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HERITAGE AND PRESERVATION A WEEKEND WALK – YORKSHIRE ROADTRIP DAY 5 PART 2

So the finale of the road trip 
We broke our journey at Little Moreton Hall in Cheshire.  What a sight, as you round the corner the house is revealed.
The angles are almost unbelievable
Over the moat
The Courtyard
The earliest part of the house was constructed during the Tudor period with the earliest house begun in around 1504 – 1508 and the latest addition being completed in 1610. The Moreton family were wealthy landowners in the area and built the house as a symbol of their prosperity.  
Unfortunately it was so dark inside it was impossible to take a photograph of the Long Gallery which was so wonky it felt like a fairground ride.
National Trust properties are known for their wonderful food and lunch was no exception the best cheese scones and all made on the premises.
Although Little Moreton Hall was given to the Trust the land surrounding this wonderful house is still owned and worked by the Moreton family and access is restricted but the knot garden was accessible.
The National Trust is a charity and  has no funding from Government. It is the members who pay a yearly or life membership that make it possible for everyone to enjoy and marvel at these remarkable buildings.  The National Trust also manages large parts of the coastline and the moors that make up such a rich heritage.
Schools visit many of the properties where volunteers dress in period costume.
I hope you have enjoyed a stroll around Little Moreton Hall..
Linking with Helen at The Inspiration Pavilion.
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YORKSHIRE ROADTRIP DAY 5 – ON OUR WAY HOME

I’m splitting the last day up into two posts otherwise it will be photo overload !
After saying goodbye to our lovely Holiday Inn Express outside York we set off home . We had planned on two stops the first one being Saltaire near Bradford a model village and World Heritage Site devised and designed by Titus Groan in the nineteenth century an age where forward thinking and philanthropy went hand in hand. The wealthy and often Quaker families poured their ingenuity into making life better for the working class. Some of Britain’s largest institutions were founded on Quaker principles. Elizabeth Fry ( English prison reformer),  George Cadbury (chocolate maker), Cyrus Clark ( Clark’s shoes), Joseph Rowntree (chocolate maker) and so on.
We didn’t have much time and the weather was not kind so we settled just taking a few shots and having a cup of coffee in Salts Mill and visiting probably one of the best books shops I have ever visited and with great use of original artefacts  , I could have made a serious dent in the credit card. Salts Mill has been beautifully restored and also houses a wonderful collection of David Hockney paintings.
Next week will be the last instalment,  thanks Helen for hosting this link up
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YORKSHIRE ROAD TRIP DAY 4

Today was Mark’s treat a visit to The Yorkshire Air Museum near York, it is the largest independent air museum in Britain.

We split up as Mark is far more interested in military aircraft than I am I wandered around finding lots of grunge to interest me then I found the NAAFI and had a cup of tea and processed some photos on the iPad.  It was cold and wet so I was pleased to sit in a cosy hut…

All the time we were there nostalgic music played through speakers,  you could almost imagine the ghosts of airmen looking on smiling just before the klaxon sounded and they raced across the grass to climb aboard their planes.  It is hard to imagine what it must have been like,  most of the young men were younger than my 24 year old son.

This is taken from the website of the Yorkshire Air Museum
‘In 1944 Elvington became host to two French Squadrons operating within No.4 Group: No. 346 (Guyenne) and No.347 (Tunisie). Both squadrons played a major part in the bomber offensive against Germany. Whilst at Elvington, 77 Squadron lost 82 aircraft and 450 aircrew (comprising of Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders as well as British) and this comprised more than half their fatalities during the whole war. 77 Squadron lost a total of 883 airman.
On the night of 3rd March 1945, German night-fighters launched Operation Gisela against the 450 heavy bombers of 4, 5 & 6 Groups RAF Bomber Command returning from a raid on the synthetic oil plants at Kamen, in the Ruhr and the Dortmund Canal. At around midnight 100 Junkers 88’s crossed the English coast from the Thames to Yorkshire and infiltrated the returning bomber streams. Two hours later at least 24 bombers had been shot down and a further 20 damaged.
Having shot down two Halifax bombers of 158 Squadron returning to RAF Lissett near Bridlington, Hauptman Johann Dreher of 13 Nachtjagdeschwader Gruppen (Night fighter destroyer group), in his Junkers 88G turned to attack the French Air Force Halifax’s landing at Elvington. The runway lights were switched off and all aircraft ordered (in French) to divert to other airfields. It was 1:50am and as the alarms sounded, Capitaine Notelle’s Halifax pulled sharply up and, narrowly escaping, headed north towards RAF Croft. He was stalked by another German night fighter and was hit 3 times before crash landing near Darlington. All the crew survived. Meanwhile, Dreher’s Junkers 88 continued to attack RAF Elvington, strafing the road and a passing taxi. Circling round for another attack, it clipped a tree and crashed into Dunnington Lodge farmhouse, killing all 5 crew; the farmer, Richard Moll; his wife and mother. A black cross can be seen by the roadside in front of the farmhouse near the Museum on the road back to York. The war ended just 9 weeks later and this is probably the scene of the very last Luftwaffe aircraft crash on British soil.’

If you want to listen to one of the songs played over the speakers click HERE and you will hear Dame Vera Lynn who was known as The Forces Sweetheart sing one of the most popular songs of the Second World War
And HERE if you want to hear some audio clips from the BBC schools programme.
Linking up with Helen for her Weekend Walk 
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YORKSHIRE ROADTRIP – FRUSTRATION

Our first stop was Ripon and Ripon Cathedral once again too low light defeated my camera but I did get some shots that I hope give the essence of another wonderful building.

