My Tour to Wales

Sham S. Misri

(From London)

Monday, 4th June, 2012

It was a hot day, when we left the residence, 17-Sandown Close, Cranford, Hounslow, London, on 4th June 2012, early in the morning. I and my wife Sarla, my daughter Sanjla along with Sumit, her husband; and my two grand children Shiva and Ishan were all set for this trip. Sumit had arranged a rented car for the journey to Wales. The rented car was quite comfortable to accommodate all of us along with the tour luggage.

 Sarla, whom Children with love call Nani- the grandma, were energized as she had kept some special dishes to be eaten enroot by the family members. We reached Wales in the late afternoon. Our lodge was organised by Parkdean Holiday Park, Wales. We had hired a three bed room condo with kitchen facilities. A neat and tidy condo with gas arrangements for the kitchen and heating arrangements having wall plate heaters in all the rooms. Apart from the three bed rooms the condo had a drawing room, with duel function sofa sets, which could be converted into an additional bed if required. Every condo has a facility to park a vehicle adjacent to it. Having emptied the vehicle from all our personal belongings, we dumped everything in the drawing room. Among other things, Sumit had the car documents and his license in a polythene bag, and was perhaps trying to find a suitable place to keep them. I immediately intervened and whispered,” keep them under the sofa cushion that is a safe place.” Sumit obliged by depositing the documents there. Being tired we thought of getting relaxed and some beer with snacks, till the kitchen would get organised and ready to use. Sarla and Sanjla got ready to prepare the dinner, which was done in reasonable time. A yummy non vegetarian dinner was ready by around nine in the evening. The delicious food was enjoyed, with all fun and gossip.

            The history of Wales begins with the arrival of human beings in the region thousands of years ago. Neanderthals lived in what is now Wales, at least 230,000 years ago. Homo sapiens arrived by about 33,000 years ago. However, continuous habitation by modern humans dates from the period after the end of the last ice age around 9000 BC. Wales has many remains from the Mesolithic, Neolithic, and Bronze Age. During the Iron Age the region of Britain was dominated by the Celtic Britons and the British language. The Romans began their conquest of Britain in AD 43. They first campaigned in what is now northeast Wales.  The Romans departed from Britain in the 5th century, opening the door for the Anglo-Saxon invasion. Thereafter British language and culture began to crack, and several different groups formed. The Welsh people were the largest of these groups.

In the post-Roman period, a number of kingdoms were formed in the area now called Wales. The most powerful ruler was acknowledged as King of the Britons. While some rulers extended their control over other Welsh territories, none were able to unite Wales for long.  In 1282, Wales was conquered by King Edward I of England. Then the heir to the English monarch was given the title "Prince of Wales". The Welsh launched several revolts against English rule; the last significant one was in the early 15th century. It did not last long. Wales became part of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707.  The Welsh retained their language and culture in spite of heavy English dominance.  

During the 19th century southeast Wales experienced rapid industrialization and a dramatic rise in population as a result of the explosion of the coal and iron industries. Scotland and Northern Ireland, England and Wales form the four Kingdom of England that follow a single legal system, known as English law.

 Tuesday, 5th June, 2012

Cardiff-South Wales: National Roman Legionary Museum

After having light breakfast we proceeded towards Cardiff, South Wales. Cardiff is the capital of Wales.  Here we visited National Roman Legionary Museum. In A.D. 75, the Romans built fortress at caerleon that guarded the region for 200 years. In this museum we saw what made the Romans a formidable force and how life would not be the same without them. The Roman occupation of Britain was the first period in which the area of present-day England and Wales was administered as a single unit. At that time, all the native inhabitants of Roman Britain spoke Brythonic languages. All were regarded as Britons. They were divided into numerous tribes. After the conquest, the Romans administered this region as a single unit, the province of Britannia.

