Enjoying retirement
In The Red Rose County
We hadn't been to Ilkley for a while (nor to Betty's), so we thought we would combine the two with the very pleasant riverside walk there. The walk was lovely and we walked up through Stubham woods to emerge near Middleton woods which we couldn't access. However the walk downhill was more than rewarded with views of the splendid houses on this side of the river - potential Poirot filming locations for sure. We walked past the Old Grammar School which a group of townspeople signed an undertaking to erect on 2 January 1635, as a dedicated schoolhouse, and records indicate that by April 1637 it had been built. The Guardian likened Ilkley to a miniature Harrogate, with smartly painted Victorian townhouses, Bettys and a beautiful lido. It certainly has all those things and more. And at Christmas, it is even prettier than ever. We really enjoyed our stroll around the shops and restaurants, and even couldn't ressist going in some of the shops and making purchases. And Betty's where amazingly there was no queue was better than we remembered. Service faultless, quality of hot chocolate and cakes up there with the best. Atmosphere very Betty's. Lovely.
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Last time we used a £1 rail ticket The journey took two and a half hours. This time we drove to the Park and Ride. The journey was an hour and a half. Our first target was the Grosvenor Museum seen above. We were impressed by their display of Chester hallmarked silver. We then moved on to the Art Room which tells the history of Chester and Cheshire through Art. All displayed in an old-fashioned Victorian sort of way which felt appropriate. Chester from Boughton.... Beeston castle..... John Laird founder of the famous shipbuilders...... A basalt vase which was part of a pair made specifically by Wedgwood for Winnington Hall in Cheshire. Interesting for me as I have just finished the splendid biography of Josiah Wedgwood by Tristram Hunt. An allegory of Maritime Commerce made for a fire place....... A more recent portrait of one of the Westminsters of Eaton Hall. We then started to explore the Roman Museum where finds from Deva/Chester are displayed (after watching a centurion put his charges through parade ground practice). It really is amazing what turns up and what a good level of understanding of their civilisation finds give us. Even the pipes for sewage, hypocausts etc are very revealing.... The section on bricks and roofs was quite something as.... the museum had constructed a small rooftop using original Roman tiles.... We made an especial note of the lead ingot in the centre which was found under the Roodee racecourse as this was where the Roman wharfs were and it had presumably dropped from a ship whilst loading or unloading, and we were due to visit the wharf area later. I don't know why but I found this small display of luggage labels very personal and fascinating.... Next stop the collection of Roman tombstones which is world-famous. Most of these were found as in-fill in the City walls. Below, a man - Flavius - enjoying a banquet in the afterlife with his son Serapion. Obviously a lot of love there. The next tombstone, rather untidily carved, shows a Roman centurion, Marcus Aurelius Nepos, and his much smaller wife. A space has been left for her name but it was never inserted. Why? And this stone commemorates a man who died at sea. The last section would usually read H S E which stands for 'hic situs est' or 'he is laid here', but the H has been missed off indicating the body was never recovered. We don't know his name but we know that he was about to be promoted to centurion. He never made it. We really enjoyed the Grosvenor and learned such a lot about Chester. Before lunch we next did some of one of the four guided walks from 'Chester Inside Out' which replicates the format of the wonderful 'Snickleways of York'. We started at the racecourse where, below the Walls, we saw the Roman structure of a wharf which was part of the harbour here, and was where the ingot had been dropped into the river. A little later we came across the model for the Grosvenor Bridge sent stone by stone by cart to the architect. And here the real thing ......Grosvenor Bridge.....a good match! We then walked around the castle outer walls. Here the Old Dee Bridge runs into the castle via what was presumably a watergate. You can't go anywhere in Chester without seeing beautiful buildings....... A brilliant discovery for us was St Mary's Hill said to be the steepest urban cobbled street in Britain. It was indeed very steep......... At the top is the old rectory built in Georgian times but re-fronted in the Nineteenth Century. You see the front entrance and the stables entrance. St Mary's which is now an events centre was closed . It has the oldest churchwardens' accounts and parish registers in Cheshire. The registers recorded deaths - sometimes by execution. 