Category: Britain

Saturday Snapshots – Jubilee Celebrations

Published on by Margaret17 Comments

Last Saturday I posted photos of the coronation procession I took part in in 1953. Irene asked if I would post photos of what was happening in my area for the celebration of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Well, it was relatively quiet where we live, nearly 350 miles from London. We watched some of the River Pageant on television:

I liked the aerial views and the close-up shots of the Queen and Royal Family, but it was different from actually being there:

The next day our son and his family came to stay and we had a barbecue on the decking, decorated with our daughter-in-law’s hand knitted bunting:

Food was eaten, drinks were drunk and games were played:

Then in the evening we went to one of the 4,200 Diamond Jubilee Beacons that were lit all over the UK and the Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Commonwealth and Overseas UK Territories. Ours was at Watchlaw Farm in Northumberland, where there are magnificent views of the Cheviots and the Tweed Valley:

The beacon was lit just after 10pm:

and soon it was blazing away:

Click on the photos to enlarge them.

D took a video which is on YouTube – watch out for the rocket towards the end of the video!

For more Saturday Snapshots see Alyce’s blog At Home With Books.

Saturday Snapshots

Published on by Margaret15 Comments

Today’s Saturday Snapshots were taken on a local walk near home over two years ago. It was a few days after Christmas and the ground was still covered in snow, when we walked down to the River Tweed:

View of River Tweed from the public footpath

We walked through the woodland above the Tweed back home climbing over the ladder style from the woodland into the adjoining field. The photo below shows our  grandson climbing the style:

Climbing the ladder style

And this one is on the footpath in the field :

Walking back home

For more Saturday Snapshots see Alyce’s blog At Home With Books.

Saturday Snapshot: Bamburgh Castle

Published on by Margaret21 Comments

Last Monday we visited Bamburgh Castle on the coast in Northumberland overlooking the North Sea. It’s a dramatic sight, a huge castle extending over ¼ of a mile, built on a volcanic outcrop, 45 metres above sea level. (Click on the photos to enlarge.)

Bamburgh Castle from the carpark

Bamburgh Castle was bought by Lord Armstrong (who built Cragside) and renovated by him at the end of the 19th century. The castle still belongs to the Armstrong family, and is open to the public. It also hosts weddings and corporate events and has been used as a film location since the 1920s, featuring in films such as Ivanhoe (1952), El Cid (1961), Mary, Queen of Scots (1972), and Elizabeth (1998).

The entrance is through two gatehouse towers, which still have some of the original stonework. They were altered and added to in the 19th century.

Gatehouse Towers

From there you walk along the Battery Terrace, with its cannons facing the sea, placed there ready to defend the castle when Napoleon threatened to invade Britain.

Battery Terrace

From the Battery Terrace you can see Lindisfarne to the north and the Farne Islands to the south. Lindisfarne is just a dot on the horizon above the first cannon in the photo.

Inner Farne on the horizon

The photo below is of the Keep, which was originally built in the 12th century. It sits on a massive plinth to prevent attackers digging beneath it and setting fires to collapse it.

The Keep

And finally a view of Bamburgh Castle taken from the road from Seahouses to Bamburgh:

Bamburgh Castle taken from Seahouses

See Alyce’s blog At Home With Books for more Saturday Snapshots.

Saturday Snapshot

Published on by Margaret25 Comments

Not very far from where we live stands Twizel Castle, high up on the hillside above the River Till. You can see it from the road glimpsed through the trees. I imagined what it was like to have lived there and wondered who had built it. It’s now in ruins, was it one of the castles that had been attacked centuries ago by the Scots, from just over the border?

Twizel Castle

One day instead of just looking as we passed it we stopped and walked up to see it properly. It’s up a steep footpath:

Footpath up to Twizel Castle

and this is what we found:

Twizel Castle

and inside, dereliction:

Twizel Castle inside

It’s amazing it’s still standing:

Twizel Castle

This castle is not what it seems. It was never lived in as it’s an 18th century castle that was never completed. It stands on the site of a medieval tower house, that was, indeed, destroyed by the Scots in 1496. It’s a Grade 2 Listed Building and is on English Heritage’s At Risk Register. For more information see Images of England and Gatehouse Gazetteer.

See more Saturday Snapshots on Alyce’s blog At Home With Books.

Saturday Snapshot: Dewars Lane

Published on by Margaret24 Comments

Berwick-upon-Tweed is an interesting English town near the border with Scotland, with three bridges crossing the Tweed. There are the Elizabethan Town Walls, Ramparts, Barracks, a ruined castle and quaint passageways like Dewars Lane, which dates back to medieval times. This is what it looks like today.

Dewars Lane, Berwick

The white building on the right at the end of the passageway is now a Youth Hostel, Art Gallery and Bistro. It was built in 1769 and was originally a granary. Its fantastic tilted walls are the result of a fire in 1815, after which it was propped up rather than being rebuilt. It was used for storing grain up until 1985 and was then left unoccupied, gradually becoming derelict. It has recently been restored by the Berwick Preservation Trust.

The artist L S Lowry sketched it in 1936  on one of his many visits to the town and it is now part of the town’s Lowry Trail. Below is Lowry’s pencil drawing of the Lane.

Lowry Dewars Lane

And here is my sketch:

Dewars Lane 001

See more Saturday Snapshots on Alyce’s blog At Home With Books.

 

Saturday Snapshot: A View of Glasgow

Published on by Margaret19 Comments

A couple of years ago we went to the Glasgow Science Centre on the banks of the River Clyde .

Entrance to Glasgow Science Centre

There is so much to see and do in the Centre, not least the Planetarium which dominates the scene as you approach the entrance.

You can go up to the roof, where the view is excellent:

View of Glasgow from the Science Centre

The armadillo shaped building on the north bank of the Clyde is the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, where, amongst other events, they hold hold auditions for X-Factor.

The Planetarium is fascinating – I wished it was possible to take photos inside, but of course I couldn’t. It was enough, though, to sit back and gaze upon the night sky and have constellations and planets pointed out to me.

For more Saturday Snapshots see Alyce’s blog At Home With Books.