I know that sounds dramatic but it’s photographic frustration, I love architecture and I so admire photographers who seem to get that ‘just right’ shot. So imagine my frustration on, when looking at my shots of Fountains Abbey I was not happy. It’s that age old dilemma, that photography can catch a moment a fleeting nano second but sometimes it can’t quite get the essence the wow as the eyes take in a miraculous sight.

So Fountains Abbey near Ripon. When we told people that we were going to Yorkshire nearly everyone said ‘you must go to Fountains Abbey ‘ and it was on our to do list.  I must admit it was a dark and dank day so conditions were not perfect and I wasn’t feeling too brilliant and had I felt a bit better we would have explored more, but just to walk amongst the ruins if this beautiful place was enough.

So a bit of history

 ‘Fountains Abbey is one of the largest and best preserved ruined Cistercian monasteries in England. It is located approximately three miles south-west of Ripon in North Yorkshire, near to the village of Aldfield. Founded in 1132, the abbey operated for over 400 years, until 1539, when Henry VIII ordered the Dissolution of the Monasteries‘. 
Henry VIII was responsible for the destruction of many beautiful monastic buildings and what he didn’t destroy Oliver Cromwell had a good go at polishing off the rest !

I’m quoting here from Wiki ‘ 

In 1986 the parkland in which the abbey is situated and the abbey was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It was recognised for fulfilling the criteria of being a masterpiece of human creative genius, and an outstanding example of a type of building or architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates significant stages in human history.

That sums it up really, the abbey is in a valley and as you walk down you get tantalising glimpses and as you round the corner the abbey is strung out in front of you and my, amazing.


I had to put the shot of the Pheasant, they were everywhere and the way they run so funny. 




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Linking up today with Helen at A Weekend Walk 




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MONDAY MUSING A LITTLE BIT OF THIS AND THAT

Do you get sidetracked when you on the computer ? Do you start off with the intention of finishing an art piece then discover yourself moving around music files and tidying up iTunes. Then you look at the clock and find that the time you have allocated for computer is over ?  Yes that’s me..

So, a quick post and some images that I am playing with for PhotoArtistry , if you haven’t come across this course check it out HERE it’s brilliant.

So I started with this a photo taken with my iPhone 4 
Not one of my best efforts at all, in fact before the days of Photoshop and Lightroom I would have thrown it away, but I liked the sky.
Here is what I did with it in Lightroom.
Lots of drama and a tobacco tint..it’s beginning to look better
This is when the fun began.
Many layers,  hours  and cups of tea later !
1.
 Then I thought to myself let’s try something else
2.
And finally
3.
I’m undecided but I think my favourite is number 1 I’m not sure that the background in number 3 is quite right.
Tell me what you think ?
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ROADTRIP YORKSHIRE—– WHEN WORLD’S COLLIDE PART TWO

I’m on a roll at the moment making scrapbook pages. It’s a great way of recording our trip and showing as many photographs as possible without boring the pants off people !

So impressions of York, mixed actually. I’m sure it is the same all the world over, beautiful cities just sinking under traffic, the car is king no getting away from it and some cities deal better with it than others. We took a bus tour to get our bearings and to catch sight of some places we would miss. And I was sad, a beautiful Roman, Medieval city being slowly ground down amongst traffic, people and some fairly atrocious 1960’s architecture. But every now and again a glimpse of what it used to be like.

This is Clifford’s Tower. there has been some sort of fortification here since 1068. From the 15th and 16th centuries it fell into disrepair and has been used as a defence against the Roundheads in the English Civil War when York was for the Royalist cause in 1644. More recently it was used as a prison.



We wandered the streets taking photographs but it was not easy as the streets are narrow and I must admit I wasn’t in the right mood for lots of photography ( I must admit I was fairly grumpy).  
The Shambles is one of the oldest medieval streets in Europe that has shops but mostly tourist type selling souvenirs.  Bettys is famous for afternoon tea and queuing can sometimes take two hours or more !!

But the Minster was remarkable and bliss no traffic. Photography inside was a no go not enough light so I just took snippets that I knew I could make into some scrap pages.



Some closups of carving on the outside of the Minster. Glorious, there has been some sort of religious building here since 627 !!!  Although it has it’s fair share of fires, burglary and in the 19th century bankruptcy .

 Linking up today with Helen at Inspiration Pavilion for a weekend walk.




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Supplies by Agnes Biro, Cottage Arts and Rosey Posey…..

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A WEEKEND WALK – YORKSHIRE ROADTRIP

 ‘When Two Worlds Collide’- York Part One
To continue with our September road trip to Yorkshire. Our first full day in Yorkshire was spent in the wonderful city of York.  Mark was very keen to visit the National Railway Museum the largest rail museum in the world. I have to say I was not very keen on the idea thinking of musty old trains in windy, cold railway sheds. How wrong, so far from the truth, a beautifully presented and well documented museum appealing even to the most reluctant visitors. With a very attractive cafe (very important to me) and lots of places to sit and just look at these amazing works of engineering.
I just had to take a photograph of the gentleman, he knew I was photographing him but just let me get on with it. I have the idea that he visits everyday and sits amongst the trains, maybe he was an engine driver remembering the days of steam. One of the best parts to visit was the warehouse of objects, including suitcases, sign, levers anything that could be used in stations on walls in railway hotels…
I couldn’t resist adding some more shots to add to my ‘grunge’ catalogue….

Linking up with Helen today on Inspiration Pavilion… why don’t you ?

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