The Knights' Trail

As has been popular elsewhere, this year Lincoln has installed a series of decorated sculptures throughout the city. These are knights on horseback, commemorating the 800th anniversary of the Battle of Lincoln (1217). The sculptures have been sponsored by local businesses and organisations, and painted by different artists. People are encouraged to follow the Knights' Trail to learn some interesting facts about the area and look for clues in a Knights' Quest.

There are 37 sculptures altogether. These are just a few of those I photographed. Above is 'Not all Stories are Black and White', by Ruth Piggott, sponsored by The Nomad Trust, a charity supporting the homeless. It has maps depicting the streets they walk on and the journeys they have taken to get where they are, with the various colours symbolising that everyone is different.

'The Knight in the Forest' , by Julia Allum, refers to the 800th anniversary of the signing of the Charter of the Forest, which dealt with the punitive Forest Laws that applied in all the royal forests. The Charter made life better for farmers who grazed their animals in the woods. 

Halfway up the steep hill I found 'Pedal Pride', by Erin Fleming, inspired by the Lincoln Grand Prix cycle race.

This is 'Sheriff de la Haye', by Rachel Olin, posed in front of the gateway to Lincoln Castle.  It is perhaps surprising that a woman held such a position of power in the 1200s. Nicolaa de la Haye resolutely led the defence of Lincoln Castle during the Battle of Lincoln in 1217, when rebel forces took the city of Lincoln. The rebels were trying to oust King John and his young son Henry, in favour of Prince Louis, son of the King of France. They were eventually defeated by a force of English knights led by William Marshal.

Finally, I liked the one below: 'The Knight has a Thousand Eyes', painted by Sue Guthrie. It refers to a hit song from the 1960s by Bobby Vee. (Oh yes, I remember it!) The cartoon eyes that decorate it are made of phosphorescent paint that glows in the dark.

Lincoln

When I visited my sister recently, we went into the city of Lincoln for the day. It really is a beautiful old place, set on a steep hill so that the cathedral, in the oldest part of the city, towers above the more modern shopping areas. It also has a thriving and developing university, which is lower down, by the river.

The cobbled street leading up to the castle and cathedral is called Steep Hill, for obvious reasons!

Kirkham Priory

On the way back from Scampston (see Wednesday) we called in at Kirkham Priory, an Augustinian priory founded in 1120, by Walter l'Espec, Lord of nearby Helmsley, who also founded the larger and better known Rievaulx Abbey. Kirkham was surrendered in 1539 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. It is prettily situated on the banks of the River Derwent and is now in the care of English Heritage. During WWII, it was used as a base for troops to test D-Day landing vehicles in the river and to practise climbing up scrambling nets hung on the ruined priory's walls; Churchill visited it.

It has a special place in my heart; I have many happy childhood memories there. My parents always used to stop there to break the long car journey from our home in the East Midlands to holidays in Scarborough on the East Yorkshire coast. My sister and I used to race around the ruins, glad to get out of the car and stretch our legs. We used to picnic overlooking the river. I recall my mother used to make (curiously) sandwiches of cream crackers and cheese, which had always gone a bit soft by the time we stopped to eat. I still recall the way, if you pressed them, little curls of butter would ooze through the tiny holes in the crackers! Happy days...  All those years ago, a twist in the road leading down into the valley provided a sudden and surprising vista of the ruins and the river. Nowadays the lovely view is entirely blocked by mature trees.

One garden, three butterflies

I was delighted to see a lot of butterflies and bees in the walled garden at Scampston. It was warm and sunny so the butterflies were flitting about a bit too much to get good photos.

The top photo is a Red Admiral, the second a Peacock and the bottom one, I think, is a Large White. None of them are rare but butterflies in general are under some threat so it's really good to see them.

Scampston Walled Garden

A friend of mine, the talented artist Ann Davies (see here) had an exhibition over the summer at Scampston Walled Garden near Malton. The paintings displayed were a series, in ink and watercolour wash, called 'Glasshouses of Yorkshire'. The newly renovated glasshouse at Scampston was one of those featured. Although it's an hour and a half's drive from here, I went with some friends to enjoy the exhibition and the garden.

