Welcome to London

Hi every one! 

This week-end I went to London with the other French guys. We left Stoke at 12:50 by taking the bus to go to London, it took such a long time because the bus to go to London takes 5 hours! Finally, when we arrived in London, we discovered our hostel and we went to the Piccadilly centre to eat something because we were so hungry after this long journey! We ate in a Chinese restaurant and after we went around Piccadilly. It was so nice, lights everywhere, bars, restaurants. I also discovered the famous red buses and the English taxis because I’ve never been to London before.

The next day...

 

Blue zone

Green zone

The next day I went to the Natural History museum which is free. There were several zones and I saw a lot of beautiful things like the dinosaur skeletons in the Blue zone, the minerals in the Green zone …etc. It was really interesting.

On the afternoon, I went to the Buckingham palace which is the official residence of British sovereigns. It was really nice! I couldn’t imagine how big it was and how beautiful it was.

 

Finally I went to the famous Big Ben which is situated at the north end of the Palace of Westminster. It was really impressive because the clock is huge! 

 

For the last day, we went to the parade in Trafalgar square for the St Patrick’s Day which is an Irish celebration.

The trip in London was really cool, I discovered a lot of things and I hope I’ll come back in soon because there are a lot of things to do in London and I think that a week-end is too short to do everything. 

See you later !

Hanley park

An interesting location I have been to recently is Hanley Park which was developed in 1896. It is situated over a large area of 63 acres.  The park is cut in two by a canal called the Caldon Canal passing through it from east to west. To the south of the canal is a lake whose maginificense is breath taking.

The lake at Hanley Park

The book house on the shore of the lake further adds to its beauty with classic style of architecture along with the islands and the fountains in the lake. There are also several Ducks and Geese swimming and flying in and around the lake. One can also see the occasional Kingfisher and Coal Tit. Feeding these birds gave me an exquisite feeling as it allowed us to get closer to them and observe their beauty.

The park also boasts a wide range of sports facilities which include two basketball courts, two pitches for football, a bowling green and two tennis courts. A multi use area adds to the list of sports facilities and its uses are numerous.

There are also several play areas within the park. The areas offer a wide range of equipment like slides, monkey bars, hamster wheels etc. However these are only for children. Sneaking in and playing here is a fun filled affair. I felt like a child again when i was enjoying myself here. 

However, something that really surprised me was the sight of children on leashes. I was literally shocked when i saw parents putting a leash on their children to keep them from running away.

SPORTS IN UK UNIVERSITIES

Sports in the UK 

Sports are an important activity for UK Students and form an important aspect of life in UK Universities. An organisation called British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) oversees university sports in the UK. This organisation organises about 50 inter-university sports within the United Kingdom for about 2.3 million students attending various universities.

The activities of the organisation include the BUCS Gatorade Nationals which in 2013 replaced the BUCS Championships, hosted in Sheffield since 2010, and BUCS Bug Wednesday, a championship final of 14 sports that takes place at Leeds Metropolitan University Campus over one day. These new competitions were organised due to a very high demand for high level student competition.

Staffordshire University

Here at Staffordshire University, large areas are dedicated for sports activities including facilities available for Gym activities (open to both students and the general public).

 At the Stoke Campus, there are:

• More than 30 student-run sports clubs and societies
• Students’ Union sports clubs and societies
• Regular weekly fixtures
• Staff and public sports teams and clubs
• Floodlit all-weather sports pitches
• Four-court indoor sports hall
• Extensive sports fields
• Athletics training facilities
• Well-equipped fitness suites

Opening times

The Pitches and Courts are open:

• 7am to 10pm Monday to Friday
• 9am to 6pm Saturday
• 9am to 8pm Sunday

Membership

Membership of the Gym is £10 per month. Additional fee further gives access to:

Full-sized floodlit Astroturf pitch large enough for 11-a-side football and hockey games

• Two smaller all-weather floodlit Astroturf courts  - ideal for 5-a-side team games
• Traditional grass pitches including a football pitch, rugby pitch and training areas
• A great venue for birthdays and sports parties
• Health Connections – fully equipped gym with 35 fitness stations
• Sports Hall with 4 badminton courts, 5-a-side football, volleyball, netball, basketball, tennis, table tennis and viewing gallery
• Wide choice of group exercise classes led by qualified instructors
• Activities Room for yoga, aerobics, dance, keep fit and pilates

The general price of using these facilities are much cheaper than in France.

