A picture postcard view

A picture postcard view from Whisby Nature Park, Lincoln.
This is one of the former gravel pits that have been flooded to make lakes. It's a pretty scene that I enjoyed giving a painterly look with some texture.

Spring at Whisby

Whilst at my sister's, we also visited Whisby Nature Park. It's a reserve, run by the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, that was once land quarried for sand and gravel and has now been reclaimed. The quarries are now lakes and there is grassland, marsh and willow scrub as well as fragments of the heathland, hedgerows and woodland that were there originally. There are some well-marked trails - although my sister and I did manage to overshoot the return path and were blithely walking around the circuit a second time, until we came to a stick that we recognised, stuck in the path. Oops! We might have carried on walking round and round until nightfall!

It was blissfully beautiful, with the spring flowers and colours at their height - cowslips (above), frothy cow parsley, orchids, fresh green leaves and the air fragrant with the honeyed scent of hawthorn blossom. My favourite time of year, by a long way.

The Spire Memorial

The centrepiece of the International Bomber Command Centre is the Spire Memorial and Walls. The Spire stands on a hill above the city of Lincoln and is aligned so that you can see Lincoln Cathedral through its heart. Made of weathering steel, it is 102ft high, the height of a Lancaster bomber's wing, and as wide at the base as a Lancaster wing. It represents not only a wing but also a church steeple. Air crew returning from raids used to navigate by church spires, as the blackout and other measures made it difficult to know exactly where they were.

The surrounding walls are laser cut with the names of almost 58,000 men and women who lost their lives serving or supporting Bomber Command during the Second World War. (Women did not fly as aircrew but some were ground crew or, for example, scientists who were killed on test flights.) Of the 125,000 aircrew who served, 72% were killed, seriously injured or taken prisoner of war. More than 44% were killed, with an average age of just 23 years. The centre really helps one to grasp the scale of the sacrifices made but also the key role Bomber Command played in the outcome of the war.

There is a great deal more information on the website HERE.

Because we remember

Visiting my sister last month, we went to the recently opened International Bomber Command Centre near Lincoln. It has been built 'to acknowledge the efforts, sacrifices and commitment of the men and women, from 62 different nations, who came together in Bomber Command during World War II'. Lincolnshire was home to 27 airfields from which bombing missions were flown, and there were many other stations in the east of England too.

The centre holds interactive educational displays, extensive records, artefacts and the personal testimonies of veterans and is a resource where people can research their family history through the Command records, online or in person. The memorial came about largely through the efforts of one man: a former Lord Lieutenant of Lincolnshire, Tony Worth CVO. It aims to serve as a point of recognition, remembrance and reconciliation for those who served, supported or suffered during the bombing campaigns of WWII.

It is sensitively done, recognising both the sacrifices of those involved and the damage and suffering caused by the bombardment of cities like Dresden.

There are ten acres of landscaped grounds, holding two areas planted as peace gardens. The planting is immature as yet, but it will look good when it has all grown a bit.

The International Peace Garden holds plants from five continents and recognises the contribution of people from 62 nations who served in or supported the Command.

The Lincolnshire Peace Garden has 27 lime trees, one for each of the Lincolnshire airfields. They are planted to simulate the geographical location of each airfield in relation to the others and each has a plaque with the name of the station, the squadrons that flew from there and the number of lives lost.

The memorial panel (top photo) is made of aluminium recovered from a Halifax bomber aircraft.

Mosaic tile detail, Kirkstall Abbey

Most of the floor of Kirkstall Abbey is earth, gravel or grass and I was surprised to find these tile fragments in one small cell. The cell (in a row of two or three similar small rooms, though the others had no tiles) had what appeared to be a washing area in the wall, so may have been where the monks washed before meals or prayers. (I may be completely wrong!) 

I don't know if the tiles are medieval originals or a later addition - they looked a bit random - but I thought they had a certain charm. So much of Kirkstall's structure has been damaged over the years, though some vaulting and pillars survive. 

