Photos from York

Micklegate in the early morning sun

Walking along the walls from Micklegate towards the York Minster

The ceiling of the York Minster, which is actually wood lined. The nave is  the widest in Britain.

Some of the amazing carvings in the Chapter House

Notice the 3 headed queen on the left

(turn sideways) the clock in York Minster. At the quarter hour the figures hit the little tubular bells.
Not as fancy as Wells Cathedral, but rather cute.

The dome. You may be able to see the crossed keys of St Peter.

(turn sideways) this clock was created to commemorate all the people who served in airforces based in the York area during the Second World War. It shows the night sky for the particular day. In the centre are the four winds.

Clifford's Tower

Pumping out the water. The levels aren't dropping because the ground is so saturated
 that there is nowhere for the water to go

The flooded Ouse. This is the first floor, not the ground floor, you can just see above the water line

York Day 1

I've fallen in love with York. As I climbed on to the walls at Micklegate and looked towards the Minster, I knew I was going to have a wonderful day. The sun was shining in a clear blue sky, which certainly helped the atmosphere. I'm sure the residents were relieved as well since the two rivers which meet at York, the Ouse and Foss, are still in flood, creating chaos for the businesses lining the river which are inundated.
I walked around the walls to the bridge, and saw the Ouse. Well named, as it was oozing over the road, and into the park. A beautiful old building used as a coffee shop was sadly marooned in the middle of the swirling brown river, and the sign for the boat cruises was barely visible.
Moving on, I soon came to the beautiful Minster, which is technically a Cathedral of St Peter, but nobody calls it by its full name. My tour guide was a delightfully eccentric lady who had been doing the tours forever, but had apparently been told off in the recent 'retraining' for going overtime. And she did on our tour as well, but it was a wonderful tour filled with little anecdotes and personal opinions about various characters. The church is spectacular, as all of these cathedrals are, and each cathedral I have seen has its own special feature. In the Minster there were several. The Chapter House, an octagonal room off the North transept, has a wonderful set of carvings which are over 700 years old. There are all sorts of interesting heads, some with a finger in their mouth or pulling faces, and some wonderful animals. The South Transept was damaged by a fire, and when the roof was restored they had a competition involving the program Blue Peter. Viewers were invited to submit a design for the bosses where the beams cross. The winners included an image of Neil Armstrong on the moon. It reminded me of the astronaut the stonemason placed on the Salamanca Cathedral. Apparently one of the theories for the fire (which was probably an electrical fault caused by a lightning strike) was God's retaliation for using the Minster to induct a Bishop of Durham who didn't believe in the Virgin birth or the Resurrection.
Making my way along High Petergate (I love the names of the streets), I passed out through the wall by another gate and visited the local museum, which had a lovely Roman display. The city is full of museums so I had to pace myself!
The old city is full of interesting lanes and passageways, called snickerways. It also has a collection of cat sculptures, placed on the walls or roofs of buildings and there is a guide map to locate them. I managed to find a few, but they were hard to photograph. The most famous street is the Shambles, where the buildings tilt at odd angles, and the shops are extraordinarily small. It was originally a street of butchers, but now it's touristy. Another famous street is Whip Ma Whop Ma Gate, the shortest street in York, about 35 metres long. It was originally Whitnourwhatnourgate, meaning 'neither one thing nor another' but changed after it became a site of floggings and pillory.
The squares were filled with market stalls, for Christmas. I'm really enjoying the street decorations. When the sun sets before 4pm there is plenty of opportunity to enjoy the lights.
I meandered through to the other end of the walled part where Clifford's tower stands high on a hill. Not much to see inside, but fantastic views of the city from the top. Next to it is the Castle museum, which I saved for the next day.
By this time it was after 3pm and time for a break. David had recommended Betty's Tea Rooms, which I had passed on my meanderings. A very popular location, but worth the short wait for a table. I couldn't resist the mince pies, brandy butter and mulled wine.

That night I watched a wonderful new program on BBC4, which I hope will come out to Australia. It's called The Dark Ages - An Age of Light.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00zbtmp
So much more interesting than I'm a Celebrity, get me out of here. 

