Enjoying retirement
In The Red Rose County
Atrocious weather meant no walks around Clitheroe, so off we went to Saltaire, seen here across the allotments and always worth a whole day visit. This time we managed to see some of the things we had missed on our last visit. including Hockney drawings... ....lithographs the Spring collection.... and i-pad sketches We ate in the Opera cafe which was full of atmosphere. A lovely meal with good service. On our reciprocal visit to Northumberland we had a number of days out. Belsay had changed a lot since our last time there maybe 50 years ago. The Greek-revival new hall (one of the first of its kind in England), designed by owner Sir Charles Monck himself, and an uncompromising building, was completed in 1817 after 10 years in the building. After dealing with the ravages of dry rot when taking it over in 1980 English Heritage have restored the hall and are gradually bringing it back to life as a 'stripped down to the basics' shell. Because the hall has no furniture or fittings one is able to appreciate all the more the design of the house and its rooms.........here the Library with original bookcases in place. Very different to a National Trust house but perhaps all the better for that. The hall is joined to the original castle through Belsay's famous quarry gardens which one reaches after the formal gardens....... and very impressive they are............ The castle has a distinctive pele tower which dates to the late fourteenth century....a mansion was added to the tower in the time of James I. It proved a really fascinating building to explore. and in the Great Hall there are fragments surviving (just) of the fourteenth and fifteenth century decorations...... One could even go on to the roofs which was a favourite thing to do for owners and their friends after dinner parties.....we have been to hundreds of properties in our time but never on a roof. On our way back from the castle by a different route we saw in the distance what looked like a church and vicarage but was in fact a folly.........the first of this kind I have seen. We had a little look round Morpeth which is a delightful town clean and prosperous. The park, which is an enormous credit to the town, now contains a brilliant statue of Emily Wilding Davison. She was a redoubtable militant suffragette who of course died when she threw herself in front of King George V's horse at Epsom. She is buried in the family plot at Morpeth. We climbed the motte in the park originally thrown up in 1095. The castle was burned down by King John. On top, unusually, there were some rather fierce-looking but as it turned out friendly Orkney sheep. Wanting a short walk one day we walked through the woods along White Burn which eventually joins the River Wansbeck. Another visit was to Howick Hall designed and built by the Newcastle architect William Newton in 1782. A fire destroyed the whole interior and the contents on the top two floors in 1926 after which it was rebuilt with a slightly different design and footstep. It looks magnificent. The gardens and arboretum are a true wonderland, with continuing development. and a real highlight was the sensory garden, designed also with autistic people in mind...... The church in the grounds is Victorian displacing what was there before after a number of fires. It contains the tomb of the PM Earl Grey, famous not only for the 1832 Reform Bill which he steered through Parliament, but also the Slavery Abolition Act the following year, and then a number of restrictions on the employment of children. A major statesman. On our walk the sunlight lit up the house in a rather special way... The porch is unusual to say the least..... and the welcoming open front door reveals some of the craftsmanship that went into the whole house.... Inside is memorable not only for its splendour but also............ for the way it is being brought to life room by room with furniture you can sit on and feel at home with. I loved it. A trip to a rather uninspiring pub was redeemed by the beautiful Cheviot scenery on the way....... and a look at the Otterburn Mill, now mainly a retail outlet, but over 250 years old and with a display of oroginal workings which transfomed local wool into knitting yarn and then into knitwear. It was fascinating to see teasels used on a gig to raise the surface of the cloth and make it fluffy...... and outside possibly the only remaining in-situ tenterhook frames in the world..... Two other enjoyable visits, one to Kirkharle the birthplace of Capability Brown, and a short walk around landscape he worked on and then drew up plans for..... and the other to buy kippers at Craster, and stroll along towards Dunstanburgh Castle..... Many thanks to Julia and Allan for a relaxing and fascinating few days
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August 2023
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