'Thomas Laceby a p'soner prest to death bur. in churchyard on the north side of the steeple.' We saw but couldn't visit the oldest Norman tower in the castle the Agricola Tower..... And Thomas Harrison's new gateway to the castle - the Propylaeum. Through the gateway stood the rather nice, I think, circular replacement for the old police station which was apparently not very nice. And it was not without its own historic interest, as there was a display of finds from the excavations for the building. We went looking for Chester's oldest church and lost our way in White Friars. No problem as it was an exceptionally nice road, full of barristers apparently, and we were helped by the resident of this house who came across us looking a bit lost. She seemed like a well-heeled barrister and was very proud of Chester. Further up White Friars was the over-hanging black and white timber-framed building known as 'the Old House' built in 1685. But lunch called and off we went to the very atmospheric pub 'The Architect' actually one of the Brunning and Price pubs. Near us the Aspinall Arms is part of their group too and with a remarkably similar interior, both full of old books and old prints, and enticing menus. Back on our route the Bear and Billet proved to have an interesting history. ....and more townscape delights..... We eventually found St Olave's Church now deconsecrated. Restored by the Victorians, it dates from pre-Conquest, and reflects the Scandinavian interest in the city. Its patron saint King Olav was killed in 1030. The Scandinavian form of twelve jurors is very much still with us. As is the Yorkshire greeting 'Now then' which remarkably is still used in Norway. Onward to The Rows, one of Chester's most famous features - continuous half-timbered galleries, reached by steps, which form a second row of shops above those at street level along Watergate Street, Northgate Street, Eastgate Street and Bridge Street. They are utterly unique Sheltered and with super views - magnificent! What a pleasure it is to visit Chester. A thoroughly enjoyable day.
One of the advantages of living in Clitheroe is that not only do we have the Trough of Bowland close at hand but also the Yorkshire Dales. A nice day prompted us to drive through one to the other. Beautiful, beautiful views all the way. Our destination Settle. Nearing Settle, a what looked like extinct volcano became prominent on the horizon. Settle is a market town in the middle of Limestone country and full of independent shops and cafes.....with many listed buildings from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. We had a very enjoyable walk around town enjoying the atmosphere. and a decent lunch in the Golden Lion with a pretty view from our window seat where we sat by a roaring fire and listened to locals at the next table passing the time of day. We then did the short river walk (the Ribble) past houses and mills before deciding to make our way by car a very short way further up the river to Stainforth which is famous for its salmon leaping. We parked by the ancient packhorse bridge. A muddy walk (not for Frances) took me to the midpoint of the falls which were very pretty indeed particularly as I saw about a dozen salmon making strenuous efforts to climb the river. A memorable moment or two. The only other time I have watched salmon leaping was at Hexham on the Tyne.
Arriving by train at Salford Central is always good as the route over the Irwell and into town is full of fascinating buildings. Here the excellent Peoples' History Museum in bronze and behind the new Law Courts. At the centre of Manchester is the grand Midland Hotel full of detailed workmanship on the exterior, and behind the iconic Central Library. Central Station where I used to catch the train home to Old Trafford is now much changed - metamorphed into a conference centre. Currently the so-called German Markets fill Manchester's streets. Full of tat, and presumably not helping the full-time traders, but nevertheless there was a really nice atmosphere. We had tapas at Pep Guardiola's Tast and then an expensive cocktail in Rio Ferdinand's Rosso which we were scouting out for a Christmas meal. Very 'blingy', but very lively and enjoyable. The Bridgewater Hall stands proud above the Irwell and landscaped gardens. We were here for Finlandia and Grieg's Piano Concerto both very powerful and a delight to listen to. We had last -minute £12.50 tickets which enabled us to sit in expensive seats in the Stalls with close observance of the excellent Halle players. and before the main concert we were treated to a short Scandi repetoire by students from the Royal Northern College of Music. Only about a couple of dozen people turned up for this which was a real shame as they were excellent. Surely the brains at the Bridgewater could do more to ensure a decent audience?