Wales then developed its own system of law, first codified by Hywel the Good. He reigned from 942 – 950, and, was the king of most of Wales. In the 11th century Normans attacked Wales and English law came to be practiced in the parts of Wales conquered by the Normans. In 1283, the English, led by Prince Edward, with the biggest army conquered the remainder of Wales, then organized as the Principality of Wales, which was united with the English crown. The Welsh criminal law was replaced with English law. England and Wales are treated as a single unit to the Kingdom of England. Exceptions include the Welsh Language Acts 1967 which apply in Wales but not in England.

The Roman Museum (Cardiff):

This museum has art, archaeology, natural history, and geology. The National Museum of Wales offers impressive exhibits of Welsh history and cultural development.

Death burial of Romans

This museum showed how Roman social structure was complex and cleverly showed difference in burial place of children from that of adults. The desire for children was an 'explicit aim' of marriage, but Romans were deeply aware that the birth of a child was dangerous for both mother and infant and they approached this event with a mixture of anxiety and anticipation. They made less their fears by calling upon different experienced people to guide the newborn into the world and by following the advice of medical writers. Private and public celebration also accompanied a new baby's arrival. The wreathing of the doors of the family home with a small tree with shiny dark green leaves that do not fall off in winter, and  making sacrifices at the family altar was done.  Not all Roman children were wanted. Circumstances governed decisions to rear children, and parents sometimes had to make hard decisions about whether a deformed child might live or die. But once the decision was made, parents seem to have had a rather relaxed attitude to children's development, preferring to let them grow and mature at their own pace.

Children in literary sources, for example, were frequently characterized as being nearer to the world of the gods (e.g. they could deliver prophecies or themselves serve as warnings); the children received special protections under the law until the age of seven. Children were often buried in ways that were distinct from those for adults, either in form or location, or both. The children's burials were segregated in a distinct area, and place. The burials had a wider ritual and cultural background for Roman children. These differences in burial ritual illuminate the general cultural distinctions that shaped the Roman concept of the child.The children and childhood in Roman Italy is an important contribution to the rich and vibrant history of western childhood. The status, sex, and ages of the children shows, the range of images considered appropriate for their memorials.

It rained throughout the day. We had to use the umbrellas during the stroll in going from one place to another to see the ancient Roman museums, exhibitions and artefacts till we reached the Roman Ruins. In the fifty acres of land lies the Museum.

There was a sale counter inside the museum where some art crafts were displayed and were for sale. From the museum I purchased one pure Marino wool colorful muffler which cost me twenty one Pounds, which according to Indian currency works out to be around Rupees One thousand, six hundred and fifty, which appears to be on the higher side for a muffler. Besides this, one Welsh necktie, some books, and one precious antique Roman coin was obtained from the museum. The old circular coin shows Caesar on one side with his name embossed on it.  The other side of the coin shows a man sitting with a helmet on his head and has a wand or a stick in his hand. The word Rome is written on this side of the coin. Around 44 B.C. Julius Caesar was a brilliant general and dictator of Rome. Besides these, some gift packets were also purchased by the children.

Just a few minutes’ walk from the galleries took us to the most complete and the only remains of a Roman Legionary Barracks on view anywhere in Europe. Constructing barracks to house over 5000 meant systematic and detailed planning was essential. The barrack blocks are long, narrow L-shaped buildings. Twelve pairs of rooms can be seen at Caerleon, fronted by a veranda, with a larger suite at the end to house the Centurion.

 National Mining Museum of Wales: The Big Pit.

On our way back we had a visit to The Big Pit. The Big Pit is a real coal mine and one of Britain’s leading mining museums. The museum is very much educative and entertains all ages. The visit to Big Pit was exciting and informative. We stayed at the site for several hours and then returned to our condo.

Wednesday: 6th June, 2012

The Cardiff Castle: the Great Castle of South Wales

For making a useful trip to visit the castle at Cardiff, we made preparations to leave early in the morning. Cardiff the capitol of Wales is a typical city, busy with traffic. We did some search for a good buy. The day was bright and the buildings glistened in the sun. Cardiff's ancient past is grandly displayed, in the form of a fine castle. We took a guided tour to acquaint ourselves with the castle.  

