Liverpool

Have you ever heard of the Beatles?  They are one of the most famous music groups ever so I'm guessing you have.  The Beatles (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr) were originally from Liverpool which is a city about 3 hours by train to the northwest of Nottingham.  Before I went to the Beatles museum in Liverpool I didn't know really anything about the Beatles.  After I went though I found out that a lot of songs I like were actually written and performed by the Beatles!  One thing that really surprised me about the Beatles was that they split up in the end because their manager died and they were having lots of disagreements!  I had no idea that they weren't friends anymore, especially since they'd made over 200 songs together!  The Beatles started in 1960 and split up in 1970.  There are only two of the Beatles left now because in 1980 Lennon was shot by a deranged former fan and in 2001 Harrison died of lung cancer.  McCartney and Starr remain musically active however. 

In the middle of the Beatles museum there was all of a sudden this loud beeping noise!  At first my mom said that she thought either dad or I had touched something we weren't supposed to but it turned out it was just a fire drill. =)

 This is the front of the Beatles Museum.

This is a replica of the Cavern Club where the Beatles first performed.

The other museum we went to in Liverpool was the Merseyside Maritime Museum.  This museum had stories of three famous ships that were linked to Liverpool.  They were the Titanic, the Lusitania, and the Empress of Ireland.  Each of them sunk in a famous and tragic disaster.

Many people don't know that the Titanic was owned by the White Star Line which was headquartered in Liverpool.  If you look at the back of the Titanic, you can see the name Liverpool written right under the name of the ship.  Many of the crew were also from Liverpool.

The Lusitania and Empress of Ireland were both liners like the Titanic.  The Lusitania sailed during World War I.  On the way from New York to Liverpool the Lusitania entered the war zone.  The Germans sunk the Lusitania and 1153 people died.

The Empress of Ireland was a very impressive liner designed to be competitive in the lucrative transatlantic trade.  The Empress was a very safe ship.  The crew was very well trained and it could float even if two compartments were flooded.  This did not matter however, when it collided a Norwegian collier (coal ship) and 1012 people died.

King Richard III found in Leicester

You may have recently heard of the big news that happened over here!  If not I will tell you.  During an archaeology dig they found the skeleton of King Richard the III!  Weirdly enough he was found in a parking lot in Leicester where there used to be an old church!  Richard the III was one of eight kings that they did not know where they had been buried and was the last Plantagenet King which means he was the last king of the Plantagenet family that started with King Henry II and ended with King Richard III (1154-1485).

Richard III

Before Richard was king he was Duke of York and pretty much ruled the Northern part of England while his brother, King Edward IV, who was actually king at the time, ruled the south.  When Edward died, his two sons, the eldest of whom was now to become king, went to Richard to be taken care of.  Richard put them in the Tower of London to be kept safe but after that they were never seen again. Some say that Richard had them killed so that he could become king while others said that it was King Henry VII who killed the two boys and then spread the rumor that Richard killed them so that Henry could eventually become king.  Most people think that it was Richard who killed the little boys but no one knows for sure.

The missing nephews

King Richard died at the Battle of Bosworth Field and was the last king to die in battle.  Until about two weeks ago no one knew how he had died or where his body was.  People had suspected that he was buried in the Church of the Grey Frairs but until recently they weren't sure where it was.  Now that they have found the church and Richard's skeleton they are going to have to update a few history books.

As you can see, Richard III had severe scoliosis.

This is the Leicester Cathedral where Richard will be buried.

                                                

This is the current memorial stone in the Cathedral.  This is where they will likely build the new tomb.

 Richard is Leicester's claim to fame.

Horse Riding

One of the hobbies I hated to leave behind in the US was the horse care and horse riding lessons I was getting from Julie, one of the moms from my 4-H club.  I have a lot of fun when I go help take care and ride the horses at her place.  I wanted to join some clubs over here so I could meet some other kids.  I decided to join a horse riding club!  I have already had seven lessons and they were all really fun despite the fact that a few times my toes felt like they were going to fall off because it was so cold.  Luckily, I got some woolly socks to help with that. =)   I learned in my first lesson how to trot.  It dawned on me that I would be riding using English style.  It's not too much different but the way you trot is different than the way you would trot Western style.  It's a bit too bumpy for my liking but I've gotten used to it.  The horse I've been riding is called Jango.  Jango is a very stubborn horse because he refuses to trot in the corners so he just does about half the loop.  Last time I rode him though he did a pretty good job.

This is me riding Jango

Recently I have been riding a horse called Medium Blue which is weird because she is all white!  I really like riding Medium Blue because she is faster and listens to me more than Jango does.  The only problem is that Medium is so fast that when she trots she bumps into the other horse no matter how hard I pull back because the other girl who rides horses with me rides a horse that is as slow as molasses!  Hopefully when I'm good enough at riding I will be able to go in front of her instead of behind.  I can't wait to get to know and ride all of the horses at the riding stable because they all seem like really good horses!  I wish I could ride horses there every day!