Scampston Hall itself is privately owned by the St Quintin/Legard family and has belonged to the same family since 1700. It has extensive gardens and parkland created by 'Capability' Brown. The Walled Garden had been derelict for over 50 years. In 1999, the Legard family enlisted the help of the renowned Dutch plantsman, Piet Oudolf, who has designed a beautiful contemporary garden combining naturalistic drifts of perennial plants alongside 'rooms' with clipped box, yew and pleached limes providing structure. The perennials were a little past their best when we went but it is still an exciting and unusual garden and well worth visiting. Nice café too.

Two trees in high summer

Those two trees near Dowley Gap again... I notice that it is getting harder to find a viewpoint that gives a separation between the leaves. They're getting fatter! A few years ago, their spread was rather less, as you can see if you click the 'two trees' label below. The grass is longer too. Perhaps the cows and horses have been grazing elsewhere. This was taken a week or two ago. Now some of our trees are already looking a bit autumnal; I think they will lose their leaves early this year.

Albesila

Over the recent Bank Holiday, there has been the most extraordinary 'luminarium sculpture' installed inside the Piece Hall in Halifax. Designed by 'Architects of the Air', it is called Albesila.

It consists of a series of interconnecting inflated PVC domes in different colours, through which you wander barefoot.  Daylight shining through results in incredibly luminous colours, blending and changing as you move around the chambers and corridors. With gentle music playing, the ambience was calming and meditative... 'somewhere between a womb and a cathedral' was a quote I read and that seemed apt. 

I arrived before it opened and still had to queue for an hour to get into it. The wait, however, was well worth it and I feel privileged to have experienced something so different and affecting. Quite pleased with my photos too!

Unfortunately my family were away; otherwise I'm sure the grandchildren would have enjoyed it too. 

See below for what it looked like on the outside - intriguing but with little hint of the wonder inside. 

Piece Hall details

Halifax's Piece Hall is a wonderful and unique building. The site slopes and the building has various levels. Each colonnaded tier has a different design. Many of the original 315 small rooms have been knocked through to make bigger spaces more suitable for modern use but the original doors, windows and staircases have been retained. There are reminders everywhere of its original use as a cloth hall - numbers, hooks and the splendid iron gates. The hall originally only traded for two hours every Saturday. The rest of the time it was used to store the valuable 'pieces' (lengths of handwoven woollen fabric). Security was vital; the exterior has blank walls with no windows and the entrances were heavily gated. In 1791, the average cost of a 30 yard 'piece' of cloth was £2, with some costing as much as £6. A wool spinner earned just £8 a year! A doctor might expect to earn £500. The people who made money were the clothiers and merchants, who could earn in excess of £2000 a year. It's little wonder that the finest buildings in these parts were mansions built by the textile merchants.

The Piece Hall

We'll take a break from holiday photos, to return to Yorkshire for a while...

The Piece Hall, a Georgian landmark in nearby Halifax, has just reopened after several years of extensive renovation. Now a Grade 1 listed building, it was originally opened in 1779 as a cloth hall where 'pieces' (30 yard lengths of woollen worsted fabric woven on a handloom) were traded. It originally had 315 small rooms, arranged on three levels around a huge courtyard. Many towns had cloth halls, but this is the only surviving example - and a very splendid one. (The spire behind belongs to the now defunct Square Congregational Church, which is also being renovated and incorporated into the Piece Hall scheme as an arts venue).

Handloom weaving more or less ceased after the Industrial Revolution, when the textile industry moved into mills, and for a while the Piece Hall became a wholesale fruit and vegetable market. In the late 20th century it became a retail centre, with small independent shops operating out of the rooms. It continues in that way now, but the renovation has vastly improved the facilities. The central courtyard has been levelled and paved and will be a wonderful venue for all sorts of cultural and community events designed to attract visitors to Halifax.

Headless chickens?

The River Avon at Stratford is well-known for the large gatherings of mute swans. (In fact one of the auditoriums inside the Royal Shakespeare Theatre is called the Swan theatre.)  The lawns around the theatre are covered in feathers. This seems to be where the birds do their preening.

It was such a dull day that capturing the river attractively proved to be difficult. A black and white conversion brings a bit of cohesion to the scene, taken from the terrace outside the theatre.  There were not many people braving the slightly choppy water in rowing boats.