The first and sudden look of the castle kept an everlasting impression on my mind. The marvellous Clock Tower with its colourful artwork, contrasts dramatically with the stonework at the castle.  Inside and out, the Victorian art surprise and confuses the tourist. The interiors of the castle are richly decorated. Cardiff Castle is much more than a monument. It also houses remnants from the Roman era in Wales.

 The Romans built earliest settlement at Cardiff in the mid-first century AD. The Romans constructed a 10- acre fort on the spot where the castle now rests. Inside the walls would have been barracks, workshops, stores and other essential buildings.

 The castle of Cardiff rises in the canter of the modern Capital of Wales. No other building of Great Britain has architectonic styles of various ages, other than this castle. The construction is the combination of a Roman fort, and a classic Norman fortress (castle with separate courtyard), and of the gothic-Victorian art. The castle was a work of the Romans during the half of the first century. When Romans first attacked South Wales, they constructed a wooden fort here. Still today the structure of the fencing is the original one. The foundations are still visible in the basements of the medieval castle.

 Cardiff became the main administrative centre of the region. The Lords who had the command on the castle brought many changes to it since the years 1121-47. In the year 1404, during the rebellion of the natives, the city of Cardiff was given to flames and the castle suffered serious damages. In the 1414 the castle's owners became another local noble family. They erected the residential area of the castle, the “palace ".

 “The Palace” walls have fantastic wall paintings with historical and mythological figures. The fireplaces are rich of sculptures and the "Arabic room" is equipped with a vaulted stone ceiling decorated with gold images of a leaf. Quite a hanging garden was created. In 1947 to the town council of Cardiff took the charge and are maintaining it.

The day was spent with all the merriment and some shopping. We had fish and chips and some snacks and proceeded towards the condo which was at a distance of nearly sixty miles.

 Having reached the lodge, we enjoyed the evening by having fine kebabs and scotch. Being tired, we took some biryani and went to bed.

 Thursday, 7th June, 2012

Oxford University:

Having packed all the things we left Wales for onward journey to Oxford University, London. The University of Oxford has no known foundation date. Teaching at Oxford existed in some form in 1096, but it is unclear at what point a university came into being. Driving the car all along, we reached the destination within four hours.

    The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the oldest university in the English-speaking world, and the second-oldest surviving university in the world. The University grew rapidly from 1167 when English students were banned from attending the University of Paris. 

There were some disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk in 1209. At that time some academics fled to a new location, where they established the University of Cambridge. The two ancient English universities have many common features and are often jointly referred to as Oxbridge. Most undergraduate teaching at Oxford is organised around weekly tutorials.

The expulsion of foreigners from the University of Paris in 1167 caused many English scholars to return from France and settle in Oxford. The head of the University was named a chancellor. In 1605 Oxford was still a walled city, but several colleges had been built outside the city walls.

Although the University's emphasis traditionally had been on classical knowledge, its curriculum expanded in the course of the 19th century to scientific and medical studies. The first four women's colleges were established for promoting the Higher Education of Women. The University of Oxford is a "public university" and receives a large amount of public money from the government, but it is a "private university" in the sense that it is entirely self-governing and could choose to become entirely private by rejecting public funds.  

There are thirty-eight colleges of the University of Oxford and six Permanent Private Halls. All resident students, and most academic staff, must be members of a college or hall, and of the University. The heads of Oxford colleges are known by various titles, according to the college, including warden, provost, principal, president, rector, master and dean. 

Teaching members of the colleges (fellows and tutors) are collectively and familiarly known as dons, although the term is rarely used by the University itself. In addition to residential and dining facilities, the colleges provide social, cultural, and recreational activities for their members. Colleges have responsibility for admitting undergraduates and organising their tuition; for graduates, this responsibility falls upon the departments. The university itself is responsible for conducting examinations and conferring degrees. 

Academic dress is still commonly seen at Oxford; until the 1960s students wore it at all times it is required for examinations, matriculation, disciplinary hearings, and when visiting university officers. 

Oxford has no upper or lower limit on the age of those admitted as undergraduates. There are many opportunities for students at Oxford to receive financial help during their studies. Students successful in early examinations are rewarded by their colleges with scholarships. 