More views of Castle Howard

You'll have to turn the screen sideways for these:

Decorated banister

Cute

Christmas Tree in the main hall

Cotoneaster on the wall

Doorway through to the walled rose garden

Photos of Castle Howard

View down the main path with statues and the Temple of the Wind at the end

View down to the lake, which is suffering from the excessive rain

The woodland stills looks beautiful , even in winter

My favourite view of the bridge and Mausoleum 

Temple of the Winds

Some of the beautiful autumnal decorations

The gorgeous skirt of the autumnal tree

A set of china modelled on the House and garden features 

Dining table

Beautiful ceiling of the chapel

The amazing dome in the main hall

Castle Howard

My first stop in York was actually out of York. Not the moors, although I would have loved to have had time to wander those, but a very famous location, Castle Howard. Those who have never seen or heard of Brideshead Revisited will probably go: what? Those who are addicts of the series shown on TV in the 80s, or perhaps the more recent film, will understand why it was a 'must do'.
It's about 16 miles out of York so I hired a car again. Fortunately that area hadn't been affected by the floods. It was worth the effort - the house is magnificent and the grounds are beautiful. The sky was clear, but clouds were starting to gather, so I started with the gardens. The paths were very soggy but walkable, and I had several vistas to find: the drive leading up to the house, the Temple of the Winds, the bridge, the Mausoleum, and the Fountain. You can't actually get to the bridge and Mausoleum but I found a perfect place for a photo.
In the house I was impressed with how much is accessible on the tour, given that it is lived in by the family. It's close to Christmas so the main stairway, and all of the beautiful classical statuary in the corridors were garlanded with ivy. Some of the statues were also holding Christmas balls which looked like bunches of large grapes. The tree in the main hall was enormous, reaching up to the gallery above. We were pondering how it was decorated - using a forklift perhaps? My favourite tree was in the 'garden room', the room that Charles decorated in the series. It was autumn themed, and had huge acorn decorations and other decorations in copper and gold, as well as a skirt with pinecones, acorns, apples, leaves and a very cute hedgehog. In the dining room the table was set for a Christmas feast.
The house is filled with glowing furniture, a multitude of paintings and lots of other lovely features. Each room had a guide who varied in their willingness to explain the features. I encountered one lovely gentleman in two different rooms, and in the second he asked about my travels, gave me a number of suggestions about Prague and Vienna, then parted with a flourishing kiss on the hand!

Floods and trains

For all the bad press it gets, I've found the British Rail system really good, despite massive disruptions caused by recent weather.
Although I have had a few damp days, I've avoided the massive rain falling just south, but it has affected some of my journeys. My train from Edinburgh to Berwick on Sunday was delayed because the train was stranded in floods near Darlington, south of Newcastle. A train finally arrived about 30 minutes later, but we had issues with which platform we should be on, and about 5 minutes of 'is it, isn't it'. I found the both the Station staff and fellow passengers really helpful though, and eventually we were on and travelling. The train conductor was also informative, friendly and helpful, trying to sort out connection issues for people affected by the delay.
On Tuesday morning, the train taking me from Berwick to York stopped at Newcastle: everyone off, overhead power lines down near Darlington. Finally we were directed to another train which we squeezed on to, booked seats were ignored, and we slowly crawled through the flooded area. Faint announcements about changes, delays etc couldn't be heard over the chatter of the people. The guy sitting next to me was supposed to be going from Newcastle to Birmingham to get home to Stratford upon Avon, but the trains weren't running from Doncaster to Birmingham. So he was going to have to go down to London, change stations there, and head back up, adding many hours to the journey. He was very philosophical though, no whingeing Poms on that train.
I finally arrived safely in York, where roads are also closed due to flooding. Amazing photos coming.

Edinburgh and visiting family

I was in Edinburgh for a bit over a day, long enough to tour the caverns, see the Castle, Holyrood House, Carlton Hill, walk the Royal Mile, check out Greyfriars Bobby and the church, and hunt through the shops in search of a Cashmere jumper for Alli. Unfortunately the last was unsuccessful because the fashion at the moment is for very short jumpers, which may be ok on the Chinese shop assistant who is about 5'2" but not on a tall person, unless you want a draught in the middle of your back! And the shop assistants were all Chinese or Indian. The shops were full of Asian tourists as well, presumably buying tartan.
I loved my visit to the Castle. Coming up to it from below helped me appreciate what a massive structure the combined rock and Castle is. The audio guide provided good background information and the displays of the Royal jewels: sceptre, sword, Stone of Scone etc was really well done. My favourite part, however, was the War Memorial. It was beautiful inside, with gorgeous stained glass windows and huge memorials to all of the Scottish forces. They even had some lovely sculptures of various animals which had been used in wars - horses, donkeys etc.
At the highest point of the castle, slightly beneath the high walls was the cemetery for the dogs which were the mascots of the various groups. Each had its own gravestone. Really cute.
Holyrood was also worth the visit. The rooms were beautifully furnished, as you would expect from a Royal home.  My favourite part was the ruined Abbey. Very picturesque.

