Skipton Theatre, Cattle Yard Style 29/11/06

Skipton is a lovely market town in the Yorkshire Dales & not far from where Nick did his 2nd pub job at Kettlewell. To get to Skipton from Harrogate is a straight run over "Blubberhouses Moor"
I am pleased to report after a 10min internet search that this means, "house by the bubbling spring" our earlier thoughts of whale trading or people crying on the moors seems far more romantic but there we are.

We arrived in Skipton & predictably as almost every day in this town it was market day. Fortunately there is plenty of parking & rather less than the 5 pounds sterling which seems to be the very least almost everywhere. There are plenty of farms around the area, so lots of things going on in terms of rural activities. One such which we had not quite planned for was back in October when we took ourselves off to the theatre. The production was "A servant with 2 Gaffers" based on the Opera "a Servant of 2 Masters" This was a Yorkshire production & very funny. What we didn't realise when we booked was that it was in the Automart & exactly what that was. the way in is long & winding & no flash, glass fronted, glowing edifice met us, but rather a rather forbidding set of brick buildings. We finally found our way into some sort of entrance hall & after nearly falling over with the smell found that the the theatre was in fact a cattle yard by day & a theatre by night., "eh well mite as well mak a bob or 2 if we can". Actually after we got used to the smell & I had apologised to my new winter coat for it's less than elegant 1 st outing it all turned out to be a very jolly evening.

Birmingham is Compulsive 24/11/06

We've been invited to a 60th Wedding Anniversary Party, imagine that. WHAT an achievement.
Joyce & Dennis were at our wedding 31 years ago. Joyce is John's 1st cousin & has been to NZ so we have lots of chats about the gorgeous places there. They had a lovely party with lots of family & friends from all over the UK.

On the way down for the weekend we wound our way (rather literally) down to Hartington in Derbyshire in the south Peak District. Another gorgeous area with some great walking so another place we have to get back too. We had been here years ago & wanted to go back because there is a farm there which makes fantastic Stilton cheese. It was worth driving an extra hour to get there & we now have a "beautiful baby" round to help celebrate Christmas. John's sense of direction again gave us more challenges, mind you if you are trying to map read with the map upside down it is tricky sorting out right from left & north from south!! Still the dear boy got us there & we were still in time for the pub!! & a lovely lunch.

On Sunday we had a lovely walk to Kinver with Sue & Peter, walking though lovely autumnal woods & looking out to Shropshire. After another good meal at Sue's, part of which was a delicious Damson tart we sped back up to Yorkshire in 3 hours almost all on motorway.

Edinburgh Weekend 11th November

We left Horrogrot (as my nephews very affectionately name it on a Friday morning, which was cool but clear.
Travelling was pleasant & after going over Hadrians Wall we arrived in Jedburgh to find the imposing ruins of Jedburgh Abbey.

In 1745 the Jacobite army led by Bonnie Prince Charlie passed through Jedburgh & we walked up Cannongate where he led his army.

Also passed the house on this street that Robbie Burns lived in for a while.

We ate our egg sandwiches by the River Jed & looked at the monument to James Hutton a famous geologist who studied rock formations in the area, noting the different strata layers & forming ideas of how the earth had developed with pressures & upheavals.

We moved on through more wonderful countryside & autumn leaves past an amazing wind farm & into Scotland's capital city.

After finding our humble lodging we met our lovely Nick outside M & S the ubiquitous English landmark. We made our way by now in pouring, cold rain to a nearby hostelry which soon restored our spirits.

Nick had to go to work in his pub so John &
I found a pizza restaurant & are still recovering from paying 40 pounds for 2 pizza's, 2 salads & a bottle of wine. The next day fortified with haggis, black pudding & various accompaniments we tackled the museums. Quite a good place to be with howling, cold winds outside.