‘Heaton (Hall), the seat of Lord Grey de Wilton, about four miles from Manchester, is beautifully situated on an eminence in a rich park. This truly elegant seat was built from a design of Wyatt.’ John Aitken, 1795. James Wyatt was one of the great architects of his day and Heaton Hall is one of his masterworks. It’s been described as ‘the finest house of its period in Lancashire and one of the finest in the country’. It is not generally open to the public at the moment so we booked a tour with Jonathan Schofield who wrote the terrific 'My Guide To Manchester', one of the best guides imaginable. He does a tremendous number of different tours and is as funny and knowledgeable in real life as the Guide would imply. See Jonathan Schofield. We had quite a walk from one of the car parks to the House as the park is the biggest municipal park in Europe. We got there just in time. Jonathan started off by walking us all around the outside (a good thing to do) and enlightened us as to the House's history and its architecture. The building, given its Grade I listing in 1952, was constructed in stages—and certainly makes a profound impression on the eye. James Wyatt; a man known by many in his time as one of the country’s leading Gothic Revival architects, was responsible for many important buildings including Fonthill Abbey in Wiltshire—created for the author of the novel Vathek, William Beckford. However, Wyatt was also recognised for his Neoclassical designs—and set to work on the design of Heaton Hall in 1772, for Sir Thomas Egerton.Who was Sir Thomas Egerton? He was a descendant of Sir John Egerton, the man who married into the Holland family in 1684; this being the family that had owned the Heaton estate since the mid-17th century. There had even been a previous Heaton Hall in place before the one seen today! However, in 1772 Sir Thomas Egerton decided he wanted a more fashionable, tasteful, and up-to-date place to live—and hence his decision to choose Wyatt, one of the leading and most fashionable architects of his day, to create a new pile set within significant grounds. Jonathan was incredibly knowledgeable about Greek and Roman myths and had full opportunity to roam far and wide talking about the inset sculptural panels. This type of design takes its inspiration from Classical architecture from Italy and further afield, a style that throughout eighteenth-century Britain had been revived in quite distinct ways. The Heaton Hall that can be seen today is the product of later and more informed interpretations of Classical architecture. It places an emphasis on light decorative ornament informed by ancient classical sights, but also imaginatively recomposed; on the outside this is monochromatic, but changes in light and shade create movement; on the inside Wyatt, the Georgian architect, deployed these forms in a colourful, yet pastel, one could say Wedgwoodian palette. This was a country house just as much about entertaining as it was education—and a number of the design features of the building indicate that was primarily a building used for parties and guests! The colonnaded wings mean that all the rooms are connected, making it easy for guests to pass through and circulate. In addition, the downstairs dining room is located intentionally close to the kitchen—whilst many buildings of his time still had their kitchens and dining rooms at a distance from each other, meaning that food was often cold by the time it was served! The design of Heaton Hall allowed for piping hot food to be quickly transferred from the kitchen and put onto serving tables in the dining room. not any more as the kitchen wing was burnt out in an arson attack a few years ago. The picture (below) shows the typical country house 'enfillade' joining all the rooms Another engaging feature of downstairs is the 18th-century chamber organ that fills a whole wall in the Music Room (below), built by Samuel Green in 1790 and complete with a beautifully ornate case with decoration from Biagio Rebecca, the respected Italian artist. The room itself is resplendent in detailed plasterwork, created by the Joseph Rose II of York firm. Original artwork and furnishings still exist in many parts of the building, with a number of features thanks to Gillow's of Lancashire; the craftsmen behind the sturdy mahogany doors, for example. Talking about the family's interests Jon made it clear that the whole house was in one sense designed around the Music Room which was central to their life. The central staircase is a magnificent example of the use of Coalbrookdale iron working. As is a usual feature of Classical design, an attention to symmetry is clear throughout the building—with doorways mirroring each other in a number of places. Yet it is also sensitive to its position in the landscape, and long, floor-length windows throughout much of the ground floor indicate a desire to highlight the building’s proximity to nature—looking out over landscaped gardens, intentionally designed in awareness of the views out to the Pennine hills. In fact the best place for a view was, on Jonathan's recommendation, the Observatory....... from where modern Manchester is clearly visible, as well as 360 degree views from Cheshire to the Pennines. In the end it was the encroachment of industrial Manchester that led the family to move out to one of their other homes. Oh to be landed rich!
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August 2023
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