Lakes district...revisited

If I had to nominate one place that I prefered above all others in the UK then this would be it. Have just spent 3 days there in good company, which also makes a huge difference.

Castle Howard

On the way to Whitby, Sarah & I stopped in at Castle Howard, near York. It is grandness on a grand scale set in unbelievable grounds. Amazingly the current generation of Howards, a young family, still live in one wing of the castle.

Robin Hoods Bay

Just had a very busy week driving from one side of England to the other. Spent 2 days at Whitby, Robin Hoods Bay and Scarborough with daughter Sarah who is having her first taste of overseas travel. Photos are all of Robin Hoods Bay

The teacher from Mars

Today was my last day of work for quite a while as I am entertaining a steady stream of family and friends from now till September. This combined with our own 6 week holiday leaves little room for work. The kids are usually curious about where this new supply teacher comes from. Some of the better suggestions are: London (most common), Manchester, Ireland, California, Scotland, Sheffield, South Africa, America, France, Spain, South America, Mexico, Brazil, Leeds!, Perth (getting close) and, best of the lot, Mars! I must have been looking very poorly that day....

Booming Manchester

Manchester is descibed by no less than the Lonely Planet as the "uncrowned capital of the north". It certainly is a curious blend of the old and the new, with beautiful Victorian buildings next to steel and glass skyscrapers. We went to see some live theatre at the Royal Exchange which was a great experience although the play was a bit too intellectual for me...Lorraine was able to explain it to me later. We both loved Manchester and the best part is that it's only an hour away. To me it will always be best known as the home of the greatest football team in the world. Sorry no photos this time :--(

Mela festival

We have just returned from the Bradford annual "mela" festival. Mela is a sanskrit word meaning "gathering", commonly used on the Indian sub-continent. These photos sum up the mood of mela.

Great Walls we have known.......

Here is a collection of some of the best walls we have encountered in our travels. There is a reason.....both Lorraine and my mother Thelma are interested in the artistic interpretation of texture....as in walls for their artwork. The middle wall is a re-assembled part of Hadrian's at its original height.

Counting the days

This lovely lady is coming to visit me soon!(minus the cat I hope)

Camouflage - spot the tourist

This is how to be an inconspicuous tourist...blend in to the surroundings. This is me having a rest on the Holy Isles last weekend.

...pushing up daisies...

Every church and cathedral in the UK is surrounded by old headstones usually leaning over on precariuos angles, just to remind us of our own mortality, but this one on Lindisfarne caught my eye. I hope Field Flowers had a great life!

People shots on Holy Isles

The following photos are of Lorraine, Vicki, Tori, Dan, Lorraine and myself at Lindisfarne exploring, resting and generally taking in the spiritual significance of the place

Lindisfarne - The Holy Isles

Ourlatest weekend expedition, just completed, was to Lindisfarne, on the Holy Isles in the far north east of England, clsoe to the Scottish border, with Vicki, Tori and Dan, in glorious weather. The island can only be reached on a causeway built over a sand bar a few hours either side of low tide. The island is quite large and is home to an abbey dating back to the 12th century. On the site of this abbey the monk Cuthbert brought Christianity to the pagan hordes of England. The Lindisfarne gospels were written in 7th century on this site. Henry V111 ransacked the place and built a castle in a strategic spot just up the road from the abbey. The 3 photos show the castle at various distances from the abbey.

I'm not moving

We heard from a very reliable source (the guy behind the bar at a nearby tavern) that this house was once in the headlines. When a motorway was proposed that ran through this house the owner, an old Yorkshire farmer, was offered millions but to refused to move... so they built it round him. There is now an 8 lane motorway around the house, 4 lanes either side of it. And it is still occupied, but not by the original owner.

Mr Guinness's lease

Arthur Guinness only leased the site where his factory is located in Dublin. But...have a look at the length of the lease!!

Kil......

Many towns in Ireland begin with "Kil..." eg Kilkenny (South Park?), Killinick, Kilbride, Killamerry, Kilmagany but my favourite is in the photo...

The Irish sun comes out...briefly

We stopped briefly at a coastal town called Wicklow just south of Dublin as the sun emerged from the gloom. I quickly discarded shoes etc for a brief frollick on the "beach".

What did the Romans ever do for us......etc

On the way back from Ireland we stopped for a night in Chester, in Cheshire. This city has an intact wall built by the Romans encircling the whole place and an amphitheatre. Inside the wall are all the modern shops and a bustling city. Outside the wall are the burbs and parks etc. It was a beautiful sunny day in this glorious, historic city. Here are a few photos

Kissing the baloney stone

A visit to Ireland is of course not complete without a stop at Blarney Castle to kiss the baloney stone and test your ability to defeat vertigo and defy gravity. Lorraine and Vicki kissed it and instantly became more articulate and eloquent (?). I, of course, saw through this superstitious rubbish and chose to remain totally inarticulate and uneloquent (diseloquent?. Actually we heard later that after the tourists have gone home the locals urinate on it!