Fall term started this week, and I finally settled into a work routine. It seems only right to start the long-promised University post with the university logo. It’s quite striking, so I looked up the origin of the components on the web site – rather than rewriting I’ll just pass it along. “The graphic block is derived from the University coat of arms, with icons representing the University's founders and benefactors – sun for Wills, dolphin for Colston, horse for Fry. The ship and the castle are based on the medieval city seal of Bristol. The open book of learning completes the graphic block. The logotype is Bembo, a serene and versatile typeface cut in 1929 and with Renaissance origins.” I like the "serene and versatile" description of the type face! But as to the rest, let’s see. Edward Colston first – a Bristol-born merchant who had the usual slave-based wealth yet philanthropic tendencies… he founded a school in 1708, part of which ultimately morphed into the University. The nice performance center in downtown Bristol is Colston Hall, and the name Colston crops up throughout the city. Lewis Fry apparently came from a Bristol family who built their fortune on chocolate; he was one of the people responsible for founding the university in the early 20th century. Readers of the blog will recognize the ship – it’s the Matthew, the ship that John Cabot sailed from Bristol to America in 1497 (more about the Matthew later). The castle refers to a medieval castle, the remains of which can still be seen in Castle Park (I'll do a Bristol tour on a future post). That leaves Wills. The Wills family made their fortune in tobacco (I assume in the US); financial support from the Wills family allowed the University to obtain the required Royal Charter 1909, which allowed the University of Bristol to open (apparently they admitted women from the beginning, the first university in the UK to do so). Henry Overton Wills III was the first chancelor of the university.
BUT of most relevance to me (and to this blog) is a building that was constructed in honor of Henry Wills between 1915 and 1925. It is famous for being one of the last great Gothic buildings to be constructed in England; it has also become the symbol of the University AND just happens to house the School of Earth Science (although the Law school gets the more glamorous upper floors). So picture my walk to the University every morning… along the Floating Harbor with its bustle of boats on the water and the sidewalks (footpaths) equally bustling with pedestrian commuters into the city center. I then have several options, but if I have the time and it’s a nice day, I often choose to follow the water right into the city center, and then turn north to walk up Park Street, which is dominated by the tower of the Wills Memorial Building (all 215 ft of it). The building is equally impressive as you walk inside, where you are met by the full impact of the gothic ceiling soaring above and the dual staircases that lead up to the grand hall. Or turn around to admire the enormous stained glass windows. My office is on the first floor – I forgot to take photos (I will this week), but the room has enormous windows that face west over the grassy lawn in front of the building.
On Friday I had a chance to ascend the tower with the first year students … 200 vertical feet of an ever-narrowing spiral of steps, with a brief pause at the bell (named Great George – it weighs 9.5 tons and, tuned to E flat, is apparently one of the deepest toned bells in the world and can be heard 12 miles away) before emerging onto the roof with its splendid views of Bristol (unfortunately my camera battery ran out after only a few pictures). Some of the outer part of the gallery that surrounded Great George were off limits because of bird nesting - I asked about that... apparently there are peregrine falcons who nest there (they must be deaf, living that close to the bell!!)
I won’t take you to every building at the University (I haven’t yet been in many myself) but I did want to mention one: Royal Fort House. First, I like the name. Second, it has an interesting history: it was built between 1758 and 1761 on the site of a Civil War fortification (that’s the British Civil War). The “Royal” in the name refers to Prince Rupert, who was governor of Bristol (after storming the city during the Civil War). [I had no idea - I know Prince Rupert only in the context of Prince Rupert’s drops… rapidly quenched glass beads that are very strong unless their tails are broken, at which point they shatter explosively]. Third, it has a magical art installation in the lovely grounds below the building – a grid of reflective posts that magically reflect and refract the gardens around. I must remember to visit it often in the spring!
That’s the outside of the university… the inside is just as impressive. The past week was the first week where the full cohort of faculty and students were in the department. It’s a very different scale from Oregon – 30 new PhD students this year, a staff meeting with 50 attendees… it will take me the entire year to get to know everyone! And lots of engaged people means whirlwind days – almost every day last week I attended a seminar. I also went to several small meetings with graduate students, attended ‘plume day’ (the launching of a collaborative project between Bristol, Leeds and the Met Office to try to improve modeling and forecasting of volcanic eruption plumes), hosted a potential graduate student (Rafaella Fusillo, for Oregon folks who know her – she’ll be starting a PhD with Jon Blundy starting in January!), and wrote a small proposal to try to bring over a French PhD student who visited a week ago Friday. SO the latter is my excuse for this blog being late!
And a very short addition to the ongoing description of life in Bristol. The early part of the week we were living in a cloud – quite remarkable… very gray, 100% humidity, which meant that the temperature was buffered to a constant 15˚C (about 60˚F), day and night. I was starting to try to adjust, mentally, to this new climate mode when things changed again toward the end of the week, with the sun emerging again at the end of the week. So except for the requisite time to finish up the small proposal, I’ve played this weekend. Friday night Mark and Alison took me to a concert at a lovely old church (reminded me of The Shed, for the Eugenians) – concert was wonderful - by "Charles Hazelwood and the Army of Generals"... now what sort of music would you expect from that? Charles Hazelwood is a remarkably energetic and charismatic conductor; the Army of Generals is a small (9 musicians) orchestra who specialize in period music. And the performance was recreating a salon performance from early 20th century Vienna, when Schoenberg and his acolytes arranged and performed popular music - Strauss, Schubert and Mahler. It was wonderful! The comment of a musician about one piece applied to all: 90% Strauss (Schubert, Mahler) and 10% Schoenberg.
On Saturday I picked up a bike that I had bought the day before. Alison & Mark then took me on a short (10 mile round trip) ride along the Avon River toward its mouth. The west bank of the river has a wonderful bike path that traverses Leigh Woods and then follows green cow pastures - it's amazing how quickly one can get out of the city (especially as my house is really at the western end, because the city is bounded by the river). Had to hustle back, however, because that night I treated Hannah to a fish&chips cruise on the Matthew... two hours of cruising up and down the completely still dark waters of the Floating Harbor at night. Hannah and I quickly settled on the high after deck with its wonderful vantage point of the lights and boats and harborside houses. And then today I went sailing (as mentioned in the email).
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