On the last leg of our Yorkshire walk we went off to find the Emily Stone. The Stone lies in Ogden Moor near to Ogden Reservoir in a place called Great Scar. On the Stone you will find a [poem](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-43897500) that was written by Kate Bush and was finished in 2018, there are 4 stones in total and they all lie on a trail from their birthplace in Thorton to the family home in Haworth
Many trails make there way to the stone however we were pushed for time so we found a car park near to the Reservoir [click here ] from here we traced the beck into great scar and whitewall end when you get to end just head uphill you can’t miss the outcrop of large rocks called Ogden Clough. It takes a bit of finding the stone and there are a few steep banks so watch out. Coming back we tracked back along back lane to the car park.
A stop off after our hike up malham cove to stainforth force waterfall. A gem of a place and well worth a visit. The bridge dates from 1675 and is an old packhorse bridge. You will find a car park with public toilets just follow the beck and make your way west towards the Waterfall
The weather was not great so we took the train from Harrogate to Knaresborough only a ten min journey. The little village has one of the nicest train stations looks like something out of the 50’s. There is a nice viaduct that takes the train over the river and looks spectacular from the riverside views. Also take a trip to the castle it is free to get in. Have a look at the Wikipedia link for some more info.
The early-fifteenth century Chapel of Our Lady of the Crag is located in an old quarry on Abbey Road beside the Nidd Gorge at Knaresborough and is an early 15th century chapel cut out of the sandstone of the river gorge cliff face
We have visited a few times before so as the weather was grim we thought another visit was in order. Close to the village of Ivinghoe underneath the Chiltern Hills is the museum . Only £9 to enter for adults car parking included its great value for money. From Lace making, vintage cars, traction engines you will find loads of interesting stuff from days gone by on display. Visit the website to have a look at open days etc.
A great trip into Northamshire for a visit with a Tudor theme.
An historic market town in Northamptonshire that lies on the banks of the River Nene. We had a stop over on a trip of east Northamptonshire and glad we did as it contains many old Georgian Buildings with one of the oldest being the Talbot Hotel dating from 1626. It is made from the stone from Fotheringhay Castle and the staircase is said to be haunted with the ghost of Queen Mary of Scots.
St Peters Oundle
Fotheringhay castle
A small distance from Oundle lays Fotheringhay Castle where Mary was Beheaded. All that remains now is the motte and Bailey there are also some remains that lay near to the river. The castle was dismantled in the 1630,s and Queen Mary was executed in 1587 there. The site of the castle goes back to 1100 often changing hands many times with various owners please have a look at Wikipedia for more info
Welland viaduct.
So glad we stopped here and marvelled at this great site of engineering. The viaduct crosses the valley of the River Welland. The viaduct is 1,275 yards (1.166 km) long and has 82 arches, each with a 40 feet (12 m) span. It is the longest masonry viaduct across a valley in the United Kingdom.[5] Built by the contractor Lucas and Aird, a total of 30 million bricks were used in the viaduct’s construction.[2] Completed during 1878, it has since become a Grade II listed building.[6]
The Welland Viaduct is on the Oakham to Kettering Line between Corby and Manton Junction, where it joins the Leicester to Peterborough line. The line is generally used by freight trains and steam specials. In early 2009, a single daily passenger service was introduced by East Midlands Trains between Melton Mowbray and St Pancras via Corby, the first regular passenger service to operate across the viaduct since the 1960s. The viaduct is on a diversionary route for East Midlands Railway using the Midland Main Line route.
On the way to Monmouth we paid a visit in the Forest of Dean to a local well known beauty spot Symonds Yat. We found parking however you have to pay so take some cash or pay by the Ringo App on your Smart Phone. There are a few well placed Viewpoints on Symonds Yat Rock where you can get some nice photos, also plenty of Walking routes nearby if you fancy walking.
The two settlements either side of the river are known as Symonds Yat (West) and Symonds Yat (East) and are linked by a footbridge and passenger ferries. Nearby is Symonds Yat Rock. The Seven Sisters Rocks are an outcrop of rocks forming cliffs above the Wye at Symonds Yat.
Been many years since we visited Leicestershire and a visit to Foxton Locks. There is easy parking however a bit expensive but its worth the visit. You have Ten locks in total working its way up a fair incline and only one boat at a time !. Back in 1900 they built an ingenious incline plane to help with boat congestion however it was not commercially successful and was disbanded after only ten years. You will find a museum there however its currently closed due to the pandemic but hopefully will open soon. We visited the Pub on the banks called the Foxton Locks Inn it sits on the bank of the canal with plenty of outside seating .
