Tuesday, April 06, 2010

Yorkshire Moors – 1 April 2010

Skipton
HaworthWe saw the moors in sunshine, hail and snow. All weather conditions (except rain) seemed to take turns in the morning. Leaving Harrogate for Otley, we enjoyed a great drive to Haworth, passing through various towns of interest. Haworth is the town the Bronte sisters grew up in, and is a real delight to visit. From here, we drove west over the Keighley Moor, where overnight snow still covered the higher ground.
Otley Bridge near Bolton Abbey
North from here is the very attractive town of Skipton. From here we drove via Bolton Abbey and Linton to the final stop of the day – Malham. This is a great place for walking. We did the easy walk to Malham Cove, a natural limestone amphitheatre. Originally the waterfall must have been quite stunning, but now the water disappears underground before it reaches the cliffs.
Keighley Moor
A walk up to the top of the cliffs, leads to the limestone pavements. These deeply fissured rocks were also made by water, and gives a great view over the Malham area.
Mulham CoveMulham Cove

Harrogate - 31 March 2010

Sun Colannade - Valley Gardens The Royal Baths

Sculpture of Cupid & PsycheIn Victorian times, Harrogate was a popular spa town, ideally situated half way to Scotland. Just the place to stop off on the way to shooting holiday.

The town is full of grand stone hotels and former mineral spas. The tourist office has a 'Heritage Spa Trail' leaflet, which goes past many of the hotels, and the spas, most of which are now used for other purposes.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Daffodil Day – 28 March 2010

AbingdonAbingdon
So far this spring, we have not seen many daffodils, as the cold winter has made the spring flowers very late to bloom. As there was an MG meeting in Abingdon this morning, it was a great chance to see how spring was progressing in Oxfordshire.
AbingdonAbingdon
Abingdon is an attractive village, with several churches, a market hall, and of course its main feature is that it is built on the banks of the Thames.
Blenheim Palace
Blenheim Palace gardensAfter the meeting, we drove to Blenheim Palace, which is nearby. The daffodils at Blenheim are coming out, and although they are looking wonderful, another week will have them looking absolutely stunning. Everything at Blenheim is almost larger than life, so we weren't disappointed at the large areas of daffodils. Even the private Italian gardens have an edging of daffodils around the formal box hedges.

Blenheim Palace gardensBlenheim Palace - cascade in grounds

Monday, March 29, 2010

Head of the River Race – 27 March 2010

Daffodils at Fulham PalaceDaffodils in Brook Green, Hammersmith
Head of the River raceThe annual Head of the River Race on the Thames, is the largest continuous rowing event in the world. The length of the race is 6.8k, from Mortlake to Putney bridge, with the 400 boats in today's race, starting at 10 second intervals.


We started the day in Hammersmith and walked 2 miles to Fulham One of the carved trees in the Fulham Palace groundsPalace, which is by the finish line. After enjoying the wind sculptures in the garden, and a delicious lunch, we waited on Putney bridge for the first boats to appear. Number 1,had lead all the way and was first past the finish line and then under the bridge, but at that stage we had no idea which of the 400 boats would actually be the winner.
Head of the River race passing underneath Hammersmith Bridge
There was still plenty of time to walk back along the Thames, enjoying watching the eights row past us, and we then watched the last hundred boats go past from the midpoint of Hammersmith bridge.
Detail on Hammersmith BridgeAfter the race

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Spring is starting to spring 21 March 2010

Miniature daffodils
Today was a much nicer day than the damp day we had yesterday, and we enjoyed the MG spring Naviscat in Sussex. After an enjoyable pub lunch at the conclusion of the day, we returned home via 'High Beeches' gardens. Here the spring flowers were starting to emerge together.
early Camelias
Because winter was so severe (worst in 30 years), they were predicting a late spring, with all the flowers appearing together. This was certainly the case here. Snowdrops were still around with daffodils just starting to open, and some rhododendrons in full flower.
American Swamp Lilly
So, with this profusion of spring colour, it was very pleasant wandering around their sheltered steep sided valley in the sunshine.

We went to London to visit ... 20 March 2010

Royal MewsThe Queen opened her Gallery and Mews to the public this weekend, and we decided it was time for a visit. The Mews is still a working stables, and the tour visited the horses and coaches, which are still used for state occasions. In fact there seems to be a carriage for any occasion. We saw the coaches traditionally used to take Royal brides on their wedding day, the Queen to the state opening of parliament, to be used for the Trouping the Colour, the one used for transporting the crown jewels, and most impressive of all the 4 tonne golden State Coach. It is truly opulent, and was last used in 2002, when we with half of London lined the Mall for the Queen's Jubilee.
State Coach
Royal MewsThe Queen's Gallery is a purpose built art gallery, and this year the exhibition was of the art works of Victoria and Albert. With the help of a very informative audio guide, we found the exhibition really fascinating. We were reminded of the many tourists we have helped to record their holidays, by Detail on Australian coachtaking photos for them in front of xyz-must-visit-tourist-spot. Victoria and Albert seemed to enjoy putting a portrait (or model) of themselves, their children or pets on many works of art and pieces of furniture. Working with a relatively small annual budget of £2000, Victoria enjoyed adding to her collection, and it is now an interesting history of their tastes. Unfortunately no photos were permitted.
Rear view of State Coach

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

History of The Underground 14 March 2010

Ride-on London Underground trainToday was UK's version of Mother's Day, and we spent in in a very odd place. London Underground had an open day in their Acton Depot. Along with actual historical trains, trams and busses, there were models of vehicles, and layouts of underground stations, and model train enthusiasts were there with their layouts and models of British transport.

Routemaster busWe were taken for a ride in the now historic prototype Routemaster bus RM1, but probably the most interesting event was a tour behind the scenes into the poster archives. The Museum owns a copy of each poster from 1908 to the present. It is a marvellous reflection of the different styles of art down through the decades.Poster from the 1970s We were also shown into the room holding the collection of originals for a surprisingly small proportion of the posters produced. The early lithographic method of printing called for great artistic skill by the printer, as each poster was redrawn on up to five full size stones, one for each paint colour. We will now look with greater appreciation at posters we see in future.
Early London Underground poster
It seems that the London Underground bosses were much more careful to preserve the posters than the originals from the artists who painted them, they were hung around the offices them sold off or just disappeared home with the occupants of the office when they retired.

Collection of signsAn interesting fact and link to yesterday was that the Arsenal Station is the only one named after a football club and since the club has shifted its home ground to the new stadium is no longer the closest station to the club grounds.