A Walk Through Eton + The Eton College Natural History Museum

After starting my day in Windsor, after lunch I headed to Eton to continue exploring.

Eton is just a short walk from Windsor Castle (very convenient for a quick visit!). I walked down to the river, over Eton Bridge...

... and along Eton High Street, peering in the windows of the tailors and other shops.

 

After spotting several interesting post boxes that morning (two green ones and a blue airmail one) it was nice to spot this quirky design!

The college was closed for the summer holidays, so the streets and courtyards were filled with tourists instead of boys in their uniforms. It'd been a while since I last visited Eton, so it was great to rediscover the college's many charms. 

It is no overstatement to say this place is WONDERFUL. There are so many old and interesting buildings, with quirky little details and beautiful architectural features. Individually each building is lovely and collectively the whole place is quite magical. Wandering the courtyards you can't help but imagine what it must be like going to a boarding school like this! (Did you read boarding school novels when you were a kid? I read loads).

 

 

It's also quite similar to Oxford's older colleges, which gives you the slightly surreal feeling that you've walked through a portal from Windsor and magically ended up in Oxford (well, I felt like that, anyway! I may also have read a lot of books involving magic portals when I was a kid).

 

I also loved this little peaceful patch (of park? common? I'm not sure). Such a lovely place for a summer stroll.

My next stop was the college's Natural History Museum. Set up to enrich the boys' scientific education (at a school that traditionally focused heavily on Classics) the museum is open to visiting school groups by appointment and the general public on Sunday afternoons (2.30 - 5pm).

 

 

This museum is a delightful hidden gem!

It's a smallish space, two floors crammed with cabinets and display boards and interesting objects. Lots of old Etonians became scientists and/or travelled the world, and brought back collections which they later donated to the museum. There's a fabulous mix of things to see - including a collection of coral, a four-legged duck, tribal jewellery and weapons, a collection of model elephants and much more.

There's an obvious passion for making the exhibits come alive for visiting children with lots of fun facts to discover and little quizzes along the way, and the staff member on duty when I visited was very friendly and interested in whether I'd enjoyed my visit (I had).

One famous old Etonian was Sir Joseph Banks, who sailed on HMB Endeavour with Captain Cook. I loved the replica of his cabin on the Endeavour. There's also a small garden in the neighbouring courtyard "planted with species which includes direct descendants of plants brought back by Banks from that famous voyage."

It's definitely worth scheduling a visit to Windsor & Eton on a Sunday so you can pop in here.

After I'd finished looking round the museum I walked back to the river, finishing my day out with an icecream (Eton Mess flavour!) and a stroll along the Thames in the sunshine.

A Trip to Windsor & Eton

I skipped a couple of my weekly days out last month thanks to a nasty cold and a looming deadline but I'm determined to catch up on the days I've missed. So, last week I had two Nice Days Out instead of one, which was quite delightful!

The first trip was to Windsor, which is near enough to my hometown that I can see Windsor Castle from my bedroom window on a clear day. I think I last visited the castle over 20 years ago, back when I was a kid and we had friends visiting who wanted to see all the local sights.

Unsurprisingly, the castle looms over the town quite a bit! Here's the view from the station:

There's a lovely complex of smart shops and cafes near the station (selling some very tasty cakes, nom nom) ...

 ... then the streets around the castle are old and quite charming (though full of tourist-y shops selling postcards and souvenirs). 

It looks a little grey in the photos but actually it was rather a lovely day - very mild and at times very sunny too! I decided to go for a walk to start with, and take advantage of the nice weather while it lasted.

I started with a walk to Eton, which is just over the river from Windsor...

I'd never been to Eton before - it's quite lovely! Very peaceful and the high street is seriously charming, with a whole bunch of of traditional tailors shops:

 

The buildings of Eton College are just as fancy as you'd expect them to be. Lots of lovely old buildings and interesting architectural details.

 

 

Then I walked back to Windsor and took a stroll along the river which was delightful and very relaxing.

 
I'm not sure I've ever seen so many swans all in one place before! 

Then I walked back to the centre of town and headed for the castle. 

 

Where I live we have a card for local residents that gets you discounts on things like car parking and DVD rentals from the library... and it also (rather marvellously) gets us free entry into Windsor Castle! Such a great idea and excellent news for my bank balance :)

The castle is pretty awesome! I found myself involuntarily saying "wow!" under my breath every time I entered a new room in the State Apartments and I am still just as much in love with Queen Mary's Dolls House (which is apparently the largest dolls house in the world!) as I was when I was a kid.

 

I'd hoped to also squeeze in a visit to the town museum, but it had already closed for the day. I'll definitely be going back to Windsor another time though - I especially want to see the dolls house again (it really is gorgeous) and to take an audio tour to hear a bit about the history of the castle instead of just wandering round gawping at how lovely everything is like I did on this occasion!