This is our first day back in England after spending three nights in France. Our time in Bayuex was quite memorable. We all enjoyed our time at Mont-Saint-Michel, Omaha beach, Pointe du Hoc, and the American Cemetery at Normandy.
We started out our day in England attending a Sunday Holy Communion service at Canterbury Cathedral. We sat in the Quire of the Anglican Church, which is between the nave and the high alter. The service consisted of a series of prayers, responsive readings, and of communion. After the service, we took a short time to tour the cathedral. Mr. Lugg briefly told us about Thomas Becket, the black prince, and several others with close connections to Canterbury Cathedral.
Next, we toured Cambridge. We learned about the discovery of the double helix of DNA at Cambridge and where it was first proclaimed. We visited an original chapel of the university that was designed by the architect, Christopher Wren. At one point in history, attending classes at the chapel was required and sometimes the students would get bored so they would inscribe their names into the wood of the desks. We got to see some of the inscriptions. We also learned that every year Cambridge hands out scholarships to organ players and sometimes you can hear the organ players practicing in the various chapels. Other highlights of the tour included stories of school pranksters called the night climbers, stories of Steven Hawking, and stories of various kings that supported the school. Along the tour we also had a lovely view of the river and the punters giving tours. Our tour ended at the Mathematical Bridge which is unique because whenever weight is exerted on it, each of the four corners withstands the same amount of force.
Our next stop was Bletchley Park. This was one of the British headquarters for enemy codebreaking during WW2. We learned about the Enigma machine which created the codes and the Bombe machine which helped them decode the Enigma’s codes. We toured several huts where they conducted their work and experienced the tight quarters and stuffy rooms the decoders had to work in. We also learned a little about the use of homing pigeons in the war.
By Kaitlyn Struiksma
