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The North Yorks Moors

Published on November 23, 2019 by Margaret6 Comments

October and November have been unusual months as we’ve been away a couple of times – in October we went to the the North Yorks Moors and at the beginning of November we were in the Lake District, where amazingly we had such beautiful sunny weather, cold but sunny with a brilliant blue sky.

Here are a few photos of some of the places we visited whilst staying in an isolated converted barn on the North Yorks Moors. Runswick Bay, and Robin Hood’s Bay are on the east coast near Whitby Abbey.

Runswick Bay IMG_20191002_155100773_HDR — Runswick Bay

There a few red-roofed houses and cottages clinging to the cliff at Runswick Bay looking down on a long arc of beach. As the east coast is eroding the village is steadily creeping closer to the shore. The AA Mini Guide book – North Yorks Moors records that the village of Runswick, one of the ‘lost’ villages of Yorkshire’s coast, fell into the sea in 1682. The whitewashed house on the headland was the coastguard cottage.

Runswick Bay

Robin Hood’s Bay is further down the coast. It’s a little fishing village, with a long, steep access road down to the bay, a long stretch of sandy beach with a rocky foreshore.

Robin Hood's Bay IMG_20190930_144925574_HDR — Robin Hood’s Bay

The tide comes in very quickly and we had to dash back to avoid being caught. I did get my feet a bit wet though.

Robin Hood's Bay incoming tide — Robin Hood’s Bay – the tide nearly caught me.

We had a quick look at Whitby Abbey and Whitby itself, but really need to go back to see it properly.

On the way home we stopped at the Angel of the North at Gateshead. I’d seen the Angel of the North from the A1, but we had never stopped to see it up close. It was created by Sir Anthony Gormley. Completed in 1998, it is a steel sculpture of an angel, 20 metres tall, with wings measuring 54 metres across. It is immense – the person walking up to the sculpture gives some idea of just how enormous it is.

Angel of the North IMG_20191003_132615303_HDR — Angel of the North, Gateshead

I zoomed in to have a look at its head.

Of course, all this holidaying and travelling around has meant I am now so very behind with writing about the books I read!

Dunstanburgh Castle

Published on July 26, 2016 by Margaret10 Comments

Dunstanburgh Castle P1020073

I think that Northumberland is one of the loveliest parts of the United Kingdom, with the Cheviot Hills and in particular the beautiful golden sands along the coast of the North Sea. It also has a large share of castles. Since we moved here we’ve visited all of the coastal castles, except that is the ruins of the castle at Dunstanburgh. It’s a spectacular ruin standing alone on the coast on an isolated headland between Embleton and Craster, looking out over the North Sea.

Last Tuesday we decided it was time for us to go there. It was a lovely hot, sunny day and we walked from the car park down the road to the little village and harbour at Craster, well known for its kippers.

From there it’s about a mile and a half walk northwards along the coast to the castle, which is owned by the National Trust (NH) and managed by English Heritage(EH). But we never actually got to the castle, because the heat defeated us and my knee, which has been a problem for a few months now, became painful so we only walked about halfway there, then turned back. I took a few photos zooming in as close as I could:

Thomas, Earl of Lancaster began building Dunstanburgh Castle in 1313. He was the wealthiest nobleman in England at the time and later took part in the barons’ rebellion against Edward II, resulting in his execution in 1322. John of Gaunt modernised it in the 1380s and later during the Wars of the Roses it became a Lancastrian stronghold, finally falling into ruin in the 16th century.

We will go there again to see more. At least we enjoyed the coastal walk and the view of the castle, despite the heat. And as always I was trying to visualise what it must have been like when it was new and how it had changed over the centuries, thinking of the battles that it had seen, of all the people who had lived and died there.

Heidi’s Cat- Log

Published on February 21, 2015 by Margaret13 Comments

H & computer Hi, I’m Heidi and Margaret has asked me to fill in for her on her blog as she is busy reading books, rather than writing about them and has lots of other things to do as well. So here I am – looking at the computer screen wondering where to start …

Maybe I should start at the beginning – well when I first came to live with Margaret and David. They rescued me and at first I was very scared and kept trying to hide in boxes, behind furniture and even on the top of wardrobes and tall cupboards.