Royal Shakespeare Theatre

The Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford upon Avon was first opened (next to the site of an earlier Victorian theatre that burnt down) in 1932, designed by Elisabeth Scott (and thus the first important building in Britain to have been designed by a woman). It retains many of its original art deco features, although it was extensively renovated, extended and transformed in 2010, to improve both the visitor experience and the conditions for actors and crew.

It is not, in my opinion, a particularly beautiful building. From some angles it looks like a utilitarian community hall and is rather rambling inside. It's a Grade II* listed building. It must be difficult to work with such an iconic 'national treasure'. The theatre is privately owned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, dedicated to performing the works of William Shakespeare and his contemporaries, as well as producing new work by living authors and touring extensively, both here and abroad.

The public areas have many photos of current and past productions and some costumes and props on display. I spotted a huge poster of David Tennant as King Lear. I'd love to have seen that!

Shakespeare's birthplace

I last visited Stratford upon Avon on a school trip - so that's a long time ago. I was delighted, therefore, to have chance to revisit during my holiday. Memory plays tricks but it seems a lot has changed. At one time you could enter Shakespeare's birthplace via the front door for a modest fee. Nowadays there is an entire 'Shakespeare experience' awaiting you, with costumed guides - for a goodly sum, of course. We didn't pay the sum, so I can't tell you about that.

The house on Henley Street, now in the middle of a pedestrianised shopping zone, is where it is believed that the famous playwright William Shakespeare was born in 1564 and spent his childhood years, one of eight children. It is a restored 16th century house, made of wattle and daub on a timber frame, relatively simple but nevertheless substantial. William's father, John, was a glove maker and wool merchant and it is thought the house was once divided to allow him to carry out his business from there. He became Mayor of Stratford and that status enabled William to attend the local grammar school to begin his education.

In common with most places that have any relationship with a famous person, Stratford trades heavily upon its Shakespeare connection. Even on a dull, drizzly day the town centre was full of (mostly foreign) tourists. It was interesting but wasn't quite as charming a place as I remember. I suppose the weather didn't help that. It remains a fascinating town, with some very old buildings, many half-timbered, that have thankfully been preserved.

Harvest home

The harvest was in full swing whilst I was exploring Warwickshire. Not a common sight in West Yorkshire where I now live, this is a scene I remember from my childhood in the Midlands. The huge high-tech machines they use nowadays are a sight to behold, though I never saw a combine harvester near enough to take a photo. I daresay the combines could do it all by themselves, like the robotic lawnmowers and vacuum cleaners you now see advertised; they appear to need little human input. I love fields and big skies so I was refreshed by that wonderful sense of space.

Middle England

There are numerous walks around the Baddesley Clinton estate in Warwickshire. We followed a path around the perimeter of the grounds, through lush meadows and arable fields, dotted with magnificent trees. The sunlight and storm clouds made for an amazing sky, though we didn't get wet. Nearer the house there were several logs carved into animals, to delight children and perhaps entice them to run a bit further.

Wild things

Most National Trust properties have beautiful gardens, looked after by armies of staff and volunteers. Baddesley Clinton was no exception. It was the wildlife that gave us most delight though: the ducks scooting around in the moat; the swallows feeding their young in their mud and straw nests under the entrance archway and the butterflies in the garden, nourished by the wildflower meadows which the National Trust encourages.

There were at least five babies in the swallows' nest and both parents appeared to be flying in and out with grubs for their hungry brood. It was high up and very dark, so my photo isn't great but we enjoyed watching them. They were completely unfazed by all the visitors walking in and out of the gatehouse, many of whom were oblivious to the life going on overhead. 

The butterfly below, enjoying the warm sunshine, is (I think) a comma. 

Inside Baddesley Clinton

The interior at Baddesley Clinton is arranged to give visitors a good sense of how it would have been used, although like most of our great houses, it has been changed and rearranged many times over its history. The great fireplace (above) was at one time upstairs. The estate was in decline from the 1600s until 1860 when it became the home of Marmion Ferrers. Together with his wife Rebecca and friends Edward Dering and Lady Georgiana, the Quartet (as they were known) devoted their time to painting, writing and restoring the house. 

The bed in the room below has an interesting story: it is said that one of the sons of the family, coming home from war with Spain, was crushed when the heavy bedhead fell on him as he slept. Luckily he managed to scramble out from underneath with only minor injuries!