Lavender fields and Kirkham Priory

Another beautiful spot we visited was Yorkshire Lavender, a 60-acre hillside farm featuring lavender gardens, specialist plant shop and a sculpture park.

The patterns formed by the Lavender were just waiting to be photographed. 

A great place to visit with it`s herbs and other plants. To cap it all, a great place to have a mid morning coffee and cake. What more could you want. 

I know, more ruins! The ruins of Kirkham Priory are situated on the banks of the River Derwent, at Kirkham, North Yorkshire, England. 

The Augustinian priory was founded in the 1120s by Walter l'Espec, lord of nearby Helmsley, who also built Rievaulx Abbey. Legend has it that Kirkham was founded in remembrance of l'Espec's only son who had died nearby as a consequence of his horse being startled by a boar. The area was later used to test the D-Day landing vehicles. The ruins are now Grade I listed and in the care of English Heritage. 

The Gatehouse of Kirkham Priory, built c.1290-5, is a specimen of English Gothic medieval architecture. It is a rare survival of such a gatehouse, comparable to that of Butley Priory in Suffolk. It has a wide arch of continuous mouldings with a crocketed gable running up to the windows, with sculptures of S.George and the Dragon on the left, and David and Goliath to the right. Above the arch is Christ in a pointed oval recess, plus two figures below of St. Bartholomew and St. Philip, in niches. 

And the very last ruin is Sheriff Hutton Castle in the village of Sheriff Hutton, North Yorkshire 

The original motte and bailey castle, the remains of which can be seen to the south of the churchyard, was built here in the Forest of Galtres by Bertram de Bulmer, Sheriff of York during the reign of King Stephen(c. 1135–1154), 

The stone castle was built at the western end of the village by John, Lord Neville in the late fourteenth century. 

The castle became the property of Henry VII and, in 1525, Henry VIII granted it to his son, Henry Fitzroy, who had been newly created as Duke of Richmond and Warden-General of the Marches. A survey of this date describes the castle as being in need of repair. 

The castle was acquired by the Ingram family in 1622, and stone from the site was used by them in the building of nearby Sheriff Hutton House. 

The castle remained in the Ingram family until the early twentieth century, by which time the ruins were being used as a farmyard. It was designated a scheduled ancient monument in the 1950s, and has recently undergone some repairs by English Heritage. Today the castle is privately owned.

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The deserted village of Wharram Percy

Wharram Percy is a deserted village in a beautiful, secluded location in the Yorkshire Wolds. The village is the most extensively studied of all deserted medieval villages in England. Excavations at Wharram Percy took place every year between 1950 and 1990 and reveal the rich history of the village and why it was eventually deserted.

The village was first settled in the Bronze Age, though the first dwellings of which we have records date from the Iron Age, when two houses were established. By the Roman period there were five farm sites here, and finds of Roman tiles and tesserae indicate the presence of a Roman villa nearby.

There was further settlement in the Saxon period and a corn mill stood here by the 9th century. A small chapel stood on the site of the current church in the 10th century. 

From the 12th century there were two manors at Wharram Percy, known to archaeologists as North Manor and South Manor, the latter owned by the powerful Percy family. The Percy's later obtained the North Manor as well. 

The village declined after the onset of the The Black Plague of 1348-50, and by 1368 there were 30 cottages and a corn mill. In 1403 the final decline began when the Hilton family of Sunderland bought the manor and began to convert farmland to sheep pasture. This process continued throughout the 15th century and by 1500 the final four families were evicted and their cottages demolished. 

The final stage of Wharram Percy's history came in the late 18th century, when Sir Charles Buck built a new farmhouse and farm buildings. 

The only remaining buildings are the ruined church and the farmhouse built by Buck. On a slope above the church are the foundations of over 30 medieval farm cottages. The outline of the cottages is clearly visible and there are very good information panels which inform visitors about the village layout and archeology. Beside the church is a quiet mill pool. 

The location is superb, set low in a valley with wooded hill on one side and a broad slope on the other. Come in the evening and the only sound you hear is the lowing of cattle from neighbouring fields and the sound of doves cooing in the trees that cluster around the village site. 

St Martin’s Church evolved through six phases between the early 12th and early 17th centuries. Following the collapse of the tower in 1959, the interior of the church was excavated, revealing a smaller, mid-11th-century stone church and a mid- to late 10th-century timber antecedent. 

