12 September 2005

Life Across the Pond

By Mike Dougherty, McGavacks of Loundoun Associate Professor of Biology
in Canterbury, United Kingdom.

Greetings from Canterbury, England, my home during my sabbatical this year. I moved here in mid-August, and excepting the usual hassles of moving anywhere (e.g., opening bank accounts, arranging utilities, etc.), things have gone reasonably smoothly. My boxes were a bit slow to arrive--most got here only a week ago--so I wasn’t a fashion statement my first few weeks in the lab.

My small apartment is basement level, with a nice flower garden, and only about 20 minutes walk to the University of Kent, where I’m conducting my research. I even have a cathedral view from the front of my apartment building.

Canterbury is a beautiful, fascinating, and ancient city. It was established by the Romans, whose handiwork is still visible in the ruler-straight road to Dover and the foundations of the city wall, on which you can stroll. Much of the city’s current architecture dates to the Middles Ages. Canterbury is perhaps most famous for its cathedral, established by St. Augustine in 597 AD, and also the site of Archbishop Thomas Becket’s martyrdom in 1170 at the hands of Henry II’s knights. The original building was gutted by fire several times, and most of the current cathedral dates to the 14th century.

The surrounding county, Kent, is called the Garden of England for its relatively unspoiled beauty. Situated in far southeast England, it consists mostly of small towns and villages separated by rural lands where wheat, fruit, and hops are grown. I live within relatively easy biking distance of the English Channel to the south and of the southernmost point of the North Sea to the north. The climate is generally mild, although my first week was what my colleagues derisively refer to as “English summer”--mostly rainy and in the 50s. It’s been warmer and drier since, although nothing like the heat of central Virginia this year, which I was glad to escape.

In my next installment, I’ll talk about my lab and the research I’m doing. If you don’t care for genetics and the biology of brain-wasting diseases such as mad cow, you can skip that one and tune in for a future update, when I’ll no doubt report on my weekend travels.