The train from Edinburgh took me through the Border Country to Berwick where my father's cousin David collected me. The train had been significantly delayed; more of that in the next post.
David and Molly live in a beautiful and very comfortable house outside Duns, not far from Berwick: in The Brorder country. It was the Miller's House originally, but they have extended and remodelled it several times. Sitting in the dining room I enjoyed watching woodpeckers, tits and other birds feeding from one of their hanging feeders. Even better was curling up on the couch in the sitting room, with the fire burning, getting to know Molly, and David better, and catching them up on news from Australia. The next morning the weather was bleak, but it didn't deter us from touring the neighbourhood to see various sites including walking the Elizabethan wall in Berwick in the wind and the rain!  I even managed some photos. Back home David organised yet another delicious dinner, while all Molly and I had to do was relax in the warm with a G&T and share photos with each other. (Molly is a talented photographer).
Quote of the visit: "if you can see the Cheviots, (a series of hills separating England and Scotland) it's going to rain. If you can't see them, it's raining."  I achieved both.
Favourite photo: the border of Scotland and England, marked by a very wobbly stone wall. David remembers talking to two farmers, one on each side of the wall, and they spoke with totally different accents. 

Glamis

I caught the train to Dundee where I was due to pick up a car so that I could go out to Glamis Castle. I had hoped they would meet me at the station, but it is in chaos, with the development of a huge new station and other buildings. The car hire was only about 15 minutes walk, but I had no idea which way to get through the maze of building works so I opted for a taxi. The driver was a lovely man, who was willing to take me on a journey of literally 3 minutes. I'd like to see that happen in Melbourne!
With the car organised, I headed out of town to see Glamis Castle and arrived in time for the last tour. I was pleased to see the tour guide wearing a dark green polar fleece vest, just like mine. The tartan is predominantly green. I'd love to know whether the House colours were linked to the tartans at all. Something for the archives staff to investigate?
The tour was great. The entertaining rooms were filled with so many fascinating items: paintings, furniture, china, photos, and the galleries in the old part had armour, weapons and a multitude of animal trophies. The guide told the ghost stories, and the mystery of the 'extra' window, and lots of Royal stories. (For those who don't know, Glamis Castle is the birthplace of the Queen Mother, Elizabeth Bowes Lyon, Princess Margaret was born there and as you would expect, the family visited often).
I found the various heraldry shields fascinating. Each one had the lion on the left representing the husband (the original one came over 'with the conquest' from Lyon) and various insignia on the right according to the family of the wife. If he didn't marry, the shield just had a lion taking up the full space. The first shield had a half red, half golden lion on the right, representing the daughter of the king (the female isn't entitled to the full golden lion).
The dining room had a lovely festive display with little trees even on the long table. In the centre was a huge silver plate with a centrepiece of a ship, also in silver. It had been given to the Earl and Countess (grandparents of Elizabeth BL I think) on their Golden Wedding anniversary by the tenants and servants of the estate. The republican inside me finds it extraordinary. There was also a painting of the third Earl and a separate one of the Countess which I noticed were gifts of the tenants and staff.
In the Coach house there was an extended display showing the fortunes and misfortunes of the family through the ages as well as some of the Queen Mother's gowns.

For dinner I crossed another couple off the list, skirlie and black pudding, but it was very gentrified as you'll see from the picture when it comes.

Gretna Green and Glasgow

I am now in sunny Scotland. It really is!! Clear blue sky and the most glorious sunshine has been delighting the residents of Glasgow who, I suspect, think their Christmas wishes have come early. All I hear from both English and Scots is how horrible and wet the weather has been this year.
Yesterday was a hectic day because I wanted to stop in at Gretna Green on the way north. To fit in with cheap fares and get to Glasgow in decent time I left Windermere at 6:50am, but because I wanted to make sure I was at the station on time, I overcompensated and ended up there at 6:20, having dropped off the hire car and walked up to the station.
That meant I arrived at Gretna Green before the shops and Blacksmith opened. Fortunately there was shelter because it was a bleak morning.
Gretna Green was one the must-do parts of my Regency homage, and I had been warned that it really wasn't much, but I enjoyed the displays and information about the changes in the marriage act over the years. They also had a wonderful display of carriages and old bicycles, and blacksmith tools and other traditional farming equipment.
I arrived in Glasgow with enough time to go to the School of Art and do a tour of the building which was designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Paul Gamble had told me it was a must-do, and I am grateful he told me about it. Originally I was just going to pass through on my way to Dundee. The Art school was designed by Rennie Mackintosh and built in two stages because it went stupendously over budget. This gave him an opportunity to revise his plans and made the library even more beautiful. The tours are run by art students, and my guide, not surprisingly I suppose, was friendly, knowledgable and obviously loved the building.

