To help keep my mind active during these strange times I've gone back to the Open University. I studied for a degree with them from 1980 to 1986, something I could do whilst still working and most of my courses were in History and History of Art. I later went back and did a creative writing course with them. At the moment they have lots of free courses with OpenLearn and I've enroled for 'Welsh History and its Sources.' At the moment I'm immersed in the 13th century and the Edwardian conquest of Wales. Details of Edward I building his castles around the coast and the well documented stories of the Welsh leaders like Llywelyn ap Grufford.
I'm lucky to have visited many of these beautiful castles so here are photos of five of them.
Beaumaris
Caernarvon
Conwy
Criccieth
Harlech
Have a good weekend everyone, stay safe and well.
Good for you going back to University. I too have done all sorts of courses that are been offered free online at the moment. There is nothing like expanding the mind and learning. Have fun with it.
ReplyDeleteThank you MM, it's good to learn something new and distract the mind for a while:)
DeleteYour course sounds interesting Rosie. I will have a look and see if there is anything that might interest me too. Do you have a favourite Welsh castle? Have a good weekend. I bet your garden looks lovely right now. x
ReplyDeleteThank you Simone, if I had to choose I think it would be Conwy, although I like them all for different reasons, garden is full of weeds and lawn covered in daisies and dandelions, it looks a bit unruly and needs a haircut, like me!:)
DeleteThanks for sharing this, lovely to see the castles but I didn't know about Open Learn and I do love a bit of learning, I'm going to have a look what courses I might be able to do whilst I'm not working!
ReplyDeleteThanks Louise, I hope you find something of interest to study there are lots of topics to choose from:)
DeleteA great idea Rosie - I signed up for one with the OU on War Memorials. Futurelearn also do a lot of good free courses (I think you only pay if you want a certificate at the end or access to the course for ever). The Welsh History one looks interesting :) Like you I did an OU degree about 15 years ago in my case and studied mainly Earth Science with some Environmental Science as well. My son did several of the Creative Writing courses too :)
ReplyDeleteI love your castle photos - have been to 3 of them and enjoyed every single one :)
Have a good weekend and stay safe and well :) Enjoy the course :)
Thank RR, the War Memorial course sounds interesting as does the Heraldry one I think you mentioned on your blog. Yes, it's good to study without deadlines for TMAs and etc like we did with the OU. Paul did Science at the same time as I did Humanities and we both did the second foundation course which was mandatory then in Sociology with a summer school at Bath. We had our graduation ceremony in Derby in 1986. All great fun really although hard work at the time. Stay well:)
DeleteThat sounds an interesting course. I can't see myself ever being organised enough to stick at something like that though I might just have a look.
ReplyDeleteThank you John, there are lots of interesting courses of different lengths and levels and they can be done at your own pace which is good:)
DeleteOhhhhh, that studying sounds wonderful...!!!
ReplyDeleteAnd to have been able to visit the actual sites, about which you are learning. More wonderful!!!
We have to open soon!
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Thank you WoW, as we have visited Wales so often and the castles quite often I felt I should know more about the history of the country and its people:)
DeleteInteresting! You have so many castles in UK & such a wealth of history. I'm sure it would take a lifetime to explore & learn all about it. Take care, stay safe & huggles.
ReplyDeleteThenk you Susan, yes, so much history to find out about across the whole UKas we visit Wales often I thought it would be good to explore some more:)
DeleteThat's a great idea. Having the photos of your visits must help with the course as you'll be able to imagine being back there and it'll all come alive. 😊
ReplyDeleteThank you, yes indeed there is so much of Welsh history to find out about, I hope we can go back to visiting often once all this is over:)
DeleteThe course sounds interesting especially as you've visited Welsh castles during your vacation breaks away. I'm just about to start an online course with FutureLearn which is similar to OpenLearn. I've done other history courses with this facility and found that because you can do them at your own pace they're a convenient way to learn something new or try a new subject that interests you. Best wishes and have a good weekend.
ReplyDeleteThank you Linda, when I looked through the course titles it jumped out at me as we have visited Wales so often. I hope you enjoy the course you are about to start, it's good to learn new things and keep the mind active too:)
DeleteI visited Caernarvon castle earlier this year and was really impressed, both by the castle itself and by the way its history was expressed and explained.
ReplyDeleteThank you Lucy, yes it is an amazing castle and a wonderful visit, I seem to remember that it was raining when we visited and the dark grey wet stone somehow added to the experience of the visit:)
DeleteWhat a good use of your time, Rosie. I did a writers’ retreat at the weekend, which was my first such experience and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Just knowing that there were regular check-in times and more than 150 other writers all working on their pieces kept me motivated. Stay safe and well. Marie x
ReplyDeleteThank you Marie, I keep reading a little bit each day. Your writers' retreat sounds wonderful, it is great to join in with others as ideas bounce back and forth and encouragement from others helps too. You too stay safe and well:)
DeleteWhat a fantastic thing to do, Rosie! I've been to eight of the castles so this is very interesting to me. I remember being told that when society people couldn't do a grand tour on the continent, during the Napoleon years, it was very popular to tour the Welsh castles instead.
ReplyDeleteAmalia
xo
Thank you Amalia. I think I've been to others too like Chirk, Flint and Dolwydellan more in the North of Wales than the South. That's fascinating, there was a period in time when people discovered their own country and the Picturesque and Romantic movements in art and literature, Gothic horror too. I imagine the Welsh Castle would tick all three and fire the imagination of writers and artists:)
DeleteWhat I good idea and great that you have your own visits to draw on too :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Pam, we'd visit so often over the years I thought it would be good to find out more:)
DeleteA castle tour in your country has been on my bucket list for awhile now. There aren't many tours of Wales. So dart a day into Wales from Scotland or England, but not much more than that. How cool you're able to use your time to take these free classes right now and on a subject that ties the present to the past in such a neat way.
ReplyDeleteSandy's Space
Thank you Sandy. There are so many lovely castle and old houses in the UK of all shapes and sizes. I'm glad there are lots of free courses on line at the moment and I'm pleased I spotted this one as over the years we've visited Wales quite often:)
DeleteGood luck with the course. Only Harlech I have not visited in the past.
ReplyDeleteThank you Julie, I like Harlech castle and the beach there is lovely too, I like the way you can see Criccieth Castle from Harlech on a clear day and vise versa of course. On our last visit to Harlech we had breakfast in their cafe which was delicious and overlooking the castle too:)
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