Now I’m very much at home and love living here. There are lots of nice things and best of all lots of mice in the garden. Mice are Nice, but M & D don’t think so – they say Do Not Bring Mice Into the House – that’s not a Good Thing to do. I don’t really agree. It’s great fun to bring them in and let them run around whilst I stalk them and play with them. Sometimes they won’t play and go very still – and then I can eat them – they’re very tasty.

M & D had a lot of trouble with Mice in the House before I came. They got under the floors and nibble at the lagging on the water pipes and even gnawed the pipes and made holes. The water came out, which no doubt the Mice liked – but then the boiler stopped working and M & D had no hot water and no nice warm radiators.

The other thing that I like is watching the birds. They are like Mice but have Wings and Fly so that I can’t catch them (I have actually caught a few, but not for a very long time). Anyway D has very kindly put some birdseed on the windowsill outside and I can see them eating. It’s fascinating – see this video D did:

That’s enough for today. Maybe Margaret will let me write more Cat-Logs sometime and I can tell you some more.

She says this cat-post is just right for Saturday Snapshots run by Melinda – you can see more on her blog West Metro Mommy Reads.

A Walk in the Woods

Published on February 15, 2015February 15, 2018 by Margaret5 Comments

One day last week we went for a walk. I was a bright, but cold day and just an ordinary woodland footpath in winter

Footpath P1010397

bare trees and snowdrops in flower:

Snowdrops P1010395

There was no breeze as we went down to the river:

River & hut P1010399

There’s a little hut on the riverside, now unused and peering through the window we could see it was half full of dead leaves.

We carried on through the woodland walking away from the river into a disused little quarry:

Quarry P1010407

and then we came across some strange objects hanging from the bare trees.

Shells and stones:

Shell P1010410

bones (little fish?):

bones P1010408

and then on one side of a tree a toy scarecrow:

and on the other a totem:

Now I’m wondering – what is it all about? What’s the story?

The Lake District – Honister Pass

Published on October 25, 2014 by Margaret13 Comments

Whilst we were staying in the Lake District a few weeks ago we drove through the Honister Pass, one of the highest passes in Cumbria. It connects the Buttermere Valley with the eastern end of Borrowdale Valley. There is a slate mine but we didn’t have time to take a tour – just enough time for a quick drink and a look round the cafe/shop/showroom and stone garden.

Honister Slate mine P1010070 — Honister Slate Mine entrance

Honister Sky High Cafe P1010069 — Honister Sky High Cafe

The little stone garden is most unusual:

Honister - stone garden — Honister – stone garden

and they fly the flag in the cafe:

as well as in words on this slate at the entrance:

For more Saturday Snapshots see Melinda’s blog West Metro Mommy Reads.

The Lake District: Ullswater

Published on October 4, 2014 by Margaret10 Comments

The shore of Ullswater is famous as the place that inspired Wordsworth to write his poem ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud‘, after a lakeshore walk in 1802, and it’s also where Donald Campbell broke the world water speed record on 23 July 1955 in the jet powered Bluebird K7. The lake is a ribbon lake formed after the last ice age, sculpted by three separate glaciers.

There were no speed boats on the lake, they’re banned now, and the season for daffodils was over on the dull, cloudy morning when we went on a ‘steamer’ on Ullswater, during our recent holiday in the Lake District. The Ullswater ‘Steamers’ have been sailing on the lake since 1859 and the oldest boat currently still in use is the Lady of the Lake, built in 1877, believed to be the oldest working passenger vessel in the world. It was in steam until the 1930s and it was the boat we boarded for our trip down the length of the lake and back again.

Waiting for the boat at Glenridding Pier

Lady of the Lake P1010111 — On board the Lady of the Lake

Even though the weather wasn’t very good it wasn’t raining and we had a pleasant trip with views of both sides of the lake and the mountains .

Norfolk Island, Ullswater P1010103 — Norfolk Island, Ullswater

Pooley Bridge pier P1010112 — Pooley Bridge Pier

For more Saturday Snapshots see Melinda’s blog West Metro Mommy Reads.

Castlerigg Stone Circle

Published on September 27, 2014July 27, 2018 by Margaret9 Comments

Stone circles are amongst the most tangible and durable connections to the past. They have fascinated me ever since I was a young teenager and saw Stonehenge. We were on our way to Girl Guide camp in the New Forest, travelling overnight by coach from Cheshire and reached Stonehenge just before dawn. I was just about awake as we scrambled down from the coach and made our way over the field to be at Stonehenge as the sun came up. It was magical.