Today was an amazing change - blue sky with scarcely a cloud to be seen. It wasn't even cold; about 6 deg. Because I only had a few hours I abandoned plans of galleries and museums and instead headed to the large shopping area close to where I was staying. One arcade was full of jewellery shops. Nothing else. There were gentlemen standing there in suits and black top hats. Not your usual retail garb. Further up the road another huge centre had a number of stores specialising in whiskey. In between was the huge department store The House of Fraser, which had the most beautiful Christmas decorations hanging from four levels of balconies into a huge atrium. It looked very festive and quite beautiful. In one of the other avenues the Christmas stalls had been set up selling various crafts and lots of food. Paella, churros, Dutch pancakes, nougat, coconut macaroons freshly baked (the smell was so tempting) and various sausages, meats, curries. The international meat stall was even offering kangaroo burgers. Fortunately I went through it late morning before the various foods were fully cooked, and while I wasn't hungry.

More Lakes photos

                                                The iRock

The water outlet built like a little castle

All that water creates a luscious environment

You can't say you haven't been warned.

Beatrix Potter photos

A few images from the Beatrix Potter experience

Yes, there's an extra rabbit. Beatrice with her cousins. For those who haven't caught up with the saga, Norman disappeared in Brighton and Alli sent Beatrice over to me first class.

Lakes District photos

Look carefully!! The water surface was totally still.

A lovely stone bridge

Bridge House, Ambleside and swollen stream

The waterfall or  Ghyll

Showing how swollen the stream was, and how fast flowing!

Sheep on the hillside. I'm told the colours indicate which ram mated with them. The farmer puts a dye pack on the underside of the ram.

Stone Circle

Lovely views of the valley 

A blue lake!! Taken in the couple of hours of sunshine 

Lakes 2

I was hoping for some better weather for my final day in the Lakes, and I got it. Mild, only a scattered shower around late morning (more on that later), and then SUNSHINE. It didn't last more than an hour or so, but I managed a photo of a lake that looked blue rather than steel grey so I was content.
I headed first to Keswick, stopping a few times for short walks and photos. At Keswick there is a small stone circle. It's beautifully situated, on a little mound, surrounded by mountains. There were a few tourists, including a little boy carefully counting the stones as he went around the circle. Inside the circle two women were standing playing flat hand drums and chanting. I unashamedly listened in and then took a video of the circle which I hope has picked up some of the chant. Perfect for Western Dreaming! So, having greeted the four wind spirits, then then did a Mother Earth chant and one for Grandfather Sky. As they thanked Grandfather Sky, he returned the compliment and it started raining. Just a light shower really, but the timing was exquisite.
I wandered along part of Lake Derwent and read about the original owner of one of the islands who was quite an eccentric. He built his own stone circle, a fort and a gothic style boathouse, and each year he would host a regatta where he invited the local Keswick residents to fire on him. One of the other islands is the setting for Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin.
As I headed back south I spotted what appeared to be a small castle on the edge of a lake, just off the road. Intrigued, I stopped in the layby leading to it, and wandered down the road. It was a folly size, definitely built like a castle, and around the other side was a friendly man from the local Water company. The building houses the outlet which feeds to water to Manchester. Built in the 1800s, they wanted it to look grand, and even imported slate and granite from other parts of the country to build it. Given that the whole area is covered in rock it did seem a bit excessive.
I headed to Hawkshead which is opposite Windermere. After several miles of winding road, following a large boat transporter which caused havoc for oncoming traffic in the narrow lanes, I arrived to find the only parking was a 'pay and display' at £1.80 for the first hour. This is 3 times what I paid at Keswick. On that topic, there seem to be no places where you can simply park a car. Even car parks leading to walks are all 'pay and display'. It's easy to run out of change, particularly when I'm not really spending time in shops. So at Hawkshead I didn't have enough change, and went to a nearby shop selling gifts, postcards etc and tried to buy a postcard with my smallest note £20. "Can't change that," she said, "don't you have anything smaller?" I gave up and gave up on Hawkshead altogether.
Blackwood, the John Ruskin house, is on the same section of land, so I headed off there. It had been closed when I went on Monday and I really wanted to see it. I thought I knew where I was going, but ended up travelling along a small lane which took me to the most wonderful lookout, where a car park was packed with walkers' cars. I nervously parked the car several times on the verge to take photos across the hills and into the valleys. Spectacular!!
I have to confess that I had never heard of John Ruskin, and yet he seems to be the sort of person you should learn about. Philosopher, artist, educationalist, scientist, saviour of the arts and crafts. The house is definitely a shrine to him, with his utterances posted on walls and attached to exhibits, and copies of his books in various display cases and bookcases. I found it a bit overwhelming, and wondered if he had been liked or admired. He seemed that type of person who would always be telling others what they should be doing and how they should be doing it. I certainly admire his passion about improving conditions for the ordinary person in Victorian Britain, and the concept of free education and health care for all was very radical.
In one of the other buildings there was an amazing musical instrument, an iRock. I kid you not! It looked like a xylophone but each plank was made from a different piece of rock - granite, slate etc. they had been cut and tuned. Playing them straight, the sound wasn't brilliant, but an electronic device was attached which could enhance the sound and also create other effects like harmonic notes. I played with it for ages. I think we need one at school :)