The Scottish National Portrait gallery was first, in an amazing building specially built for the purpose. Whilst I browsed pictures of notable Scots, one of the Duke of Argyll by Gainsborough which is amazing. John opted for the modern photography of Benson who has apparently photoed anyone who is anyone (can't think why none of us were there) After sipping hot chocolate & lunching with Nick he preferred to go to his work than trail around the National Gallery. Here are housed Scottish painters, French impressionists & the Italian school a lovely Raphael of the Madonna & child, amazingly they have established that the background was painted twice by the artist & then painted out entirely. After all this John was ready to get the paper & go home.

I opted for a walk to the castle & along Princes' Gardens in the autumn sunshine, lukewarm as it was.

The next day after another fortifying Scottish breakfast which leaves you not needing to eat for another 2 days we made our way to Leith on the docks to have a squizz at the Britannia which is permanently moored there. Not very impressed by the ship but definitely were by the geese goosewinging up the estuary. As many places in the world I guess Edinburgh is trying to recreate it's waterfront for all the tourists & although not there yet is making good progress. We visited Nick in his pub on the way home & came via the East Coast & Holy Island & the Castle at Lindesfarne.

Whilst not having the time & my husband little inclination to walk to the castle we did chat to avery nice man in the car park who had a beautiful miniature Snauzer nearly as nice as Charlie. We talked about how wonderful the breed was & how wonderful England is. As we were getting in our car he came back to us & gave us a box of chocolates specially packaged fro the House Of Commons (we know he wasn't Tony Blair but thats about all) felt rather miffed we were not given chocs from the House of Lords.

Jedburgh History
Jedburgh is only 10 miles from the English border so the site of many a skirmish. Apparently there was a royal residence here until the 1400's when it obviously became too much to fend off the frequent marauding hoardes.
David 1 of Scotland made this a priory in 1138 & it housed Augustinian Monks from France. The abbey itself was founded in 1147.
Mary Queen of Scots house was newly built in 1566 when she visited. Apparently inside is one of her shoes & her watch. In 1745 the Jacobite army led by Bonnie Prince Charlie passed through & we walked up Cannongate where he led his army.

History of Lindisfarne & Holy Island
This is a very ancient Christian stronghold, the first monastery was built in 635AD, by Irish monks who came from Iona they were given support by King Oswald in Bamburgh.They set up the first known school in the area.

Lindisfarne became known for its skill in Christian art of which the Lindisfarne Gospels still survive.

The Benedictine Period: After the Norman Conquest (1066) the Bendictine monks of Durham possessed the undecayed body of St.Cuthbert. They fled with the body after being attacked by the Normans in the 1100's to many parts of Yorkshire a significantly Bolton Abbey & Fountains Abbey, both near where we are.

later on the Island a second monastery was built. It was finally dissolved by HenryVIII in 1536.
The ruins of the second monastery can still be seen. The first monastery, originally built entirely in wood, has disappeared. But there is evidence that the present parish church of St.Mary the Virgin stands on the site of Aidan's original monastery this was built prior to 1066.

Day Trip to Hebden Bridge 5/11/06

We met Jenny & Keith in this lovely village south of the Bronte country & Haworth.
Hebden Bridge is named after the packhorse over the Hebden water. It was apparently a meeting point of packhorse routes in medieval times from as far away as Rochdale in Lancashire.

It was another major textile area in the industrial revolution & of course now is having to find other ways of attracting people into the area. It was doing a fine job on the day we were there. We went off to our pub lunch & made our way to a lounge which was quite & away from the "great unwashed". However some local families & their children also had the same idea. Our hearts sank, however our companions turned out to be lovely people with very modern dad's who did all the child minding, baby changing, feeding whilst the women sat & chatted.
(hmm smart women, lovely dads!!)

Our post-prandial walk was down by the canal, where Keith & John dawdled to chat to some rather taciturn barge owners who were managing the locks. They thawed out a bit after a chat about their Manchester journey & a little help with loch gates.

John & I drove home over the moors & headed for home along the Skipton road. About 10 miles from home we were diverted off the road because of an accident. Great stuff, you get turfed off the road but no-one tells you where the accident is so that you can get back on the road after the blockage. We ended up on another adventure going via Pateley Bridge.

That night was bonfire night so we went off up to "the Stray" to look at the fireworks. Actually the Christmas lights in the trees were much more impressive I thought.