From Wikipedia
Staircase locks are used where a canal needs to climb a steep hill, and consist of a group of locks where each lock opens directly into the next, that is, where the bottom gates of one lock form the top gates of the next. Foxton Locks are the largest flight of such staircase locks on the English canal system.[citation needed]Bottom of Foxton Locks
Building work on the locks started in 1810 and took four years.[7]:3 Little changed until the building of the inclined plane resulted in the reduction in size of some of the side pounds.[7] While the inclined plane was in operation the locks were allowed to fall into decline to an extent and in 1908 the committee released £1,000 to bring the locks back into full (nightly) operation.[7]:35[8]
The locks are usually manned during the cruising season from Easter to October and padlocked outside operating hours. This is done to prevent water shortages due to misuse and to ensure a balance between those wishing to ascend and descend. There can be lengthy delays at busy times but the actual transit should take approximately 45 minutes to one hour to complete; it is made quicker by the fact that the locks are narrow beam and the gates are light.
We had a trip to the coast for a couple of days and stayed in a nice Hotel and close to the sea. Weather was not brilliant but that did not stop us going out and enjoying ourselves. We had a lovely tea in a tea shop paid for by James and jade for a Xmas present. A nice trip was had and Bournemouth is worth a visit plenty to sea and some nice bars and restaurants.
Before it was founded in 1810 by Lewis Tregonwell, the area was a deserted heathland occasionally visited by fishermen and smugglers. Initially marketed as a health resort, the town received a boost when it appeared in Augustus Granville‘s 1841 book, The Spas of England. Bournemouth’s growth accelerated with the arrival of the railway, and it became a town in 1870. Part of the historic county of Hampshire, Bournemouth joined Dorset for administrative purposes following the reorganisation of local government in 1974. Through local government changes in 1997, the town began to be administered by a unitary authority independent of Dorset County Council, although it remains part of that ceremonial county. Since April 2019 the unitary authority has been merged with that of Poole, as well as the non-metropolitan district of Christchurch to create the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority.
Places Visited on a recent trip to London, we go down often and just choose an area and just walk around we don’t take Tubes or buses that way you get to see more.
This exhibition was by a greek artist called takis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takis. He does sculptures using magnetism and sound, i found it good but Gail did not think much of it as per normal. I shall keep trying to find strange and wonderful things to take her too.
Panayiotis Vassilakis (Greek: Παναγιώτης Βασιλάκης; 29 October 1925 – 9 August 2019), also known as Takis (Greek: Τάκις), was a self-taught Greek artist known for his kinetic sculptures. He exhibited his artworks in Europe and the United States. Popular in France, his works can be found in public locations in and around Paris, as well as at the Athens-based Takis Foundation Research Center for the Arts and Sciences.[1
This was Gail’s part of the trip to London and for once she done us proud. Its some old roman thing that most of the time i find boring but it was very interesting indeed. Again just walk off the beaten track and you find something interesting.
From Wikipedia. The London Mithraeum, also known as the Temple of Mithras, Walbrook, is a Romanmithraeum that was discovered in Walbrook, a street in the City of London, during a building’s construction in 1954. The entire site was relocated to permit continued construction and this temple of the mystery god Mithras became perhaps the most famous 20th-century Romandiscovery in London.
Near to where we were staying lies one of the great Aqueducts that was built by the great Thomas Telford. The chirk Aqueduct was built between 1796 when the foundation was laid and finished in the year 1801. At 710ft in length and 70ft high and the water trough is made from Cast Iron. You can freely walk along the Canal and you can go through the Chirk Tunnel if you wish. Behind it in the picture above you can see the railway Viaduct that was built much later and took loads of transport from the canal. There is a pub down the valley called the Bridge Inn, if you have a pint from here and sit in the garden you will get a great view up towards the Aqueduct .
Chirk Pontcysyllte
it lies on the Llangollen Canal, immediately northwards of the Chirk Aqueduct. It is 421 metres (460 yd) long and has a complete towpath inside. The tunnel is designed for a single standard narrowboat, so passing is not possible. The tunnel is straight enough to be able to see if a boat is already inside the tunnel, and boats are required to show a light. Northbound boats must maintain power and momentum in order to push through, due to the shallow, narrow nature of the canal in the tunnel (such that water has little space to pass around the displacement of the boat), and the relatively fast 2 miles per hour (3.2 km/h) southbound current of the canal. The tunnel, the tunnel portals and the canal basin are collectively a Grade II* listed structure
