Saturday Snapshot

There was a loud bang the other day. I looked around the house but couldn’t find anything that had fallen down to explain the noise. Later I noticed that the front room window was looking rather dusty, and then I realised what the bang had been:

There are lots of wood pigeons and collared doves flying round our garden and it looks as though one had tried to fly through the window. It had certainly left an impression, probably seeing the reflection of trees in the window and thinking it could fly through. Fortunately there was no dead or injured bird anywhere to be seen!  We’d better get some stickers on the window!

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

Saturday Snapshot

 I took this photo a few weeks ago through the window of The Maltings Kitchen, in Berwick-upon-Tweed. It shows the River Tweed on its way down into the North Sea, a seagull sitting on top of one of the chimneys below the restaurant, and a crow-stepped gable end of one of the buildings. And on the skyline you can just see the Royal Border Bridge carrying the East Coast Main Line Railway over the Tweed, built by Robert Stephenson and opened by Queen Victoria in 1850.

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce at At Home with Books.

Saturday Snapshot

These are the ruins of Melrose Abbey in the Scottish Borders, founded by Cistercian monks in 1136, and now maintained by Historic Scotland.  Alexander II and other Scottish kings and nobles are buried at the abbey and the embalmed heart of Robert the Bruce is said to be buried here. We visited it on a sunny April day last year.

Below is a view from the roof:

and here is a close up of two of the gargoyles:

Posted for Saturday Snapshot, hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books.

Saturday Snapshot

I posted photos of a ruined castle last Wednesday. Today I’m featuring a much larger castle – Alnwick Castle, which is the second largest inhabited castle in England.  The Duke of Northumberland and his family live here; the family have lived at Alnwick for 700 years. The castle was used to film parts of some of the Harry Potter films – the castle was Hogwarts in the first two films and Harry’s broomstick flying lessons were filmed in the Outer Bailey. Other films made there include Elizabeth and Robin Hood Prince of Thieves.

We went there the week before last with our grandson, a lover of Harry Potter. He liked the historical setting, the battlements and the canons,  but most of all I think he liked the Knights’ Quest and the Harry Potter magic show, with Harry and Professor Dumbledore:

We’ll have to go back for another visit as there is so much to see and we only had time for a quick walk round the State Rooms, which are very grand, although I was amused to see a Table Football in the Library (I think that is where it was), definite proof that Alnwick Castle is also a family home.

See more Saturday Snapshots at Alyce’s blog At Home with Books.

Saturday Snapshot

A few weeks ago I posted a photo of my grandfather on Alyce’s Saturday Snapshot. Today I’m posting a photo of his older sister Sarah, known to my grandfather as ‘Our Sal’ and to me as Aunty Sally. She didn’t live near me and my family when I was growing up but came to stay with us for a week each year. I used to love her visits.

This is how she looked when I knew her:

and this is her taken when she was a young woman:

and also:

Aunty Sally was born on 26 August 1878 in Mold, Flintshire, Wales. She died on 15 April 1967 aged 88. For many years she had been Matron and Housekeeper at Wellingborough School, a private school in Northamptonshire. She had worked until she was 78 and until she became ill she had visited the school chapel each week to arrange the flowers.

She had trained as a nurse in a London Hospital and had worked for a while in Chile as a children’s nurse. She first went to Wellingborough in 1940 as a member of the staff of Weymouth College which was evacuated to Wellingborough School.

By the time that I knew her she was an old lady or at least she seemed so to me, but she was great fun with loads of energy and interested in everything we were doing. She and my father used to sit up late at night, talking and sharing cigarettes, long after we’d all gone to bed. She bought us lovely presents, which were always different – not just an Easter Egg but a large Easter Chick, probably made of papier-mâché and decorated with glitter, containing small chocolate eggs. I’d never seen anything like it before and after I’d eaten the eggs I kept the chick for years afterwards until it fell to pieces. I wish I knew more about her.

Saturday Snapshot

We’ve had some lovely sunny, hot days recently, but today isn’t one of them.

It’s raining! It’s been raining all morning and looks set to rain for the rest of the day, so we won’t be sitting outside.

To participate in Alyce’s Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo (new or old) that you (or a friend or family member) have taken, but make sure it’s not one that you found online.