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.
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.
As a lover of history (as well as books) I love castles, particularly ruined castles – or as my grandson calls them smashed castles. Here are some photos of one near us.
This is Norham Castle, high above the south bank of the River Tweed, parts of it date back to the 12th century.
It was repeatedly attacked and besieged and was largely destroyed by James IV of Scotland in 1513 before the Battle of Flodden Field.
The photo below shows the remains of the huge Great Tower, where the Bishop of Durham and his guests would stay when they visited the Castle.
J M W Turner painted several views of the ruined castle – they are in the Tate Collection. And I like this 1836 engraving of Moon Rise at Norham Castle by William Miller:
An ABC Wednesday post for the letter C.
Miss Arundell died on May 1st. Though her illness was short her death did not occasion much surprise in the little country town of Market Basing where she had lived since she was a girl of sixteen. For Emily Arundell was well over seventy, the last of a family of five, and she had been known to be in delicate health for many years and had indeed nearly died of a similar attack to the one that killed her some eighteen months before.
But though Miss Arundell’s death surprised no one, something else did. The provisions of her will gave rise to varying emotions, astonishment, pleasurable excitement, deep condemnation, fury, despair, anger and general gossip.
These are the opening lines of Agatha Christie’s Dumb Witness. And because it is an Agatha Christie book, it is obvious that Miss Arundell’s death should be cause for suspicion and that it was most unlikely to have been a natural death.
From the fact that the date of her death is specified in the first sentence makes me think that must be significant. And the surprising contents of her will also indicate that Miss Arundell had perhaps changed her it – why was that?
I’m still reading Dumb Witness and as the title indicates and the cover picture on my copy shows, a dog has an important part in the mystery – one which Hercule Poirot has to solve, with very little to go on.
Book Beginnings on Friday is hosted by Katy, at A Few More Pages.
I saw this list on Books and Bicycles who found it at Musings from the Sofa and My Porch. It’s the Sunday Times list of ‘The 50 Greatest British Writers Since 1945.‘ So I thought I’d see how many I’ve read and it would be good for ABC Wednesday – B, a good choice for a Book Lover on a Book Blog.
1. Philip Larkin – I must have read some of his poetry but right now I can’t think of any.
2. George Orwell – yes, Animal Farm.
3. William Golding – Lord of the Flies – at school.
4. Ted Hughes – some.
5. Doris Lessing – no.
6. J. R. R. Tolkien ‘“ read The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogy.
7. V. S. Naipaul – no.
8. Muriel Spark – several novels, including The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
9. Kingsley Amis – no.
10. Angela Carter – no.
11. C. S. Lewis – the Narnia books, plus some of his nonfiction.
12. Iris Murdoch – yes, several including The Bell and The Sea, The Sea.
13. Salman Rushdie – No.
14. Ian Fleming – No, but I have Diamonds Are Forever in my tbr piles .
15. Jan Morris – No.
16. Roald Dahl – Yes.
17. Anthony Burgess – No.
18. Mervyn Peake – The Gormenghast trilogy.
19. Martin Amis – No.
20. Anthony Powell – started A Dance to the Music of Time, but didn’t finish.
21. Alan Sillitoe – No.
22. John Le Carré – Not yet – have Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy waiting to be read.
23. Penelope Fitzgerald – No.
24. Philippa Pearce – who?
25. Barbara Pym – read some.
26. Beryl Bainbridge – read Master Georgie and According to Queeney – preferred this one
27. J. G. Ballard -Yes, loved Empire of the Sun.
28. Alan Garner – read several years ago, most recent was The Owl Service.
29. Alasdair Gray – who?
30. John Fowles – read The French Lieutenant’s Woman and The Magus – both really good.
31. Derek Walcott – Yes, for Open University course.
32. Kazuo Ishiguro – Yes – excellent, although I thought Never Let Me Go was so chilling.
33. Anita Brookner – Yes, years ago.
34. A. S. Byatt – Yes, but still haven’t read The Children’s Book.
35. Ian McEwan -Yes, love his books
36. Geoffrey Hill – Yes, for Open University course.
37. Hanif Kureishi – who?
38. Iain Banks -No – have The Wasp waiting to be read.
39. George Mackay Brown – who?
40. A. J. P. Taylor – No.
41. Isaiah Berlin – No.
42. J. K. Rowling – Yes.
43. Philip Pullman – Yes – great books.
44. Julian Barnes – Yes, Arthur and George.
45. Colin Thubron – No.
46. Bruce Chatwin – Not yet, have On the Black Hill waiting to be read.
47. Alice Oswald – who?
48. Benjamin Zephaniah – who?
49. Rosemary Sutcliff – Yes, as a child.
50. Michael Moorcock – who?
I’ve read books by nearly half of these authors and haven’t heard of quite a few of them! Clearly there are loads of books out there I haven’t read, so plenty to choose from if I ever get through the books I own that I still haven’t read.
Currently I’m reading Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates. I’ve been reading it for a while as it’s a long book of over 700 pages. I’m about a third of the way into it. It’s a fictionalised account of Norma Jeane Baker – also known as Marilyn Monroe and it is absolutely fascinating.
No doubt I’ll be writing more about this book. For now here is a little teaser quotation:
Her problem wasn’t she was a dumb blonde, it was she wasn’t a blonde and she wasn’t dumb. (page 232)
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly event hosted by MizB of Should be Reading.
BooksPlease 