Colchester is a historic city in the east of England, located on the River Colne and situated 50 miles (80 kilometres) north-east of London. The city occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city and first capital of Roman Britain. Colchester has a Norman castle, Roman walls, and many other attractive old buildings.
11th-12th February 2022
Tony and Tatiana stood outside the entrance to the Natural History Museum on Colchester High Street. The old Gothic-arched doorway behind was once the entrance to All Saints Church. The museum now occupies this former church.The exterior of Colchester Castle. This Norman castle dates from the second half of the eleventh century. The keep is mostly intact and is the largest example of its kind anywhere in Europe. It was built on the foundations of the Roman Temple of Claudius. The castle endured a three-month siege in 1216, but had fallen into disrepair by the seventeenth century, when the curtain walls and some of the keep’s upper sections were demolished. Today the castle houses Colchester Museum.Tony and Tatiana outside the Visitor Information Centre in Colchester.Looking down into a well inside the castle grounds near to the entrance. A metal grill covers the top of this wide and deep well.Old stone slabs in the Roman vaults of Colchester Castle.An old stone wall with carved graffiti in the vaults and dungeons of Colchester Castle.View from the roof of Colchester Castle. A metal walkway and the top of the castle’s old stone walls can be seen in the foreground. Beyond a view over the city with mostly the roofs of houses in view.Tony and Tatiana leaving the castle through a large Norman arched doorway.Colchester’s coat of arms on metal gates at the entrance to Colchester Castle Park. The coat of arms depict a cross and three crowns.
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town located 16 miles (26 kilometres) north-east of Colchester in the east of England. The town is a historic port located on the River Orwell, 9.9 miles (16 kilometres) from the North Sea.
15th February 2022
A life-sized model of a Woolly Mammoth inside Ipswich Museum.Tony wearing a replica Egyptian headdress at Ipswich Museum. The headdress looks similar to a donkey with a long nose and big ears, but probably represents Anubis, the ancient Egyptian god of death, mummification, embalming, the afterlife, cemeteries, tombs, and the Underworld. Anubis is usually depicted with a canine head.Tony again wearing the Egyptian headdress. Tatiana looking worried. Perhaps she thinks Tony will wear that to bed! Ipswich Museum.
