There and Back

We expect to have January as a cold, sometimes snowy, month. There are things to photograph which are interesting, and often just eye catching, such as these cobwebs in fences and railings.  Cobwebs adorn the railings and nearby fences  The first showing of snowdrops on the roadside  Believe it or not, these Velvet Shank Fungi (Flammulina velutipes), spotted on a nearby tree.  And an image of a tree in the mist. First image in the mist, second one on a sunny day with a NIk Effex filter applied.  Home      Forward       Back

Not too far from Pickering is Dalby Forest and the Bride Stones. Today this was our destination, a walk in the forest. It is on the southern slopes of the North Yorkshire National Park. It was a glorious day - we have been so lucky at it is November! A memorial to the "lumberjills" - the women who worked in forestry during World War Two As we entered the forest we saw this sculpture, so we had to investigate! Later, a little investigation revealed its origins: The sculpture is a steel fabrication of a felled tree and two lumberjills. Some 9,000 British women were recruited to work in forestry during the war.  The lumberjills carried out heavy work, felling trees by hand, working in sawmills, loading trucks and driving tractors. The timber was made into telegraph poles, road blocks, packaging boxes and gun butts for the war effort, and even crosses for war graves. Sculptor Ray Lonsdale won the Forestry Commission competition to create a lasting memorial t...

When visiting the yorkshire Dales, one of the `must see` places is Malham Cove. It is a spectacular 80 metre high limestone cliff and is one of the most popular natural features to be found in the Yorkshire Dales.  This our destination for the day. We parked in the village of Malham, and set out to walk to Janet's Foss, a small waterfall which carries Gordale Beck over a limestone outcrop topped by tufa into a deep pool below. Lone tree on our route to Janet's Foss The pool was traditionally used for sheep dipping, an event which took on a carnival air and drew the village inhabitants for the social occasion. The name Janet (sometimes Jennet) is believed to refer to a fairy queen held to inhabit a cave at the rear of the fall. Foss is a Nordic word for waterfall, still used in Scandinavia, and is presented in a number of cases in England as 'force'. From Janet's Foss we walked along a fairly well used pathway until we were in sight of ...

Today was another exploring day through the village of Gillamoor and onto Lastingham. Not sure what we will see but as we have time on our hands ,and a full tank of petrol, off we go! Gillamoor is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of the county of North Yorkshire. It is situated about three miles north of Kirkbymoorside on the edge of the North York Moors National Park.  Once there, the first thing to catch our eye was this sundial. An unusual, complex, four-faced sundial (pictured above) surmounted by a finely carved stone globe, a Grade II listed structure. It stands by the roadside in the centre of Gillamoor. It was erected August 27th 1800 by John Russell by public subscription The small attractive village church of St. Aidan stands right on the edge of a moorland escarpment, dropping sharply for 150 feet to the River Dove and the southern entrance to Farndale. It was rebuilt single-handedly in 1802 by local stonemason James Smith of Farndal...

The Yorkshire Moors have always been popular places to visit as they are beautiful and full of history. There are many novels also written about them which give them a dark and foreboding character - places of mystery! We found a beautiful place to stay in Pickhill, (which was far from `dark and foreboding`) near Thirsk, Yorkshire. The bungalow was on a farm, and was like home from home - Amazing! One of the first places that we visited was through Thirsk, and was called Sutton Bank.  Sutton Bank is a hill in the Hambleton District of the North York Moors National Park, North Yorkshire in England. It is a high point on the Hambleton Hills with extensive views over the Vale of York and the Vale of Mowbray.  At the foot of Sutton Bank lies the village of Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe; at 27 letters long, it has the longest hyphenated place name in England - how about that!  The A170 road runs down the bank with a maximum gradient of 1 in 4 (25%), and incl...

Today I am helping Nana make some apple things - not sure what they are called but never mind! As you can see, after Nana has put the ingredients into a bowl, it is very easy for me to mix them all up with my hands - without much mess either! Then we take an apple and give to Nana, who will chop it into small slices. I will then put the slices into the dishes like this.  Perhaps I will do more than one at once. Next, (and I like this messy bit) I will put some of that hand mixed mixture, on top of the apple slices, and fill up the dishes to the top. Then I get another apple and start all over again - easy really! Home      Forward         Back

We had wanted to visit Dorset for some time, so this cottage was a perfect choice for a weeks holiday with Hayley and Izobelle. It was close to Portland Bill and not too far from Lulworth, in an area called Fleet.  Fleet is a small, scattered village and civil parish in south Dorset, approximately 2.5 miles (4.0 km) west of Weymouth, and close to the shore of The Fleet, a brackish lagoon behind Chesil Beach.  The Great Storm of 1824 caused waves to breach Chesil Beach, and many of the buildings in the village were destroyed. An eye-witness described the event: At six o'-clock on the morning of the 23rd I was standing with other boys by the gate near the cattle pound when I saw, rushing up the valley, the tidal wave, driven by a hurricane and bearing upon its crest a whole haystack and other debris from the fields below. We ran for our lives to Chickerell, and when we returned found that five houses had been swept away and the church was in ruins. It was much calmer o...