Four successive vicarages stood nearby between about 1327 and the 1830s. A medieval barn, the outline of which is displayed, was extended to adjoin the earliest vicarage in 1536. When both burned down in 1553, the vicarage alone was rebuilt. It was replaced in the mid-17th century and again before 1764. The outline of the excavated ground-floor rooms of this last vicarage can be seen to the north of the church. 

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York and Pickering

Hayley and Izobelle came to York with us, and we had a great day in the city, just wandering and taking in the sights and sounds.

I like listening to, and photographing Buskers, So, when this melodic voice caught my ear, I made my way a few yard (with Izobelle) to see who it was. I must confess the powerful and very melodic voice seemed to come from a younger person (sorry Busker!). Izobelle was transfixed! So we dropped our coins in and took a photo. 

These are the ruins of Pickering Castle, as are the two images below. Set in the attractive North York Moors-edge market town of Pickering, the castle began life as a simple wooden motte-and-bailey castle founded by William the Conqueror. It was converted to stone under Henry II; later additions included an outer entrance and curtain wall built on the orders of Edward II. 

Some more ruins of Pickering Castle

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Bempton Cliffs and Flamborough Headland

We were looking forward to our trip to Bempton Cliffs, which is a nature reserve, run by the RSPB. It is best known for its breeding seabirds, including northern gannet, Atlantic puffin, razorbill, common guillemot, black-legged kittiwake and fulmar.The hard chalk cliffs at Bempton are relatively resistant to erosion and offer lots of sheltered headlands and crevices for nesting birds. The cliffs run about 6 miles (10 km) from Flamborough Head north and are over 100 metres (330 ft) high at points. 

Our visit to Bempton Cliffs was pure magic! There are good walkways along the top of the cliffs and several well fenced and protected observation points. We spent a great morning there and soaked up the magic of being so close to these wonderful birds. A `must` visit if in the area. 

One of the many Gannets swooping past the cliff face. 

I think you are getting too close.. 

Looking down on a Gannet swooping into it`s nest site. 

Hello, a stranger approaches. 

Following on from Bempton, we travelled a little further down the coast to Flamborough Headland. This was the view from just below the lighthouse. 

... and this is the lighthouse. A lighthouse was first built on the Flamborough Headland in 1669 but was never lit. The current lighthouse was built in 1806 and acts as a waypoint for deep sea vessels and coastal traffic as well as marking the Flamborough Headland for vessels heading for the ports of Scarborough and Bridlington.

Two lighthouses can be found at Flamborough Head. The old 'lighthouse' is set a short distance back from the sea, the 'new' one is built on the cliff edge.

The chalk tower is the only surviving light tower in England; Spurn's Seventeenth lighthouses may have looked like this. It was designed for a brushwood fire to have been burnt on top, although it is unknown whether or not it was ever lit. The octagonal tower has several windows and a ground floor fireplace so it was possible lived in. 

It was 130 years before a lighthouse was built on Flamborough. The 'old' lighthouse was built after over 170 ships had been wrecked off the headland in 36 years. In 1925 it was made taller to fit a new 15 foot lens and converted from oil to electricity in 1940. 

It has a range of 24 nautical miles and is one of only 72 lighthouses still in use around Britain's coast today. Now it is fully automated.

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Scarborough

Scarborough was an interesting place, although not a place I would go to regularly. However, on a rather dull day, it was not the time to explore the town to any degree. I am sure in more sunny weather we would have had a better picture of it.. Below is the Grand Hotel, and grand is the right word.

When the Grand Hotel was completed in 1867 it was one of the largest hotels in the world and one of the first giant purpose-built hotels in Europe. Four towers represent the seasons, 12 floors represent the months, 52 chimneys represent the weeks and originally 365 bedrooms represented the days of the year.

A general view along the beach toward the harbour on a rather dull day.

Some shots taken near, or in, the harbour area.

Well, just rust I suppose!

Scarborough Cliff Railway - a view from the bottom. There have been five such railways in Scarborough, two have closed. Well used, I would think, as the path up is very steep.

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Start of family holiday in Yorkshire

A holiday for all the family together we thought, would be fun and a much deserved break for all. So, where to go? Finally (actually very quickly) we settled on Yorkshire, as this is an area known to one of them, but totally unknown to the other!