Green oasis

You might be forgiven for wondering why the monks of Kirkstall Abbey chose the spot for their monastery, as it is now swallowed up in the urban busyness of Leeds. Hundreds of years ago though, it would have been a tranquil, rural estate nestled alongside the River Aire. Even today, a few steps away from the visitor centre, amid the trees beside the river, it is a little green oasis of peace, with just a few jackdaws to keep you company.

This seemed a good photo on which to meditate on a Sunday.

'He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He refreshes my soul.'

Psalm 23:2-3

May your day be peaceful and your soul be refreshed today.

Abbey House Museum

The Abbey House Museum is across the main road from Kirkstall Abbey itself (see yesterday) and was once the Abbey's gatehouse. It is run as a museum of social history, by Leeds City Council. The ground floor is arranged as a series of Victorian streets, with shops and houses featuring original shop fittings and contents. It is interesting to wander round, though a bit difficult for photos even though our camera club had negotiated that we could use tripods. There wasn't much room to manoeuvre.

Some of the shop fronts - a hardware shop and a grocer. 

An old-fashioned wash tub and mangle.

 The cosy interior of a cottage. 

Bust of Queen Victoria in the 'Hark to Rover' Inn. 

Kirkstall Abbey

We had a camera club outing to Kirkstall Abbey, so I had a happy time (not!) grappling with my tripod. I'm really not sure if using it makes much difference unless the light levels are very low...
Anyway, here are some of the resulting images.

Kirkstall Abbey is a ruined Cistercian monastery in Leeds. It was built of local millstone grit between 1152 and 1182 for the monks of Fountains Abbey, as a gift from Henry de Lacy, in thanks for his survival from a serious illness. Like most of our great abbeys, it was surrendered in 1539 to the Henry VIII's commissioners at the Dissolution of the Monasteries. It passed into private hands. By the 18th century, after much of the stone was reused in other buildings, it was a picturesque ruin, painted by the likes of JMW Turner. In 1889 it was passed to Leeds City Council, who made it safe and opened it as a visitor attraction, as it still is today.

The view below of the nave of the abbey church is perhaps the most photographed view. At one time, a main road into Leeds ran right up the nave between the pillars and out through the west window! The road was diverted in Victorian times and the west window was closed by a stone wall.

Although the ruins themselves are fenced in and entered through quite a nice visitor centre, the abbey suffers a little from being so close to the centre of the city. There is a fair amount of litter (why do people do that?) and it can get rather busy, with excited children clambering over the stones. It doesn't quite have the appeal of some of the more rural ruined abbeys, but nevertheless it's an important monument with a rich history. 

Malham Cove

In my pictures yesterday, the spot where we were sitting taking in the view was roughly in the middle and top of the photo above. The photo shows Malham Cove, the enormous curved limestone cliff formed by a waterfall carrying glacial meltwater in the last Ice Age, more than 12000 years ago. Nowadays the water sinks into the limestone and is carried underground until it trickles out at the base of the cliff. 

Walking across the top of the Cove needs care, a clear head and careful foot placement, since it is a limestone pavement with huge slabs of rock (clints) separated by deep fissures called grikes. It's a fascinating karst landscape and there are often school parties exploring the unusual formation as part of their geography studies. Once across the pavement there is a long, steep, stone staircase (to the left of the Cove in my photo). By the time we reached the bottom and the level path, my legs were trembling! It was as good as a workout at the gym. 

The Cove is a mecca for rock climbers, though I didn't notice any the day we were there. Some of the climbing routes have to be closed to allow the nesting peregrines to raise their chicks in peace.

The walk back to Malham village is gently undulating and peaceful, with far-reaching views down the valley and back up to the Cove. We sat for a while with a drink outside one of the village tea shops (of which there are several, and several pubs too). It was a really lovely day out, and we walked a good 5 miles, though it felt even longer as it is such an up and down route. It is a justifiably famous circular walk. What a privilege to have such scenery within an hour's drive of home.

