Ireland program arranged a wonderful set of activities for us that spanned from meetings with political players in the Stormont to outings to some scenic beauty along the Northern Coast and at Malon Head, Donegal. We stayed in smaller cities in the North and connected with Earlham’s Northern Ireland program too. We then drove down to Dublin for four days that included St. Patrick’s Day. I still have my green Viking Hat that I’ll always treasure. Everyone I surveyed said they had a fantastic time in Dublin. In addition to some site visits of historic places and watching the St. Patrick’s Day parade, people danced, sought out music and museums, and walked until our feet ached. We know that we only have a couple of months left, and people have been focused on planning the details of their independent travel week.

Our travels have pulled the group even closer together. I know that I and my family will miss this group when the program ends.