We picked Wold Newton as this had a house to sleep 9 and was near Scarborough and Flamborough Headland, neither place had we visited before.

On 22nd July we all set out to meet at Wold Newton and duly arrived safe and sound. The first exclamations were - What! no Wifi quickly followed by What! no mobile signal. The Wifi was solved but there is no 3g or4g signal in the area. Peace!

The house was great and the village was a small, quaint Yorkshire one - good start. So following are a series of images I took over the week.

The church, which looked interesting, is set in the heart of the village between Front and Back Street. It is a very attractive small church with nave, south porch, north aisle, chancel and small wooden belfry above the west end.

There is little information about the church on the web and no information in the church itself, but it looks quaint!

There has been a church here since Norman times although the chancel, north aisle, porch and belfry are C19th. The date stone on the chancel is 1850. The stonework on the chancel and west end is of much smoother quality than the rest of the church.

However, At the back of the nave is a 12 th Century Norman tub font. This has a carving of ‘wheat ears’ around the top. Below are is a zig zag pattern with foliage between. On the back wall are wooden boards with the Ten Commandments, Lord’s Prayer and Creed as well as a Royal Coat of Arms. So, something is old at least!

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Monster Truck in Chantry Park

Chantry Park was the venue for a motor show of Classic Cars and we decided to pay a visit. Not to sure why as it`s not our usual `cup of tea`. However it was a good couple of hours with the highlight for me being the Monster Truck display.

Some History:

In the 16th century Edmund Daundy, a local merchant and portman, donated the property to St. Lawrence Church, Ipswich for the purpose of founding a ‘Chantry’. 

What is a Chantry?: A chantry was a form of trust fund established during the pre-Reformation medieval era in England for the purpose of employing one or more priests to sing a stipulated number of masses for the benefit of the soul of a specified deceased person, usually the donor who had established the chantry in his will, during a stipulated period of time immediately following his death. It was believed such masses would speed the deceased's soul through its undesirable and indeterminate period in Purgatory onwards to eternal rest in Heaven. Once the soul had reached Heaven the ideal state for the Christian human soul had been attained, and the saying of masses would serve no further function. Thus the concept of Purgatory was central to the perceived need for chantries. Chantries were commonly established in England and were endowed with lands, rents from specified properties and other assets by the donor, usually in his will. The income from these assets maintained the chantry priest. 

The land was still open grazing at this time and it was not until 1668 that a house was built on the site by Sir Peyton Ventris. Since that time, the Mansion has been enlarged (18th and 19th centuries), and, together with the parkland, developed extensively as a private estate through the 19th century under a succession of owners. 

Chantry Mansion is a fine example of Italianate domestic architecture that dominated country house design in England from 1840s to the 1860s. The parterre on the south front of the Mansion is a rare surviving example of the work of William Andrews Nesfield (1793-1881), considered by many to be Victorian Britain’s most important landscape architect. 

From at least the mid 19th century, the park has played an important role in the social and cultural development of Ipswich and surrounding district, regularly hosting a varied programme of band concerts, charity fêtes and other civic events. The early 20th century rejuvenation of the estate under the direction of Mrs Jump, benefited from advice supplied by Roger Crompton Notcutt (RCN) of Woodbridge (1869-1938), founder of the Notcutts Nursery empire. 

The park has been in public ownership since 1927, with the walled garden used as a nursery by the Borough Council’s Parks Service, and the Mansion has been used as a friendship centre, convalescent home and since 1992 has been leased by the Sue Ryder Foundation as a home for those with complex neurological needs. 

Although there were a lot of interesting cars around, I did not take many images only this rather neat  Rover frontage. I guess manufactures don`t put these on cars anymore as morons made a habit of ripping them off.

So, to the Monster truck. I guess this is a standard type display but impressive to me all the same.

Will I make it!

Phew! just about.

When finished, park your truck neatly please.

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Farnborough Airshow

Farnborough Air show, an event I have wanted to see for years!. For my 70th, Matthew & Vicky treated me to a day out at the world leading air show - what a treat. Matthew, Adam and I had a great day out, even having runway side, grandstand seats for the best view in the house.

Even the journey there and back were pain free, with no long queues either way - bonus!

So, to start, a static view of an old workhorse, the Tornado. The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing multirole combat aircraft, which was jointly developed and manufactured by Italy, the United Kingdom, and West Germany. There are three primary Tornado variants: the Tornado IDS (interdictor/strike) fighter-bomber, the suppression of enemy air defences Tornado ECR (electronic combat/reconnaissance) and the Tornado ADV (air defence variant)interceptor aircraft.