Lakes District

I guess my luck had to run out at sometime regarding the weather. The weather forecast for my three days in the Lakes District was heavy rain and strong winds - not the ideal weather for walking! As the days got closer, the forecast was looking more hopeful and here I am and it's drizzly rain, but there's still a strong winds on the hills, and I'm not really equipped for wet weather walking. I've hired a car though, so I've spent the day driving around, enjoying the sites and occasionally stopping for pictures. Given the wet summer it's not surprising the the lakes are full and the ground and roads are very damp. Most of the trees have lost their leaves so the ground is covered in leaves and moss; very pretty.
Many of the attractions close at the end of October, but I stopped in to see the Beatrix Potter attraction in Bowsness. (Her old farm Hill End is closed for the winter) I was entranced by the displays, recreations of the stories. It's hard to describe, but it is like wandering through a winding country lane with trees, hedges, fences and ponds and lovely watercolour backgrounds of the Lakes district, looking much less soggy. Each corner has one of the stories portrayed either as a single set piece or a series of them. A multitude of rabbits, squirrels and other characters are generally cavorting about. I'm sure a child would love it as they would be eye level with most of them, but I loved it too. Photos were allowed, but silly me forgot to take one of Beatrice with her cousins.  Edit: I went back to take some and they kindly let me in on the same ticket.
Lunch was in the Old John Peel; a ploughman's lunch with mulled wine and a mince pie. Perfect for a drizzly day :)

Day 2 and the weather is no better. Perfect morning to spent at Dove Cottage, one of Wordsworth's homes and now run by the Wordsworth Trust. I was surprised by the size of the cottage; much bigger than I expected. This was because it had been an inn so the downstairs rooms were big and had quite high ceilings. Given that William, his wife Mary, sister Dorothy, Mary's sister and several young children lived there and they constantly had visitors, it was probably fortunate it was so large. Although it was very wet, and autumn, I could appreciate the beauty of the garden and the whole location.
The museum had detailed information about his life, writings, and the contributions made by Dorothy and Mary, who did virtually all the transcribing and copying and altering, of which there was much. It also gave detailed of many of the visiting poets. Because I was in no hurry to go anywhere else I could linger and absorb. The gallery had a series of watercolours and etchings of the lakes district by Joseph Farlington with journal entries from Thomas Gray, accompanied by photos by John Murray of the sites now. Some sites weren't accessible or visible from the exact site because of trees, but it was remarkable how many were virtually unchanged 250 years later. It even included OS map coordinates to go to the places.
I returned to Ambleside, visited a very sodden remains of a Roman Fort by the lake, bought a new umbrella to replace the golf umbrella which kept going backwards and finally snapped :( , then headed up a small road to Stockgyhll Force. With that name it could be anything, but is actually a beautiful waterfall. With all the rain, the stream was pumping so much that the water was completely white. The walk went through an oak woodland with trees and boulders covered in moss. The path was a hard surface but covered in a thick layer of oak leaves and totally sodden. For much of the time it was like walking through a shallow stream. There were two small bridges across the stream, one low down and the other above the waterfall so I could do a full circle. There were also several lookouts along the way. The waterfall isn't huge but the force of the water going over it was extraordinary.
The clouds cleared enough for me to take a short walk up the hill above the Hostel and I managed some lovely views of the lakes and even a sunset!
After dinner, I gathered in the lounge talking to some of the other travellers, and we had a wide ranging conversation until nearly midnight.