A walk round Malham

A friend and I decided one day to do the 'classic' walk from the Yorkshire Dales village of Malham up to Gordale Scar and then over to Malham Cove, before heading back to the village. It's a beautiful walk but very popular. Malhamdale is an area best avoided at weekends and holiday times. This was midweek and not the school holidays but even so the large car park in Malham was full and we had difficulty finding somewhere safe to park. Once we set off to walk though, the route wasn't crowded. Maybe everyone else was in the coffee shops?

Initially, it's a very pleasant amble from the village on a good path alongside a stream, through meadows twinkling with buttercups. You then enter a wooded valley, which was sun-dappled and fragrant from wild garlic. It had rather a magical feel.

The path arrives at a waterfall called Janet's Foss, which pours into a clear, circular pool. It's like a fairy glen, very pretty. In fact the name Janet, or Jennet, is said to refer to a fairy queen believed to inhabit a cave behind the waterfall. There wasn't a lot of water coming over the cascade, as May has been a very dry month. (All the little spots in the photo, bottom left, are tiny flies dancing in clouds above the water.)

Climbing up past the falls, the path widens out again for a short while, up a rocky valley towards limestone cliffs that narrow into a gorge that may have been gouged by glacial meltwater or the collapse of an underground cavern. Another waterfall (also very meagre that day) tumbles over a rocky outcrop known as Gordale Scar. It looks nothing in my photo, though you can get some idea of the scale if you spot the small figure above the ribbon of water tumbling over the rocks at the base. I once climbed up that first outcrop into the upper chamber (where there is a much bigger waterfall)  and it is steep, treacherous and terrifying! Never again!

Thankfully, by retracing one's steps about half a mile back down the valley, there is another path that climbs up and over the hillside to eventually arrive above Malham Cove. The Cove is one of the most spectacular features of the Craven Fault, an important geological feature across the Pennines, which defines the boundary between the limestone uplands to the north and the gentler pastures to the south and west. The views down to Malham village and beyond are beautiful. The limestone areas of the Yorkshire Dales are so attractive on a sunny day. Blue sky, verdant green foliage and the pale stone outcrops and walls make a very harmonious scene.

We sat for a while above Malham Cove, trying to spot the peregrine falcons that nest there every year, but we couldn't see them. Sometimes at weekends the RSPB set up telescopes below the Cove so that people can view the nest and the birds. It's rather exciting as peregrines are not all that common in the UK.

In the photo below, the winding white ribbon is the gravel path that leads back to Malham village, which we walked down later when we'd descended the steps beside the Cove. You can see the steps in the photo above, far side. It makes them look like a gentle slope, but in fact they are massively steep and long, rather knee-trembling!

Who likes butter?

Here's a sight that makes my heart sing... buttercups. I've loved them since I was a small child, when we used to pick them and hold their gloriously vibrant, shiny little goblets under our chins. If there was a yellow reflection (and there always was!) we said we 'liked butter'! I am always cheered by the sight of a meadow sparkling with these beauties, under a summery blue sky. Apart from a bluebell wood, little is more quintessentially English, in my view.

Drum Machine

There was a varied programme of music laid on in Roberts Park and up at Shipley Glen for the event commemorating the 1908 Rally for Suffrage. I was delighted to get another chance to enjoy Drum Machine, a 30 piece drum collective founded by Aid Todd, who are based in Hebden Bridge but take their thrilling beat music all over Yorkshire. You can hear their drumming over on their webpage HERE.

Rally for Suffrage, Shipley Glen

Anniversary Commemoration of the Rally for Suffrage that took place on Shipley Glen in 1908.  

The marchers arriving on Shipley Glen. 

Fun and festivities went on for the rest of the day, with picnics, stalls, speeches and music on the stage, much as must have happened 110 years ago.

Feminism is for everyone

Some of the colourful costumes worn by marchers commemorating the 110th anniversary of the March for Suffrage on Shipley Glen, 1908.

Fought for, died for, use your vote!

The 'Hats Off, Forward Together' March set off from Roberts Park and climbed up to Shipley Glen on the path beside the Glen Tramway, following the route that the original demonstration took 110 years ago. 

It was loud, spirited and good natured, with people chanting: 

'Fought for, died for, use your vote!'