It first flew on 14 August 1974 and was introduced into service in 1979–1980, and is expected to remain in service until 2018.

The Airbus A380 is a double-deck, wide-body, four-engine jet airliner manufactured by European Union manufacturer Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner.

...and then it took to the sky.

The Airbus A400M Atlas is a multinational, four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft. It was designed by Airbus Military (now Airbus Defence and Space) as a tactical airlifter with strategic capabilities to replace older transport aircraft, such as the Transall C-160 and the Lockheed C-130 Hercules. The A400M is positioned, in terms of size, between the C-130 and the C-17; it can carry heavier loads than the C-130, while able to use rough landing strips. Along with the transport role, the A400M can perform aerial refuelling and medical evacuation when fitted with appropriate equipment.

Pitts S2S is one of a series of light aerobatic biplanes designed by Curtis Pitts. It has accumulated many competition wins since its first flight in 1944. The Pitts biplanes dominated world aerobatic competition in the 1960s and 1970s and, even today, remain a potent competition aircraft in the lower categories.

When the Chance Vought FG-1D Corsair was introduced in 1940 it boasted the most powerful engine along with the largest diameter propeller of any fighter aircraft in history. The result of this engine and propeller combination was the first fighter to exceed 400 mph. Corsairs were built right up to 1952, giving the type the honour of having the longest production run of any American piston-engined fighter.

The first service engagement for the Corsair was with the US Marine Corps operating from makeshift land bases across the Pacific, and it was not until later that she was operated from aircraft carriers initially with the British Fleet Air Arm. The Corsair proved to be a formidable air superiority fighter during World War II when she was the scourge of the skies across the Pacific, and continued to deliver sterling service in later years during the Korean War.

The Antonov An-178 (Ukrainian: Антонов Ан-178) is a short-range medium-airlift military transport aircraft designed by the Ukrainian Antonov company and based on the Antonov An-158 (An-148-200).

It was announced on 5 February 2010, rolled out on 16 April 2015 and the first flight was on 7 May 2015

Boeing 727-2S2F: A new aerial oil dispersal capable aircraft.

Seems almost comical that each new industry of today, spawns other industries or opportunities.

The Extra 300L is a Lycoming AEIO-540 powered two-seat aircraft, used by The Blades, a British civilian aerobatic team based at the Sywell Aerodrome in Northamptonshire.They have been described as "the world's only aerobatic airline" and are the only full-time civilian aerobatic team in the United Kingdom

The Breitling Wingwalkers, the world's only aerobatic formation wing walking team, and it is a display well worth seeing.

The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multi role fighters undergoing final development and testing for the United States and partner nations. The most expensive weapons program in the world - Defense spending gone mad!

The Fairey Swordfish was a biplane torpedo bomber designed by the Fairey Aviation Company, used by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy during World War II.

The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engine heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC).

The B-25 Mitchell Bomber

The Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is a carrier-based multi-role tactical fighter and attack aircraft.

The Eurofighter Typhoon is a twin-engine, canard-delta wing, multirole fighter. The Typhoon was designed and is manufactured by a consortium of Alenia Aermacchi, Airbus Group and BAE Systems that conducts the majority of the project through a joint holding company,

Battle Of Britain Memorial Flight - Spitfire & Hurricane

The Red Arrows, officially known as the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, is the aerobatics display team of the Royal Air Force based at RAF Scampton.

Watching them perform is always exciting and I never tire of seeing them.

The teamwork shown by the pilots in the air is reflected in the dedication and professionalism of the support staff on the ground. The support team’s success results from their Royal Air Force training, the pride they take in their work, and their determination, motivation, and, very often, sheer hard work. Without them, the Red Arrows could not function.

This team is made up of a Team Manager, a Supervisor (Red 10), a Public Relations Manager ,two Engineering Officers, an Adjutant and approximately 85 engineering technicians and other support staff.

The latter are known as ‘The Blues’ because they wear distinctive royal blue flying suits during the display season. The Blues represent nine out of the Royal Air Force’s broad range of more than 65 technical and non-technical trades. Every team member has undergone intensive training in their particular specialisation throughout their Royal Air Force career.

A really great day - thanks folks!!

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