Tag: University

I’m still here!

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Proof I’ve been working on my MA project all day. I’m going to give it a rest now. It’s ten thirty in the evening and I’ve got to cook our evening meal. No rest for the wicked at they say. I also want to do today’s #bandofsketchers prompt before midnight! Then more work tomorrow. I’m really quite tired but also excited. I spent an hour with the PowerPoint slides too big. Thought it was a major problem. Turns out all I needed to do was click control and – (minus)! Thanks to a student friend I’ve managed to do a lot today. But I need a rest. X

Citizenship test!

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I’ve just done the British Citizenship test practice questions. Something people who are coming to live here have to take.

My family is British and the family history is British. So I should have got 100%…24 out of 24? NO ! I got 16 out of 24…or 62%…a FAIL.

Well if I can’t score a pass why should someone coming here from abroad be able to score better? In fact native Britons who did it are posting their results, and most FAILED!

So why? A lot of the questions are based on dates. The date of when the battle of Agincourt happened for instance, or where places are, for instance Maiden Castle. Some I knew, others, no idea.

I had an education at a comprehensive school. Unlike Gammar schools or places like Eton, we didn’t learn dates by rote. My education was not cramming facts in my head. We had to think.

Anyway, if there is anywhere in the world that would like me, perhaps you could let me know? I feel really sorry for people taking the test. It is biased towards native British who have had a grammar school, or posh university, education!

Brick built

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Bricks are a wonderful building material. They are baked hard clay that lasts for centuries.

Bricks are ceramic, the clay becomes vitrified (turned to a hard substance though heating in a kiln).

Bricks change in size through the ages. From small and thin in Tudor times and getting larger closer to the present day.

My favourite sort are Staffordshire blue bricks. These are dark blue/grey and often covered in dimples on their upper and lower surfaces which are visible when the bricks are used for paving garden paths.

Red brick is also used in building and there are “red brick” universities in the middle and North of England. These are not as posh as places like Cambridge and Oxford but their courses are as good as the ancient ones. Examples of red brick universities are Nottingham, Leicester and Sheffield.

The photo on this post is from my collection of photos manipulated in an app called Layout.