Shrewsbury and Wroxeter

My father introduced me to the Ellis Peters' Cadfael books a lifetime ago. I have the whole set, so I couldn't be in this territory without going to Shrewsbury. Ironically, it was cheaper to go from Newport to Chester then do a day trip to Shrewsbury than do Newport-Shrewsbury-Chester. The vagaries of British Rail - I'm sure ours is the same.
Firstly though I visited a Roman site. Just out of Shrewsbury is Wroxeter where part of the remains of a huge Roman town are on show, as well as a 'Roman villa' which was built recently using traditional Roman tools and materials with the process filmed for TV. I saw some of the series and it was highly entertaining, although it would need significant editing to show to the students because the builders get very frustrated and there is quite a bit of swearing! Having seen parts of the show, it is reassuring to see that it is still standing, although in a few parts it is showing signs of issues. The main actual Roman site exposed is a set of baths from when the battalion was based there. The audio tour is excellent and supported by boards that are informative without being too technical. As with all these sites, it is mostly the foundations that are visible, the rest having been scavenged centuries ago. The main street of the town is part of a long Roman road that leads down to Bath, the coast and on to Rome. It is still used as a road, although the Roman road is buried beneath it. When the Romans eventually deserted the area, the local tribes managed to keep the town area going for several hundred years, so there is a good record of post-occupation development.
I took a taxi from the station to Wroxeter and the lady gave me her card so I could call for a return trip. So extravagant!! Having a UK sim does make it easier though.
Back in Shrewsbury, she dropped me at the abbey and inside was a small shop, as they all seem to have, where they were able to supply the Cadfael tour guide book. The books have done so much for the town that there is a special stained glass window in the abbey celebrating Cadfael and Ellis Pargeter (Peters). There are also supposed to be markers on the footpaths for the various sites on the tour, but I only found one! So I wandered the town, enjoying the old architecture, and imagining life in the 1200s. It was a lovely sunny day, there had been a thick coating of frost on the ground as I travelled down by train, and the autumn leaves of the willows reflecting in the water of the Severn was beautiful and very peaceful.
Shrewsbury also celebrates two famous sons - Charles Darwin and Wilfred Owen. The Abbey has a memorial plaques for Wilfred Owen and there is an interesting sculpture in the abbey grounds inspired by one of his poems. Laying on it were two offerings, presumably from Nov 11, one of artificial red poppies, and the other, a bouquet of real poppies wrapped and labelled with his most famous poem Dulce et Decorum est.
There are numerous sculptures, a walk and building named after Darwin or referencing him. My favourite was a sculpture down by the Welsh Bridge, which looks like an arched  backbone. (I'll put up a picture). Around it, set in concrete were each of the time periods of life on earth. It reminded me of the one down along the creek between Burwood Hwy and Highbury Rd near school. If you've never seen it, wander down sometime, it lies along the bike path and starts at the Highbury rd end. Of course, it is just in the final piece that we have the age of man, putting us firmly in our place!
Being Sunday I enjoyed a traditional Sunday roast lunch (Spanish time, about 3pm) with all the trimmings. Tick another off the list :)

Photos of Shrewsbury

St Winifred whose remains brought thousands of pilgrims to the Abbey.

The stained glass window for Cadfael and Ellis Peters. The dedication to her is just above the book on the bottom right

Water, sun and autumn leaves. Brilliant combination. Crossing the Severn.

I love these old buildings. These ones had narrow lanes, called closes, running beside them. The we're called that because they were closed off at signs of trouble.

One side of St Mary's. It looks very patched.

Sculpture at Darwin Park. Yes named after Charles Darwin who was born and educated in Shrewsbury.

The details about the concrete timeline on the grounds in a circle around the sculpture

St Chad's has a circular nave. Unfortunately it is only open for viewing Mon - Sat. I was there on a Sunday.

The grounds were used to film A Christmas Carol and I found this tombstone.

Yes the house really is on an angle.