Oxford has 102 libraries.  It has over 11 million volumes housed on 120 miles of shelving. Oxford maintains a number of museums and galleries in addition to its libraries. The oldest Museum was founded in 1683, and is the oldest university museum in the world.  It holds rich collections of art and archaeology, including works by Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Turner, and Picasso, as well as treasures such as the Scorpion Mace head, the Pariah Marble and the Alfred Jewel.

The Museum of Natural History holds the University’s anatomical and natural history specimens. Adjoining the Museum of Natural History is the Pitt Rivers Museum, founded in 1884, which displays the University’s archaeological and anthropological collections, currently holding over 500,000 items.

The Museum of the History of Science is housed in the world’s oldest-surviving museum building. It contains 15,000 artefacts, from antiquity to the 20th century. 

 In, Times Good University Guide 2008, Oxford is ranked as the top university in the UK with Cambridge as the second. In the 2010 Academic Ranking of World Universities, Oxford was ranked 10th in the world and second in Europe. 

I never pressured my children to take me and my wife to any outdoor tour. It is only their inner heart that makes them to take us with them when they go on a summer vacation. Every trip leaves some impression in our minds. Recently, in one of the trips to Wales, England, we had a great fun. When we entered the castle it was a huge one and as usual I started taking a video. I had just taken my first shot when a gentleman at the gate came in front of my video camera and began to make gestures and dance. I was astonished what has happened. I thought that, perhaps I was doing something wrong. I stopped taking videos of the castle. The gentleman came to me and said,” I have recently retired, come sit with me for some moments, you have time to go and see the castle.”  Astonished at what he said, we continued and sat on an eighteen inch high stone parapet and began to talk. The twinkle in his eye suggested he wasn’t being entirely honest, a suspicion he confirmed when he slid a photo across the bench. In this his five year old son grins at the camera wearing a child’s pilot uniform with Hawaiian’s wings on the lapel. The gentleman continued…….

I told him what and why he told me all this. He replied that   jokes are inborn with Welsh people...Then he said come and meet people who come from such a musical family that even their sewing machines are Singers. The Welsh love to laugh at themselves, their women, their rugby heroes, their preachers and, of course, their sheep! He was a Welsh that is what he told me. I took his photograph with my grand children.

While returning from Oxford University, I was lost in my own thoughts. Well, I had passion for teaching; my father was an educationist, an author and gave all his children good education. I in turn ensured that my children also did well in their education. Now I have a wish! Can my children give the best education to their children and send them Cambridge or Oxford or Yale’s, or Harvard. Ask any of my children and they will say that having a parent or grandparent worked as a teacher means taking extra care with the children. There is a sense of duty that comes when several generations have joined and worked as teachers and a son or a daughter feels the weight of their family legacy when they rear their children. It is the happy father who desires his children touch the upper echelons.

Some two hour’s drive from Oxford, and we were at our residence at London. We cleared the vehicle of all the belongings, and Sumit was about to proceed to return the vehicle at the airport.

Taking stock of everything, he wanted to check the documents of the rented car. Immediately an idea flashed his mind and he tried to locate the car documents of his own car. Up…. Down... up…down... but failed to find. There are no documents. The documents are missing. The car key is also not there. The car insurance papers are not traceable. The search inside the house is on. Sarla is upset. Sanjla is disturbed. I felt uneasy. For all these past several days we have been enjoying, but now everybody feels uncomfortable.

I inquired from Sanjla, what documents were there. The reply came ….Besides some important documents of the car, there was the driving licence, the insurance documents and the car keys. I felt very much panicky. We thrashed every cloth. No trace of it anywhere. After one hour of rigorous search, Sumit telephoned Sanjla, from the rented car which was still not delivered.

The message was, “Daddy had told me to keep the documents under the cushion cover of the sofa set in the drawing room of the condo, at Wales.”  ...  

The message was conveyed to me. I peeled into laughter, as I am now in mirth, while having a write up of the tour. But alas! I feel ashamed, did I tell Sumit to leave some things in the condo.