The Sports activities at Staffordshire University are grouped under the following categories:

·       Dance and cheerleading

·       Extreme sports 

·       Indoor Sports Clubs (Basketball, Cricket)

·       Martial arts (karaté,Boxe,Judo)

·       Racket sports (Tennis)

    ·       Outdoor (Football, Amercian football,Horse riding)
    ·       Water sports

Personal Experiences

I had joined the Basketball team whose level of play was high and significantly different from what I had experienced in France. Practicing with the team allowed me to find and make new friends as well as experience new styles of play different to the ones I have experienced before.

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A trip in Chester part 1 : Grosvenor Museum

     Chester is a small town located 90 km from Stoke-On-Trent. I visited the Grosvenor Museum offering many themes spread on two floors. On the ground floor there is the Roman stones gallery and the Lecture theatre with explaining movies. On the first floor we can find the Silver gallery, The King's arms kitchen, the Art gallery, the Natural History gallery. Finally on the second floor we can find the Period House, the Educative service and the workroom. The access is free but the visitors can give some money. 

The fortress at Chester was the largest of the three legionnary fortresses in the Roman province of Britannia known as Deva, it was the military headquarters for a vast area covering North Wales and the North-West. For more than three centuries Chester was one of the most important military bases in the Roman Empire.

A glimpse of Chester at this time

  The Roman invasion of Britain brought about many changes including an increased emphasis on eating habits. Even if Chester was far from Roma, the city was a typical roman city with all the tools used by the Romans. There were an amphitheatre, barracks for Roman soldiers, toilet instruments and bottles. All of these items enabled to increase the standard of living.

Toilet instruments

Bathing, health and cleanliness were important to the Romans who often visited the public baths. Women used mirrors made from polished silver or bronze.

  At this time, there were some eye doctors who were treating eye problems with ointments. The Romans also used spoons and knives to eat. I was surprised by seeing the system of locking of doors of the Romans.

The second part will be devoted to the Natural history gallery, to the Silver Gallery and to the Art Gallery.


Grosvenor Museum, 27 Grosvenor Street, Chester, CH1 2DD, 0124497197

A Trip in Manchester

Hi all !

The last week-end, I went to Manchester with some of my friends. We joined friends who live in Manchester, they welcomed us to their house for 2 days. So, we arrived at 21:00 in Manchester and we ate in a restaurant, it was really good. The next day, we went in the city centre of Manchester and we went around. 

I realized that Manchester and Stoke are really two different cities. Indeed, Manchester has several neighbourhoods, there are people everywhere, there are many different restaurants, a lot of clubs and bars etc. Whereas Stoke is a small city where everybody knows everybody, so it’s really different. On the last day, that is, Sunday, we returned on the city centre because there was an event for the Chinese New Year in the Chinese neighbourhood. It was really nice and I took some pictures of that. On the wall of the Church, there were some illuminations which were really beautiful!

Happy Chinese New year !

Illuminations on the wall

It was a really good trip because we met a lot of people that helped us to improve our English. I hope I’ll return in this city and I planned to go in other cities of England and Wales. 

See you soon !

The regent theatre: a multi-award winning musical

Regent Theater in Hanley

The Regent Theatre is located in the centre of Hanley, more precisely in Piccadilly, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire ST1 1AP. It is a theatre with an enthralling ambiance which reminds me the 60's.
 I went to see a very well-known musical called Anything Goes directed by Cole Porter. It was played for the first time in Broadway in 1934. This musical  was rewarded several times and was adapted three times to the cinema.  It is a two-act musical  which lasts for about one hour each.

Inside the theater 

During the show 

Anything Goes takes place on a ship in which Billy is a stowaway who wants to win the heart of the beautiful Hope and prevent her from getting  married to the powerful Sir Evelyn, while Hope’s mother wants to see her daughter getting married to him to become rich. Billy was the wanted man on that ship but he was friendly surrounded by everybody when the crew discovered that he was the public enemy number one. After that crew member put him in jail along with his friend Moonface. Finally the wedding between Hope and Sir Evelyn is cancelled, and then he got married to Reno the singer while on the other hand Billy finds Hope.

Prices range from 12.5 to 40 pounds. Even though  I had the least expensive seat I found myself well placed. The sound was astonishing, the lights was varied and with very high quality. I did not understand all the dialogues but the movements of comedians allowed me to understand almost all scenes.

 The orchestra and the voices of comedians especially of Reno were amazing. It is a musical  that I will recommend to all with a blend of rhythm and energy throughout the two hours. I was so excited that almost I was about to jump on the stage to sing and dance with them. All in all it was one of my best moments in Stoke. 

NB : it was prohibited to take pictures during the show but the staff enabled to me to take few pictures and a short video.