We were the only people there and in those days Stonehenge was fully accessible. I’ve been there since, and seen it on TV but I am so glad I had that experience before full access to Stonehenge was available, before there was a carpark and a visitor centre, shop and cafe. Now you can only view the stones from a short distance away along a tarmac pathway – after you’ve planned your visit in advance, parked your car and been driven 10 minutes by a shuttle bus, because entry to Stonehenge is by timed tickets. (Access is free at the solstices.) I understand the need for all this but it still makes me shudder.

When I discovered that there is a stone circle near Keswick I was keen to go there whilst we were staying in the Lake District last week. Although there were more people at Castlerigg Stone Circle than I would have liked I really did appreciate the informality of the site. There are no restrictions and you can wander around the stones as much you like. I suppose you’d have to get there at dawn or at least a lot earlier than we did to be there on your own.

Castlerigg is set on a plateau near Keswick, surrounded by hills, including Skiddaw and Blencathra. There is no carpark, visitor centre or shop – and I hope it stays that way. You can park in a little lane, where there was an ice-cream van selling delicious home-made ice-cream on the day we were there.

This was our first sight of the stones:

Approaching Castlerigg Stone Circle (1) P1010056

Stone circles are ancient monuments. There are over 50 stone circles in the Lake District, made with locally available stones. Nobody knows what their function was, although there is much debate about whether they had a ritual and religious use, an astronomical significance or an economic function.

Castlerigg dates from around 5,200 BC which makes it older than the pyramids! Here is part of the circle. It is about 30 metres in diameter, which makes it quite difficult to take photos of the whole circle:

Castlerigg view 2

As you can see that the stones vary in size. The tallest stone is 2.3 metres and the largest weighs about 16 tonnes.

And here are two photos of parts of the interpretation boards:

Castlerigg Stone Circle is described A Guide to the Stone Circles of the Lake District by David Watson, published in 2009 with colour photographs, maps and directions to the sites. The cover photo shows Castlerigg Stone Circle.

For more Saturday Snapshots see Melinda’s blog West Metro Mommy Reads.

Saturday Snapshots

Published on November 16, 2013 by Margaret18 Comments

Autumn in the garden:

The leaves are falling from some of the trees now, but our little Japanese Maple is still bearing its flame-coloured leaves.

The Wych Elm leaves are a glorious golden colour.

And in our little wood the ground is now a carpet of rustling brown leaves.

Finally, here’s D up a ladder doing repairs to the roof – I had to watch because falling leaves are one thing …

For more Saturday Snapshots see Melinda’s blog West Metro Mommy Writes.

Library Loot/Saturday Snaphot

Published on November 9, 2013 by Margaret11 Comments

After my last post about reading from my own shelves I’m almost ashamed to write about the library books I’ve got out on loan at the moment.

But you see they’re from the mobile library and if we don’t use it the service will close down and that would not be a good thing! The library van comes once a fortnight and is an invaluable resource. And it’s so convenient as it stops just a short walk from our house.

The books from top to bottom are:

In the Woods by Tana French – a book I’ve read about and have been hoping to find in the library. It’s crime fiction, a psychological thriller, a murder mystery about a little girl’s death in an Irish wood. It has very mixed reviews on Amazon UK so I’m not getting my hopes too high.
Below Zero by C J Box. I keep seeing Box’s name on other book blogs and have wondered about reading one of his books. This is the 9th in his Joe Pickett series – Pickett is a Wyoming game warden. Below Zero is another book about a young girl who had been killed years earlier – or had she?
Perfect by Rachel Joyce. This book looks intriguing – in 1972 two seconds were added to time and the question that bothers James Lowe is ‘how can time change?’ I still haven’t read Joyce’s first book, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (I have a copy which will be a TBR next year), but as they are two stand-alone books that isn’t a problem.
The Day of the Lie by William Brodrick. I’ve read two of his earlier Father Anselm books, so I’m hoping this one is just as good. It’s yet another murder mystery – this time with a monk as the detective, described on the book cover as ‘an unforgettable tale of love, death and redemption.’

For more of this week’s Library Loot posts see The Captive Reader.

For more Saturday Snapshots see Melinda’s blog West Metro Mommy Reads.